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We suffered through another gorgeous (flat) day on the water yesterday. Early in the day there was nary a breath of wind to be had and the humidity clung to you (and your sunglasses) on deck. You don’t need a better reason to hit the water for a swim. I took this picture this morning (below left) at sunrise at Norman Reef of one of the dive boats that is tied up here with us. Judging by the water in this shot, I’d say we’re in for another day of the same.The return to calm has sparked some more talk on the radio about the spot out wide with the tuna aggregation. Square Bear ran past us on the edge at one stage on their way out there and at last report, had been rewarded with a bite out of a fish in the 900lb range but no hookup. On Reel Chase we didn’t have to go that far. We got a nice bite on the big bait about 30 minutes after putting the baits went in the water at Spur Reef and Craig was onto his very first marlin (below right), a beauty at 700lb, which gave in after a short tussle and was released after some more good action was recorded with the TowCam and pole camera. Sunrise at Norman Reef and Craig’s 700lb-er on board Reel Chase Sunday. Catching up on some news I missed previously, Mistress has been fishing the Yorkey’s Knob tournament on the weekend and started out with an early fish Saturday to be in the running. There were a number of small boats out on the bank yesterday taking advantage of the glamourous weather to fish the comp. We saw a (very) small boat hook up near to us on a big (very – about 900lb) fish – on the bait rod – unfortunately I think I heard that he was spooled in a very short period of time. Another boat fishing the competition reported releasing one in the 900lb range.John on Shaka also told me a story about Andrew Yeh (Yehah) on Outside Edge on the Bank Saturday. After a week without a fish, on their last day before heading home, at the death just before pulling the baits in, got the bite out of the big one releasing one over the mark – there is a god! More greats news about blues at Coffs Harbour: I got a message from Steve fishing on Saturday who raised 6, got 5 bites and tagged two at 300 and 400lbs. It sounds like a hot spot right now! Wouldn’t you like to be there..!With a week of calm weather to come and the bite shutting down on the edge, most of the boats will be heading wide to the tuna aggregation and the sea mount and although reports will be hard to come by, the season may still end with a flurry of big fish! UPDATE: Congrats to the team on Mistress who took out the Yorkey’s Knob tournament on the weekend with First Fish, Campion Angler and Champion Boat!

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.

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.

A few boats are still venturing out wide looking for the tuna and therefore marlin aggregations and the talk on the radio still sounded pretty positive. Haydon on Release released two at 300 and 600lbs and In A Meeting was getting the bites again as well. Moana also ventured out wide for a couple of big yellowfin and a marlin bite. We had a 500lb-er dive bomb into the spread with speed but took off again just as quick. Capt. Kim trolled up the inside of the green zone to Jenny Louise and raised two sailfish before ending up at the Light where they successfully released the bigger half of a double header (900lb), while the smaller fell off (400lb). At the Bank, Shaka released another for angler Matthew at 350lbs (photo of this one from John) and Little Audrey released another little guy and got a bite out of another. Up the Ribbons – we could hear all the way to Number 5 on channel 10 with the north-west winds – Capt. Bobby Jones on Fascination IV also released a small guy.Several boats were in port last night catching up – no doubt some sore heads this morning!Also word from Adam on Iona II heading home to Newcastle of some more good blue marlin fishing down south. Putting the lures in near Cape Byron having 5 bites, releasing two and losing another in the 500lb range in just a couple of hours fishing.Further reports from TGFC members fishing south near Pith Reef having six bites from black marlin on Thursday in his trailer boats indicating that with the northerly winds and strong currents a large body of fish are holed up in that Palm passage basin.

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.

Capt. Luke sent me some mobile phone video slo-mo of the fish on the leader the other day. It’s great to watch even in this poor quality so I can’t wait to edit the full quality version at the end of the season. You can take a look at the mini version here (–> kekoa_marlin.mp4 ) Information has been sketchy from the boats still out fishing the areas to the north and south of the Sea Mount – out of phone and internet range – but some reports filtering through here and there. On the Mount, Ultimate Lady released one at 500lbs and In A Meeting released another, a solid fish estimated at 950lb. To the south, Top Shot released a smaller fish early yesterday and had the bite from the big girl the day before and reported comfortable nights on the drift courtesy of the sea anchor. No reports through from there in the afternoon due to the lack of communications. Further south again, Moana released one at 700lb from our spot the day before. We’ll work it again today after another nice calm night on anchor at Noggin Reef, with both Capt. Dan and team Moana and Capt. Kim and team Flying Fish for company.Working his spot again on the Flattery Plateau off Number 9 Ribbon Capt. Dean on Castille released two from three and unfortunately losing the battle with the bigger fish est. at 900lb+.

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The long liners report good concentrations of marlin for 30 mile along the 147 degree east line. Unfortunately, 30 miles is a lot of ground to cover! Boats opting to head north, including Calypso, Mauna Kea, Ultimate Lady , Viking II, Gorilla searched without results (yet) excepting Mauna Kea who released a black on the way and Gorilla who reported blue marlin in the morning. By late afternoon when we lost radio contact, most had headed back to the original position – where Top Shot and Hard to Swallow had opted to stay and work it – or back to the reef like us for a good night’s sleep. On Reel Chase, we had a bite out of a small blue there before we headed back to the edge where we went one from two black marlin and I got some more great shots of the fish on the leader jumping at the back of the boat. The New Allure caught one about 700lb at Jenny Louise and New Moon fished the same area for just the one bite.Capt. Dean Beech on Castille also released a 300lb-er at Flattery Plateau off Number 9 Ribbon Reef and had another bite and watched Hot Shot tussle with an estimated 800lb-er nearby before unfortunately breaking her off.