The team on Kekoa scored fish yesterday on their way to Flinders Reef getting as far as Flora overnight. They released 3 from 4 marlin the biggest at 600lbs and also boated an 80lb yellow fin tuna for Anglers Gerry and Harry.

Also, a big thank you to Bill who sent this photo of his estimated 1200lb-er released on Moana. Bill also took the time to say hello to Capt. Jim at the Marlin Marina on his recent visit. Well done Bill and Capt. Dan on another great fish!

Also out in the wide blue yonder are the teams Wild Turkey, Pirate and Don't Ask Me who are in the midst of a 20-day trip out Willis Island way fly fishing. While (because of remote communication problems) I believe reports from the team have been few and far between, Wild Turkey reports that one of the anglers has caught a potential new World Record on Fly for a 77kg Dog Tooth Tuna on 15kg. Congrats team!

Look forward to new reports.

Kekoa headed out yesterday on a mammoth trek to the 'middle of the ocean' (or to Flinders Reef anyways). With seasoned Angler Gerry from Fort Lauderdale, FL on board, they are looking forward to catching a big variety of game fish, and maybe a marlin or two. Joining Gerry on the trip is Angler Harry who had success yesterday landing a 40lb Mahi Mahi (Dolphin Fish) which will be a feature on the dinner table later in the week.

This morning Capt. Luke and the team left early to continue their trek out to the wide blue yonder, and after emptying Capt. Jim's no longer needed bait stocks on board Reel Chase, are on their way to the Sea Mount to join Ultimate Lady who headed that way in the last few days. Should be reaching destination Flinders sometime tomorrow. Phone service is very lacking out there but we'll endeavor to keep you all on the Gerry and Harry team reading in Florida updated.

Reel Chase will head in this morning after a few quiet days on the marlin fishing side. The only report I have is of a fish on Sea Baby with many of the boats finished fishing now for the season. After dropping passengers off for their flights in Cairns and saying farewell to Deckie Brad who is off on a whirlwind trip home to Newcastle before heading to the states for Xmas, Capt. Jim, Deckie Wade and Wonder Girl Kirsty will be heading down here to Townsville before continuing down the coast next week.

The Reel Chase team started their last trip out of Cairns for the season fishing at Linden Bank from after lunch but didn’t see a marlin.

Our group of contractors from the Sunshine coast did however catch enough dolphin fish and wahoo to keep them busy. The only marlin Capt. Jim heard of to report was a 700lb-er on Kanahoee for Townsville's Greg Gilbert. At least half the fleet are in town now and the rest at Opal Ridge/Linden Bank however Reel Chase may move South to Jenny Louise shoal if the fishing stays slow this morning.

Thanks to everyone who sent me clippings of Alex's fish . We do get the Cairns paper at my office (though not until the following day) and so I was able to catch up on the reading myself. He's certainly a fantastic angler - this was his 97th Marlin - and I look forward to seeing what he gets up to next. Actually, I'm just waiting for the segment about his catch to come on Sunrise on TV just now.

Congrats Alex!

Another photo of Reel Chase backing in at sunset.

The fish are still biting with the whole of the fleet who are still fishing now congregated around the Linden Bank area as the dirty water has moved back in further north. Some big fish reported with Capt Dan and Bill on board Moana letting go another that was estimated well in excess of 1200lbs on Jenny Louise. Shakari was heading in yesterday with a big fish on board to weigh for a potential junior world record. On the bank, reports of fish also for Viking and Sir Reel. Hell Raiser caught three including a double header.

Meanwhile, Kekoa had another monster bite from a grander plus which came up with a group of fish including another estimated at about 800lb and four more in the 200-500lb range. Only the big girl bit, but she wasn't hooked quite well enough and got away after a 10 minute fight about 20ft from the leader.

Reel Chase heads out for their final Cairns season trip and as most of the boats have already finished or are very close to doing so, our updates will also be winding down. Please expect sporadic updates over the next few weeks and once the boat is home on the Gold Coast we will be putting together photo albums of the season and hopefully some DVDs of our video footage too. I will let you know when those are ready.

Reel Chase caught Scott the big one, unfortunately it wasn't a marlin but an 800lb bull whaler shark which pulled the hook on the leader at the back of the boat. Fishing quietened somewhat on the Bank yesterday although Moana with Bill on board caught a 900lb-er and Joe-Joe a 600lb-er. A couple of other little ones were reported for boats including Kekoa who found the fish off St Crispins in the same spot we had success for Andrew and Paul last week.

I also have a photo to share courtesy of Dean Butler taken from nearby Allure when he was on board recently of Kekoa's first grander of the season. It is a fabulous photo, thanks Dean(!), and looks deceivingly as though the fish is jumping at the front of the boat.

Well the team on Reel Chase all saw how excited Scott was catching his first Black marlin on Wednesday. Yesterday he hit overdrive catching 3 for the day - all small but a very exciting day. The smaller males seem to be staking out the good spots along the reef including Linden Bank for another spawning run before the full moon on Dec 5. Today the team want to catch Scott a big one so his dreams have all come true in one trip.

As usual the small fish have been hard to hook. Aside from the three tagged, Capt. Jim raised another 3 fish without result.

Also on the Bank, Scott on Kamari caught 4 including a 900lb-er, Iona caught 2, Moana 1 and most boats had several encounters.

Reel Chase were also joined in the anchorage last night by several boats from further North who reported dirty water and a fierce barracuda population making fishing up there near impossible.

Back on Reel Chase, Scott and Merideth from Tulsa joined us for 3 days fishing at Linden Bank and although the weather has improved it still remains sloppy. Scott who has mainly fished freshwater, started the day well by providing fresh Mahi Mahi fillets for dinner.

Shortly after lunch, a small marlin tried his very best to eat the 15lb Spanish mackerel out for bait. Despite a small scad also on offer he had several goes at the mackerel before the boys managed to give him a decent fright. And so the team went back to trolling and wondering if that was it for the day. Also at the bank Don’t Ask Me caught another “big one”, Kajiki one about 500lb-er and Pirate also a small one.

Just as 6pm passed Reel Chase had a lightning bite on the scad and Scott was on to his first Black Marlin, an active 150lb-er who put up a great fight for his size and finished the day on a high for a fishermen who's previous best were 10lb carp and 30lb salmon.

Futher up north, the fishing slowed with Calypso catching 2 at Number 5 Ribbon and all boats suffering massive bait shortages thanks to the Barracudas. Kekoa caught a small one at Number 8 but reported dirty water moving back in.

Pictures of Scotts active fish and the happy angler. Great job Scott - bet you have the marlin bug now!

Though I'm now home on dry land. Doh!

Reports from Bobby Jones on Fascination II on Linden Bank yesterday indicate the fish are still there. Fascination released one as did most of the other 6 or so boats fishing there for the day.

Up North, Kanahoee have re-discovered the fish on Number 10. Venturing north and away from most of the fleet Capt. Dave tagged three on Monday and another yesterday proving the fish are still spread along the length of the reef. Reel Chase is heading out this morning from Cairns to the Bank with Scott and Meredith on board for the next three days. Capt. Jim reported the wind has eased a little down south although it's raining! (You can't win!) Also, Moana is heading out today with regular reader Bill on board after a couple of extra days in port because of the weather. Will hopefully have an update tomorrow on their first day out on this trip as well.

Meanwhile Kekoa heads out from Cooktown. Hopefully some good reports and photos to come tomorrow. In the meantime, some more pics from my trip out and fishing on Saturday.

Above, Allure and fish almost lost in the big waves. Below, some still captures of Paul's 700lb-er released from my again, very damp hand cam.

Its good to know all the hard work and long hours in very trying conditions eventually pays off. For the team on Reel Chase, after suffering two days of no tags in 3 to 5 metre seas and 30 knot winds, the group from the Heart Foundation Auction in Adelaide proved what tough salts they were by tagging two - a 400lb-er for Chris and a pretty 150lb-er for Graham.

On board Kekoa, we also found the fish on Number 5 Ribbon from the day before and were kept busy with a number of majestic bites from big fish before releasing an 1100lb-er for Angler Paul which marks the brand new Kekoa's second grander in two trips.

The ferocious razor gang of Number 5 kept our Kiwi deckie Jerry (Jeremy) very busy going through nearly twenty baits for the day. When it wasn't the wahoo or barracuda's it was the big marlins. A particularly spectacular bite, which the whole boat saw, gave Andrew a quick but strenuous five minute fight on a grander before pulling the hook. The baits were barely back in the water when Capt. Luke brought the boat back over the same water and this time an even bigger fish came up, swallowed the freshly rigged tuna and Paul was on.

Photo top: Andrew steers the chair for Paul; above: Paul's 1100lb-er shows it's fat back
beside the boat and on the leader for Jerry with a very wash splattered lense.

After some early erratic jumping, the fish went deep for much of the fight. Capt. Luke kept us all in the cockpit nice and wet backing into the 3 metre waves with the line crackling off the reel under 70lbs of drag. Paul never let up and gave it all the fight he had eventually raising the fish after 40 minutes for a few lightening fast jumps at the back of the boat on the wire - giving us all a close up view of the monster.


Five o'clock came too soon and we headed into Cooktown for the end of our trip. We left Castille, Viking II and Tradition still working the hot bite and am sure that many were caught between the three for the day.

On both Kekoa and Reel Chase, despite the appalling weather conditions the enthusiasm level even amazed Capt. Jim and Capt. Luke and every angler was keen to go each morning.

Reel Chase, fishing the bank with 4 other boats found an improvement from the past 2 days with just Sir Reel for company, and a number of fish were caught but not as many as further North on 5 where we were.

Reel Chase is in Cairns, Kekoa in Cooktown, both are out again Wednesday.

This photo of Grahams 150lb-er beside the Reel Chase.

Not sure why they didn't come out before but here are pictures of Paul and Andrew's three fish from Saturday on board Kekoa.

Photos: Paul, then Andrew's 'warm up' fish, estimated both at 250lbs released.


Paul's 700lb-er with some amazing air at the back of the boat and Deckie Jerry up close on the wire.

With even the weather behind the reef being rough and rocky, instead of an overnight raft-up, we opted to visit with the team on Reel Chase for an hour or two in the morning. Was nice to have a chat with the guys and to ogle some photos.

Commitments back in Cooktown meant Kekoa soon headed north again, bait fishing our way up to Escape Reef netting a few Spanish Mackeral and tuna for our efforts. When we could put it off no longer, we headed out from behind the reef to the wind, rain and waves, seeing nothing until we approached Number 4 Ribbon and better water again. As we got closer we heard about some action on Number 5 where we will be fishing today - Viking II released 4 from 9 bites finishing off with an 850lb-er.

Back on Linden Bank, Sir Reel caught two small fish with Capt. Laurie surprised to find himself fishing all alone on the bank on November 19. Reel Chase fished Opal Ridge where they had bites the day before without luck.

I've added quite a number of bruises to my collection in this weather and will be glad for a break when we head into Cooktown tonight. See photo for an effort to show you just how rough it's been. I will put up yesterday's tag photos when we are back in town.

The bite was quieter on Linden Bank yesterday with only a few fish recorded. Kekoa made the move slightly north, thankfully a nice down sea troll for us, and found the fish off of St. Crispins. We released a 250lb-er for Paul shortly followed by a very similar fish for Andrew, which the guys now fondly refer to as their warm up fish. As we were joined mid afternoon by Reel Chase who had a few bites and spotted quite a number of tailers on the waves, we hooked up on a nice 700lb-er for Paul to put his warm up to good use. After quite a few spectacular jumps at the back of the boat, she was released too. Despite having another nice fish following the baits for quite a while she headed away, just not hungry. Our three for the day left us in good spirits despite the weather which continues to blow with gusts to 30 knots.

Sir Reel and Diamond Girl both caught one each for the day.

Deano on the Castille spent the last few days in Port Douglas.... playing golf. Speaking to him a few moments ago, he's just about to tee off again this morning. Nice for some :-)

With wind gusts reaching 30 knots on the bank yesterday it wasn't a great place to be - but for most boats, the fishing made it pretty bearable.

Reel Chase did not make it out of Cairns Marina with the late arrival of clients which meant a nice calm afternoon for them While here on Kekoa, we put our brave faces on against the weather (and held up pretty good I might add) only to watch what seemed to be the rest of the fleet hooking up while we trolled through the middle. In a calmer day, I would have had some great photo opportunities. As it was, I could still manage a couple of beauties including this one of Calypso chasing fish in full flight (which unfortunately snapped off very soon after.)

Also on the bank, Iona and Moana both successfully released fish on double headers, one each of which was a big fish while other boats with two for the day included Sir Reel, Allure, Calypso and Diamond Girl, a mix of bigger and smaller fish while Balek released one over a grand.

With the still strong wind cleaning up the water we're expecting the fishing to continue to be good today. But the weather....!!

With almost no wind for most of the day, Thursday was a scorcher. Today dawns with a round of strong wind warnings on the forecast. It hasn't hit us yet - we'll see how that goes.

Heading out from Cooktown yesterday Kekoa fished south to overnight at Opal and although we marked a number of big marlin it was the tuna fishing that was the better of the day.

Fishing being as fickle as the weather lately it was lucky for Reel Chase on their 2 day charter which brought them back on the positive swing. The season average is about one fish per day and on this 2 day trip the team managed 3 fish thanks to Rod’s 800lb-er tagged yesterday. Trolling Linden Bank with a bunch of boats Capt. Jim watched Tim on Calypso catch 2 beauties, Tim on Little Audrey battling another good sized fish and wondered if the J’s were being bypassed today when they got the bite 20 minutes before heading into Cairns. After Reel Chase left Wild Turkey, Reel Ripe and Diamond Girl all caught fish.

Not many reports from futher north except Kanahoee caught an 800lb-er for Anthony at Number 2 Ribbon in fairly poor water which hopefully will improve with the forecast strong SE winds due today. Reel Chase will be back out this afternoon fishing to Opal in what may be downhill fishing for the next few days.

Yesterday Reel Chase left Cooktown with their new charter and headed for Number 1 Ribbon where most of the Northern fleet were discussing how to anchor for the night with 20 knot NW winds. They sailed down sea and shortly after lunch Capt. Jim nearly fell off his perch at the sight of 2 marlin fighting over the little Queenfish. Lucky for the team, the bigger one snatched the prize and they were on for a 40 minute battle for Tony from Melbourne whose previous bigest fish was a 1 kg flathead. A 900lb Cairns Black Marlin was tagged to fight another day.

Later in the day as Reel Chase approached St Crispins Reef, Gary quickly tagged a smaller 200lber and had bites from 2 other small fish that failed to hookup.

Capt Ben on the Wild Turkey tagged 2 on Linden Bank in what was fast becoming a horrible day with NW winds hitting 25knots and short sharp choppy seas, Brian on INYA Dreams released another big fish on Number 1 along with Seababy and Allure who completed the action at sea before all the action at anchor. Reel Chase stayed behind North Opal but were afforded little protection from the reef and suffered one of the worst nights at anchor this season. Bring on Cairns tonight.

Meanwhile Kekoa is heading out today with Paul and Andrew from SE Qld (and me!) on board. Will let you know how we go.

With a lot of boats in Cooktown for changeover, the talk was all about going out wide in search of tuna aggregations and marlin after a very quiet few day on the Ribbons. Allure caught a 60lb-er which must have decided on a northern migration from Cape Bowling Green and quite a few boats will be heading south toward Linden Bank this morning including Reel Chase to hopefully catch up with the fish on the good bait schools which will should be there in this calm weather.

On Linden yesterday, Sweat and Tears saw some action catching a small one and loosing a big one after a fight. For you Bill, Moana is currently suffering the same fate as the rest of the fleet and fished out wide in the morning before heading into Escape yesterday afternoon.

I have one more day in Cooktown before heading out with the team on Kekoa tomorrow. I'm still having internet issues so unsure how I will go from posting out there. Fortunately with Reel Chase in overnight I could get online again today.

Picture of Reel Chase as she came into Cooktown on changeover yesterday.

Reel Chase is anchored at Number 3 Ribbon with no phone service but good internet  - go figure(!) With not much to report for yesterday Capt. Jim fears they must have picked up a discarded monkey traveling into Chooktown on the last trip and will try to shake it off on the way in today.

Hattitude, returning to the middle Ribbons after some time off, had several bites and caught a feisty 400lb-er on Number 4 that thought it might like to catch a ride on Viking II as it trolled past, jumping up and into Viking's bow (bending the bow rail in the process.) They also went on to hook a large fish which came to an unfortunate end after an hour fight. Viking also released a nice fish on Number 4 which about the limit of the action to report.

Weather is flat calm, wind probably Northerly by this arvo and HOT!

On Sunday, Reel Chase tagged this 400lb-er for 17 year old Angler Danny on a live tuna at Number 7 Ribbon. It looked good there with lots of tuna and nice water. While certainly not young veteran Danny's first marlin, it is certainly his biggest so far! Let's hope the boys can hook an even bigger one for him.

However, like Reel Chase, most boats managed just a single fish on what was really a slow day with boats spread the full length of the Ribbon Reefs.

I am heading up north again to Cooktown today. I believe that I have the internet sorted to keep daily updates going while I'm away. But, if not and if nothing new appears here in my absence, head back to the Reel Chase News page as I'm sure Annie D will try to keep you all up to date. I am back on Wed, Nov 22.

With fishing slow on Number 10, Number 5 Ribbon might be the place to be.

On 10, Inya Dreams tagged the only fish reported about 200lb while the other boats fishing up there, Don't Ask Me, Viking II and Reel Chase were zip for the day (but good GT fishing I hear). Hayden on Don't Ask Me commented the water quality at 10 is poor which may lead some of the boats including Reel Chase to head south today.

Meanwhile back at Number 5, (this one's for you Bill!) Moana tagged a 800lb-er about lunch time and the afternoon bite came on for Capt. Luke on Kekoa when they jumped off an 800lb-er. Then, even later at just before 6pm, Capt. Luke marked three fish together, a big girl and two smaller fish. Finally, the one they wanted took the bait in what I was told was a pretty weak bite on the surface and they were on! About 40 minutes later they tagged their first grander for the brand new 47" O'Brien, an estimated 1100lb-er for Cameron from the Sunny Coast leaving them just enough time to get into the anchorage before dark.

Close by on Number 6, Kanahoee caught an estimated 950lb-er confirming the bite is better in the middle Ribbons right now.

And for Micheal, yes the fish (Thur) was tagged after about a 1hr 40 minute fight that Laurie estimated at 'well in excess of a 1000lb'. :-)

And for anyone who's noticed, in preparation for my trip north tomorrow where the internet connectivity will be slow at best, I've shortened the number of entries on the main page to make it a quicker load. If your story is now gone from this page. Not to worry, it's still here! Just browse the archives by month/category in the navigation on the LHS (Sept 06, Oct 06, Nov 06 etc.)

Reel Chase had a great morning catching GT’s on the way out to Number 7 but although the weather was flat calm the team only had 2 bites from small fish on the scaley - no hookups.

Calvin Tilley, doing a short stint at the wheel of private Riviera Sweat and Tears, had the best day with a 900lber at Number 6 and an even bigger one at Number 5. Sparrow caught 2 on Number 10 while most of the few boats left up there caught zip.

Laurie on Sir Reel confirmed his fish, that we mentioned yesterday, was indeed a donkey on both counts - BIG and stubborn. Also great to see legendary skipper Peter Wright back on the reef this week driving Iona. Maybe he can produce a fish bigger than his Aus record of 1440lb caught back in 1973 for Micheal MacGrath.

I have received some great photos from Harry fishing on Moana last week including these two beauties of Jo's 950lb-er jumping at the back of Reel Chase. Also the pictures of their great fish at the back of Moana on the wire and backing down in the chase and in the chair (with RC in the background). Originally Moana had hooked up first and Capt. Jim was trolling Reel Chase over to take a photo when this one came up for Jo - so we ended up with the photos the other way round!

Wish I was there. (okay, so I will be next week but more about that on Monday :-) Harry - these are such great shots. Thanks for sharing!

Alas our charter with our Exmouth friends has come to an end - great company, fantastic weather and good fishing! The team on board Reel Chase ended this trip with 10 fish tagged including 2 over 900lb in the 6 days. The final fish yesterday was a 450lber for Kurt on a live bait 15 minutes before heading into Cooktown.

Overall the fishing yesterday was patchy with Castille doing well with 3. Capt Laurie battled a monster at the top of Number 7 Ribbon, the RC team gave up waiting even for a look (but I do think they tagged it after a long fight) and Kekoa reporting 2 lazy bites from big fish on Number 10 but no tags.

Today we head back to the middle for some more live baiting in glassy conditions, can’t get enough of this weather.

Photos of Kurt's 450lb-er giving our livey a hell of a ride.

Not much to report from yesterday though Capt. Jim saw a bunch of fish on the Marks (the shoal area half way along Number 10 Ribbon) the team on Reel Chase had 2 bites but no hookups. One fish broke the scaley in half with its bill and then swam away while the other came up from a group Capt. Jim marked on the sonar, pulled the scaley out and followed it to the boat as a cheeky barracuda swam up chewed the tail off and the marlin just sat there watching. Then 3 of his mates turned up, flashed their colours at him and he took off to join their party.

Elsewhere, Castille weighed a 1040lber on the bottom of 10, Don’t Ask Me caught another donkey and down on Number 5 Kanahoee caught 3 including an 850lb-er.

Reel Chase is heading South this morning and into Cooktown this afternoon to finish what has been one of our best weeks on the reef with Kurt and Jo from Exmouth, two of the nicest people you could ever go fishing with.

Here's some pictures from Capt. Luke on Kekoa from their last trip out partnering with Sir Reel on Mothership The Boss. Thanks to the boys and Angler John Gill from the UK for these shots. First one is 19 year old Angler Chris battling his first big black estimated at 800lbs. As for the second, those of us here in Townsville are happy to see Deckie John on the wire of a big fish in this shot. Go John!

Having a touch of trouble this morning with service from No Name Reef but finally a report for you.

The fishing is continuing to be steady with fish all along the Ribbons. Reel Chase fished Number 10 up to No Name and had 3 bites, tagging these 2. Another 900lb-er for Kurt at the Mudhole and a small one at Heartbreak. The fish were marking all afternoon on the sonar but no late bites like Smithy's the day before (Capt. Jim had wondered were he got to!)

The boats fishing the bottom of 10 also did well with Fascination 2, Don’t Ask Me and Allure netting big ones, further south Shaka raised 7 for 3 bites and 0 tags on 8, and Kekoa and Sir Reel both tagged a 900lb-er each on 7.

Today the team will do the Cod hole and will continue back to Number 9.

As Capt. Jim expected, the day after the full moon slowed considerably, except for a few boats who still are enjoying one of the best runs in recent seasons.

Inya Dreams with the ex-Kanahoee combination of PC and Brian Felton continued the Big Fish Week and Sir Reel and Kekoa managed 2 fish each to 600lb while Graham on Inkawzi dropped the monkey from his back (somewhere along Number 10), by catching 2 before lunch including a 900lb-er.

Capt. Jim spent most of the day trying to avoid said monkey and the team finished the day with just one smaller black on live bait before lunch.

Photo is Kurts small black and another fish of the day, too big for bait.

Indications are that the bite slowed down south as Kiwi boat Ultimate Lady made the long trip back north to Number 10 from Opal Reef and Shaka also gave up the mortgage on Number 5 and joined the rest of the fleet on Number 10. Even Smithy in his little Haines was mixing it with the fleet though Capt. Jim's not sure how he went as he was one of the few still fishing when they gave it away at 6.20 pm.

Sometimes you can have more than one good day!

Not expecting one certainly helps and so yesterday started slow finally raising a fish that followed the bait but disappeared when Reel Chase got mixed up in a traffic jam(!) Another pass over the area and a big strike on the scaley - a nice 650lb-er tagged for Kurt. Ten minutes later a 700lb-er jumped off and the day was looking better.

It had already started well with a social call on Inya Dreams and some successful bait fishing; the big mackerel Jo caught being a little too big at 28.4 kg. By the end of the day we had tagged 3 again; a 400lb-er and a baby 150lb at 6.00 pm.

Yes, it's hard to get a good shot of a big fish in the water at the back of the boat!

All around us boats were fighting good fish at the Marks and further South on Number 10. Inya Dreams released a fish Brian described as 'as big as the one weighed the day before' and Capt. Luke on Kekoa released 2.4 granders being 950, 850 and 600 lbs, a big effort and a very busy day.

Tiger on Mistress with Barry wanted to gaff a really big one and despite catching 2 impressive fish after hard fights, chose to release and wait for the monster that will surely show up soon. Capt. Luke saw said monster briefly but it didn’t stay tight and Deano on Castille said the 3rd fish he released on Saturday was the biggest fish he’d ever caught - and that’s from a guy whose been here 20 years this season! Hopefully a photo is on the way.

Jo and Kurt's smaller fish on a another 3 tag day on board Reel Chase

At one stage the 15 to 20 boats were starting to thin out with Fascination 2, Allure, Reel Ripe, Kekoa and Mistress all just dots on the horizon heading East on the pursuit of hot fish. It will be interesting to see if the bites slows today after the Full Moon last night, however Capt. Jim has a feeling it is still building into what could be huge by this weekend as we move into neap tides and another big aggregation.

Kekoa heading out to sea with fish (photo Capt. Jim in the tower) and Jo's mackerel, a bit too big for bait ;-)

Sometimes you make the right decision and yesterday was one of those. After hearing all the hype about the Bank going off, Capt. Jim decided to go with his instincts and return to Number 10 Ribbon mainly because of the huge numbers of fish we have been marking.

With our new charter from Exmouth on board Reel Chase, the team ran all the way to the bottom of Number 9 and headed up to Number 10. A small fish knocked the big scaley down just after lunch, but no hook up. Seeing Moana on a nice fish, Capt. Jim went to troll around behind for some photos when the scaley disappeared into a big hole and Jo was on to her first BIG Cairns Marlin! A good 10 minute fight, most of which was in the air, and the tag went in on the estimated 950lb-er (photos below).

No sooner had the baits gone in the water again and we were on this time for Kurt, a nice 400lber (Kurt's fish below).

After another 3 unsucessful bites the team headed to the anchorage only to come across Allure battling a estimated 850lb-er on 50lb, which they eventually tagged at 7.30 pm for Captain Midnight. While watching the show, Sea Baby IV hooked up along side us and we got a very close look at their nice 900lber as she nearly jumped into our cockpit.

With all this going on we had to get lucky and sure enough a frisky 200lb-er was quickly on for Kurt, also doing a good job at trying to jump in the boat. So that was our day 3 from 7 - not bad when you think its slowing down!

Photo below of another frisky small fish that kept playing with the bait, eat and spit (repeat) without hooking up and Kurt's second for the day, a 200lb-er heading into the tag pole.

Around Reel Chase, Deano on Castille was also 3 for the day with the small one going 900lb. And the others just plain BIG. Moana also caught at least 3 big ones and most of the boats reported good action on the big girls. Veteran Sydney Angler Robert Curry weighed an 1108lb-er on Inya Dreams in the same area. And The Crazy Horse, the 20ft tender to mothership Atlantic Princess with the AP crew on board, hooked up the monster on 50lb - disadvantaged with not enough line, the fish went over the horizon taking it all with her!

Ben on Wild Turkey caught 1 on Linden Bank but described the fishing as fairly slow. Hopefully today continues with plenty of action.
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I had a hard time deciding which photos to use for this post and with the big number that Capt. Jim sent me, a hard time captioning them too, but I think I got it right. Our guests Jo and Kurt have taken heaps of fabulous shots. Thank you for sharing those with us - gotta love a canon! Other photos from crew Ms. Kirsty P - stills from Deckie Wade's vidoe camera which we can't wait to see. Click here to see the full report including the other photos that I had to choose from and you'll see how difficult it was!

As Reel Chase headed in early yesterday to Cooktown on changeover, Capt. Jim has handed the reporting reigns for the day over to Capt. Luke on Kekoa who finished the day on a high, a late bite just on 6pm netting an 800lb-er for 19 year old angler Chris in a fantastic effort!

Fishing this week with fellow 47' O'Brien Sir Reel off mothership The Boss, the fathers and sons teams from the UK have been seeing a fair bit of action and watching from Sir Reel, I hear Chris' father got some good footage of the fight. They certainly had a lot of action themselves for the day finishing with three tags, at least two of which were estimated at the 800lb mark. They also managed two hook-ups on rare Thresher Sharks and fought one for 20 minutes, getting it close to the boat when it unfortunately bit through the leader.

Moana caught another big one in the AM making their tally two big ones in two days and Hayden on Don't Ask Me caught two large fish as well.

Reports are that it has been slow down on the middle Ribbons and this may have sparked the massive exodus of boats from Number 5 to Linden Bank where the fishing may be hotting up once again. Capt. Luke and other boats on 10, including Reel Chase returning to 10 today, have no plans to move just yet with at least half a dozen big ones caught, the fishing is still good there. Ultimate Lady has moved out to the SeaMount and caught one there yesterday. It's good to see the kiwi boys covering ground!

Yesterday was definately one of our luckier days for the 2006 season. After leaving the anchorage at Number 9 Ribbon Reel Chase ran into a hot bite in the baitfishing department, managing 10 scalies and 5 tuna in a short while. This is good for our very low bait stocks. Choosing to use the tuna while they were still alive the decision was made to stay in the area and fish at Number 10 again.

While it started slow, it soon paid off with a couple of bites and finishing up on the bottom of Number 10 with two tags. A 500lb-er for Simon and a smaller 200lb-er for Peter.

In the same area Sir Reel also caught 2 and Alure battled a nice fish on the 50lb test they have been fishing of late. Tradition let one go estimated at 900lb at 2nd corner while Facination 2 caught one in the same area. Kanahoee fished wide out to 30 mile looking for the Tuna but had no luck while Brian on Inya Dreams returned to his favourite Flannery Plateau after every one left and caught a small fish.

For Andrei back in Russia; Capt. Jim say they all missed seeing your Russian Team at Lizard this year and Daniel passes on his regards. Moana has had a quiet week after catching a couple of big ones, but yesterday turned it around weighing an 830lber that had died during the fight. Yesterday was his first day of a new charter and he fished on Number 8.

The photos are of both fish about to be released.

Today wil be a short one fishing South and into Cooktown by 5.00 pm.

I can't even try to match the pictures from yesterday after a particularly slow day on the reef. The only fish report that I have is a small one on Kekoa late in the day. The boats are all still reporting that they are marking and seeing fish and the good news is that they are big fish, but unfortunately these did not translate into hookups and tags yesterday.

The other good news is that the calm weather is finally continuing for more than a few days (and its about time!) but the skippers think this has some impact on the fishing as well. Of course noone is hoping for a return of the wind! Reel Chase is heading down the Ribbons from 10 today to Number 7 and perhaps down to Number 5. Capt. Jim is on the case for a picture of Square Bear for you Rob. In the meatime, perhaps you'll enjoy this one that I took during the Townsville Tournament of Square Bear with a small black at the back of the boat on what I remember was a great day of fishing!

The Black Marlin Fishing Blog is over 20,000 visits old! I'm so excited about that. Thank you all for reading. Hopefully it's going to keep getting better and better.

Report: At 4.30 yesterday Capt. Jim thought their decision to move back to # 10 ribbon was about to pay off having just tagged 2 from 3 bites including an 800lb-er for David and a small one for Peter. Unfortunately that’s where it ended though and the late 6pm bite of the last few days didn’t eventuate. Still two fish for the Scott's was a good day!

Further down the reef at Escape the Wild Turkey with Capt. Ben at the wheel boated an estimated 1050lb-er and an unconfirmed report had another fish weighed on Square Bear with Sparrow on the wheel.

Shaka at # 6 Ribbon caught an estimated 1100lb-er well inside the reef. After hooking up outside # 6 the fish swam through the opening and after an hour plus fight was tagged several miles to the West. This reminded Capt. Jim of a similar story 20 plus years ago when he first came to Lizard Island when the legendary Keith on Kalimah hooked the 1100lb-er outside Day Reef and fought it for 6 hours sinking the gaffs at midnight only 2 miles from Lizard Island.

Most boats reported a quiet day with Kanahoee seeing a lot of fish on Number 9 but only catching a small one. The reason Number 10 had so few boats was a big turn around in Cooktown last night and the big party on the mothership Pheonix hosted by regular visitors Don and Mike at Number 9.

Photos of Tradition, mystery visitor last night and Davids fish being released.

I also have some photos courtesy of Capt. Luke on Kekoa from their new underwater cam. The first is a 700lb-er and the second a 300lb-er and you can see it actually taking the bait. Capt. Luke has lots of great footage from underwater that hopefully everyone will have a chance to see at the end of the season.