A lot of reports and lots of photos in today’s blog. Read all the way to the bottom – I assure you its worth it!

There were certainly some more big fish caught on the reef yesterday. Little Audrey headed out on the first day of a 5 day trip and found two big girls that Capt. Daniel Carlson put at 1000 and 1050lbs, as well as a smaller 200lb fish all within an hour of fishing. Capt. Dan says the fish only really did half jumps so no real good pics and that they also missed an estimated 700lb blue marlin and two other small black ending with 3 from 6. (Photo from brokenfoot Brady on deck with Jeff Hudson on the leader.)

Also having a great day, and topping off a few awesome days of fishing, Garry Holt’s Diversion also recorded three yesterday that they put at 1000, 800 and 150lbs. This makes the score 7-7-7 for these guys who seem to be on fire in the past three days. Garry says the other fish were 150, 250, 300 and 350lbs. Calvin Miller was the angler for the 800lb-er and son James “Fabio” Holt for the 1000. Garry sent me the above photos–thanks Garry!

I also managed a shot from a bit further away (you can see KEKOA in the background of photo up the top to get an idea of where we were.) The big lens works pretty good!

On KEKOA, as we were running in for the end of the trip, we moved further to the south and scored the last minute bite for Cas to put him on an individual 4 black marlin for the three days. After having some fun with the smaller fish on the previous days, this one put Cas through his paces and gave me a couple of good photo opportunities (2 photos above–lit up throughout the fight) before she was released after 30 minutes. Capt. Luke Fallon put her at a solid 850lbs.

Amokura was also fishing nearby and also had some luck after moving away. On the first day of a new trip they released that Capt. Chris Jolly put at 700lbs. And also starting a new trip on a high, Capt. Tim Dean on Calypso was straight into it releasing 2 from 2 at 250 and 350lbs.

Capt. Brett Alty on Mistress tells me yesterday was pretty slow compared to their previous day [ ] but they released another one yesterday about 500lbs. And Paul from Think Big sent me this picture from their fish that he put at 500lb tagged on Sunday. Thanks Paul!

Catching up: Capt. Brett Thomas on Gorilla sent me a round-up of his Cairns 2011 as he and the boat head for home (Sydney). Brett says they finished their season on Sunday with two from four – a small one and one at 800lbs for Paul Bandeira. They also released a 900lb-er for Dennis Webb earlier in the same trip as well as 4 other smaller fish. A great result for the five days.  Brett says their final numbers were a very impressive 20 fish in 22 days, with two weeks lost due to engine troubles, and includes 7 fish over 700lbs! Great stuff Brett, look forward to seeing you back on the reef next year!

We have the next two days off in town (after 7 weeks straight — yay!) and I’m hopefully going to be catching up on some footage so look out for that soon! We are back out again on Thursday so I’ll have to rely on others for photos until then!

The fish seemed to come on the bite yesterday and on KEKOA we made the most of it with four black marlin released including another big girl that Capt. Luke Fallon put at 900lbs for Chase. This is only Chase’s second black marlin ever, his first black marlin that he caught on the first day of the trip being 950lbs! Not bad for your first couple of black marlin — 950 and 900lbs! Richard also added another feisty smaller fish in the chair and Michael did the double, one in the chair and one on 50lb standup pitched to the fish while he was following the stinger. We also raised and had bites out of another couple of big fish.

Fishing at Lena Reef, Capt. Tim Richardson on Tradition also released a nice big fish that he put at 850-900lbs.

Boats fishing the Port Douglas Marlin Tournament saw a lot more action yesterday. Capt. Brett Alty on Mistress got things rolling with a fish early in the day ending up with two for Barry at 300 and 200lbs. Barry says the first fish was lassoed and the second ate a big scaly (he’s not sure how they hooked it but they did!) Amokura and Reel Impressions also tagged to get themselves on the scoreboard, while tournament leaders Kyrenia with Capt. Damon Crusdev tagged another to extend their lead, and there were many more hooked up and lost. Paul Poulter on his boat Think Big is fishing the tournament and raised a 200lb-er they couldn’t hook on Opal Ridge and then, just before cease fishing hooked up on a very big girl which unfortunately broke off on the leader after an hour’s fight. (Tournament standings below).

Also fishing the bank, Capt. Tim Dean on Calypso released one from a few bites and we saw Cool Runnings fighting one as well. [Update from Cool Runnings: Jye tells me they got a 750lb-er and a smaller fish yesterday as well as nice big sail. That puts them on 5 black marlin and a sail in three day. Top fishing!! ]  On his Bus Stop, Capt. Adam Jordan on Iona 2 also released one that he put at 250lbs (photo above and YouTube video).

At the Light, Little Audrey got a late start and released two in only an hour and a half’s fishing at 350 and 200lbs while nearby, Shaka realised a small one as well.

Capt. Damon Olsen’s Saltaire has been fishing the top for a little while now and made the move south in the last couple of days releasing one that he put at 600lbs at the bottom of Number 10 on Saturday and on at 500lbs on Number 7 on Sunday.

Port Douglas Marlin Challenge Results: Kyrenia is leading with three from Mistress with two and the following boats on one fish each, Joe Joe, Gorilla, Hellraiser, Reel Impression and Amokura.  Today is the last day of fishing. Good luck to all!

On the Gold Coast, a few more boats fished for the blue marlin on Sunday including Barco who went one from four. Vince tells me he heard of one other being caught and another boat pulling the hooks on two more. He says that there seems to be quite a few out there with a bit more size to them. Updated: More reports from the Gold Coast from Surfers Paradise GFC Club President Mat Stehmann. On Saturday, Murphys Law went 3-3-1 on marlin which was their first stripey about 100kg as well as two dolphin fish. Another Surfers Paradise GFC club boat Chaos went 2-2-2 on blue marlin yesterday also and reported both fish around the 120kg mark. Thanks Matt!

Meanwhile, the Findlay Brothers on Murrifin went out for an early season marlin fish off Broken Bay and ended the day with two from two striped marlin. How good is that!?

This is a good one and well worth reading all the way to the bottom!

800lb-er on Mistress for Johnno

It is looking promising again with a number of big black marlin reported along the reef yesterday, starting with Barry Alty’s Mistress who are fishing the Yorkey’s Knob Makaira Bullfight this weekend. Barry says they tagged one for Johnno at 800lb (photo above) and they then spent 2 hours with 75lbs of drag on fish that they put at well over 1200lbs.  As Barry says, technically they caught the fish but no tag for the comp as Johnno had the leader 4 times but they couldn’t get a tag shot in.  Barry says it was the biggest fish he’s seen in his many years on the reef! (They have two hours of footage to go through and we can’t wait to see it!)

Capt. Jared Weir’s Shaka also had a great day yesterday. Following up on an 800lb black marlin released on Friday, owner John Hendry gave his shoulder another workout yesterday with two fish that they put at 900lb and the second, over the mark!  John sent me another great couple of pics (below).

Big 1000lb black marlin for John on Shaka yesterday right on dusk.

An 800lb black marlin for John on Friday on Shaka

On Number 3 Ribbon, Capt. Craig “Sparra” Denham on Square Bear returned to his fish producing spot and released a fish that he put at 1100lbs from a number raised and missed including another about 800lb!

Also fishing in the lower Ribbons, Capt. Tim Dean on Calypso released a 700lb-er on 50lb stand up for Sultan from Coffs Harbour just after start fishing for the day and raised another big one that wouldn’t bite. Fishing nearby, Capt. Tim Richardson on Tradition released a smaller fish and raised another.

It was also good to see a couple of the private boats getting in on the action.  Capt. Simon Carosi on Brilliant Company released two big fish at Trinity Opening that he put at 500 and 950lbs!

A solid 700lb black marlin for Diversion

Another private boat, this time Garry Holt’s Diversion likewise released this cracker of a 700lb-er. They’ve put together a video clip on Youtube that’s well worth the watch.  Garry tells me they were fishing off Jenny Louise Shoal. I also heard they fought another big fish the day before losing it after 2.5 hours that would have been around the mark.

A 750lb black marlin for Jason on KEKOA

Up the top at Number 10 Ribbon, on KEKOA we enjoyed a more action packed day raising four and releasing a fat 750lb-er (above) for Jason and jumping off another fish that Capt. Luke put at 900lbs.

And I also heard from Jude that Bill Collector realised a smaller black on Opal Ridge yesterday as well. Thanks Jude!
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Text Messages: I don’t have any phone service so if you’ve sent me a report via text message, I apologise as I haven’t seen it yet!
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Halloween at the Marlin Bar (Lizard Island)
Peter tells me the marlin bar will be open to all for the annual Halloween Party on Monday 31st October from 5pm.  All are welcome. Get your costumes on!!

Following up from his big fish day Sunday (Capt. Tim Dean has officially called Billy Red’s fish over the mark), fishing again at Linden Bank, the team on Calypso put angler Zac onto another big girl yesterday. This one Capt. Tim put at 850lbs. Tim says that Zac has been fishing with him now for 6 years and this is the biggest fish for him so far, although his fishing companions have released a grander every year so far. They have also released another 4 smaller fish on the trip.

Also fishing at the southern end of the reef, Cool Runnings released another fish they put at 350lbs. As for up the reef along the Ribbons, it was a very quiet day with the dirty water pushing all the way through up to Number 10. Hopefully today is a better day!

The popper fishing has been pretty good along the outer edge of the reef now that the weather is more friendly — good sized GTs.  Capt. Dean Beech on Castille III got some really nice ones at Day Reef yesterday, but the photo of the day today is of a missed fish.  See the bait go sailing!

Issue 88 of BlueWater magazine comes up for sale next week. This is special bluefin tuna issue as Tim Simpson traveled to Novia Scotia for the bluefin season this year. Tim says what he encountered exceeded his wildest dreams (the issue also includes details on a planned readers trip for 2012).

Many Cairns regulars, including the great Billy Boyle (who will be fishing on the reef later this season on Allure with Capt. Darren “Biggles” Hayden), also made the trek to Nova Scotia this year. Our (KEKOA) own Jarad “Dingo” Boshammer, who when he is not on the reef at this time of year, is based out of Florida, made his first trip to the north this year.

Dingo says it was truly a privilege to go up there and experience it. He was fishing with Capt. AJ Francis on Fisher’s Grant and for the week they were there released 10 giant bluefin at 500, 700, 800 (x2), 900 as well as 4 over a 1000 including a 1200lb-er!

Also, while you’re reading the next issue, check out the article by little ol’ me about the Lizard Island giant black marlin experience.

A catch up report from Capt. Jared Weir on Shaka who’s been fishing in the middle for the past few days with some communication issues, they’ve been plugging away steadily with two fish on Thursday and one the day before. Capt. Jared also told us that Andrew Yeh and the boys on Outside Edge, the 6.5m Kevlacat, had been having some fun in the rough and getting into some fish at Number 7 Ribbon. Andrew’s younger brother Chris is spending the season on deck on Shaka this year.

We also caught up with Capt. Corey Hard and crew on Askari in Cooktown overnight who caught a sailfish on a big marlin lure as they traveled up. On KEKOA, we fished in the middle for our last day of the trip with Kent and Thomas before heading into Cooktown for 1 black marlin released and another lost at the back of the boat. Still a good result with 9 released altogether!

Capt. Craig “Sparra” Denham on Square Bear is also in on changeover after five days on the reef with Jay and Candace Meyer. Tara tells me they got the one bigger fish about 500lb on the first day and then a bunch of smaller fish after that. Good to see Jay and Candace back on the reef again! Capt. Tim Richardson on Tradition was fishing up at Number 10 Ribbon and saw the one fish and tagged it. I’ve also got some more footage to share from Brady on Little Audrey and Rhino on Iona 2 (at bottom, scroll down).

Gold Coast Blues

More reports from the Larva Lures boys as once again club boats are taking advantage of the bettter weather down there. Larva went 3-3-1 and God’s Hands and Sea Eagle 1 from 1 each. Daniel says a lot more boats will be going out again over the weekend so we look forward to hearing how they go. I’ll say it again, the Gold Coast is having a great year for blue marlin!

Footage

Another trailer from Brady on Little Audrey:

And an intro to 3D marlin vision on Iona 2 from Rhino: