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

A bit of a late report but better late than never I guess. Last weekend’s Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament held by the Sydney Game Fishing Club was held in great weather with thirty-four boats competing. There were thirty-eight Marlin tagged, both Blues and Stripes. Twelve Yellowfin were taken and one good one going sixty-eight kilo’s also a thirteen-point seven kilo Mahi Mahi. There were also a couple of Mahi Mahi, Spearfish and even a couple of Wahoo tagged and taken. Generally speaking, a great weekend of fishing even given that the moon was full and however you want to interpret its relevance. We on Ambition had a frustrating time of it. We tagged a Striped Marlin early on the Saturday and our high hopes were slowly dashed having not seen any further action for the rest of the weekend. One of the interesting things during the tournament was that on Saturday there were lots of Yellowfin, seen and hooked yet on Sunday they had virtually disappeared with only a couple taken - the fickleness of fishing. We were actually mass attacked, as you’ll see in the video, creating excitement and confusion on deck. The, or whichever fish it was finally hooking up on, as you’ll probably guess, Pakula’s Brad ‘J’. The water is still especially warm and with Striped and Blue Marlin out wide and even Blacks inshore not to mention Yellowfin amongst Spearfish and Wahoo in evidence it should be interesting fishing over the next few weeks. Tight Lines, Ivan

It was an interesting day out yesterday. The wind held off, even though the predicted North-Easterly turned into a moderate South-Esterly later in the afternoon, it was like roller coaster ride with long low swells. The charts were showing that the warm water had pushed in closer and with it the temperature break. As we went out the temperature was what I thought to be an amazing 24.3 C at the Heads and at the 12 Mile over 26 C. It was going to be interesting to find out how the last few days of weather had affected the fishery. So, onward we went. Reports I’d heard were of Yellowfin out wide and longliners working in the area too. Before the weather there were good numbers of Marlin, both Blue and Striped, our targets for the day but if a Yellowfin got in the way it wouldn’t be a problem. The lines went in at the 12 Mile where we caught a couple of Striped tuna but nothing else eventuated until we were over the shelf. We were over the shelf in the cooler water when the band on one of the riggers broke and as Ron was winding the Lumo back a Striped Marlin raced in, Ron dropped the lure back and hooked up. After a stubborn fight the Stripy was brought to the boat and photos taken, and the fish released. I continued out to where I hoped the Yellowfin and a big Blue might be. And it struck me that though the VHF radio can be a punish to listen to, it can provide good info if you have the patience. When you’re out there alone you are fishing blind to a degree. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the Yellowfin or the longliners, though I have since heard they are down off Wollongong now. I went out to eight hundred fathoms but having found neither bait nor bird activity moved in closer where a Striped Marlin came in and hit a couple of lures without hooking up. Then in three hundred fathoms what I thought was a Blue smashed the Lumo and hooked up. It was brought to the boat without much fuss and we realised it was a Black. Unfortunately, while Ron was holding the bill waiting for the guys to take photos with a shake of its head the Marlin slipped free. Connor and his mates wanted to catch some Mahi Mahi so I headed for some FAD’s that I knew. I wasn’t sure if they’d be there after the big seas but we had to try. As suspected we couldn’t find them, whether they were pushed down by the current or lost altogether is unsure. As a last ditched effort we went to the fisheries FAD on the Nine mile reef but it too was gone. So ended an interesting day… Tight Lines, Ivan