Sydney Visverslagen

Summer fishing in Sydney is a delight Over the last few weeks catches of 20 kings have been common Most fish have been caught downrigging live baits over the reefs close to Sydney The fish have varied from 65 cans to a meter twenty

We left Port Stephens on Friday at 5am. in great conditions for the run up North. The plan was to run to an area just South of the Norah Canyons and work our way up to the 'Car Park' then into Port. We set the lures at about 8:30 with great expectations in 22.5 degree water of the right colour.It took about an hour before we got our first strike which was unseen and didn't jump at all during a screaming 200 metre run. We had just got everything organised when the hook pulled, disappointing but the expectation only increased. Just on the inside edge of the Newcastle canyons another strike and as before unseen taking a screaming run. With the temp now over 23 degrees we thought maybe a Wahoo. But it didn't take long before the fish revealed itself and much to our delight a nice Black Marlin proceeded to tear the ocean apart as only they can - I had no idea where he or she was going to come out next (there is a video link below shared from Greg Wall's page showing how active this Black was ). For young Pat Easson this was potentially his first Marlin, he'd fought a couple before. He played it like a pro and after a time Ron took the leader and the fish was released in good condition. The rest of the trip was uneventful and after trolling around the 'Car Park' I turned Ambition towards Port and headed in with a very tired crew. Saturday dawned on what was forecast to be NE winds 10 to 15 all day but it certainly wasn't that. We caught bait and headed out in a very choppy sea with storm cells North and South of us. To cut it short after marking a couple of fish early we saw nothing all day except the occasional small bait ball. The temperature had jumped up to over 26 degrees and the current was raging South. I did hear of some big Mahi Mahi and of a couple of Blue Marlin raised but it was a quiet day although there are some Blacks showing up inshore. The change in conditions from Friday to Saturday was dramatic and that's how it goes - tomorrow is another day... Tight lines, Ivan

It's finally happening, the Marlin have turned up and in good numbers too. Over the last week or two there has been the occasional Blue and Striped Marlin around but finally the currents have moved in close, not that you'd know from the charts, bringing with it Striped Marlin in numbers as well as some good sized Mahi Mahi. I went out yesterday on ' REAL SMART' owned by Elena and Winston Smart and on a blinder of a day we raised six Stripies three of which had a go at the lures and all of which we lost for inane reasons that modesty forbids me to go into. Throughout the day we heard boats raising Marlin, I lost count of how many but many more were lost than tagged. I couldn't get out today but had my ear firmly stuck to the radio and from what I heard there were more fish around today than yesterday with most boats finding at least one Stripy and several having multiple encounters. It was also painfully apparent that most of the fish were either dropped or there was great difficulty in hooking up. Anyone who has had any experience with Stripies will know the problem which can be overcome to a degree by switching or live baiting but it is a step up in technique with a crew that must be on the ball all the time. As a point of interest one of our club boats 'MIDNIGHT' while returning to the harbour this morning found a Marlin cruising on the surface just outside the Heads. What is of interest is that it may be the start of the Blacks turning up off Sydney. How long this bite will last is anyone's guess but with some good weather predicted early in the new year you'd be crazy not to give it a shot. Tight lines, Ivan

I went out again today with one of my regular clients, Lee Morphy, he'd brought along two friends from the Philippines who hadn't experienced Game Fishing before and were anxious to see what it is all about. The idea was to have a shot at some Kingies of which there had been some big ones caught recently, one I saw weighed at the club went 20 kg. on the dot, in shore then head out to see what we could find. After quite a while at several different places we had only caught three baits so I decided to forego the Kings and head out wide and if we found any Dollies we would use the livies then. I started trolling at the 12 Mile in beautiful water but it wasn't until I'd reached the other side of a greenish coloured current that I found any action. There were birds scattered through the area and some bait showing at about 50 fathoms. By this time the sea had taken its toll on Lee's friends who were hanging in but only just. Finally I found something, a bait ball that must have been under attack for a while because when I found it it was only about 40 cm in diameter. There weren't any Marlin around the ball but there did appear to be some small tuna giving it their best. Anyway after each time I presented our lures to the bait the ball had decreased in size a little until after my fourth pass I couldn't find it anymore and the birds had scattered. We continued on our way eventually turning for home making our visitors feel instantly a bit happier. I'd heard on the radio through out the day of a few Marlin tagged and some Blue Marlin lost also some Dollies and a Spearfish - the warm Southerly current was settling in and bringing down the goodies. I came in over the 12 Mile with no result and I suggested pulling the lures in but my deckie Pat, said five minutes more and then after five minutes had passed he said another five so in beautiful conditions and now calm seas we continued on. Well we had just passed the Nine Mile when the long rigger went of on a screaming run, Lumo had accounted for another one. After a good fight we tagged a nice Striped Marlin, all thoughts of sea sickness were gone, elation and excitement had taken over. Two Marlin in two days of fishing, doesn't sound like much but off Sydney but at present with the conditions on each day so different I thought we had done pretty well. Tight lines, Ivan

Had a great day out with Bobby Kershaw and some of his friends in quite good weather. Ended the day with a tagged Striped Marlin and a 10kg. Mahi Mahi for dinner...

It looks like the Southerly current is slowly moving inshore but the low is blocking its passage. However there were a number of Marlin encountered, I heard of at least three tagged and one lost, over the week-end as well as a showing of Tiger sharks and Mahi Mahi also, all indicative of the warmer water being out there. At present or at least a couple of days ago there was a good Marlin bite between Port Stephens and Port Macquarie producing both Blues and Stripes - hopefully the current will move close enough in the next couple of weeks for us to get a shot at them. As a consequence of the Southerly current being held out wide the current in closer is slow enough for Brown's to be fished and quite successfully by all accounts, producing Blue Eye and some Gemmies too. In shore Kingies still reign supreme with most of the inshore reefs holding good numbers of undersized or just legal fish with some really good ones amongst them. Apparently the difficulty is finding live bait which is essential for the bigger fish. So with the 'Hot' currents getting closer every day and anticipation running high its time to get out there because by the time you hear about it, it could be too late... Tight lines, Ivan