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Thread: Sydney Marlin Madness

  1. #1

    Sydney Marlin Madness

    The one that didn’t get away – unfortunately.
    Amongst all Sydney fisherman, there is only one word getting thrown around. Whispered around workplaces, the topic of tackle store interrogations, chattered across VHF radios, shouted by absent-minded crewmen, lazing on their decks…………….MARLIN!!!!

    What a wicked week it’s been of Sydney, awesome temp breaks, awesome conditions, and and awesome marlin bite, best of all the season has only just begun!
    Last Saturdays game plan was to troll around the area north of the 12mile reef, find some nice bait schools, and then work the live-baits through the school. It ended up being pretty hard to find significant schools of bait out there and the VHF was going off with hook ups, so we stuck with trolling a spread of Scentblazer lures. We ended up going 3-3-1 (3marlin sighted, 3 hooked, and 1 caught). The first fish was a feisty small black marlin that took the lumo sprocket in the shotgun position. I paid the price for forgetting the TLD 25 reel had not been re-spooled for the last 2 years and the line became a little old and crusty. With the pre-measured 5.5kg of drag set on the reel, mid way through the small blacks blistering first run the line failed and the fish swam away with the lure in tow. The angry fish continued to jump around the boat until it threw the hook and swam off unimpeded, lure lost to the abyss, but fish free, phew!
    Heading out towards the shelf a flyfing fish coloured cup faced scent blazer lure packed with yellowtail was taken by a Striped Marlin. With only 2 of us onboard, by the time we had the teaser and other 2 lines in, the fish had taken against 7.5kg of drag the 300m topshot of 50lb mono and 600m of 50lb braid underneath! Just in time as the spool of the Tyrnos 30 was near empty we had the boat turned and were gaining line. The fish went deep and the fight ensued for over 1.5 hours, it was clear from the initial run and the lack of jumps that the fish had been tail wrapped. As we pulled the fish up from the depths

    it was belly up and not looking good,

    so I jumped in to untangle him, and get a tag in, and he put up a small show boat-side

    before collapsing in a heap,

    these guys really will give it their all!

    We put in a good 10min of reviving

    and it managed to re-gain some of its colour,


    but was not making any meaningful movements, we took a few happy snaps

    before trying for another 10min to revive this guy and by that point our arms and backs were getting pretty darn sore from bending over the gunnel and holding his head under water.

    It became apparent that despite our best efforts it could not be revived, it was a bitter sweet moment that we had just caught this awesome fish, and now it was the end of its magnificent existence.


    On the way home the same lure, the scent blazer flying fish got hit again, it was a small black, and the hook never really stuck, what a day!

    So, if anyone is after some fish steaks, just pop round my place, there’s plenty enough to go around.

  2. #2

    Re: Sydney Marlin Madness

    Great fish mate!
    Im planning on heading to eden in march and want to try and catch a marlin!
    Can you help me with any information regarding the area?
    Im towing my boat from Melbourne, a savage mako 5.5 with a 2 stroke 140 hp yamaha similar to the outboard in your picture. Do you have to take extra fuel with you?
    Any information would be greatly appreciated
    Cheers

  3. #3

    Re: Sydney Marlin Madness

    Hey ticdavis.

    To be honest I don't know too much about Eden but it depends on what you're targeting. Inshore reefs and waters inside the shelf for black marlin (generally 250-50m depth) and the shelf and beyond for blue and striped marlin. However it is all the same for any marlin, find the bait and you will find the fish. Find bait by using either sea surface charts, and your senses-keeping a lookout for:
    -bait schools, jumping bait and working birds on the horizon
    -marlin free-jumping and sun baking on the surface (you'll see the top half of their tail fin and dorsal fin too sometimes)
    -Bait balls and big fish holding next to bait balls on the sounder

    Then it's a matter of catching them using the right technique for the situation (trolling/livebaiting/skipping dead baits/downrigging/switchbaiting)

    Most of all keep safe, know your boat and its limits, have all safety stuff onboard and then have multiple backups (e.g. for info transfer to emergency services alone I have an Epirb, a plb, my vhf, a handheld vhf and a waterproof phone in life proof case) and the same should go for everything else.
    I take 2 spare jerries (45L) just incase of fuel contamination, I have a fuel water separator and the only reason I can go offshore with a carbied 2 stroke is thanks to my 300L fuel tank- which is always full on the way out, I head home once fuel is 2/3 full. Anyhow, hopefully someone from Eden can chime in and give you GPS coordinates for inshore bait grounds to load up on slimies and you have a great trip! Good luck

  4. #4

    Re: Sydney Marlin Madness

    The best marlin pics I've ever seen.

    great job.
    Democracy: Simply a system that allows the 51% to steal from the other 49%.

  5. #5

    Re: Sydney Marlin Madness

    Great advice thanks saltandglass. All safety equipment is accounted for. I will carry an extra 60 litres of fuel with me to ensure enough fuel.
    By the sounds of things they are biting extremely well at the moment, so hopefully i can find some bait and go from there! i will report back with how i went.
    Cheers

  6. #6

    Re: Sydney Marlin Madness

    Awsome photos boys well done

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