I Took Sean and his brother Kevin from Ohio out last Monday with high hopes of finding the Marlin and Yellowfin that we’d seen over the previous weeks. Recently we’ve had a really good run of Marlin with both Blues and Stripes being found in good numbers. The Bait Station as well as the shelf area holding heaps of bait, attracting the Stripes. Out wider Blues caused havoc amongst the many sightings of Yellowfin even though few of either have been caught. Once reaching the shelf I trolled out seeing very little bait and bird activity, in fact it wasn’t until we were in four hundred fathoms that we saw anything. Meantime Huss on ‘Finfinder’ called up saying they had Yellowfin busting up in five hundred fathoms. That was motivation enough and it wasn’t long afterward that one of the rods took off. Ron and the guys were yelling Yellowfin but all I could see was a really good Mahi Mahi running and jumping away from us. What I hadn’t seen was a bust up of sixty kilo plus Yellowfin beside us. Finally, the hooked Mahi Mahi got the crew’s attention and after a good fight Sean landed a 1.4 metre Bull, one of the best I’ve seen in a very long time. As we headed out we saw more and more birds and scattered bait, expectation was high. We were soon rewarded with a heavy strike on the rigger and the ‘Blue Illusion’ was taken and racing off with a nice Blue of around 130 kilo’s attached. The fish put on a great display which sadly cannot be fully appreciated from the video below. After releasing the Marlin I continued out hoping for Yellowfin. The further out we went the more birds we found, all working over a wide area. Occasional the birds would come together and the Yellowfin would bust up drawing us and the birds towards them. It was incredibly difficult to reach these bust ups in time to present the lures to the fish they were so short lived, only a few fish being apparent. It seemed as though there were only a few small schools of Yellowfin moving very quickly chasing small schools of bait. However, I did manage to get close to one of the bust ups while the fish were still up. We had swirls behind the lures but no hook ups, exceedingly frustrating. However, while chasing the Yellowfin we did pick up another big Mahi Mahi. I went out again on Wednesday with Mat and some of his friends from San Francisco. We went out hoping the Marlin, Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi were still around but this time in a better biting mood. It was a lot rougher this day so I headed for the Bait Station to give us a more comfortable ride out. There was as expected plenty of bait but after working the area for some time with no action moved further offshore. As I trolled out it became apparent everything had changed, no birds, no bait, no nothing. I trolled out to five hundred fathoms then turned South toward where we were on Monday. As I made the turn Ron yelled out Yellowfin. I turned around just in time to see a big ‘fin out of the water trying to eat Brad but alas it missed. Everyone was awake now and with great expectations.I worked the area for a while with no result then continued South. Well, we were just about done for the day when ‘Lumo’ took off with yet again another big Mahi Mahi. Compared to Monday the ocean was dead, everywhere was dead, the bait was gone and the birds were not to be found. I could think of a myriad excuse for our lack of success and why it was so i.e. full moon, water colour, wrong tides, too sunny etc. The facts of the matter is that here off Sydney especially there is nothing to hold bait other than Browns, the Bait Station and the Southern Canyons. We are at the mercy of the vagaries of the East Australia Current and its unpredictable spin-offs creating an ever-changing fishery. So there is reason to be optimistic tomorrow will be different and maybe even better. Tight lines, Ivan