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It was a great start to the day and great end to the day as well. But not a whole lot of anything in between…….(except of course good weather, a suntan and great company)…..The first fish was for Jon, a small Black that kicked things off for the day. Unfortunately, that was all the action we were to see for a while. Capt. Jim took off again in search of both bait and warmer water without any success, however, after sitting patiently by the chair all afternoon, Jamie was rewarded when we marked a nice Stripey at 20 metres literally one minute before knock-off time. Fortunately it bit, and after a very active fight, a tag and a nice photo by the side of Reel Chase, the Stripey was sent on its way. Jon’s Black Marlin and Jamie and his lucky Stripey alongside Reel Chase.
This post was imported into WordPress from my old Black Marlin Fishing Blog website without any accompanying photos. If you’d like to see the original post, with the accompanying photographs, go to the original Black Marlin Fishing Blog site and navigate to the post using the archive navigation links on the right-hand-side.
Sunday dawned another beautiful day until we hit the Port Stephens Shelf when the rain started and then basically did not stop for the rest of the day (all the while the sky over land remained a clear blue.) The enthusiasm of our anglers was tested with only one unsuccessful strike in the AM period. However, after lunch, things started to turn around when trolling three live baits I happened to look over the side of the tower and informed Capt. Jim that there was a Striped Marlin licking his lips at the sight of the Milk Fish dangling off the rigger on the end of the teaser. A nice hand cast by Luke put the live-y on its nose and John was on for what turned out to be a very entertaining fish for the entire fleet. Leading us on a merry chase, zig-zagging through thirty odd trailer boats with Capt. Jim hot on the hammer on its tail, the fish was successfully tagged and released to cheers all round. I spy a Slimey……. Second up we had a Black Marlin this time hook up nice and solid on the teaser again and, while Angler Bryan was belting up, we noticed another Striped Marlin chewing on the other teaser at the side of the boat. This fight resulted in a very quick tag and release but not before there were some spectacular jumps at the back of Reel Chase. After a giving in to the cold weather and making a turn for home, we had a big fish bite on the skip bait from a very hungry Striped Marlin which was very quickly dispatched by our talented angler. One of the day’s highlights was guest Angler Alex managing to tag two of our fish on his 14th birthday. Hopefully the start of many more to come! John’s Stripey jumps away from Reel Chase through the fleet and Brian’s Black at the back of the boat. Reel Chase is in Port today for revitalizing and will be back to it tomorrow!Top dog for Sunday was without a doubt Ross Hunter on Broadbill with an unconfirmed 5 tags. Private boat Frosty also had a big day with a couple of potential records for their Junior Female Angler but although it alluded her this time, she did manage at least one tag. Broadbill and Frosty both fighting fish…
This post was imported into WordPress from my old Black Marlin Fishing Blog website without any accompanying photos. If you’d like to see the original post, with the accompanying photographs, go to the original Black Marlin Fishing Blog site and navigate to the post using the archive navigation links on the right-hand-side.
Although we managed 3 tagged Striped Marlins for the day, it was tough fishing with some 50-odd trailer boats plus the usual club boat all congesting on the new bait grounds just North at 32 degrees, 52 minutes S.Despite a number of boats returning to the Carpark at 33 degrees, .03 minutes S, they all ended up joining the fleet on the northern grounds due to a lack of fish down there. Trailer boat Sam appeared to be top dog for the day with 4 tags while Diversion managed 2. Chris and his spectacular big Betram Absolute managed three and Viking II managed 2 as well. Murrifin also managed one early. Murrifin with fish at back of the boat, Viking II fighting showing some congestion and untangling a Spangled Line Tangler at the side of Reel Chase
This post was imported into WordPress from my old Black Marlin Fishing Blog website without any accompanying photos. If you’d like to see the original post, with the accompanying photographs, go to the original Black Marlin Fishing Blog site and navigate to the post using the archive navigation links on the right-hand-side.
Adrian and Rob’s fish – Rob’s was brought close along side the boat to retrieve a previous tag. On what started out as a rather slow day, we were still tied up to the fuel dock at 8:30, turned into our best so far with 5 Striped Marlin tagged. A group of local contractors who’ve fished with us previously without a lot of success, managed to turn things around with all guests catching a fish – including a couple of feisty Stripey’s on the stand-up 50lb for Adrian and Pete. Frank started the day off with a nice fish on a deep live bait following by Peter on a nice trolled surface bait with two fish up at once. The others, including Mark’s were all caught on dead bait. Rob’s fish, which was tagged to fight another day, had already previously been tagged with a steel tag number S207659 which we retrieved from it along side the boat before releasing the fish once again. Hopefully more information about this tag to follow.Fishing away from the fleet certainly improved our action however other boats were also in the action. Tsunami fished further south for four tags and Diversion was in the middle of the fleet for five tags as well as a number of other boats that tagged four.
This post was imported into WordPress from my old Black Marlin Fishing Blog website without any accompanying photos. If you’d like to see the original post, with the accompanying photographs, go to the original Black Marlin Fishing Blog site and navigate to the post using the archive navigation links on the right-hand-side.
David’s Black Marlin, Ken & Shane’s Striped Marlins and Jim’s Dolphin fish. Days don’t get much flatter than this! If we were in NQ, the fishing grounds could have been mistaken for a lake. As it is down here, the swell, though decreasing everyday this week still keeps us on a gentle roll.We started the day once again with some early bites tagging and releasing a reasonable-sized Black Marlin before another colourful Striped Marlin soon after. Sam and the Victorian trailer boat boys (and girls) were once again in the thick of the action catching three in short succession along side. The later the day, the bait spread out once again and the action slowed with just enough to keep us all interested. We released another Stripey just before lunch which also saw another quick bite from a hungry black who succeeded in eating all our baits before swimming away unscathed with a full belly.After Capt. Jim picked up to troll away and look a little further afield, another beautiful sized Dolphin Fish ate the bait and gave us a wild display at the back of the boat. A Whaler Shark kept us amused in the afternoon swimming at the back of the boat before downing our live bait and giving us an energetic fight.Not too many reports from other boats except Freedom and Tsunami both on two and Billfisher on two as well. Sam ended the day with 5 on what couldn’t have been a better day weather-wise for the trailer boats.
