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After weeks of perfect weather, it was only a matter of when it would blow and that day came Sunday. With winds reaching 25 knots, the fish have been blown right onto the edge. Capt. Luke on KEKOA told me its been quite a few years since he’s seen so many fish in the one day – he saw in the range of 20 fish, mostly tailing in the rough seas. Capt. Luke raised 4, had three bites and released two at 250 and 350lbs. Calypso also ended the day at Number 5 Ribbon and went 2 from 4 including another big fish Capt. Tim Dean estimated at 900lbs. Rough weather but good fishing!Capt. Tim Richardson on Tradition saw 4 fish and fought this one to the boat where she was spooked by a smaller fish and pulled the hooks. Also making their way in the same direction down from Number 10, Askari spent the morning loading up on baits for the upcoming Lizard Island tournament and also released two in the afternoon at 300 and 350lbs. The other big fish for the day went to Capt. Tim Ryan on Reel Ripe who released an estimated 900lb-er for Japanese angler Hiroshi Ogawa at Number 2 Ribbon Reef. Capt. Tim tells me they had three bites and jumped off the other two. The big fish was caught on a queenie which angler Hiroshi had caught earlier in the day on one of his home made lures – a pearl shell with skirt attached! Anchoring at South Opal last night Cool Runnings recorded a 500lb-er Sunday with Capt. Troy seeing two others that wouldn’t take the bait. Meanwhile Wild Turkey took out the Cairns BlueWater tournament with the only competition fish of the weekend estimated at 500lbs. Crewman Jay Edwards tells me that trailer boat Spread Em fought a 600lb-er for an hour on stand-up 80 before the line parted while Capt. Maris Naish steered his accountant to another Cairns black just before wrapping up on Sunday at Spur Reef on board Halcion 5.More updates from last week Pictures of two fish on Iona II with Capt. Trent now at the wheel from Saturday at Linden Bank. Rhino on the camera for these two both released estimated 550 and 250lbs. Left: Townsville GF club members have been taking advantage of the good weather to get out to Myrmidon Reef. As with last year, the fishing seems to be pretty good with most boats getting a couple of shots a day and catching a couple. Mark Parkes on his boat Mojo was one such boat taking advantage of the good weather late last week, tagging two on Thursday (150 and this one at 400lbs).Right: A picture from Capt. Dean Beech of Kenton on the leader on Castille III with the 400lb-er caught on a lure off Lizard Island last week. Back to Capt. Chris ‘Sharky’ Miles who back on the reef after enjoying some days off after some real solid fishing this season with 16 in 14 days. Angler Gavan enjoyed some real good fishing on board Mauna Kea earlier this month and came back with some awesome shots, including these of a fish they battled on a big fish day.

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 dogtooth approaches TowCam and a black marlin lit up before taking the scad. Capt. Tim Ryan on Reel Ripe reports that dedication from his Japanese angler Hiroshi Ogawa, who brought his own tackle and lures to the reef, paid off yesterday with a 450lb-er off Escape Reef. Also down that way, Cool Runnings follow up on a quieter Friday to also release a 450lb-er for their angler.Off Number 7 Ribbon Reef we came across Watchdog on Saturday. Brett tells me they caught a real nice dog tooth tuna and a 600lb black marlin wide of Number 9 Ribbon Friday. We also heard from Askari who released a small fish (350lb) on a lure off Number 8 Friday and fished the bottom of Number 10 yesterday pulling the hooks on a 800lb-er after a few minutes. We’re in Cooktown today.

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There are still a few big fish making their presence known daily up and down the reef. On Friday, the action was again at Number 10 Ribbon Reef where Capt. Tim Dean on Calypso, fishing on the ‘Marks’, released a fish he called 950lb++. (Number 10 Ribbon Reef is 18 mile long and in pre GPS days the ‘Marks’ was identified by lining up High Island and the Direction Islands, hence its name.) I’m expecting some photos from Tim soon. Also fishing at 10 Capt. Jared on Shaka released this fish for John at 350lb and Capt. Tim Richardson on Tradition released a fish for anger Dan on his 60th birthday. At Number 8, Capt. Dean on Castille III released one estimated at 400lbs. (And to top it off Capt. Tim on Calypso just released a sailfish this morning before breakfast as well!)

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Yesterday, among the 15 or so boats fishing at Linden Bank, the fish gods smiled kindly on Cool Runnings who hooked up twice in the middle of the fleet releasing a 350lb-er. Later in the day they hooked a bigger fish estimated at 800lb for angler Peter, his first black marlin, but after a 50 minute fight in shallow water on top of Linden Bank the fish was lost close to the boat. A few boats also caught little fish including Gorilla but the tuna didn’t even stir until after 4 o’clock.Up the other end, on Number 10, it was Kaizen in the fish with two for the day – fighting a big one at Heartbreak at dusk. KEKOA released a 350lb-er nearby and down on Number 8, Castille III pullled the hooks on a 700lb-er. Tradition fished Day and Hicks Reefs yesterday, still seeing the fish but not making the conversions.Shell Cove Lizard Island Black Marlin ClassicThe Lizard Island tournament starts at the end of next week. We’re really excited about it, its such an awesome tournament, now in its 23rd year. I’ll be tweeting live reports daily as the tournament progresses, you can check back for those tweets here or follow me on Twitter. For anyone who has the time and is interested in fishing this wonderful event:Capt. Chris “Sharky” Miles on Mauna Kea has had a late cancellation for half of his share charter for the tournament. They just need one more angler. Sharky is a past winner of the tournament and narrowly missed a hat-trick in 2007. Anyone interested, please call Sharky on 0427 572 684.Capt. Tim Richardson on Tradition also has the tournament dates available. Tradition also finished in the placings last year and took out Champion Female Angler as well. Contact Tim on 0427 758 768 or visit his website.

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.

Reel Chase’s first grander of the 2009 season yesterday and a video still of the grander candy being zeroed in on. With the calm conditions, there were a lot of boats at Linden Bank and not much action especially on the tuna front. Around 4pm a school of yellowfin popped up in front of the Reel Chase and we managed to get out feather in front of them and pick up a jellybean sized yellowfin. No sooner had we got him in the water, we started adjusting the camera and yells from in front of the TV indicated a marlin was zeroing in on him straight away. Along side us the boys on Reel Ripe also got a first hand view as the marlin took four goes to catch the tuna. It was a very tough hour long fight for racing car identity and TowCam principal John Faulkner, hauling it up and onto the leader three times (from where she was very comfortable on pole cam view sitting down beneath the boat.) We have some good tow cam and pole cam footage and photos to sort through for later.Also on the Bank, Iceman released a smaller fish as did Dealne with Capt. Tiger. Capt. Dan on Moana III was on his way back in from the sea mount and mid-conversation on the radio when we heard his crew shout the bite. They released one about 300lb at Jenny Louise just on dark.I also heard from Capt. Ross on Top Shot running in on changeover yesterday who is reporting good fishing with one or two a day, mostly mid-range fish. In the last few days he’s released a 400lb-er and 450lb-er at Number 10. Also at Number 10 yesterday, private boat Hattitude released a little one and both Tradition and KEKOA marking good fish but not keeping the hooks in. And a report from Joe Joe fishing at the top of hicks on Monday seeing 7 fish, hooking 5 and releasing – one at 200lb and one at 900lb. Capt. Barry also reports they caught a 130lb dog tooth tuna on a skipping spanish mackerel!Myrmidon Reef, Townsville Video stills from the boys on OB26 in the surrounds of Myrmidon Reef on Tuesday – thanks Mat for the pics. More from what is shaping up to be a good heavy tackle season down Townsville way as well. On Tuesday the O’Brien Boats team christened Leigh’s custom OB26 with its first big fish releasing a 500lb-er for Pete. Arriving at Myrmidon Monday, the boys were up and fishing by 7am Tuesday and got the bite around 10:30am. The boys also missed a smaller fish about 200lb later in the day. A few more boats are taking advantage of the good weather to head out today.