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.