Quick Thursday update: Gary and team have landed a 19.2kg Yellowfin Tuna on 3kg which is a potential Australian Record. This record has stood for a long time, being set by Ivan Quartermaine in 1973! Congrats guys - will keep you all posted!

The boys on Kekoa also found the Blues again returning to the Cape for 3 strikes and 2 hookups - again on the 3kg - getting smoked eventually by both fish. The second fish was brought in quite close to the boat, just outside of leader range, before it bolted off again.

Wednesday saw the team on Reel Chase joining Kekoa back down this way off the GC and with visitors from Sydney on board and once again the weather turned it on. Another glamour day for Anzac Day Wednesday.

The fishing wasn't too bad either with one Blue Marlin released for Capt Jim and team as well as a Dolphin Fish and a Yellowfin Tuna also landed.

First of all, I hear that some of you are having trouble with the video but some are not. Go figure! But anyway, I have uploaded to YouTube so you all should be able get it to play now. You can see it here .

As for the fishing on the weekend - If nothing else the weather was as good as it gets. So far the 'hunt' remains ongoing. A solid bite on Saturday resulted in short but exciting fight before the fish broke the light line. Sunday, more bites but not so hungry fish. And Monday, not so much at all.

The Mooloolaba GFC Tournament on the weekend had the radio crackling from early with hook-ups galore, all North of Cape Morton so we headed in that general direction though not making it that far on Saturday. Fishing alongside Tradition, we found the much talked about whale carcass mid afternoon. Again, some frisky dolphin fish on the light line gave us some entertainment for a while (and just the one Box Head at that stage although we hear the Whites turned up the next day as it drifted closer to shore.) Almost time to call it a day and Tradition found a late bite releasing a Stripey and a Blue just north of our position before joining us behind Moreton Island for the night.


On Sunday we joined some of the tournament fleet off the Cape where they had a good number of bites the day before. It started well switching two fish on the 6lb early but failed to hook either. And then it went a bit quiet. Some boats still managed a number of fish for the day, including Soulmate who we believe finished the day with four. We found another late bite courtesy of joining Smithy and crew on Ymer a little wider out, but again, no hookup.

Congrats to all the boat who fished in the tournament, it sounds like you had a whale of a time (hee hee).



On Monday, Capt. Luke turned around and headed back the way he came, to follow up on his initial plans to head just south of the border. Fishing all the way down the coast today, they should be fishing from the Tweed south to Ballina tomorrow and are looking forward to finding them again. Reports from the boats out off the coast here on Monday were that there are some around, so we're hoping to find the main pack. Commiserations to Capt. Tim on Calypso after a mammoth 6 hour battle with an estimated 800lb+ Blue on 80lb off Pt. Stephens Sunday ended in heartache. The bite continues down that way as well so we never know where the boys will end up. Capt. Jim is out again later in the week so we're looking forward to another update from Reel Chase as well.

The bite we talked about from Monday's trip is available to view, click here or on the picture. See the Blue Marlin get clear of the water with the bait firmly in its mouth after being switched off the teaser.

Thanks to Brendan who did a great job of having the camera pointing the right direction at the right time. Hey, wait a second, weren't you the angler? ;-)

Kekoa heads out again tomorrow with well known international light-tackle Angler Gary Carter on board. Gary joins the crew for the next 17 days, chasing (light-tackle) Blue Marlin records. I'm joining the boys again tomorrow so will hopefully have an update with pictures on Monday.

The weather has behaved and I hear there will be some other boats joining us so am looking forward to another weekend on the water!

Tournament entry is updated (finally - sorry!) below.

After being on the Coast for the bad weather period and having an exciting weekend at the tournament, it didn’t take much to convince Brendan to once again change his flights and stay around for one last day's fishing.

And it turned out to be a pretty good decision.

Heading back to the strike zone of the previous day with no other boats this time for company, the weather was glamour and fish showed up again. It wasn't long before the first bite, an est 500 lb-er failed to hook-up on the short rigger. The team on Kekoa did manage to raise him again on the teaser for an opportunity on the pitch bait and he eluded that hook as well. Another bite from a small fish on the long rigger soon followed but it was the third bite of the day that provided the most action. I'm promised video of this is not far away and that it is a sight to see. An estimated 650+ lb beauty, switched off the teaser and onto the 50lb stand up (giving Brendan quick flashbacks). With perfect vision, we could see the fish's every move as it eyed off the bait. A couple of misses got the fish fired up. When it did eat the bait it sky rocketed completely out of the water with our bait t-boned in its mouth - all captured on video (to come.) Unfortunately the hook failed to hit its mark and it was 3-zip for the day.

Luckily, on the way in for his flight, a copy-book switch found Brendan hooked and another Blue was released shortly after with a Satellite tag to show his friends. We look forward to any info Dr. Julian gets on this one in the future as well.

Many thanks to Brad for hanging around to help out on the deck. Good luck with the trip bringing Sir Reel down the coast at the end of the week. Look forward to seeing the 'sister ship' on the coast.

Brendan's Blue Marlin on Day 2.

Although we also caught just the two Blue Marlin for the weekend, there was quite a bit of excitement - full brief of which I will have to update you with later today when there is more time. In the meantime some pics and final standings. First place with four Blue Marlin was the the team on board Rocky who came home swinging (<grin>) with three of their fish in the last hour and a half. Second was Amy D (two and field goals), third Graham's new charge Cabo 43 (two and field goals) and fourth Fascination, one (Black Marlin) and a field goal.

Update (More photos added): The Gold Coast GFC Heavy Tackle Tournament has been renamed the Cabo Classic for the next three years at least with Cabo Yatchs coming on board as major sponsor. The big news being that Graham McCoy, who we all know from fishing alongside Inkwazi, is now the Australian dealer for Cabo and has taken the helm of Cabo 43 (which we saw going backwards real fast a couple of times alongside us on Sunday!) This is good news and we wish him congrats and good luck with it all.

So the Cabo Classic got under way on Saturday with 32 boats fishing. Saturday still had a bit of wind in it from the past three weeks and the fishing was relatively slow with just (we believe) the six marlin released.

Although tag points were being awarded for other species (Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin and Wahoo) we snagged a Dolphin Fish early that was filleted and put on ice for dinner instead. At just before lunch on board Kekoa we had our first and only Blue up for the day with a quick bite on the teaser before it dropped back to eat the short rigger. Brendan showed his speed on the deck getting to the rod first as we released the fish a short 10 minutes later.

Brendan's Blue on Day one and a picture to end Moose's confusion. Hee hee.

Day two dawned with the weather we had been hoping to see. After a sailpast through the seaway, we headed back to our spot off Point Lookout and ran straight into a huge school of Dolphin fish with a few Wahoo thrown in for good measure. At one stage we had 6 Dolphin Fish lit up swimming under the teaser as Rick brought another in followed shortly after by a Wahoo. It was not too long after that Capt. Luke spotted a Blue on the right teaser and as Brendan dropped the pitch bait back to it, another one on the left teaser as well. The Blue followed the teaser all the way up to the boat before a classic bite on the pitch bait right at the transom. On the first jump we realized that this was a bigger fish and Brendan was in for a nice fight on the 50lb stand up.

Nearly two hours later, we had a tag in. The fish had put up a gallant fight but was not doing well so Capt. Luke make the decision to pull it on board. It weighed in at 440lbs - a great fish for Brendan on 50lb stand up.

Rocky had a fantastic afternoon tagging three Blues after lunch to secure their win with a total of four Blue Marlin to be outright winners. With radio problems for much of the weekend, it was only on the last sked that the report came in - fortunately one of their prizes included an electronics package! Congrats guys!

Kekoa headed out again Monday - but given I'm already a day slow with reports, will get that one out to you tomorrow.

The fish jumps away from Rick on the leader and is brought to the weighstation from Kekoa.

On the fishing front, not so much to report as the weather continues to keep us on shore as up to 30 knot Southerly's pound the coast daily. We went out in the little boat on the weekend, hiding in the canals to get some shelter from the wind and chasing Bream - but not such an exciting report for a marlin blog! Capt. Jim has left the coast on his annual vacation so it's up to us on board Kekoa for the weekend at the Gold Coast Heavy Tackle tournament to keep you up to date. The good news is the long range forecast shows promise at last (touch wood). The bad news is that it changes daily so who really knows.

On another note: if you have found your way here, you may have noticed a few things different to the usual so I will bring you up to speed.

1. Black Marlin Fishing Blog has new hosting. You can still find us at www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com but the back end hosting has changed to www.pelagicgear.net/bmfb . Mac users (like me) may have experienced an interruption of service from time to time and so hopefully the new arrangement solves that problem.

2. Pelagic Gear. I am very happy to let you all in on something that has been in the works for a little while and is now all systems go. Capt. Luke and myself, have taken over the reigns of Pelagic Gear Australia/NZ - am sure you all know the US offshore-lifestyle and fishing apparel brand - and we are super excited about bringing all the new and expanded products lines into the country. New lines include not only additions to the clothing range (like the ‘Open Water Series’ t-shirt - featuring electrifying graphics of lit-up marlin and tuna – in short- and long-sleeve, just in time for the cooler months!) but a new range of fishing accessories and technical apparel.

We hope you'll come by and visit from time to time at www.pelagicgear.net . We have photos, news updates and of course lots of t-shirts, shorts, jumpers, jackets, hats/caps, footwear and more.... like lure cases and gloves...

3. There's something different about it all. To celebrate all the changes I've done a little bit of a redesign. Some new photos for the banner (some of the recent pics - we have blue marlin as well as the usual black) that I took on recent trips, and a new box showing most recent comments. Lastly, I have added a column for advertisers (to help cover the cost of hosting. Our first adverstiser is, Pelagic Gear Aus/NZ - naturally). If you are interested in seeing yourself on the site contact me by email .

Lastly, we are really excited about getting back on the reef this year for the 2007 season. I will be back on board Reel Chase full time and we will have bigger and better reports, photos and this year, video!! Hope you are looking forward to that as much as I am. Thank you all so much for reading!