Ambition Report 22nd.November’24
November 19, 2024 Sydney 3 photos & 1 video
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
Yellowtail Amberjack
Yellowtail Amberjack
Marlin (Blue)
Marlin (Blue)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Marlin (Black)
Marlin (Black)
Marlin (Striped)
Marlin (Striped)

Trip Summary

Well, it’s always an ice breaker when you catch your first Marlin for the season and yesterday, we caught ours, a good sized Stripy. I took Shouren and five of his friends out on a perfect day, weatherwise. The plan was to catch some live bait then head out to the FAD’s and have a shot at the Mahi Mahi which have been so prevalent lately. But as it happened,sadly, not this day. As luck would have it the Mahi Mahi had gone off the bite at the spots I visited. I must say I wasn’t unduly surprised as they have copped quite a hammering lately. So, we made the move to go offshore and see if we could find a Marlin or maybe a Yellowfin. Game fishing is probably the most fickle and frustrating discipline of the sport of fishing. Perseverance and persistence being the key to success and sadly not for everyone. After a few hours of trolling in what was the ocean’s equivalent to a desert the natives were becoming restless. Fortunately as luck would have it, we got a hit on the shotgun but no hook up. The crew were all screaming and I turned around in time to see a Stripy hitting ‘Lumo’ on the rigger, doing what Stripies do best…missing the hooks, so frustrating. The Marlin disappeared. Then a few minutes later the shotgun took off, a solid hook up at last. After thirty odd heart stopping minutes, we had the fish at the boat. On the way home I thought we should give the FAD’s another shot. The Mahi Mahi should have had enough of a break from the hammering to come on the bite again. When we arrived the fish were evident, but not going off their heads as they had been, but after persevering we did catch a couple, the crew had something to eat and it was time to go home. In general, the water had changed from the previous week. The current coming in from the East and the water cooler and greener. However we found that Marlin in a current line of that beautiful blue water. Tight Lines, 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 charter

Ambition Report 27th.May’25
Ambition Report 27th.May’25
May 25, 2025
I took Zakk and his friends from North Carolina out on Sunday. Zakk was keen to catch his first Marlin. However, after the weather we’d experienced over the previous week I had no idea what to expect. The charts only displayed the ocean currents which didn’t look very exciting, with no info of temperatures. So, we were basically going out blind, not that I that I trust the charts implicitly, however they do give a good overview. I put the lures in at the Twelve Mile where there were a couple of boats jigging and headed out. The temperature slowly increased to 20.8C at the shelf and as it turned out only increased to 21C at the thousand fathom line. On the way out we saw nothing neither birds nor bait. But I get ahead of myself. Just inside Browns I marked a bait school it wasn’t very solid echo but I did a circle and as I straightened up Ron let us no in no uncertain terms that there was a Marlin behind the *Blue illusion. It hit and took a bit of line but no hook up. When this happens, I always keep an eye on the *Brad ‘J’ on the shotgun. I have found that all too often if a Marlin hits one of the closer in lures and is not spooked it will come in on the shotgun. Sure enough, this one did too and was hooked up solidly, as it turned out the hook went right though the upper bill. It was a long hard fight, the Marlin hardly jumped, saving its energy until Ron took the leader as you’ll see in the video. There was a bit of tag teaming but eventually the Marlin, a quite big Stripy was brought along side and with photo’s taken released. With the pressure off now I continued out hoping to find the Yellowfin which should be here now. At the thousand fathom line I turned around not having seen anything, noting the current was coming from the East, not a very hopeful sign, hoping we might find another Stripy around the shelf. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any more bait, nor saw any birds and with daylight running out it was time to head for home. On the way in we did see a couple of Whales which performed for the charter but conversely also a caution for me. Tight lies, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .
Continue reading
Ambition Report 27th.April’25
Ambition Report 27th.April’25
May 11, 2025
Today was an interesting day at sea. It actually epitomised Game Fishing…ninety nine percent boredom and one percent mayhem, a lot of the time anyway. I took out Kin and some friends from Hong Kong today. These guys had never caught anything bigger than the equivalent of a Black Bream and were keen to catch a big fish. By any measure it was a very slow day out there today but after hearing of Yellowfin and Marlin caught yesterday the motivation was there to persevere. After several hours of trolling we hooked a Striped Tuna which created a lot of excitement and photo taking. After which we continued on just hoping something else would happen. After several more fruitless hours and with time running out I turned for home. I’d virtually given up on Marlin but as we approached the ’12 Mile’ Ron let us know in no uncertain terms that there was a Marlin following the short corner, a ‘Pakula Evil’. It hit the lure but no hook up then turned away, I thought that that was it but then it or another Marlin came in and took the lure solidly, hooked up and was off running. At the same time the starboard rigger got hit but didn’t hook up. Then amid the mayhem the port rigger was hit and took off at a rate of knots. It was absolute mayhem on deck as you’ll see in the video. Meanwhile Ron was working to clear the shotgun, frantically trying to keep the Brad ‘J’ from being eaten by yet another Marlin. With these guys of limited experience and limited English the last thing we needed was a triple hook up, a double was going to be problematic enough. Fortunately the fish on the ‘Lumo’ dropped off after a few minutes so we could concentrate on just the one fish which after some tag teaming, and lots of motivation, some of which I’ve had to mute from the video, was brought to the boat and released. Thankfully the perseverance paid off and Kin and his friends ended up experiencing the excitement of Game fishing as well as the tedium. Tight lies, Ivan
Continue reading