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.

Slim pickings at the FADs

 On Sunday 3 rd December 2023 at 4:30am, we launched ABF out of Cleveland. This was the first trip

that my Dad was joining us after moving to Australia. Carl and I were hoping to show him some of

the good fishing that the area had to offer.

There was a light SE wind blowing but not enough to make the run across the bay eventful. The low

tide was at around 6:20am, but with the small tide difference, there was no surf to speak of on the

bar. We headed straight to the artificial reef off Cylinder beach and found masses of bait. It took us

all of 20mins to fill the live well with slimies.

We had our usual arsenal of light tackle gear on board so that we could accumulate club and

Queensland points. The idea was to run to the Fads and tag a few dolphinfish. There was currently

an internal club competition for the highest scoring dolphinfish, so we were hoping to get a few

contenders. With the SE wind, the most comfortable run was to fad 4. As we ran out, we noticed

that the water was blue out to 70m but then turned a bit green. When we got to the fad, there were

already 2 boats there, but it looked like there was not much happening. After livebaiting for 20 mins,

we made the call to run 12km north to fad 16. It would be an easy run with wind behind us. When

we approached the fad, there were again 2 boats there. We put out 2 livies and made a pass by the

buoy. I had a dolphinfish chase my livie and miss it a few times before it faded off. We were hoping

that we had found the shoal, but our excitement quickly turned to despair when after an hour, there

was no more action. Being in the are we were, there were not too many alternative plans. After

checking a few options, we opted to make the long run back south, into the wind, to fad 15. This was

not the first trip I was hoping to show my Dad. After over an hour of bumping our way to the fad, we

made our first pass with 2 livies. Carl had a pull on the 2kg line and hooked up to a dolphinfish. This

fish was determined to cut him off and we had to do some fancy foot work with the boat to stay out

of the barnacles. After a few minutes, the leader came up and, in an attempt, to control the fish, I

grabbed it, but it went mental and pulled the leader through my hand and the double line popped

before I could let go. We would need to settle for the leader and release points.

While Carl was sorting out a new leader, I put my livie out and soon had a pull. I hooked up and

luckily the fish played fare, giving us a quick shot on the leader where Carl lifted a 71cm dolphin into

the boat. It was quickly tagged and released. With 2 quick pulls, we were hoping to get a few more,

but alas the bite shut down.

We decided to head toward the bar but on the way, have a quick stop at sevens reef. On arrival ,the

water was blue and quite a bit of life on the surface. We put out 2 livies and soon Carl’s reel smoked

off. Unfortunately the 2kg line popped during the initial run. I suggested we up lines and make

another drift. A few minutes in, Carl went tight on a small longtail tuna on 3kg line that he measured

and released. With there being some action, we made another drift and this time my Dad caught his

first longtail on 4kg line which was also released. On the last drift Carl released another longtail on

3kg before heading home.

We used 75lt of fuel and traveled roughly 140km.

The prodigal son returns

On Sunday 20^th February, Carl and I headed off to the Gold Coast to have another crack at those marlin. Reports were that the bait had thinned out and that the fish had moved too, but it was the only weather window we were going to get, so we going regardless.

At 5am, we left the Seaway and headed due east on a 30km run. On arrival, our fears were realised. There was hardly any bait showing. To top it off, the current had come in so with a 10knot SE wind blowing, the conditions were a bit sporty.

After persevering for a while, we managed to get a few big yakkas, but no slimies. It was better than nothing so I rigged up a couple and put them out. Our drift was pretty fast so we covered some ground in a short time. This was going to be a long day…

The morning passed with no action so I suggested we run a long way north and just drift down the line hoping to bump into a stray fish. We had just cracked open an ice-cold beer when the surface line went away. I fed it a bit and tightened up. Carl took the rod and had a fairly easy fight with what I assumed was a skippy. When the leader came up, Carl said that it was a yellowfin, so it was with great relief that I put it on ice for sushi later that night. We have not been that chuffed with a small fish in a long time.

Hoping that there were a few more around, I took us to the top of the drift where we could put out fresh bait and finish our beer. This time, the drift was quiet. We were nearing the end of the drift when the deep line on the heavy tackle went away. After hooking up, it stayed deep and made a slow, consistent run. We were both on the same page and thought… “Shark”. A few minutes in, the run stopped and the line angle came up. We were both like … hold on … what’s happening here. Carl managed to gain a lot of line and soon the fish was on the surface a short distance away. Unfortunately, we could both see the brown shape… but it was pretty short for the size sharks that were normally around this area. Only then did we see that it was a good size cobia. This was Carl’s first one, so we did not want to stuff it up. We had the fish on the leader a few times but it would then go on a short run. Not wanting to pull the hook, I was very soft on the leader and after the 6^th or 7^th time, did I get a shot with the gaff. I wasted no time lifting it into the boat where it continued to fight on the deck. Eventually we could subdue it and get it on ice. What a great first of the species, and out day was suddenly made - anything else would be a bonus.

Carl with an 18kg Cobia

We made another drift, hoping there would be some action on the tide change, but the only other action we got was from a big shark that kept us busy for 45 minutes on mega drag before chafing through the leader.

We headed back home with some great eating fish. Lets hope the bait and the marlin return after this rain as it would be nice to get a few more before the summer ends.

X marks the Spot

On Wednesday 9th February 2022 at 3:30am, Carl and I left Ormiston enroute to the Gold Coast. We were keen to try for a few more marlin while they were around. It took us just over an hour to travel the 75km to Sea World boat ramp and after prepping the boat, we launched and headed out through the Seaway at 5am. With the outgoing tide, there was a fare bit of swell, but we followed the local boats and were soon on our way to Spot X. It took us an hour to do the 30km run and on arrival, the water was a bit green with minimal current. 

I sounded around the marks from the previous trip but there was nothing on the sounder. I worked my way South, tacking the 80m depth line. There was another boat a fair distance away so I moved in that direction. Soon, James Holt from Reel Extreme Charters on “Chasing Tail” also arrived in the same area so I knew we were in the right spot. We finally started marking bait and Carl sent the jigs down. Almost immediately he went on with some nice mackerel. With the slow current, we stayed on the spot for quite some time, catching quite a few baits. When the showing stopped, I headed back up to where it started. I also put out 2 livies, one deep and one near the top. The deep line was just set when the reel gave a short burst. I fed it a bit then tightened up and went on. Carl took the rod while I cleared the other line and started the motors, ready to follow the fish. Luckily it didn’t take too much line but came up to the surface and made a few great jumps. It was a small black marlin of around 30kg. There were a few technical difficulties during the fish when Carl lost his footing and fell over board, but luckily it was just a bump in the road as he fought and finally released his second ever marlin. All in all, a great job. 

I headed back to the top of the drift and set the lines again. Carl went about catching mackerel so that we could stock up the freezer for the Spanish mackerel (cuda) season. Our drift line had changed a bit, so I put the motor in gear and headed north, slow trolling the baits. A few minutes later, we had a pull on the deep line, but after fighting it straight up and down for about 20 minutes, we were sure it was a shark, so I parted off and headed back to the drift. James was drifting next to us and had also had some action, releasing 2 marlin. This gave us an idea of the best drift line, so it was with little surprize when the deep line went only a few minutes into the drift. The line angled up immediately and another marlin tore up the surface. I had the fish on a 50lbs standup rig, so it was a pretty quick fight and withing a few minutes, I had released my first Aussie black of around 30kg. This was great fishing and it was only 9am. 

Chasing Tail

On the next two drifts, we had 2 big sharks eat the bait and waste some of our time. We also had one marlin tangle in the leader, missing the hook. But on the next drift, we got lucky. There was another small boat next to us and we were having a friendly chat when Carl’s string of mackerel was stolen by a marlin that we had marked near the surface. Moments later, the shallow line when away and I hooked up. The fish came flying out the water between the two boats and took off greyhounding. The lines were cleared and Carl gave chase. This was a bigger fish, around 80kg so I had my hands full. We stayed close to the fish and within 20 minutes, had it on the leader. As Carl reached out to cut the leader (with Greg Edward’s 1000Lber Tackle leader cutter) it cleared the water to go on a run. The leader just touched the blades and parted as planned with the fish still making a few jumps before realising it was free. That was #3 for the day! 

Our livewell was looking a bit empty, so Carl went about catching more livies. On his 3rd or 4th drop, he lost his string of mackerel to another marlin, so we were sure we were in the right spot. I looked on the sounder and sure enough, we were marking a fish. As I looked back, the deep bait revved and the reel went away. We hooked up and Carl took the rod. It was another small fish so chased after it and we managed a quick release on another small black. This was insane fishing. 

That's a wrap.

As the day went on, the bait showing thicker and thicker. Several boats were hooked up to marlin and there were also quite a few prodigal son (Cobia) and dorado caught. Over on our boat however, it was very quiet. We had not had a pull in 2 drifts, so I sounded around and stopped in the area that we had a few fish in the morning. Carl had just put the deep line out with quite a heavy sinker. I noticed the line had gone slack, so I told him to put the drag up and wind like hell! The line came tight again and the rod keeled over. We were hooked up. The line angled to the surface and another marlin showed itself. This was a better size fish, probably around 50 or 60kg. It gave a great show before tail wrapping and going deep. Luckily we had the right tackle to horse it to the surface where I could unwrap the leader and revive it. 

By now it was 1:30pm and we had a long trip to get home, so we could not spend too much time on the grounds. We did make another drift, but didn’t have anymore action so we called it a day.

Spot X lives up to its reputation

On Tuesday 25^th January at 4:45am, Greg Edwards (aka Muddy) and I launched “ABF” off of the Gold Coast. This was the first time I had launched out of the Seaway so I was glad to have the guidance of someone who knew the area.

 The goal for the day was to target black marlin that were currently congregating on the bait shoals offshore. After leaving through the seaway, we headed due East towards Spot X. It would be a 30km run, but after 15km, the water looked really good, so we put out a spread of small billfish lures and continued on our intended course. Unfortunately, there was no action on the lures but when we arrived at Spot X, there were a lot of boats with several of them hooked up to marlin. This was great news!

There was a N – S current so I headed North through the boats, looking for bait showings. What I saw on the sounder was pretty spectacular. There were mackerel from the surface all the way to the bottom, 80m down. This huge shoal continued for quite a distance and when we arrived at the northern part of it, we stopped and very quickly caught a few mackerel. 2 of them were rigged up and we drifted over the shoal. It was a pretty quiet drift but finally, just as we were going to up lines, Greg had a pull on his livie. After a short feed, he hooked up. There was only a short run then it came in easily. Definitely not a marlin, but a skipjack. It soon become apparent that there were not only marlin on the bait shoals, but a lot of skipjack too. By the end of the second drift, we had caught 4 of them. To try and avoid them, I headed further north to a different patch of bait, hoping that we would have better luck.

A boat next to us went on with 2 dorado, so I put out a surface bait to see if there was another one for us to catch. The line was scarcely out when the line got heavy and the reel started running. I freespooled a bit but nothing happened. Just then, Greg’s reel went away. He hooked up and the line angled to the surface. I put up the drag and wound like hell to clear the line, but the line cut through the water towards where Greg’s fish was. It had eaten both baits. Luckily, mine pulled free and we could continue with just one rod. I had just cleared the last line when the fish stuck its head out the water. It was a nice size marlin of about 65 or 70kg. I chased after the fish, but it sounded and remained deep for most of the fight. After putting some big pressure on the fish, it surfaced and jumped a few times, in the process getting tail wrapped. The fish was close enough to the boat that we could get the wind-on leader onto the rod for a tip, but just then, a big shark appeared from the depths. The marlin must have seen it and took fright, going down deep. The shark faded off and eventually, a long 45 minutes after hooking up, it surfaced again for a few jumps where it luckily unwrapped. It still took another 15 minutes before I could grab the bill and remove the hook. It was a difficult fish, but it was still the first one on “ABF” in Australia.

On the next drift, the lines were just set when Greg and I both went on with skippies. They were both unceremoniously released and the drift continued. Just as we were coming off the end of the bait, we went on with a fish that took a lot of line in a hurry. We gave chase but soon realised that we were hooked up to an undesirable… Greg was on sunset drag with his fingers on the spool applying maximum drag, but the shark would not budge. After 35 minutes, I put gloves on and grabbed the line to try and pop it. Only after getting most of the line back, did the big swell and a surge of the fish meet, luckily resulting in a breakoff.  

We regrouped, had a cooldrink and headed back up to the top of the drift. Out bait stocks were low, so we decided to catch a few more for. As luck would have it, the bait shoals had moved during the long fight and it took us a while to find them again. When we did, we caught about 15 mackerel and one big maasbanker (yakka). With the pressure of getting a fish off our shoulders, we could relax on the next drift. Now that we had enough bait, we could put out a third rod, so I took a blind scoop out of the live well and caught the only yakka we had. I saw it as a sign to use it so I rigged it and put it out. The rod was hardly in the holder when it bent a bit and the reel slowly ran. With the rod still in the holder, I fed the fish a bit and then put the drag to strike position and wound into the fish. The rod bent over as the fish started moving away. Line was steadily leaving the reel and the line angled to the surface where another marlin jumped halfway out the water. I passed the rod to Greg and cleared the other line before starting up the motors and giving chase. This fish was also a difficult one, fighting deep for most of the fight. It only jumped a few times, enough for us to get a good look at it. After a 45min fight, I had the leader on another 70kg black. I wrapped it and held on while the marlin swam next to the boat with all its lights on. I leant back on the leader and the added pressure sparked a sudden surge from the fish. I wasn’t about to let go, fearing another extended fight, so the light leader popped without too much hassle. 2 for 2, not too shabby.

While I was chasing after the last marlin, I marked a few fish on the shallow side of the bait shoal so I stopped the boat up current of it to intercept. Just as the bait started marking, the deep bait went away. We were convinced that it was a marlin just by the speed of its first run and big head nods after hooking up. Unfortunately, it was like deja vu ending with another forced breakoff.

By now it was 13:45 and we were approaching the turn of the tide so we were hoping it would switch on. It seemed like the bait balls were a bit more condensed, and just as we were on top of the highest point, we had another slow but steady pull. I tightened up and the rod bent over. The fish stayed on the surface and headed into the current. When it finally did start taking line, there was a splash on the surface and a better size marlin stuck its head out. We were hoping for a quick shot at the leader, but again, the fish was stubborn and stayed down deep. Grep put big pressure on and after 20 minutes, before it came up. When it did, I had the boat right on top of it. It cleared the water like a Polaris missile. Moments later the leader came up and Greg wound it onto the reel, but as quickly as it came on, it flew off. The fish swam around the boat making spectacular jumps as it went. We chased it down and eventually managed to get hold of the leader. I wrapped it and held on until something broke. On closer inspection, the circle hook had straightened and then snapped. With that it was 3 for 3 on an 80ish kilo black.

We were on a bit of a roll, so it was back up to the top of the drift and sure enough, 10 minutes in, 2 rods went off. One was a skippie that was very quickly released. The second fish was definitely not a skippie and took a lot of line. We followed it for some time and when we got directly above it, it sounded and after half an hour still had not moved it so, not wanting to waste more time on another shark, we parted off and headed back to the seaway.

It was a great day off the Gold Coast and one that I’ll remember for a long time.

Checking new boxes

On Sunday 13^th June 2021 at 6:30am, Dave, Dale and I launched off of Wellington point. We headed across the bay, in what felt like sub zero temperatures, towards Amity Point. There was a bit of a swell, so crossing the bar was not as easy as my pervious trip, but we managed to get through without any issues.

We were hoping to catch a few end of season Spanish mackerel, so we stopped at a spot where Dale had caught live bait previously. It took some sounding around before I found the showing, but when I did, Dale and Dave both managed a few full strings of mackerel (slimies) and maasbanker (yakka).

We did not have a live well on the boat, so a coolerbox was filled with water to keep them going. It was a bit of a mission adding fresh water to the box, but it was part of the game.

We headed out to Sevens reef and rigged up 3 livies, two down deep and one on the surface. I rigged the surface bait on my trusty KP reel so I had to hold the rod while trolling.

The current was ripping north to south and there was a lot of slime in the water… never a great sign. Luckily the mackerel could handle the extra speed we needed to gain ground against the current and work the reef. After not seeing much on our first pass over the reef, Dale made a turn to approach from a different angle. We were in mid-turn when there was a splash on the surface where my livie should have been. Moments later I felt the weight on the line and I went tight with a fish. It didn’t take much line, so we kept the other lines out while I brought the fish in between the other lines. I could feel the continuous thumps in the rod indicating that it was a tuna species. A short while later, I had the fish at the boat where Dale gaffed my first Long Tail Tuna. Not a big fish by any stretch of the imagination, but a tick box none the less.

1st Longtail Tuna

With a fish in the boat, the monkey was off our back and we could relax a bit. Some of the baits were dying so we only had a limited number of mackerel left. We put on a fresh round of bait and made another turn. There was a bit of a showing on the bottom followed a short while later by a pull on the surface bait. The fish dropped the bait so I free spooled it back and went tight. This fish took a bit better run so we were hoping it was a Mackie, but those tell tail thumps on the rod suggested otherwise. It was with disappointment that we saw a big bonnie (mackerel tuna) next to the boat. It was unceremoniously released.

The rest of the morning was dead quiet so we opted to put out a few rapalas an troll around, just covering ground. We had gone a few hundred meters when the far lure went away with a smallish fish. Dave brought it in and just before we could see it, it went on a short erratic run followed by big head shakes, then just a heavy weight. It had been converted. We fought the shark for a while before breaking off.

The rest of the day was very quiet so we headed home at around 1pm. Thanks to Dave and Dale for a great day on the water a good laughs around the washbay.

Moreton Bay Tuna Hat Trick

On Saturday the 17^th April at 11am, Henk, Carl and I launched Henk’s boat out of Moreton Bay, Brisbane. This was the first launch I had made since I immigrated to Australia in March. The plan was to just have a bit of a look around the bay and see if there were any interesting spots.

Henk knew the area and stopped at a few marker beacons in the bay. I opted for a set of sabikis, Carl was casting a small spoon and Henk had a soft plastic. We caught a few small snapper and yellowtail scads (I don’t have a clue what the local names are yet) before moving towards Amity point on the northern point of North Stradbroke Island. The weather was beautiful, and there was basically zero swell, so Henk suggested we head to sea through “The Bar”. It’s the gap between the Moreton Island and Stradbroke where you need to weave your way through the sandbanks and breaking surf. Similar to the gap between Benguerra Island and Magaruque. It can get really dicey when the tide is running out.

With the flat sea, it was an easy crossing. We stopped on an old ship wreck on one of the sandbanks but despite our efforts with lures and live baits, we didn’t get any pulls so we headed south to a well-known pinnacle. There were great showings, but they were mainly small goatfish and some weird little fish that I had not seen before. After a while we decided to pull a few rappies around and we had not gone 50m when a reel went off. I took the rod and managed to get my first Aussie yellowfin which we bled and put in the hatch for sushi. With no more action on the we trolled deeper to another big pinnacle. As the structure started climbing, there was a big midwater showing on the sounder. Just then a reel went off with what turned out to be a big kawakawa. I made another turn and the surface lure went on. Carl caught a small skippie which we released. Its not often that you get 3 tuna species in a day, so I thought it was pretty good. I continued making turns around the spot and we had continuous action from skippies and another yellowfin. At 4:30 we called it and made the 60min run back to the boat ramp.

I am really looking forward to “ABF” arriving. There seems to be some potential in the area and it will just take some time to figure out what’s going on.

Thanks to Henk for that great day out.

Weehoos

On Saturday 6^th February 2021 at 7am, Wayne, Willis, Dereck, Rian and I launched “Galavant” off Cape Vidal. It was just a boys weekend to get away a bit, so there were no plans nor expectations of catching anything too spectacular. Besides, an Easterly wind was predicted for the day and that normally means poor catches.

We stopped off on the bait marks to look for some livies. There were big showings but they were not eating the clean sabikis. Luckily, we had brought some sardines with and after tipping the hooks with small pieces, we started catching a few. The shoal soon came up from the bottom and were just under the boat. I started chumming a bit and they went wild. At one stage, they were eating the sardine I was holding in my hands. The gopro footage is very cool. After fishing in this aquarium for a bit, we headed up north to Vegetation and put out a few baits. It was very quiet but as the day went on, we started getting a few pulls. Unfortunately, the fish were not hooking up and by 11am we only had one 10kg tuna on the boat from 7 pulls. 

We decided to make a move and head deeper to see if there was an amberjack on the drop-off. Rian and I sent down livies and I managed to get a proper pull. The fish had me pinned to the gunwale for a bit until I managed to gain a few meters and get its head up. Rian took over the rod and felt some heavy pressure as he heaved the fish off the rocks. It was a long way to the surface and eventually a beautiful tropical yellowtail came up. It was Rian’s first and nothing could wipe the smile off his face.

Rian with a weehoo

The next drop resulted in another hookup with a good fish that gave Willis a strong tussle. There were big head nods and some strong runs thrown in… the fish fought too. Unfortunately, halfway up, there was a heavy weight followed by a freight train run that couldn’t be stopped. Just then, the leader was bitten through by what we assume was a taxman. There was not much more action after that and just when we were about to pack up, a mate of mine called to say they had found a net a short distance away. We headed in that direction and on arrival there were a few dorado to meet us. I changed the rigs to a short nylon leader and a single hook with a livie pinned through the nose. We slow trolled these just behind the flasher and managed to get 3 quick dorries. When we came close to the net, Rian cast a bucktail and went on with a small fish that looked like a sarda sarda.

Dereck's weehoo

When it was in the boat, we couldn’t believe what it was. It was the smallest wahoo any of us had ever
seen… a real weehoo. We took turns casting at the net and managed to release 3 weehoo and lost about 5. While this was going on, the far line went away. I fed it and hooked up then passed the rod to Rian. The fish made a hell of a run on the surface and we could just make out the dark shape before it sounded. It showed no sign of stopping and after about 150m straight down, it settled into that slow rod thumping fight. About 20 minutes into the fight on a heavy drag, with the fish about 50m down, there were a few head nods followed by another hectic run. Unfortunately, Rian was too slow to ease the drag and the line parted near the fish. It was a bit disappointing, but that’s how it goes. We spent a bit more time around the net but didn’t have any more success so headed back to the beach.

In all it was a great day with a lot of laughs.

Always have a contingency plan

 At 6am on Saturday 30^th January 2021, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” off Cape Vidal. The aim of the day was to fish for the black marlin record on 15kg line. I had been targeting it for some time now but the fish we had caught thus far were all too small, so the search continued.

The forecast for the day was a very light SW turning East by 11am, basically a glass-off. We both knew how difficult it was to catch live bait in these conditions, so I had packed in my heavy spinning rod, just in case.

After an easier than normal launch, Pierre topped on the bait spot behind the backline. In no time, he had about 15 maasies in the livewell. Our contingency plan was now ready so we moved north to Oscar to look for a tuna. We trolled small lures around and around, but there was nothing happening. Pierre made a shallower turn and in 30m we went on with 2 frigate tuna… not the strongest baits, but better than nothing. We headed for deeper water where I rigged the one friggie on the 30lbs outfit. The water was 27 degrees and midnight blue. There was also no current which made our job of keeping a weak bait alive even more difficult. Trolling deeper over the 100m mark, we noticed that there were a few interesting showings near the bottom… definitely something to investigate later if things went quiet. 

After about an hour, the friggie succumbed to the warm water and we were back on the troll looking for another bait. As we passed over the 50m ledge, the far line went off with a bait. I cleared the lines while Pierre brought it in. Just when I was getting ready to grab it, there was a big commotion on the surface as a marlin came in and grabbed the skippy. Pierre fed it a bit then tightened up. The fish took a bit of line so I followed it with the boat. Moments later, it rocketed out the water about two meters into the air then went greyhounding away. I managed to keep up with it until it sounded, so it was not too far away. When it came up again, it was out of breath, so Pierre got the leader on the rod. Pierre passed mem the rod so that he could put gloves on. Just then it sounded again and I was left with a stubborn fish that had gone deep. After 20 minutes of back breaking vertical tug o war, Pierre grabbed the leader, removed the hook, revived it and released it. What a bonus! At least we caught our target species on the line class we wanted … albeit not according to our plan.

After a quick and well deserved cooldrink, we set the bait lures again but after 2 hours we had no pulls. I suggested we put plan b into action and drop a few livies on the deep marks, hoping to get either a sarda sarda which we could swim for bait or something more substantial. I rigged up the spinning rod with a live bait trace and put on a 10m sinker line with a 20oz weight. The biggest maasie was pinned and Pierre was ready to go. I stopped on top of a decent showing and Pierre let the bait go. It was on the bottom for only a few moments when it was eaten. Unfortunately, the fish pulled hook after a short run so Pierre had a long retrieve with an empty hook. It was my turn to make a down and decided to go big or go home. I rigged up one of the frigates that were in the hatch and when Pierre gave me the thumbs up, I sent it down. To make the bait look a bit more enticing, I wound it up a few meters then dropped it to the bottom, basically jigging the bait up and down. Less than a minute went by when there was a hard thump on the rod and a heavy pull. I fed some line then tightened up. There was something on, but it seemed to be swimming up as there was some slack line. I thought it was either a shark or possibly a marlin but after gaining about 10m of braid, the fish turned and the pressure came on in a huge way. I was pinned to the gunwale and held the spool to try and stop whatever it was from getting any line. My palm was on fire, but eventually it stopped and I could lift the rod. I gained a good few meters before there were big head nods and the second run began. It was back to the fetal position on the gunwale holding on for dear life, expecting to feel that pop at any moment. 

A once in a lifetime AJ

The run stopped and immediately I was on the attack and pulled as hard as I can ever remember (which is probably not that impressive anymore considering my back condition and the fact that there was no bucket on board). The runs were now only a few meters at a time and I had it probably 30m off the bottom. I could feel it was getting weaker, but just then my adrenalin wore off and I was feeling the pain. I tagged out with Pierre, hoping he could do the hard grunt and wind the fish to the surface. I put on my back brace and took a few minutes to recoop. Just then, Pierre said that he was tagging me back in as he was also hurting. I took the rod again and went back to putting max pressure on. Every turn of the reel, the fish came easier and easier. I could feel it coming to the top as almost a dead weight. Looking over the side, there was a huge light blue shape rising fast. Only then did we notice it was air bubbles that came from the fish at it was popping. The line angled to the surface as the fish came closer. Just then we got a visual of it. The size of it suggested it was a big potatoe bass or something to that effect, but then we saw that massive head break the surface and we were both blown away at the size! It was an enormous Amberjack. I brought it alongside where Pierre gaffed it. It took both of us to lift it over the gunwale and only then did we see how big it really was. I put a tape measure on it and it was 1510mm long but had a massive girth (probably due to the air). The estimate was at around 40kg but we would have to wait to find out.

When the dust had settled, we went back to the spot and put the second frigate down. Unfortunately, we had no further takers and decided to troll lures back to the launch. As we went over the pinnacle at Oscar, 3 reels went off with skipjacks. One pulled hooks, but we managed to rig up the other two. Just like that we were live baiting for marlin on 30lbs again. We headed out deeper and at 95m the rigger revves and popped. Just then a big hammerhead surfaced behind us. Pierre gunned the motor while I wound like hell hoping to miss the shark but alas, the hook found a mark and I was tight on a big shark on light line. I knew it could take us a long time to get it close, so I put the drag to 8kg and pulled like there was no tomorrow. After about 25 minutes, the leader came out the water where Pierre cut the leader. The other skippy was still swimming, so we transferred it to the 30lb rod and continued trolling. Unfortunately, the warm water and lack of current took its toll and the bait died an hour later. With that we headed back to the beach. Luckily, I had my calibrated scale with me (anticipating the marlin capture) so we could get an accurate weight on the amber. It eventually weighed in at 44.8kg. An absolute beast.

Thanks a million to Pierre for a really memorable day on the water. I will never forget it and I’m sure we will still tell the story over a few times.