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Lots of fishing reports in for Saturday. And the news is all BIG!At Linden Bank, boats took advantage of what Capt. Luke on KEKOA described as the “best weather day that he can remember this month” to fish long and hard. After raising a couple of big fish – including one well over the mark only to heartbreakingly spit up the scad – 80 year old angler Martin hooked up on the fish of his lifetime releasing an estimated 900lb-er after a short fight pushing 45lbs of drag. With still three days left to go on this his first trip down under, Martin is sure to top off what has already been great trip having caught seven of KEKOA’s nine fish in the last seven days himself! Left: Martin’s 900lb-er on KEKOA on the leader with Deckie Adam. Right: Team KEKOA are also getting some more great TowCam footage of some other bites Nearby on the Bank, Capt. Bill on Viking also took advantage of the weather, and a break from the marlin rats of earlier in the week, to release his third BIG fish of the season that he said was knocking on the door. (Hopefully some photos to come) Likewise Little Audrey took a break from their rats too releasing another BIG one Capt. Pete called over the mark. Capt. Adam on Iona II returned to his honey hole for more big fish action (Update – released one at 350lbs and pulled the hooks on a really nice one), Capt. Brad on The New Allure released two to 450lbs and Joe Joe were kept busy with plenty of bites including a double hookup of a marlin and yellowfin tuna – the marlin chowing down on the un-cleared skip bait still in the water – to an unfortunate end. Moana III had a few bites out of smaller fish further down at the light and Jenny Louise.But speaking of Moana – Capt. Dan kindly sent me a pic of their big fish from Trinity Opening Thursday. Capt. Dan’s Russian anglers are certainly finding success on the GBR. They caught a couple of nice fish in the middle last year including this one I took a shot of from neaby on Reel Chase. Thursday’s fish Capt. Dan put at over the 1100lb mark and the same anglers finding success in 2007. Meanwhile yesterday, the bottom of the Ribbons was also seeing some action. At Number 2, Capt. Steve on Kianja pushed the bar with an estimated 850lb-er for angler Pete on 130lb stand up (below left). Capt. Tim on Tradition fought a nice one for over an hour before losing the battle while at Number 3, Capt. Jared once again steered Shaka in the fishy direction with a 450lb-er early for John, and later, taking advantage of that magic time late in the day when many of the boats have already departed for anchorage, for this 850lb-er which also gave an aerobatic show (below right). Kianja and Shaka’s fish: both estimate 850lbs and Number 2 and Number 3 Ribbon Reef. Oh what a day! You wish you were here, don’t you?

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Well we finally worked it out yesterday – in the fish’s calendar, it is still September. Because the moon was so early this month, the fish have decided to drop back a month, and when you look at all the conditions, it adds up to September. Howling winds – check, no east Australia current – check, cool nights – check, lack of fish – check (though this is changing!), Sparrow catches a striped marlin at Number 5 Ribbon – check! But the last week has definitely shown a dramatic improvement in the number of fish. Bring on October! Yesterday at Linden Bank, we raised four although we only released one due to some lack-luster bites. By the time we had left the Bank to run into Cairns, Adam on Iona II had also raised six including two big ones. And, The New Allure also raised 7 to just the one release and Ningaloo released another before running into Cooktown for changeover as well. We saw a lot of fish, tailing down sea and following the baits on the TowCam – they just didn’t seem too hungry. But tomorrow is another day. A maori wrass comes up to say hi on the morning snorkel and Simon’s Fish jumps behind Reel Chase. Reel Chase is in Cairns for the next few days and after the battering we’ve received all week, I’m pretty happy about that. The weather over the weekend looks pretty good though so hopefully there is a lot more action to report from the rest of the fleet. Stay tuned!

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While the weather knocked the bejeebies out of us, the fishing certainly made up for it and gives us all cause for excitment. Two grander releases were recorded Thursday which tops off a week of big fish sightings.At Number 6 Ribbon Reef, Capt. Dean and the team on board Castille hooked up to a monster releasing the fish after a heavy duty battle in the rough seas. Meanwhile, at Linden Bank, Capt. Dan on board Moana III more than made up for a slow week releasing two fish including one that Capt. Dan said topped the scales.Capt. Adam back on board Iona II returned to the same spot he fished early in the month for two from four to 700lbs and one of the ones that got away, over the 1000lb mark. Meanwhile, on the original Iona, as at half past 7 last night, I heard that Capt. Corey was still backing out to sea after a beast. [I'm promised some photos but I should mention my computer is playing up so they may be delayed. Thanks to Capt. Jim for letting me use his today!]Capt. Laurie on Ningaloo showed his skill at the helm on an exciting 650lb-er in the testy conditions. Capt. Luke on KEKOA powered back after a slow fishing Wednesday with two released at Anderson Reef. Capt. Tim on Tradition had a front row seat for the action with Castille’s grander and managed a good sized 600lb-er at Number 4. And back to us on Reel Chase, we slogged into the weather all day, heading to Linden Bank where we are fishing today, for a late reprieve with a fish for Rob at sunset.Giving us a little bit more optimism, was long liners reporting huge aggregation of marlin well to the east of the Ribbon Reefs which hopefully will swim inshore as soon as conditions suit them. Top: Castille’s monster. Bottom: Rob’s sunset marlin.

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On Reel Chase we finally found our own bunch of fish Wednesday, even if they were only small – releasing two from four at Escape Reef. On what was a much better day weather-wise – without a doubt the best weather day in October – we saw a few others tailing down sea. Lucky Danny (his new name on board) with his second fish and a first for Dave giving us more fun and games with the TowCam Tow Camera and Pole Camera. This time we got the footage of the bite on the Tow Cam as well as the action at the back of the boat and some additional Tow Cam footage of another fish who followed us for a while, inspecting the baits, but did not eat. With hopefully a weather change due next week we’ll be looking forward to some more footage on our camera’s. Nearby we saw Little Audrey backing off over the horizon to the south-east and later we found out they had a nice 600lb-er wrapped up in the leader giving them a bit of stick. They finally released the fish after an hours fight. Moana III and Joe Joe travelled south to Linden Bank and had a couple of bites on arrival but no tags for their Russian Anglers. Top: Danny on, and Danny’s fish. Bottom: Dave’s fish ready to rocket out for a jump and tag shot. At Number 10 Ribbon, Capt. Laurie on Ningaloo released a 500lb-er for angler Brian and hooked up on another big fish at the top of the reef only to have her spit the hook.

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Weighted in at 1080lbs! It was caught on a lure, 550 miles off the East coast at Mellish Reef – on the way back to Australia from Port Villa at 7:10 pm Monday evening after a 1 hour and 40 minute fight. It was hooked on a lure on 80lb line and Capt. Tom tells me it just about spooled them on the bite but after that it settled down.Originally the team on board Ultimate Lady planned to release but it did not survive the fight and was boated. The first document grander blue marlin weighed in Australia.As Capt. Tom says, it is a great catch for the angler, Australia and Townsville (where it was weighed)! Bless those kiwis Townsville is definitely making a name for itself now for the big fish. You’ll remember their first grander black marlin in 20 years weighed on Maggie Island last year.Congrats to the Ultimate Lady team! Big thanks to Talina for getting down there and getting all the details for us as well.More info: Capt. Kim tells me that Mellish Reef is 700nm east of Cairns and some 120 miles inside Australian waters. He fished there in 1988 and says that it is an awesome spot with good anchorage behind Herald Quay Islets.