What a remarkable day at sea today was. I took out Qing and three of his friends for their first day at Game Fishing and they had a baptism in fire. The video will give you some idea of the mayhem, but you had to be there to appreciate it. Bear in mind that these guys’ experience was only some small fish caught rock fishing. The day started slowly for us, but the radio was telling that the bait schools hadn’t moved on and that several Marlin had already been seen and tagged. I worked the bait schools for a while with no result so had decided to move on and that’s when we got our first strike, a blind strike on, surprise, surprise the Brad’J’ bullet. One of the guys took the rod and the others moved in to help him, one holding the rod, one winding and the other holding the guy with the rod, we were in trouble. It didn’t take long to realise it wasn’t a Marlin and as they brought it closer, I was surprised to see it was a Yellowfin around twenty to thirty kilo’s. Sadly, as luck would have it and with the help of some slack line the fish won its freedom. Though there have been a couple of Yellowfin taken around these bait schools recently it still comes as a big surprise to find any inside the shelf these days. So, we carried on and shortly after all hell broke loose. We had five, maybe six Marlin in the spread hitting the lures. Ron was running around like a chook with its head cut off trying to tease them into solidly striking the lures but to no avail. We had a couple on for a short time however not one of them stuck, but it was exciting to say the least. Sadly, the video does not do it justice. Fortunately, the day wasn’t a complete failure, we did end up tagging a Striped Marlin. Later in the day we had a double hook up and between the four of them on the rod they got one to the boat where Ron released it. The other fish was left to its own devices, the rod just left in the holder, so lost. By this time none of the guys were feeling terribly well so they decided it was time to go back in. A frustrating decision since it seemed the bite was happening with several boats hooking up as we left. Other than the seven or eight Marlin that came into our spread throughout the day, I saw another couple tailing down sea. Also, considering that three other boats, Rampage, Shoki and another whose name escapes me, had caught three when we left, not to mention several others boats with at least one to their credit it is hard to imagine the number of Marlin in the area. This Marlin bite has been going on for quite some time now and it is only October, the next few months could be quite something. The question is, are they holding in the area because of the bait or are they constantly passing through? Tight lines, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

Yesterday was a most remarkable day, for fishing anyway. After last week-end’s effort where we raised two Marlin with no hook ups, yesterday was a complete turnaround. Reports during the week had indicated that the Marlin and most importantly the bait were still in the area so hopes were high for today’s adventure. We headed out intending to catch some bait to use either alive or as skippies so as to get a more secure hookup. It didn’t take long to catch the bait and that achieved, we headed for the shelf. It was a pleasant trip with some fair weather for a change. As we neared the shelf the bait and searching birds started to build up. The plan was to start with lures and to change over to baits as the day progressed. So, out went the lures and it wasn’t long before I marked a fish, which actually surprised me, because it was nowhere near any bait. It was only a few seconds later that the Brad ‘J’ on the shotgun took off and after a good fight a beautiful Striped Marlin was brought to boat and released. Continuing on and searching for bait I noticed heaps of Mutton birds on and beyond the shelf and went to look. Most of the birds were on their migration South from Siberia but amongst them many were working on what looked like Striped Tuna. I worked these schools for a while hoping there might be a Yellowfin or two amongst them. The end result was we didn’t find any so went back inshore and to chase the Marlin. By the time I got back inside the shelf the bait had thinned, when as I was considering changing over to skip baits the Brad ’J’ took off again with another nice Striped Marlin tearing the ocean apart. This was a tougher fish than the previous one but it was handled well and eventually brought to the boat and released. By now the bait had thinned out considerably so it was time to put out the skip baits. Having deployed the baits it was time to keep the eyes peeled and be ready. Suddenly the bait on the Port rigger popped out but since it didn’t appear to have been a hit Rob wound it back and put it back up when the Marlin showed itself. It popped the rigger again but again no hook up. Then while Rob was winding the bait back the Marlin appeared again and this time Rob teased it and it aggressively took the bait. After free spooling for a short time, the drag was engaged and we had a solid hook up. This one was also eventually brought to boat and released. So, now we had three Marlin for three of the four guys on board. The last guy was more interested in catching a Yellowfin. As luck would have it a friend, fishing out wide, had just landed a fifty kilo Yellowfin so I suggested we might go out and see what we could find. The guys all agreed so out we went. In the deep water there were heaps of birds migrating but we found several schools of Striped Tuna which I worked to no avail. Continuing on I was just about to head for home when there was a bust-up a couple of hundred metres ahead of us. Expectations were high but after working the area with no other sightings it was time to go home. It had been a remarkable day’s fishing for us with three Marlin under the belt. Generally speaking I would say to get three Marlin in a day off Sydney is remarkable however, to have, as I would guess, over twenty caught in a day off Sydney in October is exceptional. Tight lies, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

I am glad to say those Yellowfin are still out there and in numbers. While travelling out to the grounds with Paul and his friends the radio was non stop reports of people hooking up. Hooking up with doubles and triples with Yellowfin varying from fifteen kilo’s up to and maybe over seventy kilo’s not to mention the occasional Marlin. It was to say the least a most frustrating hour. We finally arrived after what seemed an interminable amount of time and put the gear in. Even then the frustration continued. I seemed to be wherever the fish weren’t. Ron and I were getting restless, almost desperate for a strike. Well it did finally eventuate and you could feel the stress levels plumet as shouts of excitement rose from the deck. We went on to end up with five fish all between twenty and thirty kilo’s. We did lose a few fish when we had multiple strikes even a quadruple, luckily one dropped off before it became a real problem. Having a multiples with inexperienced anglers never having used our type gear and more used to catching Kingfish is quite an experience I can tell you. So, after an interesting day with plenty of fish to share and clean we headed for home. The wind had dropped off and an incredible sun set showed the way. Just had to watch out for the occasional whale. Tight lies, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .