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A bit more action from along the reef yesterday. Starting in the middle, Capt. Tim on Tradition got in on some action at Number 5 Ribbon ending up with 3 bites, and releasing a 200lb-er and 800lb-er at dark for angler Greg.On the Bank with Capt. Jim on Reel Chase went two from three, one each for Jo and Matthew, smaller fish today and got some more good action on the Towcam and hat cam. There were a couple more fish around but not the activity of the day before. Capt. Darren Allure released a smaller one as well and we saw Hard to Swallow backing up. Another filmstrip of stills from the bite on the teaser on Reel Chase At Jenny Louise, Capt. Luke on KEKOA released the bigger of a double header at 700lbs and then a smaller fish later in the day as well, ending with two from four. And also down that way although out wide, Capt. Tom on Ultimate Lady ended their short season with their 13th fish for the week. Tom tells me it would have been another good day if they had all stuck, breaking the line on an 850lb-er, getting the bait back after 10 minutes on 500lb-er and releasing a 150lb-er as well as getting bites from two other small fish. They are off to Tahiti now. It’s a tough life!

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.

Matt’s fish on the lead on Reel Chase and the trailer boat Spread ‘Em battle a beauty as well! There was a bit of a hot bite at Linden Bank yesterday and on Reel Chase, we arrived just in time. The baits had only been in the water less than a minute when we saw a marlin swim by the teaser on the camera and just after that, the shotgun went off. Courtesy of Dad Jo being at that moment downstairs and out of sight, 13 year old Matthew was onto his first Cairns black marlin and it was a nice one too, released after a 15 minute fight estimated at 750lbs. By the time Jo came upstairs, Matthew was well and truly into the rhythm of the chair and making good ground on the fish. Nearby, we saw Gorilla hook up on two fish in reasonably quick succession, the larger of which was approximately 700lbs as well as some Cairns private boats including Fifth Dimension and trailer boat Spread ‘Em on a massive fish – which Adrian tells me they successfully released after 45 minutes on 80lb stand up. They also released another 250lb fish earlier in the day ending with two from three. Soon after Capt. Tim Dean on Calypso had also hooked up and released one that Tim called well over the mark. Congratulations guys! Grander number 1 for the day. More big fish also out wide for Ultimate Lady. Capt. Tom reports that they fished for some tunas in the morning before heading south and jumped off a blue marlin. Later, they had another three bites and released all three, black marlin at 250, 200 and another around the grand mark! Grander number 2! At Jenny Louise, Capt. Luke on KEKOA fished Scotty and friends for two from four at 200 and 700lbs enjoying having the shoal to themselves for the 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.

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.

Ultimate Lady on the leader at left and Brendan holds up his big eye tuna on KEKOA. Just in: Ultimate Lady has weighed the first grander of the 2009 season, a fish that unfortunately died on the line yesterday, at 1058lbs to Stuart Potter from Gisborne. The fish was weighed after returning to the edge this morning. The team spent much of the day yesterday hooked up again, going 3 from 4 including the big one they fought for 5 and a half hours. The other two were released at 250 and 800lbs. Tom’s certainly finding the fish! More of the fleet went for a wander out wide yesterday. Calypso left the anchorage in the dark and was hooked up to a blue marlin by 6:30 am which they released, approximately 400lbs. On KEKOA, Capt. Luke tells me they had a great day out there although they didn’t find a big marlin. They got some mad tuna footage, above and below water of a huge school of big eye and yellowfin eating a hookless popper off the rod tip at the back of the boat and a whale shark thrown in for good measure as well. As Brendan was winding in a 60lb yellowfin he felt the line go slack and thought he had lost the fish. Suddenly a 700lb black marlin swooped in all lit up in he discovered it was only hiding from the marlin under the boat. They released two small marlin including one bite after dark as they headed back into the reef.Back on the Bank, Watchdog released two smaller fish as well for Jon and Bill Creswick, owners of well-known ex Cairns charter boat Sea Strike. In the middle it was quiet with just Iceman releasing one smaller fish from two bites.Photo: one of KEKOA’s pics of the tuna bite.

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With the fantastic flat glass calm conditions, the wander urge hit big time yesterday with a number of boats heading east after Ultimate Lady’s report. While back at the Bank, the dedicated stuck it out, marking fish and waiting for the bite.Those who went wide included Hattitude who caught a 600lb-er wide of Spur. And Capt. Kim on New Moon who left the Bank late morning heading for the Sea Mount released two on lures on the way and a further three on baits upon arrival going 5 from 6 on one of the best days all year. The team encountered Little Audrey on their way back in who reported a 850lb-er out there the day before and a 250lb on the way back in and missing another about 500lb.Meanwhile back at the Bank, on Reel Chase we played Russian Roulette with trailer boats all day waiting, waiting until after 5 o’clock we finally got a bite along with a couple of other boats. Luckily, ours was worth waiting for and 73 year old angler Julio landed his first ever grander after a solid 45 minute fight. This was one of the most spectacular bites and fights we’ve had all season which you’ll no doubt see more of. Ben was wearing his hatcam so we got some spectacular close-up footage which I’ve uploaded. Update: View the footage here. Filmstrip of stills from Ben’s hatcam footage of Julio’s est 1100lb black marlin on Reel Chase. And same from my fixed camera of Julio and crew in action on Reel Chase. Update: I’ve also just heard that Wild Turkey had a good day at the Bank yesterday as well with two big fish that Captain Tye called 850 and 1100lbs! Congrats guys!Nearby, KEKOA released two smaller fish and a 700lb tiger shark. And Ultimate Lady had the big one up early but didn’t hook up and broke off another good fish after a heartbreaking 7 and a half hour fight after dark last night.