Ambition report 30th. April18
April 29, 2018 Sydney 4 photos
Marlin (Blue)
Marlin (Blue)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Marlin (Striped)
Marlin (Striped)

Trip Summary

Blue Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Striped Marlin are on the bite off Sydney. The Sydney Game Fishing Club got it right for the 'Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament' sponsored by last week-end. Though the weather wasn't perfect the fishing more than made up for it. Over the last few weeks the fishing off Sydney has been the best in years especially for Blue Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna. I don't have the exact numbers of fish caught and tagged but all boats saw action. If you go to the SGFC web site you will find the numbers. Interestingly the action was spread out from the 'Bait Station' down past Port Hacking and out over the thousand fathom line. All you had to do was cover the ground, find the bait, work the bait and if luck was on your side you'd find the fish. On Saturday I was working my way down the thousand fathom line where I found a long liner laying lines. I worked South down his line hoping for a 'fin . It was looking good with patches of scattered bait fairly near the surface. As I made a turn around some bait the 'shotgun' with the 'Pakula Brad 'J'' let go. A big Blue took off grey hounding, tearing up the ocean. I couldn't believe such a big fish would take such a small lure. By the time we had cleared the lines this fish, instead of running straight and sounding must have covered miles going in circles and huge arcs never getting really far from us. It was all I could do to keep the line tight and not allow too much belly. By the time we had the lines in the fish had calmed, slowly swimming away from us down sea and probably stuffed. Backing down wasn't so comfortable in this sea. I even got wet in the flybridge, the transom regularly under water, poor Ron was drenched even his boots got filled. After what seemed like ages we had the fish along side finally realising just how big it was. When David took the leader it barely moved so no point tagging. Back at the club it weighed 337.5 kilo's, a potential Australian and N.S.W. record on 24 kg. line a great effort by Ron. Over the day the number of captured and tagged fish included several Blues between 150 and 250 kilo's and Yellowfin over 70 kilo's as well as many lost. Sunday started much the same as Saturday weatherwise. I went to where I had seen the Long liner the day before. Unfortunately neither it nor the lines were there. I instituted plan 'B' - since the warmer water had moved in even closer I also moved in. I found a small temperature break and followed it. In the meantime 'Tantrum' skippered by Glen Wright had caught a 204.5 kilo Blue on 15 kg. line a maximum pointer, not to mention a 62 kilo Yellowfin they had taken on 24 kilo line probably putting them ahead of us. Meanwhile Jamie Ward of 'Carnage' was fighting a big Tiger shark on 15 kilo line yet another threat. Suddenly in the middle of nowhere we had a massive strike on the shot gun and the reel again screamed, this time a Yellowfin. To complicate matters while Scott and Mark were clearing the other lines both had hits. Scott's fish hooked up and fortunately Mark's didn't. Now we had a double on large Yellowfin tuna which could be disastrous. Consequently I told Greg to just keep tension on his line but not to bring his fish in and for Scott to go to sunset and go hard. It worked, Scott after much pain got his fish which later weighed 73.5 kilo's, to the boat and gaffed in 25 minutes. Now it was Greg's turn, unfortunately his fish was more stubborn. After more than an hour of pain he finally had colour but it took another twenty minutes before we gaffed it. Another good 'fin which later weighed 72.5 kilo's, a nice buffer against Glen. We continued on our way feeling pretty content that the Yellowfin had given us the lead we needed. Well, you know you shouldn't count your chickens, Tantrum were onto another good Blue on 60kg. line. We desperately needed another fish with only 30 minutes to end of fishing. "Fish on the rigger", Ron yelled as a Marlin hit the long rigger, it broke the band but no hook-up. Tension was now extreme, Glen had landed their fish. We waited and watched I circled the area but to no avail. To add to the tension Jamie had landed a 300 kilo plus Tiger on 15kg. Yet another maximum pointer to contend with. I can't tell you the final results because I really don't know them, you'll have to come to the Club's presentation tomorrow night ( 1st. May ). So that was the tournament, for more results go to the club's web site. The Long liners are still working off Sydney so the 'fin must still be in the area. With the water 24C at the shelf, there is no reason why the Blue Marlin won't still be here. Get out there and give it a go, Ivan
Ivan Bennett
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ambition Charters thumbnail
Looking to experience the best angling opportunities that Sydney has to offer? Hop aboard Ambition Charters, run by one of the most experienced captains in the area!  Captain Ivan Bennett has been fishing for over 50 years now, is a lover of marine l...

Other reports from this captain

Ambition report 11th.March’24
Ambition report 11th.March’24
March 12, 2024
Autumn has always been the best time of year for Game Fishing out of Sydney. Generally speaking, this is when we encounter the larger fish of the species rather than numbers. Although having said that this Autumn has been exceptional, so far. Over the last couple of weeks both Blue and Striped Marlin as well as Mahi Mahi have shown up in numbers off Sydney. The Mahi Mahi as is usual are found around the various F.A.D’s with live bait producing the bigger fish, being the first boat at the spot helps as they can become spooky when there is too much boat traffic. As for the Marlin, they could be anywhere. Usually however, if you find the bait you’ll find the Marlin, but not always. Sometimes you’ll find the bait before the Marlin, as a friend of mine, Steve Baker (Fly By Night) did. He found heaps of bait well North of the ‘Bait Station’, worked it for several hours for no result. The next day Rob Molnar in his boat ‘On Call’ had a blinder of a day raising fourteen Marlin in that same area. On the day Steve found the bait North of the ‘Bait Station’ I was out with Jamie McKay on ‘Ground Swell’ fishing an area a couple of miles South of them where there was scattered bait. We had a great day too. We’d already bagged out on Mahi Mahi and ended up raising eight Marlin of which we tagged three, all Blues ranging from 130 kg. to 180 kg. We should have had two more but for a broken hook and another mishap which I will not go into, if you want more info just ask Jamie. From what I heard on the radio almost everyone fishing for Marlin over the last week or so have caught or raised Marlin with many being pack attacked by Stripies. Around the shelf area where the bait tends to stack up is where most of the action for them has been. But out around Browns both North and South out to four hundred fathoms there have been Stripies and Blues with the occasional sighting of Yellowfin tuna. Frustratingly Stripies are habitually finicky when it comes to lures and tough to hook so ‘Bait and Switch’, live baiting as well as skipping baits is the most effective method to hook them though teasing them on lures works too. What to me is most interesting is the water temperature. We were reading 28.5 degrees which I confirmed with other boats. In the past we’d consider 27 degrees too hot and look for cooler water. Yet here we are with a great bite and much hotter water. I suppose one answer is that our on-board gauges have a limited range over which they are accurate. Another potential answer is these above high temperatures are only a surface layer of maybe only a metre or two in depth leaving the bait below in a more comfortable zone. Well whatever is happening the fishing is great and if it keeps up the S.G.F.C’s annual Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament on the 13th. and 14th. April will be awesome. It is at this tournament where we have regularly weighed Blue Marlin over two hundred kilo’s with several over three hundred kilo’s also Yellowfin tuna over seventy kilo. For those that chase sharks big Tigers are a regular at the weigh station. So, the Marlin are there and if you don’t go … Tight lines, Ivan
Continue reading
Ambition report 15th.December’23
Ambition report 15th.December’23
December 15, 2023
I was keen to get out today after being out last Monday when we raised a Striped marlin but sadly missing the hook up. However I was surprised today to see how conditions had changed. On Monday the inshore water temperature was around the 23 C which is unusual enough for this time of year but offshore at 300 fathoms I read 25.2 C a temperature more normally found in February and March. Even allowing for error in my temperature guage the STC’s were showing 24.7 C, so it couldn’t have been too far out. Today the inshore waters were a more normal 21.7 degrees but dirty green probably from the rainwater runoff. However offshore, past the shelf, it was still over 24 degrees and a beautiful blue. The colour which induces confidence even if it is unseasonably warm. We trolled towards Browns where we raised the Marlin on Monday when in roughly the same area the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ took off at a rate of knots. Surprisingly even though both Ron and I were watching the lures neither of us saw the hookup. The Marlin jumped once and just raced off on one huge run leaving poor Cuyler (I hope I got his name right) an awful lot of line to get back. He did eventually get the Marlin which turned to the boat and released it. Then while Ron was resetting the gear the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ went off again sadly this time it didn’t hook up. We had another strike later in the day on ‘Brad’ by what I thought was either a Wahoo or a Spearfish but again no hookup. It was only because of the water temperature that I even considered a Wahoo a fish not often seen around Sydney these days. What this unseasonal warm ( hot ) water might mean to the Sydney fishery is going to be anyone’s guess. Will it continue to warm up?, seems most likely. Will it bring more tropical species down here? , hopefully but whether this is good thing or bad thing is another question. Will is push our Striped Marlin fishery South?, I hope not. I am sure there are many other questions and likelyhoods but whatever the end result it will be interesting. Tight lines, Ivan
Continue reading
Ambition report 26th.November’23
Ambition report 26th.November’23
November 24, 2023
I took Joe and his wife, from Florida, out last Friday on what turned out to be beautiful day at sea. The sea calm and the rain cleared as we headed out. Joe had experience having caught Sailfish and Mahi Mahi in his home waters in the Carribean. However he hadn’t caught a Marlin and that was his ambition, no pun intended. So we headed out and after hearing of Mahi Mahi around the FAD’s did a couple of circuits around the Sydney FAD with no result so headed out over the twelve mile to the shelf. Just past the twelve the current picked up and the temperature started to climb and the water turning that beautiful blue and 22.5 C. I started to mark bait around the shelf and out to around 140 fathoms but it was very patch and obviously not being harassed. On approaching Browns I saw another boat and it looked like they were fighting a fish which was confirmed when I saw a Marlin jumping. Turns out it was a boat called ‘HotRod’. Later on they told me that they had a 2.5 metre Blue Marlin on board which had sadly died during the fight. Spirits were now high and expectation great. Further out as I was watching the Mutton birds migrating South I could see that some patches were circling and indeed working an area. I concentrated on them for a while and though it was obvious they were on something I couldn’t make out what it was and nothing was marking on the sounder. Subsequently as I move further North I saw several more patches of birds working the same way. I have in the past seen similar behaviour when the Mutton birds were chase Flying fish in that hey scare the fish into taking flight then pounce on them. Then Ron screamed out Marlin! and there behind the short corner was a Striped Marlin coming up behind ‘Evil’ mouth open and ready to eat. Ron dropped the lure back but no hook up. The Marlin came back onto the lure, Ron teased it a little then dropped it back and this time hooked up and the fish took off. It was a very stubborn fish and I actually thought it might be a Blue which stayed deep and made Joe really work for it. However, he did eventually get the fish up and we released a good ninety to a hundred kilo Striped Marlin. It was getting late by then so I turned for home anticipating my next trip out into the blue. Tight lines, Ivan
Continue reading