A privileged opportunity

On Thursday 25th January 2024, my Dad and I launched "ABF" off the Gold Coast. We had a great day the previous week and were hoping to add a few more points to the board for our Moreton Bay Game Fish Club and for Team ABF's yearly point tally.

We left the seaway at 5am and headed for the same area that held the bait the previous week. It took some time, but eventually we found a few slimy mackerel shoals that were holding 70m deep. It was hard work, but eventually the livewell was full and I could start the search for those marlin.

The bait shoals that we were on did not look like they were being bothered, as the showings looked too uniform in shape. Also, I had not marked a fish on them. I put out 2 lures and meandered around the area until I found a large bait ball that was about 100m wide and came up from 70m to within 20m of the surface. It seemed to be a good place to start.

I rigged up 3 live baits, two on 8kg line and one on 4kg, and slowly worked the edges of the bait. It did not take too long before we had a pull. It was on 8kg and after a fast initial run, the line went straight down and we could not budge it. The mark on the sounder also looked very sharky so I popped off and rerigged. As per usual, I had my flasher teaser out and when I looked back, I noticed that the flashes were a strange blue colour. Only then did I realize that it was a marlin with its fins lit up. I pulled the bait closer but the marlin just faded off without taking a bait. Talk about a disappointment. 

We worked the area for a bit and soon the close bait went away. after hooking up, it did the same as the previous fish and I quickly broke it off. While I was rerigging, the bait 4kg line was eaten. I hooked up and settled in for what I thought was going to be a long fight. The line was very deep but when I put some pressure on it, it slowly angled up to the surface where my Dad chased it down. When the leader was on the rod, we could see that it was a shark so it was unceremoniously broken off. The light line was put away and I replaced it with a 15kg outfit. 

Things were very quiet for an hour or so when the deep bait went away. As I picked up the rod, a nice 10kg dorado jumped out the back. I was a bit disappointed that it was not a marlin. I put the drag up to full and put big pressure on it. As it neared the boat, the bait on the 15kg line, behind the flasher went off with another dorado which my Dad hooked up. My fish was now on the leader and we opted to tag it (not something I would normally do with a fish of this size). I wrapped the leader and holding the tail lifted it into the boat where I tagged the 103cm fish. By now the second fish was at the boat and it got the same treatment. This time measuring 109cm. More points on the board and no fish to clean, so we were not to worried.

The bait shoal thinned out after that so I headed back to where we had found the bait in the morning. The showing was much better and as I trolled through it, the deep line went off. I hooked up and has a bit of a tussle when the line came to the surface where we saw a brown shape. The immediate thought was that it was a shark but on closer inspection, it was a nice prodigal son (Cobia). It took quite a bit of effort to get it on the boat but eventually I managed to get tag into 15kg fish. Not bad on 8kg line.

We had now caught basically everything that we could except a marlin, so it had to be close. Just then, I marked a fish on the bait ball. I dropped the bait and a short while later, the 15kg rod went on. The line raced to the surface and an angry marlin went mad. My Dad cleared the lines and chased after it. Luckily it stayed on the surface and within 10 minutes of hooking up, it was tagged. It took a few more jumps before we got the leader and had it under control but after a quick photo it swam off strong.

We quickly ran back to the bait school and rigged fresh baits. I had just set the rod when the reel smoked off. I tightened up and hooked what felt like a tuna species. I hauled in a nice skipjack tuna that we also tagged before continuing in the direction of the bait. Just as we had turned to make another pass, I saw a faint mark on the sounder and the bait had an irregular shape to it. We let the bait sink and it was no surprise when the deep line went away again. This time it was a very lethargic marlin that stuck its head out and swatted around a bit. In no time, we were next to it and before it knew it was hooked, the tag was in. Thats when it woke up! It went mental on the surface and dived under the boat and started greyhounding away from us. Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, the line cut off under the boat and we parted ways watching a 70kg marlin jumping off into the distance. 

It was now getting late and with the sun getting low, we headed back after an awesome day's fishing. It was a great privilege to have had such a great day's fishing with my Dad. It will be a day I'll remember for a long time. 

Deep Trag delivers the goods

On 17th January 2024 at 5:30am, we launched "ABF" out of the Gold Coast Seaway. It was our first launch for the year and we were hoping to open out account with a few of the black marlin that had been around for the past 2 weeks.

I stopped at the bait grounds just out the mouth of the seaway and very quickly caught a few livies. This was just as a plan B in case there was no bait on the marlin grounds. From there, we made the long run to the North East hoping to find some life on Spot X. A few kilometers short of the spot, we came across a big patch of bait which we dropped baits on for about an hour with only one chop off. Hoping for more action deeper, we continued to spot x. 

On arrival, it was a desert with no bait or other signs of lift. There were also no other boats which concerned me. I started heading South towards 'Deep Trag' and as we got closer, we started seeing more and more boats. The sounder lit up with bait showings, indicating we were in the right area. We rigged up 3 livies and trolled through the shoal for quite some time without any action. None of the other boats had any action either, so I headed deeper to the edge of the shoal. I trolled around the perimeter of the bait school and around the time of the tide change, we had a pull on the deep line. Carl tightened up to a heavy fish that stayed deep for a while before the line angled up and a good size black marlin tore up the surface. 

We cleared the lines and closed the gap, hoping for a quick tag shot, but the fish had other ideas. It took off on another run, jumping as it went. I chased after it and managed to keep pace. The leader came up and I took hold of it for a brief moment before the fish sounded. For the next half hour, it was a game of cat and mouse to try and get it back to the boat. Eventually we managed to get a tag into it and released a healthy 90kg fish.

The lines went back out and I continued to work the edge of the bait shoal. The side change came and went without any further action. The other boats dispersed and eventually we were the only boat left. I was about to call it quits when I saw the bait shoal on the sounder had been broken up by something. I pulled neutral and let the baits sink. Just after I went back into gear, the deep livie was eaten and my Dad hooked up to another marlin. 

This fish did the same as the first and tired itself out on the surface before going down. I pulled out all the tricks in the book to get it up and eventually it was on the leader. After a failed tag shot, it was back to the play book to lift the spooked fish. After an hour fight, I had the leader in hand and Carl got the tag into a 70kg class fish.

 It had been a long day and we still had the Gold Coast rush hour traffic to contend with, so we packed up and headed home after a successful day's fishing in really quiet conditions. Hopefully the weather holds and we get a few more shots before the season ends.