It was a real pleasure to go to sea the other day with Jack and his friends. The weather actually played ball which was a pleasant change from the last few days out. Reports were varied off Sydney but there was a good bite happening to the South and listening to channel 82 was quite frustrating not just because of the chatter but because the bite was just that bit too far for me to get to. However, we headed off in the general direction of the Southern Canyons after putting the lures in at the shelf. I was surprised at how much cooler the water was compared to the previous time I was out and the current was pushing up from the South. After a few hours of nothing, hardly any bird life and only some scattered bait, I moved out to deeper water where the water temperature slowly rose and went that beautiful blue that we want to see. Some life showed up in the form of dolphins and the occasional mutton bird and small patches of bait. Anyway, to cut a long story short after frustratingly listening to the reports now just a few miles South of us the ‘Lumo’ on the rigger screamed off with a good-sized Striped Marlin heading East. After the usual turmoil of getting the gear in order the fish was dutifully released and we set off again looking for another. Sadly though we did get another strike we didn’t hook up. The bite was continuing South of us with a few Blue Marlin taken amongst the Stripies. I also heard there were a few fish taken around ‘Browns’ and further up the coast near the ‘Bait Station’ however South was definitely the place to be. **hidden content** Tight lines, Ivan

Another interesting day at sea yesterday, interesting in that it all seems to have changed again. The bait was not as prolific and the water a little cooler with hardly any current. We started trolling in eighty fathoms where the was some patchy bait and worked our way out zigzagging across the shelf between eighty and one hundred and thirty fathoms working northwards. After a couple of hours of futile zigging and zagging I turned East and started to pick up bait balls but they were quite deep. So, we did eventually get a strike on the ‘Lumo’ but nobody saw it because the sun was behind us and there was a decent chop due to the twenty knot North Easter blowing and the fish didn’t jump. Consequently there was a lot of guessing as to the species as you’ll hear in the video. All in all it was a good day made so by a beautiful Striped Marlin being a first for the angler and his more then ebullient mates. So far this has been a great start to the Marlin season especially since the currents have not really set up yet. Tight lines, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

What a remarkable day at sea today was. I took out Qing and three of his friends for their first day at Game Fishing and they had a baptism in fire. The video will give you some idea of the mayhem, but you had to be there to appreciate it. Bear in mind that these guys’ experience was only some small fish caught rock fishing. The day started slowly for us, but the radio was telling that the bait schools hadn’t moved on and that several Marlin had already been seen and tagged. I worked the bait schools for a while with no result so had decided to move on and that’s when we got our first strike, a blind strike on, surprise, surprise the Brad’J’ bullet. One of the guys took the rod and the others moved in to help him, one holding the rod, one winding and the other holding the guy with the rod, we were in trouble. It didn’t take long to realise it wasn’t a Marlin and as they brought it closer, I was surprised to see it was a Yellowfin around twenty to thirty kilo’s. Sadly, as luck would have it and with the help of some slack line the fish won its freedom. Though there have been a couple of Yellowfin taken around these bait schools recently it still comes as a big surprise to find any inside the shelf these days. So, we carried on and shortly after all hell broke loose. We had five, maybe six Marlin in the spread hitting the lures. Ron was running around like a chook with its head cut off trying to tease them into solidly striking the lures but to no avail. We had a couple on for a short time however not one of them stuck, but it was exciting to say the least. Sadly, the video does not do it justice. Fortunately, the day wasn’t a complete failure, we did end up tagging a Striped Marlin. Later in the day we had a double hook up and between the four of them on the rod they got one to the boat where Ron released it. The other fish was left to its own devices, the rod just left in the holder, so lost. By this time none of the guys were feeling terribly well so they decided it was time to go back in. A frustrating decision since it seemed the bite was happening with several boats hooking up as we left. Other than the seven or eight Marlin that came into our spread throughout the day, I saw another couple tailing down sea. Also, considering that three other boats, Rampage, Shoki and another whose name escapes me, had caught three when we left, not to mention several others boats with at least one to their credit it is hard to imagine the number of Marlin in the area. This Marlin bite has been going on for quite some time now and it is only October, the next few months could be quite something. The question is, are they holding in the area because of the bait or are they constantly passing through? Tight lines, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .