Neue Australien Angelberichte

I went out yesterday with Daniel's Group, American soldiers here for the exercises, again not really confident, especially after looking at the SST charts. They were not showing any real feature. No temperature breaks, in fact hardly any temperature variation between shore and a thousand fathoms. The only reasonable feature being the zero line was reachable. Anyway, I went out despite the SST’s hoping that because of their low resolution I’d be able to find something to work with. We put the lures in at the Twelve Mile, always the chance of an early season Marlin there, and worked our way out. As I neared the shelf I got a call from ‘Finfinder’ telling me they had landed a Yellowfin of around fifteen kilo’s wide of Browns. Well, that was incentive enough and I headed off that way. There were plenty of Whales, Dolphins and Pilot Whales to see but bait and birds were scarce. Still we continued on getting out to the thousand fathom line sadly with no result, so headed back in. On the way in I saw a ‘bust up’ but by the time I got there it was all over. I worked the area for a while however they never came up again so continued on my merry way. ‘Finfinder’ had also found nothing out wider so was also on their way back in. Just as I noticed them on the horizon I saw another ‘bust up’ and this one was close by, as I skirted the area we hooked up. I called ‘Finfinder’ in and within minutes they also hooked up. Both fish eventually landed and both roughly the same size, 25 to 30 kilo’s. Interestingly the Yellowfin we caught had been eating Sauries which were hardly digested. Yet in all the time we trolled the area we never saw a single sign of Sauries. We both worked the area for quite a while with no result. So, there are still some Yellowfin around and should make it interesting for this week-end’s Sydney Game Fishing Club’s Monster Mako Tournament since there is a major prize for both the biggest and most tagged Yellowfin. Tight lines, Ivan

Went out last Thursday with Chuck, his wife and son on board from New York State. I was not very optimistic about the day. The weather wasn’t as good as expected in fact verging on horrible and recent fishing reports were hopeless. There were a few Yellowfin off Kiama and further South and the Marlin and Yellowfin reports I’d heard from the Port Stephens area had dried up. However, on the way out I did hear a couple of boats fishing inshore catching what sounded like some good Snapper. When I went past the 12 mile there was one boat there and with the North Easterly already doing fifteen to eighteen knots and the residual sea from the day before it wasn’t pleasant, so I can’t imagine they stayed there for very long. Chuck and his family were still happy to be there, so we continued on. I went North to at least get a comfortable ride home. It really wasn’t looking good. No bait schools around the shelf, no birdlife to mention and only eighteen degrees water temperature with no breaks, but there were lots of whales. I got a huge surprise when in two hundred fathoms the rigger went off with what appeared to be a good fish running hard, sadly it dropped off just as quickly. Then in around three hundred fathoms I saw a heap of Gannets sitting on the water with some occasionally diving in. As we drew closer I saw there was a big block of wood with a big Mako lying under it, a good sign for next weekend’s Mako Tournament. I passed the lures close to the block of wood and to my surprise a school of Mahi Mahi charged in. The SST was only eighteen degrees and the water green. We ended up with two nice Mahi Mahi before they spooked. I worked the area for a while but nothing else appeared. Further on we got a good hit on the shotgun and line screamed off, this was a Yellowfin. After a good fight Chuck’s son brought it to gaff for a very happy and tired angler. And so ended the day. The wind had picked up to over twenty knots and the decision was made to head for home - nice down hill run it was too. That’s how it goes what looked like it was going to be a futile day ended well with the guys catching their biggest fish and something to eat to boot. Tightlines, Ivan

Spring time us a great time to fish in sydney Big healthy cool wayer fish

It is fair to say that this winter’s fishing has been unusual to say the least. Earlier on, just a few weeks ago we had a run of big Yellowfin, what I have heard called the Fijian Yellowfin. It would be interesting to know if these fish have actually come in on a current of tropical origin it would go a long way into explaining the appearance of some of the other warm water fish we have seen lately. At the same time as these Yellowfin, I will call them the Fijian Yellowfin, turned up we experienced a very short run of Bluefin with several over one hundred kilo’s caught. Yet at the same time there were a couple of Blue Marlin and Striped Marlin taken, sighting of Mahi Mahi and the weirdest of all more than a few Spearfish caught. So, a strange mix of warm and cold water species. At present we are catching smaller Yellowfin in the twenty five to forty kilo range though a couple of bigger ones have been taken. In the past these smaller fish were found in large schools, often busting up, and when you found them you’d get multiple hook-ups. However, lately to find the fish you have to cover a lot of ground and the hook-ups are from blind strikes in the middle of nowhere with little if any bird activity to indicate their presence. The last time I was out, a couple of days ago, we caught a couple of thirty kilo ‘fin. The first in three hundred fathoms South-East of Browns and the second in seven hundred fathoms on the same line. There were few birds around in fact for all intents and purposes the area looked barren. What was of interest was that the fish had been eating what looked like baby octopus or squid, hard to tell at the size they were, about two centimetres long and transparent. It amazed me that the fish were feeding on really small bait and yet still took old ‘Brad’. Tight lines, Ivan

Australias East coast is enjoying a great tuna run this year

Quality Reef Fish Do you love the thrill of reeling in a monster Mackerel? Always wanted to hook a Pearl Perch? Whether you’re a fishing aficionado or you’ve never held a rod, you’ll love our thrilling fishing charters off the coast of Noosa, Mooloolaba andMaroochydore. Deep Sea Fishing Co. Sunshine Coast offer affordable group tours and exclusive private tours for anglers of all ages and abilities. Local Fishing Adventures Book a half day, ¾ day or full day tour aboard our well-equipped fishing vessels. The team at Deep Sea Fishing Co. Sunshine Coast will provide everything you need for an exciting day out on the water, including rods, reels, bait, tackle, water and soft drinks. Plan a fun family day out or get your mates together for a wholesome day of fun—we cater to individuals, friend groups, team events, buck’s parties and more. All our charters depart from Noosa Marina 2 Parkyn Court Tewantin but as you venture off up to 30 mile offshore to the incredible reefs off Noosa, Moololaba and Maroochydore you will have the most EPIC day offshore fishing with us! Reefs we service BARWON BANKS Depth: 35-120m Distance: 45km Barwon Banks is a large reef system that covers around 23km running north south. This reef holds large numbers of snapper, pearl perch, amberjack, Venus tusk fish, hussar, Maori cod, jew fish, king fish, and many more bi catch species. A great reef to target pelagics aswell marlin, sailfish, dolphin fish, tuna etc. This reef producers well all year round, and has some insane fishing to be had. HARDS Depth: 50-80m Distance: 60km The Hards begins at the tip of the Barwon Banks and goes a further 20km north offering changing reef and bottom conditions along the way. This reef holds massive numbers of medium to large snapper, and pearl perch as the predominant target species. This reef is one of our favourites to target for snapper and awesome bottom fishing, also this reef producers well all year round. SUNSHINE REEF Depth: 20-35m Distance: 25km Well known for its pelagic fishing in the summer, in particular kingfish, mackerel and tuna varieties and can serve up some outstanding snapper, pearl perch, parrot, cobia, spangled emperor, grass sweetlip, trout and many other species. Sunshine Reef is a very good system (scattered boulders as per the National Park Hedland) mixed with coral reef and patches of sand. Grassies, snapper, pearlies, Venus tussle fish, coral trout, are commonly caught on this reef all year round. HALLS REEF Depth: 15-20m Distance: 5km Halls and Little Halls reefs are worthwhile spots to start the adventure on the way to more distant reefs. These areas can fish outstandingly well after prolonged rain as they are the closest structures to the river mouth and a big fresh pushes prawns, herring, mullet and other bait out into Laguna Bay. Halls is also a great place to deploy a bait jig and collect a few livies. JEW SHOAL Depth: 10m Distance: 5km Jew Shoal is a very good area for fat longtails and passing schools of spotted and Spanish mackerel in summer. In the winter you can pick up snapper, cod and sweetlip also a great spot to catch live bait on the way out to the bigger reefs. CHARDONS REEF Depth: 30-55m Distance: 25km Chardons Big Spaniards run up and down the coast out at Chardons and many marlin are hooked their too by trollers chasing the mackerel. Also holds good numbers of snapper, pearlies, Venus tusk fish, Moses perch, drag jew, silver jew, odd coral trout. NORTH REEF Depth: 40-55m Distance: 25km North reef is quite a large reef system consisting of weed beds gravel patches and bommies. This is a great area for big snapper, pearl perch, Venus tusk fish, Moses perch, Maori cod, silver jew, coral trout, cobia, yellowtail king fish, and great offshore fishing majority of the time. DOUBLE ISLAND POINT Depth: 40-75m Distance: 60km Double island fishes good all year round for red emperor, Scarlett sea perch, snapper, pearlies, hussar, and jew fish - Heaps of varieties of reefs including big ledges, gravel patches and weed beds. A massive reef start close to the headland and heads all the way out to inside the continental shelf off Fraser Island.