Cairns Marlin & Game Fishing Update

Good weekend of fishing ....

2012-01-30T09:14:00.001+10:00

We caught 3 striped marlin for the trip with the Campbell's - 2 on our last day of fishing. The following day (Saturday) we caught 5 striped marlin on a shared charter day, having seen 8 or 9 with 1 black marlin caught yesterday first up in the morning from 4 raised.

PORT STEPHENS UPDATE

2012-01-25T12:10:00.004+10:00

The fish are still biting here in Port Stephens. Out today for 3 days with George, Glenn and Paul Campbell from Cairns, with the weather due to come down and hoping to improve on the 8 fish caught from the previous 4 days of fishing with 2 blacks amongst 6 stripes. Bait is still thick and water temperatures ranging between 24 & 25 degrees.

NEW YEAR UPDATE

2012-01-16T08:22:00.001+10:00

Fishing over the past week has been good with fantastic weather for this time of the year - clear days and no storms. The current is pushing hard to the South and the water is a beautiful blue.

We've been catching a mixed bag - typical January fishing - wahoo, yellowfin tuna, Spanish mackerel and one black marlin for Chris King around 200lbs.

Looking forward to heading down to Port Stephens on Wednesday to fish on the Calypso. It has been great fishing with all 3 species - blues, blacks and stripes. Latest update yesterday reports Calypso catching 5 striped marlin between 80 & 90 kg.

Great Port Stephens fishing time still available. Email or call for costings and dates......

END OF SEASON

2011-12-12T08:33:00.003+10:00

Been awhile since our last post, though back in Cairns now.

After returning from Lizard Island, the dirty, funky water from North followed me down to the Cairns area shutting down the fishing along the edge for the last week of November.   Over the past 2 weeks we have been fishing wide of the reef, mainly on the blue marlin grounds.

We caught a nice one for Dave Todd the other day and my biggest blue marlin caught in Australia at an estimated 850 - 900lbs.   A beauty and a tough one for Dave in the hot early afternoon sun. It was a great capture and Pete got some fantastic shots.

With Christmas now just around the corner and most Southern boats now gone, the season is tapering down. The water has cleaned up on the edge with still a few yellowfin, mackerel, sailfish and black marlin still around.

It was an excellent season with great numbers of quality fish. As is the case with most seasons on the reef, there were hot and slow periods, with the good times making up for some weeks when the fishing was quiet.   We caught 65 marlin for the season with 20 fish over 750lbs.

Got the next few days off and looking forward to watching the Aussie beat the Kiwis in the cricket.

Back to Cairns ...

2011-11-26T09:51:00.000+10:00

On our way back to Cairns after fishing out of Lizard Island for a few days with the Codner family from the US. Although we had a great time - there were no marlin to be found, the action is all off Cairns and really looking forward to getting out there tomorrow.

Heading North

2011-11-21T20:26:00.001+10:00

After a day off in Cairns I'm heading back up to Cooktown and to Lizard Island to fish clients staying at the Lodge. It's hard leaving the good fishing off Cairns at present but fingers crossed we find some action at the top.

Great fishing continues off Cairns ....

2011-11-18T09:21:00.001+10:00

We've caught 2 big fish over the last 3 days off Cairns....... on the final day of Barney Latham's trip and yesterday for Victorian angler Nick Zoch. Fantastic week of fishing!!

EXCELLENT NOVEMBER FISHING

2011-11-15T14:36:00.000+10:00

Fishing is great and conditions are good with fish marking everywhere on the sounder.

We're on our fourth day with Barney Latham from the US and have caught 6 in the last 3 days. We just released a 950-1000lb fish earlier today and a couple of nice ones yesterday - 700lbs and 800lbs.

Quality fish around, with Barney having the trip of a lifetime!

PAST WEEK OF FISHING

2011-11-12T09:43:00.001+10:00

Overall, the past week of fishing was patchy and tough at times, though if you happened to be in the right spot on the day, it was great.

After Connie's marlin we headed back out with her son-in-law Brian, BD, Deano, Crozzie for another 4 days. It had it's tough times with 1 to 2 bites a day, though finished the charter on a high with a really big fish fought for over an hour and a half by Brian at the final hour of the last day.

Yesterday was our final fishing day with Vince, Charlotte, Jake and Len, fishing off the mothership "Aroona". The first 3 days we had a few bites and caught Charlotte her first black marlin. Day 4 turned around for us and we caught 4 from 5 with a nice fish est 900lbs & 3 small fellas, jumping off another marlin around 800lbs. Yesterday we had 3 bites and fought a huge marlin for an hour before breaking the leader. Managed to get good video footage and the crew on the Castille got some great shots of the fish jumping away from the Top Shot.

850lb Marlin for 85 year old Connie

2011-11-03T12:30:00.000+10:00

Yesterday we headed out on a day trip from Cooktown and 85 year old Connie Lawrie from the Gold Coast caught her fish of a life time estimated at 850lbs.

Congratulations Connie!!

Plenty of big fish around yesterday!

2011-11-02T11:44:00.000+10:00

We had 3 bites and missed a monster! Tim on the Calypso caught an 800lber as did the Release. Moana III caught an estimated grander out wide on a lure.

This coming week is shaping up to be the bite of the season.

Hiroshi's Marlin

2011-11-01T08:01:00.000+10:00

950lber, caught 3 days ago by Hiroshi!

Hiroshi's marlin, last day of charter - long, hard 2 hour fight.

1100lber Late Yesterday!

2011-11-01T07:46:00.000+10:00

An awesome fish for Tim Coakley from WA !

Big Fish Day!

2011-10-30T10:17:00.001+10:00

After a week of consistently marking good numbers of marlin, with either one or no bites, finally a few big ones bit yesterday on the Southern grounds. After a long, hard 2 hour fight, we caught a 950lber and had 1 other bite. Biggles on the Allure also caught a big one estimated 950lbs and Simon Carosi caught 2 nice fish - 1 around 950 lb and 1 around 500lbs.

FISHING UPDATE

2011-10-26T08:37:00.000+10:00

On our last charter with regular anglers Ray Doody (Larry), Jonathan Webster (Webbo) and Ray Doody Snr we fished 7 days and caught 10 fish with a couple of nice ones amongst them - an 800lber on the final day of fishing for Ray Snr and a 700lber for Webbo. It was their 10th consecutive season with me on the GBR and 103 black marlin.

We are currently fishing with Japanese anglers Hiroshi, Hitoshi and Masa. Moving around trying to find fish. We had a few bites yesterday and caught one - all small fish.

Rough Fishing Weather

2011-10-20T11:38:00.000+10:00

The past couple of days have been 30 knots with plenty of rain and not a great deal of sleep. Continuing to fish No. 10 Ribbon Reef - We caught 4 from 4 late yesterday afternoon with the largest around 400lbs.

FISHING UPDATE

2011-10-18T10:03:00.004+10:00

We came third on a count back in the Lizard Island Tournament with runner up Champion Angler for Tomo Ominori from Japan - 10 marlin in total.

Have just fished with Norm Ennis, Rod Felts and Larry Stubbs from the US for 7 days where we caught 7 marlin for the trip with 4 fish over 700lbs. Now we are fishing with regular anglers Ray, Larry and Webbo for a week - caught 2 small fish yesterday from 4 bites.

TOURNAMENT UPDATE

2011-10-06T08:24:00.002+10:00

Yesterday was a great fishing day though not a great catching day. Certainly had our chances with 2 fish pulling hooks just outside tag range at the back of the boat, breaking off another good fish around 500lbs which was no doubt the result of an earlier backlash. We caught 2 fish out of 7 bites for the day with 1 fish just after cease fishing. Better luck today we hope.

UPDATE FROM THE REEF

2011-09-29T10:34:00.001+10:00

After a good few days with Gary, Glen and Laurie with 8 marlin over the 5 days and a nice one around 800lbs we are now out on our 3rd day with Greg & Tony for 5 days. We caught a small fish around 200lbs yesterday but with calmer conditions and the neap tides the fishing looks promising. The Release caught 2 nice fish yesterday around 800 & 900 lbs.

Nice one yesterday!

2011-09-24T10:53:00.001+10:00

We're on our 3rd day with Gary Douglas, Glen Blewey & Laurie Wright and the fishing's been pretty good. Our first day out we saw 3 fish, had 2 bites and caught 1 and yesterday caught 2 from 4 with a nice one around 800lbs.

Big Fish on the Fly!

2011-09-20T16:00:00.001+10:00

Mr Ishikawa’s marlin was enormous and estimated at 1100lbs after we saw it well out of the water.
………… broke the tippitt after 3 hours and got some great shots and video – a hell of a fish to hook on a fly!!

Cairns Black Marlin Fishing - Season Kicks Off

2011-09-20T15:23:00.000+10:00

Now on our 4th fly fishing day of charter for the 2011 season, up off Cooktown. Conditions are typically windy, though we've seen some nice fish - 7 over the 4 days and currently have 900lber on the fly!

LOCAL FISHING UPDATE

2011-08-30T08:43:00.001+10:00

We've just fished a great four days with Dave, Nosy and Jos from Bermuda. Had our chances on a couple of marlin - one small fish inside the reef around 20 lbs that we jumped off and a bite from a nice fish on Lindenbank estimated 500-600lbs. The fishing wasn't red hot and across the board everything was pretty quiet from bottom fish through to pelagics with maybe the dropping barometre to blame, who knows?? We did however catch some fantastic quality Spanish mackerel, wahoo and assorted smaller mackerels etc

Fishing's Great !!

2011-08-15T19:24:00.000+10:00

The past week of fishing has been excellent - fantastic weather, ideal conditions and plenty of whale action also. It's been busy with the mackerel still on the chew and a day to the outer shoals jigging produced some good dog tooth, spanish mackerel and GT's. Lightened the jig bag!

GOOD FISHING WEATHER FORECASTED

2011-08-06T15:13:00.001+10:00

Winds are easing from tomorrow, with a busy charter week ahead. We have a shared game fishing charter started on the TOP SHOT for Thursday 11th. The rate per person is $295 (normally $395 pp) with all proceeds going to our friend Janine's fundraiser, who has breast cancer and currently undergoing chemotherapy. Positions still available. Max 6 anglers, lunch, morning & afternoon tea, all fishing equipment, experienced crew.

Andy hangin' onto the fish of the day!

2011-08-01T19:49:00.000+10:00

ROUGH WEATHER FISHING

2011-07-31T09:12:00.001+10:00

Had a great few days with Peds and Bernadette. Although no marlin or sails we had a ball catching plenty of Spanish mackerel, a nice GT for Bernadette and usual smatterings of scaleys and mactunas. Yesterday we did a charter with 8 personnel from the USS Blue Ridge. I did find some good yakka schools though no marlin were raised, the day was about plenty of action which we found with some hot bites on the Spanish mackerel which are thick on most if not all of the grounds around Cairns at the moment.

4 Days Light Tackle Fishing off Cairns

2011-07-26T12:02:00.001+10:00

Headed out today with Michael Pedder and his wife for a few days of light tackle sport fishing - hoping to find a few baby black marlin amongst the Spanish mackerel. Winds are up today though water colour and conditions look great otherwise.

THE LIGHT TACKLE HOTS UP

2011-07-18T13:37:00.000+10:00

After nearly two months on the hard stand the Top Shot now boasts brand new twin 500 hp Yanmar engines - ready for our best of the winter month's light tackle action through July and August and in good time for the fast approaching marlin season.

On recent charters we've been catching good numbers of Spanish mackerel with some upcoming trips targeting marlin and sailfish we hope to find also during these prime light tackle months.

Available for both exclusive, private charter along with "shared" charters, where possible.

WINTER FISHING UPDATE

2011-05-20T07:51:00.001+10:00

The cooler weather has come early this year and I'm looking forward to a good upcoming light tackle season.

The Top Shot is out of the water at the moment for an extensive engine room refit with new Yanmar engines and Twin Disc gear boxes going in. This should provide the Top Shot with excellent reliability, fuel efficiency and speed.

The fishing prior to coming out of the water was good with catches of Northern bluefin tuna, Spanish mackerel, coral trout and reds. I've had a couple of shots at small sails when mackerel fishing but haven't been able to convert as yet.

Have been away barra fishing once so far with a couple of great fish of 1.22 m & 1.27 m. Looking forward to doing a couple more trips before the marlin season.

Port Stephens Marlin Fishing - Red HOT

2011-03-30T09:21:00.002+10:00

I flew down last weekend for the Broken Bay 50th Anniversary Game Fishing Tournament.    I fished this onboard a 45' Rampage "Grommet" with Andrew Tonini and the boys. On the first day we caught 2 from 3 (1 black & 1 striped), one fish behind the leading boat, a 55 Viking "Shelby" on 3 and remained this way as the next day was cancelled due to rough weather.   This finished us in 2nd position which was a good result amongst the 80 boats entered.

After returning to Cairns, a phonecall from Tim Dean on the Calypso confirmed the old adage, "should have been here yesterday" as they bit their heads off for a couple of days with Tim catching 20 in 2 days.   First day of 12 and 2nd day of 8, featuring a grand slam of black, blue and striped.   He saw many other fish tailing, though the conditions were pretty ordinary with a 20-25 knot South Westerly.

Hearing from Tim Dean again yesterday he told me of a really nice black they got to the leader, estimated at 750lbs. A great fish on the 50lb tackle and 150lb leader and just shows the quality of the fishing at this time year that Port Stephens has to offer.
Back in Cairns, the wet season has eased with a week of beautiful weather.    At the moment we have a 15-20 knot, South East tradewind blowing and I am heading out on a jigging and popper fishing day tomorrow.

Hayden has been terrorising the local barramundi population whilst Biggles and I have been away and we will all be looking forward to getting into a few when we get the chance.     April, May should see the Spanish mackerel fire up with a few sailfish around at the moment.   All looks promising for a good light tackle season ahead.

Port Stephens Marlin Fishing

2011-03-12T14:57:00.001+10:00

I've just returned from a couple of weeks fishing in Port Stephens with Andy O'Brien on the Warrigal and Tim Dean on the Calypso. Port Stephens once again living up to its reputation for some of the best medium tackle marlin fishing in Australia.

All 3 species were on the bite with a number of Grand Slam days. We had a great 3 days onboard "Warrigal" with Larry, Weeds and Ridgy. Not huge numbers but averaging 3 to 4 bites a day catching Striped, Blacks and the first Blue Marlin for Larry. We did jump off a nice Blue around 500lbs on the second day of fishing.

Over the first weekend of the Interclub Tournament I skippered the Calypso for Capt Tim Dean who was at the helm of local boat, "Born Free" owned by Geoff Leonard. On the Saturday I was not in the tournament but took some local lads out on charter for their first time marlin fishing. We had a great day's fishing where all four caught their first marlin and we finished the day with a grand slam of one blue, two blacks and a stripe, with the blue being the biggest at an est 500lbs. On the Sunday we were out again fishing in the Interclub tournament and caught 4 for angler "Rookie" (Tims old crewman) with 2 blacks and 2 stripes.

We then fished Ladie's Day onboard the Calypso with Tim's wife Bec, daughter Meg and friends and had another good day catching 3 from 4 (2 stripes and a black). The tournament was cancelled the following Saturday due to rough weather but on the Sudnay the fishing had slowed abit where we went 2 from 2 (1 black and 1 striped) for Sydney anglers Lee, Josh, Pete and Reece.

Heading down again next weekend for the Broken Bay Tournament where hopefully the good fishing continues.

JANUARY FISHING

2011-01-20T07:26:00.000+10:00

January has been a good month to date for weather in the Cairns area - with calm, hot days when I've been out on the water. There've been some good thunderstorms around though mostly of an evening.

The fishing has been pretty consistent with good catches of quality Spanish mackerel to 40lbs. When the conditions are right we have also been catching some good yellowfin tuna, along with the odd wahoo and barracuda.

I've done 1 day of blue marlin fishing and we went 1 for 1 catching a nice little blue around 200lbs on 50lb tackle.

Continuing to fish for light tackle species through February prior to heading to Port Stephens on the 17th to have 3 weeks fishing for the stripes, blues and blacks that PS is renowned for.

2010 MARLIN SEASON WRAP UP

2010-12-13T08:29:00.000+10:00

Winding down another good marlin season on the Great Barrier Reef.   The fish showed up in decent numbers throughout most of the season with the usual quiet periods alongside the good times. The Western Pacific has been in a La Nina weather pattern all year which showed in the form of warmer water temps especially so in September and October. The usually dependable Eastern Australian Currrent was only sporadic in showing good Southerly current - if you could find the good water you generally could find the fish.

November started off with a bang with excellent quality big fsh around and most boats getting action.    Hiroshi had some great fishing catching back to back 800 & 900lbers and other excellent quality fish from 700 down to 300lbs.    We then fished Simon, Steve and Mo for 12 days, having good fishing in the beginning of the trip, catching some good quality up to 800lbs and missing a few others of that size and possibly bigger as well.    A highlight early on was catching a double header, a first for the guys. The fishing slowed to 1-2 bites a day though we did cap it off with Sue Ahlers catching a nice 700lb fish at Lindenbank.

We had a good time fishing with Richard Luscombe and the boys, getting off to a good start catching a marlin on the first day but then having to settle for tough fishing amongst the deteriorating weather conditions catching dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna and mactunas.    It was enough to give the boys a taste to come back next year to do some more time on the reef.

Overall, we'd consider 2010 as a solid average season. Big fish were around every month and the GBR once again proved to be the best Big Fish location in the world. 2 fish were weighed at 1177lbs and 1027lbs along with several estimated granders released, plus the many 700-900lbers also.

Throughout December and January the Top Shot continues to fish both heavy tackle for black and blue marlin and also light tackle for smaller marlin. sailfish, tunas, mackerel, mahi mahi etc.

LATEST FISHING

2010-11-04T10:01:00.002+10:00

We have fished 3 days so far with Hiroshi from Japan and have had some excellent action. First day out he caught two beauty's, one 800 and a 900lb fish. Additional fish caught so far on his charter have been est 600, 500 and 100 lbs, so the quality is excellent at the moment up and down the reef. I had a broken phone conversation with Hayden Bell and he has also been having some good fishing weighing a grander on the 2nd of November at 1027lbs. On the last day of October Chris Miles weighed his first grander as a captain onboard my old boat Sea Baby IV at 1177lbs, a great fish and congrats to the angler and crew on a great effort.

The charter prior to this one was with regular anglers Larry, Webbo and Peds. We had a great trip and caught 10 fish for the 7 days with a couple of nice size amongst them - one at est 900lbs, caught on the first day.

LATEST FISHING

2010-10-31T07:25:00.001+10:00

The fishing at the moment is pretty good with up to 4 bites a day not uncommon. We've caught 5 in the last 5 days with the first fish of the trip a beauty around 900lbs, the rest have been small fish from 150 - 300 lbs.

We had a good Lizard Island tournament coming in second place, 1 fish behind the first place team on Viking. Tomo managed to take home the champion angler award with 6 fish for the tournament, the quality was excellent where we released a 900, 750, 700, 500, 300 & 250.

The water is fantastic with good current on the southern grounds and plenty of bait showing with wahoo carving up the baits between marlin bites.

LATEST FISHING

2010-10-10T07:22:00.001+10:00

Had a good trip with Tossle ,Silly and Bongo – caught 4 from 6 in 5 days with the fishing quite slow along all the reefs. Conditions still look excellent with really clean blue water and lots of life in it, with krill and small bait schools everywhere the scad, queenies,tunas and scaleys have been biting really well. The water temp is hovering around the 27.8 mark and with upcoming rising moon we are hoping the big ones move in. I am flyfishing at the moment with Ishikawa and raised 2 yesterday, one 500/600 that didnt tease and a small fish late in the day that ate the teaser once and went away. With 2 days to go fingers crossed we can get one to eat the fly.

LATEST FISHING

2010-10-05T06:35:00.003+10:00

We had a great trip with Lee and Josh managing to catch 10 in the 5 days of fishing with the biggest being a couple of fish in the 450lbs range, it was great weather and good fishing. Today is the last day of 5 days with Tossle, Silly and Bongo, the fishing has been pretty tough across the board with 1 or 2 bites a day. It seems to be the same everywhere with most boats that I've spoken to finding the fishing hard going, though I did watch the Sea Baby catch a nice fish the other day est at 950. We have caught 3 small fish so far so am hoping for a good last day today to finish on.

LATEST FISHING

2010-09-28T09:33:00.000+10:00

Had a great first day with Lee and Josh with 6 marlin released from 7 bites, small fish with the biggest at 350lbs. The conditions look excellent on all reefs with water temp maintaining at 27.4 , the weather is perfect with winds from the east/south east at 15 / 20 knots. Bait fishing is excellent with good mixed bags of Scaleys, Scad, Runners, Tunas and a few Queenies.

MARLIN SEASON UPDATE

2010-09-26T11:21:00.000+10:00

Although the flyfishing charter with Mr Ishikawa was limited timewise, we were able to raise a few fish to throw the fly at over the 3 days. Unable to convert them though and will try again with Ishi in mid October.

We've just finished fishing with the kiwi lads and had a great time catching 8 marlin over the 5 days. I'm now out with regular anglers, Lee & Josh Shardlow for another 5 days.

FLY FISHING UPDATE

2010-09-19T08:16:00.000+10:00

First day of fishing for me yesterday due to flight delays from Japan. The conditions are good with strong south current with temp at 27 degrees and wind east/se at around 15 knots.

Good bait showing in the openings and all the points. Raised 2 on the teasers, first fish around 120-150lbs did'nt tease close enough to cast the fly. The second fish was around 200lbs and teased close enough to cast the fly but the switch was a little out of timing with the marlin checking the fly out but no bite. Today looks like the same conditions but overcast which will make the fish hard to see and the task even harder, but we love a challenge.

SEASON IS HERE !

2010-09-14T10:25:00.003+10:00

We left this morning to head North for Cooktown to commence the 2010 marlin season. Hard to believe another season is upon us. Our first five days will be flyfishing with Mr Ishikawa from Japan and then conventional heavy tackle fishing from the 21st of October with the lads from Kiwi land.     The weather appears good for the next couple of days, though a huge high is on it's way which will bring plenty of wind - not ideal for the fly fishing, though still good for the big fish.

I'll be reporting on the fishing every other day where possible and also posting to a new blog - www.cairnsblackmarlinblog.com along with fellow Captains' Darren "Biggles" Haydon on the Allure and Hayden Bell on the Release.

Being a La Nina year with warm temperatures already, it'll be interesting to see how the season progresses, with several reports of fish seen already. The water looks great out hear today at 26.7 degrees on my depth sounder.

Although a quiet couple of months on the normally steady light tackle charter front, we've been busy (since last blog) with a flyfishing trip to Japan with fellow kiwi captain - Geoff Lamond from New Zealand - fishing for blue marlin with Mr Ishikawa.     The fishing was excellent and exceded our expectations. In the four days of fly fishing we raised 10 blue marlin between 150 & 300lbs. We threw the fly at five, had four on - jumping them off - breaking them off and got a gaff into a potential world record, estimated 300lbs before it took the gaff and broke the line.

It was a fantastic experience and we're looking forward to the opportunity of another shot next year.

August saw us head north to the Lockhardt/ Portland Roads area of Cape York with Darren Haydon, Hayden Bell and Brazakka, fishing with Fred Turner and his friends on his annual trip to the Great Barrier Reef. The "Spirit of Freedom" was once again the mothership for the trip and we had 18 days of great fishing for Spanish mackerel, trevally, bottom fish and heli fishing with Brazakka for barramundi.

We took 5 days to travel to Lockhardt, where the owner of the Top Shot, Greg joined us with mates Tom and Sam where we had unreal fishing and crabbing throughout the trip.

My last 2 day light tackle trip from Cairns in early September, saw us catch the usual Spanish mackerel, barracuda, scaley mackerel etc. We raised a nice fish around 300lbs on 30lb tackle but couldn't get a bite and finished on the death with a 50lb sailfish which made the trip for English anglers, Martin and Scott.

JUNE / JULY

2010-07-10T15:09:00.002+10:00

This year's light tackle winter fishing has been one of the quietest for charters on record, reflecting the downturn in Cairn's general tourism also.   Therefore days of fishing have been limited, though those days fished have been excellent with plenty of Spanish mackerel, giant trevally and shots at both marlin and sailfish.

With a break in the weather last week we had a great day out with my old skipper, Laurie Woodbridge and his grandson Luke and also along were 3 generations of Cambpells - George, Glenn & Jack with John Mondora riding along to take photos of his old fishing mates and their sons and grandsons.

Though no marlin, we had an active day catching plenty of Spanish mackerel, trevally and cod.

In between the odd charter and unfavourable weather, I've had some stellar barramundi fishing with mates, Glen Campbell, Laurie Wright, Darren Haydon and Hayden Bell.

APRIL / MAY UPDATE

2010-05-18T09:37:00.002+10:00

We had a fantastic trip with good friends, Laurie & Julie Wright to the Tropicstar Fishing Lodge, Panama to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. The lodge was exceptional, the fishing good and the company great. Our group caught 7 marlin for the 5 days - ranging from 150-500lbs, both black and blue marlin (predominantly black with plenty of dorado and yellowfin tuna mixed in).

We enjoyed watching the Panamanian crews at work. Very sharp and skilled in every aspect of the way that they fish there. An amazing place to experience and hope that we can get back there again one day.

Since our return we have fished light tackle from Cairns with the usual Autumn species on hand, mixed bag days of Spanish mackerel, yellowfin tuna, giant trevally and Northern bluefin tuna. We raised a small sailfish on our mackerel gear the other day, though couldn't manage to switch him to a pitch bait. I estimated him at only around 10-15 kgs. Looking forward to the light tackle winter months where the smaller marlin and sailfish are usually around in good numbers.

I've had the one barra fishing trip since returning home with good friend Glenn Campbell. We had a successful time, catching lots of barramundi with plenty of big ones. I'll be heading off again to the Cape this Friday and looking forward to what should be another great Cape York experience.

PORT STEPHENS INTERCLUB TOURNAMENT

2010-03-19T08:41:00.000+10:00

I have just returned from Port Stephens, fishing onboard the "Gunrunner" with the Lee family.   We fished the Port Stephens Interclub Tournament which was held over the last weekend of Feb and first weekend of March.    We also fished the AIBT Tournament which was conducted over 2 days, mid week.

The weather and fishing over the period was excellent with the roughest day being 20knots - no problem for the 48' Viking "Gunrunner".    I thought the fishing was top class. We fished a total of 8 days whilst there and caught a total of 19 fish, mostly stripes with a few blacks thrown in.   Some days the action was awesome, seeing over a dozen fish with coverups on striped marlin, biting everything in the pattern.    We had five doublehookups over the 8 days and 1 triple hookup, though catching them all especially on 15kg tackle is pretty challenging.

The tournament team of Jason, Katie, Kiara, Andy and Barry were well skilled and great fun to fish with.   I don't think I've ever seen a 13 year old junior girl like Kiara, fish with such confidence and ability.   Katie Lee is not only an exceptional angler but also a dab hand at bait rigging and assisting Andy on the deck which showed through with her champion female angler award for the tournament.

There were 198 boats fishing the Interclub Tournament and the New Castle/Port Stephens Club once again took out the overall honours 5th year in a row with the team of Born Free, Gunrunner, Diversion and Balistic. Champion boat tag and release was Broken Bay Vessel, Amokura followed by Born Free and Gunrunner in third position, with only 2 or 3 fish separating the 3 boats.   Looking forward to fishing again next year with the Gunrunner team.

Now back in Cairns and keeping an eye on Cyclone Ului which is currently off the Coast of Queensland.   The Top Shot now has a new teak deck and an exceptional job done by boat builder Dick Ward.

Donna and I head overseas on Monday to Costa Rica, Tropic Star Lodge in Panama and Florida for 3 weeks of fishing and catching up with friends. Returning on the 14th of April and looking forward to a fantastic experience.

OFF SEASON - TIME FOR SOME BARRA!

2010-02-17T11:37:00.003+10:00

Currently a great time for boat maintenance with the Top Shot getting it's deck reteaked and a Karumban barramundi trip scheduled with a departure this afternoon for a few days with Haydon Bell.

The 2010 season is shaping up well with a couple of good periods of fishing time still available. Next Thursday I head for Port Stephens to fish the Interclub Tournament on the Gun Runner & am hoping the phenomenal fishing they're now experiencing continues with Tim Dean on the Calypso reporting 10 & 12 marlin a day.

A NEW YEAR ROUNDUP

2010-01-19T06:42:00.004+10:00

A long time between blogs and another successful heavy tackle black marlin season for Cairns has come and gone. Once again proving itself as the best location in the world to chase not only black marlin but giant black marlin with good numbers of them caught right throughout the season.

Late November / December also provided opportunities for fishing amongst the tuna aggregation in the Coral Sea! Unreal action and something I think most people need to see at least once in their lifetime.

Now with all the Southern boats gone the locals finally have their waters back. Of late we have been doing a variety of charters from blue marlin fishing to light and medium tackle. We've been catching blue marlin to 200lbs with several bites from bigger fish. The dolphin fish have been consistent and sometimes extremely thick both on the edge and abit wider on the blue marlin grounds. Yellowfin, sailfish and Spanish mackerel have all been caught whilst fishing along the edge which is to be expected through the months of December /January.

With charters at the end of the week and the monsoon trough as it is - fingers crossed a cyclone does not form and rule them out.

GRANDER ON THE BANK

2009-11-30T09:28:00.004+10:00

Have just had a 2 day break and we're heading out again tomorrow on a 4 day charter. We caught a nice fish around 1000lbs for George Campbell the other day at the bottom of Lindenbank. It was a great performer and his sons Glenn and Paul got some excellent video footage that we'll download on my next return.

On the same charter we went out to the tuna aggregation for a couple of days and showed the boys how awesome the life and the fishing is out there. Tuna schools 200 metres deep and 3 and 4 whale sharks around the boat at a time. Yellowfin to 60kgs jumping everywhere around us for the last couple of hours of every day.

I will be looking to head offshore to the tunas again this trip with the weather coming down and the winds from the North, the conditions should be ideal for this kind of open ocean fishing.

EARLY NOVEMBER FISHING

2009-11-05T12:40:00.002+10:00

We headed for #10 Ribbon Reef to fish today, anchoring at No Name reef tonight. I've spent the last 3 days fishing on #8 where we caught 2 fish on Monday, 3 from 4 on the Tuesday, raising half a dozen others including a big one with only the 1 bite late yesterday at the final hour around 6.00pm. The run from Lizard Island back to Cooktown to start the charter was rough to say the least, continuing for the first couple of days of this charter and really sorting Jens out on day 1.

Congratulations Sharky on the Lizard Island Tournament win. We started reasonably well on the first couple of days of the tournament with plenty of opportunites on the last few days, though unable to secure successful hookups. Our final tally being 6 fish.

LIZARD ISLAND TOURNAMENT UPDATE

2009-10-28T17:09:00.002+10:00

Day 4 of the Tournament - we had a frustrating day 3 yesterday failing to hook two fish (1 big one) and today we caught a small marlin of a 100 pounds with continued frustration having had a bite out of a monster fish estimated at around 1100-1200lbs that didn't take the bait as planned. Reports of several big fish around today.

OCTOBER UPDATE

2009-10-27T06:53:00.003+10:00

We're currently fishing the 3rd day of the Lizard Island Tournament today with regular Japanese angler Omi Tomonori. We caught 1 fish on the first day and yesterday caught 3, with perfect weather conditions.

Our final tally for Ray's 2nd trip with Troy and Zane was 4 over the 7 days (8-14 October). We then fly fished with Mr Ishikawa we're we raised a total 6 fish for the 4 day charter. We threw the fly at 2 of them - hooked both and on both occasions broke the tippett (heartbreakingly). We estimated 1 around WR size of 250lbs and the other around 150lbs.

We had excellent fishing on the following 5 day trip with Karl Maxa and his mate Silly (20-24 October). We caught 9 fish in total with a selection of fat rats and 2 nice fish around 800/850lbs.

SEASON UPDATE

2009-10-12T09:31:00.001+10:00

The fishing over the past few days has been just one or two bites a day with a few other tailing fish seen. Yesterday however the action improved late in the day with abit of a flurry, finishing with 8 bites for the day - 2 caught with 1 around 650 lbs and one around 250lbs, breaking line on one around 700lbs. The water quality is excellent with strong current to the South and South Easterly winds.

Fishing #10 Ribbon Reef we caught a nice 500lber on the first day of the charter with regular angler Ray Doody and his mates Troy and Zane.

The fishing prior to this with Ray, Webbo & Pino was reasonable - caught 5 for the 7 days with the largest estimated at around 700lbs and the others around the "fat rat" 300-400lb range. All great fun on the stand up. We got a bite out of a huge fish on day 3, though were unable to strike it.

Our fly fishing charter with Ishi in mid September was a challenging one. We raised several fish over the 4 days, though they were difficult to tease and unfortunately came away empty handed. We'll try again at the end of this week for Ishi.

The charter proceeding this was with Justin Gan and his wife Sui. We fished Lindenbank off Cairns before fishing our way North to the Middle Ribbons, where we found fish along the edge. We caught a total of 4 marlin for the charter with several others seen and had a bite out of a 700lber that we were unable to convert. The weather was sensational and the tuna and wahoo fishing excellent.

Our late September charter with first time Cairns marlin anglers Greg Soudoure and friends Keith & Tony was great. We caught 6 fish for the 4 days with one est around 800lbs. A great introduction to the Cairns marlin fishery for the boys.

"Hi Ross - Thank you very much for the heavy tackle fishing trip off Cooktown last week. You, Pete and Eddy showed us a fantastic time and of the many fishing charters which I have been on over the years, yours was by far the best... in every aspect. To catch 6 marlin in just 4 days was well beyond our expectations and the 800 pounder was just beyond belief.

Above all, we really appreciated the compassion you showed the fish and the passion you hold for your industry and its longevity.

We wish you all the best in the future and hope to be back on "Top Fish" sometime soon.

Cheers

Greg, Tony and Keith

EARLY SEPTEMBER FISHING

2009-09-14T07:39:00.005+10:00

The light tackle marlin fishing action has been slower than usual this year. Regular anglers Lee and Josh Shardlow joined me for 3 days in early September. We spent the first day looking for a small black or sail inside the reef with no joy, though plenty of mackerel action and some GT's on poppers late in the day. The following day we headed outside to the Shelf and fished our way North to Lindenbank. The trolling was slow but the jigging was excellent, though the score certainly favoured the dogtooth more than they did Josh (a jig sponsor would come in handy!).

The conditions on the Bank looked excellent with strong South current & good water temperature (25.8 degrees).

My next September trip was with Greg, Arthur & Kim Laidler, from 8-10 Sep. We fished offshore around Lindenbank once again and had great fishing for mackerel, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, dolphin fish and had a bite from a marlin around 200lbs. The weather was excellent 5-10 knots providing superb reef conditions for a first time Cairns fishing trip for the Laidlers'.

From the 11th to the 13th, we fished heavy tackle with keen anglers Renee, Carlos and Memo from Mexico. The weather first day was ideal around 10-15 knots with the strong current still pushing South. The Bank was loaded with bait, scad, runners, skipjacks and yellowfin and all looked set to fire. First day, no bites from a marlin but we kept the boys busy with some nice wahoo and yellowfin. With the wind blowing up the next day to 20-25 knots - rough conditions had the guys wondering, do we really fish in this stuff?? That afternoon we caught a black around 200lbs, lost another one just out of leader reach - possibly around 180lbs and then at the end of the day, jumped off a small fish around 120lbs on a lure. They're here!!

On the final day we had 1 bite at the top of the Bank, but no hook up before fishing our way South for the run home.

With 2 days off now to load the boat and restore, I am looking forward to fly fishing with old time client and friend, Mr Ishikawa for 4 days.

AUGUST UPDATE - NIGHT ISLAND

2009-09-14T07:15:00.005+10:00

August was a busy month where myself, Darren Haydon & Hayden Bell headed 270 miles North with Brazakka to Night Island located just off Lockhardt River, for 14 days charter with Fred Turner and his family and friends. Fred Turner has been coming here to fish for more than 30 years and loves the isolation of these Northern areas along with the untouched fishing where he can introduce his grandkids to the delights of the Great Barrier Reef and his passion for light tackle fishing. Fred had 3 gameboats "Top Shot" "Allure" & "Release", mothership "Spirt of Freedom" and Brazakka's helicopter at his disposal.

The fishing was sensational. More Spanish mackerel than you could poke a stick at - sailfish, GT's, dogtooth tuna, yellowfin tuna and incredible snorkelling and diving. A great trip and looking forward to next year where we'll head further North again to Shelbourne Bay.

LIGHT TACKLE ACTION CONTINUES

2009-07-15T07:34:00.002+10:00

With one of the calmest winters in years, the weather along with the fishing has been sensational. The small marlin haven’t seemed to turn up as yet in any great number but almost everyday you go looking for them, you’ll encounter them. Sailfish have been more consistent in numbers than the marlin so far with good action on sails, averaging 30-40 kgs.

The mackerel action has been red hot, both on the reefy shoals and in the open areas around the bait schools whilst we’ve been billfishing. We've been fishing for these with trolled lures and gars as well as floating baits on the spinning gear

Water temperatures have been hovering between 23–24 degrees with good blue water pushing in through the openings. This trend should continue over the following months. Yellowfin tuna have also been surprise encounters in the openings with fish in the 20-30kg range, giving anglers a hard time on the light tackle.

This action should continue with some bigger black marlin (inshore granders) due to make an appearance in the coming weeks and with the heavy tackle just around the corner it all looks promising for a great beginning to another big marlin season.

GREAT START TO THE WINTER LIGHT TACKLE FISHING

2009-06-27T11:20:00.004+10:00

Excellent weather conditions with light winds and ideal water temperatures have provided great fishing days over the past couple of weeks with good numbers of sizeable Spanish mackerel, sailfish and juvenile black marlin now here.

AN OFF SEASON UPDATE

2009-06-11T15:30:00.004+10:00

FEB – APRIL 2009

February through to April is usually fairly quiet off Cairns, though moreso this year with the effect of the economic downturn – so nothing much to report locally over these months with a few days of light tackle fishing here and there. Always a great opportunity to head off on extended barramundi fishing trips in the Gulf!! Donna and I had a great camping/ barra trip with Laurie & Julie Wright, Darren Haydon & Laurie Woodbridge mid May.

I fished in Port Stephens, February/March for the Interclub Tournament on a private boat, the Diversion. Although the fishing wasn’t red hot, we still managed to catch a few and then I travelled over to Exmouth, WA to fish in the Gamex Tournament ……. my first experience fishing there with great expectations though unfortunately with several boat problems for the charter operator an experience easily forgotten. A great fishing destination nonetheless with many boats getting amongst them.

Looking forward to the winter fishing through June, July & August and am currently on an overnight light tackle charter directly off Cairns with anglers from Sydney.

JANUARY ROUND UP

2009-01-27T06:59:00.002+10:00

The blue marlin fishing has been consistent and has proved again why I think January is an excellent month for targeting them from Cairns. Fishing between 2 & 7 miles wide of the shelf in 500 to 1000 fathoms, we have been getting 1 to 2 bites a day from blue marlin between 100 & 300lbs. There has been alot of bait, huge schools of flying fish being chased by skip jacks, wahoo, dolphin fish and yellowfin tuna, followed closely by the blue marlin. A week ago we lost a 300lber after a short but entertaining fight and caught a juvenile the trip before estimated 100lbs. I have encountered blues to 700lbs at this time of year in the same areas so am hopeful of making some more trips out and getting a bite out of one of these bigger models.

I fished from Cooktown with some regular Japanese clients that just love popper fishing in the 2nd week of January. The fishing was awesome - lots of GT's, dogtooth tuna, redbass and coral trout, though the weather cut the trip short with very strong north westers and torrential rain.

February will find us fishing light to medium tackle for Spanish mackerel, dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna and sailfish and I will head to Port Stepehens mid month for a couple of weeks of striped marlin fishing.

DECEMBER FISHING CONTINUES

2008-12-27T08:53:00.003+10:00

The fishing is still going well from Cairns as it always does at this time of year. We had a trip out amongst the Tuna aggregation and caught 4 marlin from 10 bites over the 3 days, 3 blacks(700, 600, 250) 1 Blue(300) and lost a few others. More tunas than you can poke a stick at, all caught jigging with Bigeyes,1 over 100lbs, 1 over 90lbs and yellowfin,1 @ 80lbs. There were numerous schools 200 meters deep under the boat for as long as you wanted to catch them, with the kind of action which is hard to describe here. Awesome stuff!!!

Have also been doing some light tackle days catching mackerel, dolphin fish, bottom fish etc.

Am out marlin fishing on Monday, so hopefully some good reports to come.

2008 SEASON WRAP UP

2008-12-09T08:15:00.010+10:00

Another marlin season has come and gone with many highlights for the Top Shot.

I have just completed my final extended marlin charter for the season, with a few day trips ahead to take us through to Christmas.

It was a good season though had hard periods. It certainly wasn't the slowest I've ever seen. A similar season to last year but a year where there was no El Nino or La Nina which according to Dr Julian Pepperell's records, produce the exceptional fishing that have seen us catch 100 in a season.

One thing this year did provide was some exceptionally big fish for just about every boat that fished every month - Sept to Dec. Everyone has a tale of the monsters they saw, fought or caught and released.

Even on a quiet year, no place in the world comes close to Cairns. I think everyone expects us to have 100 fish seasons every year......

September and October fished well with consistent results for all charters with some really big fish caught.

Highlights for me were 2 great fish, one caught by Andrew Verner's group in September and one caught by Tim Roache during early October. These one's were of the XXL variety for first time anglers and a first marlin ever for Tim. Not sure how you follow on with starts like that.

Simon Atkinson's trip in the middle of October was a great time for us all with big fish encountered almost every day. At number 5 Ribbon Reef, we raised one, that in my mind was one of the biggest fish I've ever seen.... though we failed to get a bite out of it.

Overall, November was a tough month across the fleet. The first week looked promising where we satellite tagged a nice 800lber on Linden Bank. After this though the fishing became "challenging". It was a tough trip for Neil Riddel, Porky and Rick Pollock - though it was a pleasure to have guys onboard with such patience and a good understanding of the fishing.

There was good fishing to be had though 35 - 50 miles off the edge of the reef, weather permitting around the tuna aggregations - offshore in the Coral Sea.

I spent the last part of November fishing this area. Long 13 hour fishing days where you'd drift or hang on the parachute at night and start fishing from dawn till dusk.

We caught some great fish and lost a big one, with new ways to lose them .... getting tangled in long lines. We also caught small blue marlin, jigged some nice yellowfin tuna and boated a very large mako shark which was a hell off a battle in itself.

Early December trips saw us fishing offshore as well as on the edge around Linden Bank. We marked good fish consistently on the sounder though getting them to bite was a harder task. We satellite tagged another nice fish with the last charter of the season for Yogi and Hugo from Germany, estimated around 850lbs.

Both satellite tagged fish were in excellent condition, caught on circle hooks, short ten minute fights with excellent releases seeing the fish darting off strongly. It will be interesting to see the results and fingers crossed they retain the tags for the allotted times.

Overall we caught similar numbers to last year - 57 at this stage, with hopefully more to come before the New Year.

The Top Shot proved itself again to be an excellent game boat to fish from . Thanks to my crew (Brad & Pete) for all their hard work and to my clients (most of whom are regulars) for the great times and good laughs. It was another enjoyable season and I am already looking forward to next year.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON NOV 08

2008-11-02T09:38:00.009+10:00

Another good trip had with John Boocock and the kiwis though it wasn't without it's frustrating times, where we were raising and seeing plenty of fish though struggling to get as many bites. We caught 3 for the 5 day trip with the highlight being an est 900lber caught at the final death as we were pulling in baits to head home on the last day of the charter. Currently fishing off Cairns at Lindenbank with local anglers Paul Campbell, Johnny Piccone and mates. Yesterday we satellite tagged an 800lber so look forward to seeing the results of that in the future.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08

2008-10-27T08:52:00.004+10:00

Had a great trip with Simon, Steve, Sue and Howard. We caught 10 fish over the 10 days with 2 big fish - 1 est 850lb+ & 1 est 950-1050lbs. Saw a monster fish that we were unable to get to bite and over the past few days raised many smaller fish that weren't all interested in feeding too much - catching a few amongst them . Had some great action and got excellent footage. Heading out this morning with John Bookcock and fellow Kiwis, Justin and Murray. Looking to fish Escape Reef today and then South to Lindenbank off Cairns.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08

2008-10-20T20:52:00.006+10:00

Encountered another big fish today with a great fight, though difficult to catch as it was tailwrapped. Got fantastic video action and some excellent shots. At # 7 tonight and then back to number #5 after tomorrow.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08

2008-10-19T06:35:00.002+10:00

Had a good day's fishing yesterday in the middle of the Ribbons at #5 - caught 3 fish, est 250lb, 400lb & a nice one around 800lb.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08

2008-10-17T17:50:00.004+10:00

Back out again today in 30 knots!! Despite the windy conditions we managed a successful flyfishing trip for Mr Ishikawa catching an estimated 180lb fish on 20lb tippett, which made the "marlin watching" worthwhile.

Saw several fish today with a monster ready to take the bait, though no such luck. We'll be out at the same spot tomorrow looking for some "birthday luck".

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08

2008-10-12T10:15:00.006+10:00

We've been picking away in the middle of the Ribbons for the past 7 days with consistent fishing, averaging 1 marlin a day with the occasional double hook up and "multiple fish" days. We caught 8 fish for the last 7 days with Ray and Webbo - 2nd last day with 3 fish for the day and the largest est 650lb on 130 standup. Other fish caught for the week ranging from est 300lbs. Another great trip with the boys and look forward to fishing with them every year!

Heading North today to fish off Lizard Island with regular fly fishermen from Japan, Mr Ishikawa and Mr Kobayashi. Winds still around the 25knots, due to relax in the next couple of days. Back to Cooktown on the evening of the 16th October.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08

2008-10-06T08:06:00.002+10:00

The fishing continues to be steady with a couple of bites a day. We caught a total of 4 fish for the 5 days with Tim and Stephen and our first marlin of the charter on the 30th of September was a monster fish estimated at 1100lbs. Tim's first marlin ever caught and a "fish of a lifetime" for most. Congratulations Tim.

Out now for 7 days with regular standup anglers Larry and Webbo.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON SEPT 08

2008-09-30T14:53:00.003+10:00

Just finished yesterday our 2nd heavy tackle charter for the season with a new team of kiwis and caught 7 fish for the 5 days. Our first "big" fish caught for the season was on the 26th September at an estimated 950-1050 lbs. The majority of the action was had in the first couple of days of the charter in the middle of the Ribbon Reefs. Thanks boys - was a great trip.

Am now out today for 5 days with US angler Tim Roache and his nephew Stephen and debating whether to remain in the middle or move South, whilst a large portion of the fleet head North to fish the Lizard Island Tournament. Back to port on Saturday the 4th October.

LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON SEPT 08

2008-09-25T12:30:00.004+10:00

Headed out this morning for our 2nd heavy tackle charter of the 2008 season. Winds are up and swinging to the South with good fishing conditions ahead predicted and calmer weather in a couple of days. First trip was a good one, where we caught 7 over the 5 days with largest marlin estimated @ 350lbs. We were tailed by a couple of larger fish, though no bites from them. Fished predominantly the middle of the Ribbon Reefs and looking to head that way again, returning to Cooktown on Monday.

LATEST FISHING AUGUST / EARLY SEPT 08

2008-09-08T05:47:00.003+10:00

Despite the windy conditions, July and August fished exceptionally well. The juvenile blacks and sailfish have been around in good numbers. We've just returned from a 3 day charter with 4 great guys from the Gold Coast on a surprise 50th birthday bash and a fantastic introduction to light tackle marlin fishing, with them catching 15 for the 3 days, - their best day was 8 from 13 bites.

August saw us fly fishing for a good portion of the month. American anglers Jimmy, Larry and Mark came all the way to Oz to catch their black marlin and tick off another species of billfish on a fly. We raised an average of 4-5 fish a day and caught 4 for the trip which was excellent considering the challenging conditions (20-30knots).

We also fished with 2 first time marlin flyfishermen from South Africa, Brenton & Roland for 4 days in late August and caught 1 on the fly and 3 billfish on conventional tackle.

I am heading off today for Ninnian Bay (north/west of Lizard Island) for 6 days of barra fishing and bait fishing before commencing the heavy tackle marlin season from Cooktown next weekend.

LATEST FISHING JULY 08

2008-07-12T08:51:00.003+10:00

The marlin, sailfish and mackerel action is still red hot from Cairns. On regular mixed light tackle days to the reef I have been getting at least 5 bites a day from marlin and sailfish without even trying. We have been catching 2 & 3 billfish a day, the marlin have been averaging 20-30kgs with the sails ranging from 20kgs to 40kgs. Catching both species on pitch baits as well as lures and skipping gars.

Juvenile mackerel have invaded many spots though there are still some good mackerel amongst them in the 15kg range. We've been fishing for these with trolled lures and gars as well as floating baits on the spinning gear which is a very popular method amongst my anglers.

LATEST FISHING MAY/JUNE 08

2008-06-03T08:25:00.004+10:00

The past week of light tackle fishing has been excellent with great weather conditions and calm seas. The Spanish mackerel have been providing good action with some good sized GT's thrown in to make things interesting. We caught a small sailfish yesterday, 1 of a double header with the second one proving hard to hook.

LATEST FISHING MAY 08

2008-05-25T08:34:00.003+10:00

These winter months are a great time to be fishing off Cairns. The light tackle action for juvenile blacks, sailfish and Spanish mackerel should be excellent after the big wet season earlier in the year. There are already large bait schools consisting of yakkas, pilchards and gobbers on all of the regular fishing grounds.

There have been blacks hooked in the 20-50 kg range along with sailfish and their numbers will increase as the water temperature cools over the coming months. Spanish mackerel have also been in abundance and have been providing great sport on both spinning and trolling tackle with sizes averaging 7-15 kgs.

With the cold snap now hitting Queensland the pelagic action will certainly hot up. All the way from the inshore islands to the outer reefs will provide great fishing.

Yesterday provided first time anglers with a classic billfish experience, with a small black marlin caught first up for the day followed by this big sailfish (est 50kgs) and another sailfish lost shortly after. Certainly different from fishing off a pier that this anlger Mark had done only once previously.

The "eagle claw" circle hooks are certainly proving their worth on the small marlin and sailfish. Excellent fights and good condition of release.

LATEST FISHING APRIL 08

2008-04-25T13:07:00.006+10:00

After a windy month on the reef and the weather on the improve, the fishing looks set to be an excellent light tackle season with good sized Spanish mackerel already on the bite and gathering around their winter time spots.

The bait is everywhere and bodes well for good sailfish and marlin action. I've seen 1 tailing sailfish in the last 2 trips with little searching. Both to the North and East of Cairns, yakkas, gobbers and pilchard schools are thick. Spotted mackerel and roaming Spanish mackerel are biting from the 30 metre contour onwards.

The mackerel range from standard 4kg models all the way to good sized 13-14kg fish. The islands and headlands have also produced some good mackerel so with calmer weather the local fishermen will be happy.

This ANZAC long weekend should be a great time fishing from Cairns although the neap tides may make the mackerel fishing a little tough with some sneaky tactics required.

LATEST FISHING FEB / MARCH 08

2008-03-06T08:39:00.003+10:00

With the wet season well and truly upon us, not much local fishing has been taking place. On the occasions I have been out there has been some good fishing for Spanish mackerel, yellowfin tuna and coral trout when bottom fishing.

Have just returned from Port Stephens where I fished the NSW Interclub Tournament on the Calypso. The weather was also pretty ordinary cancelling 2 days of the 4 day tournament.

The fishing was excellent on the days we did get out. The first day of fishing we would have raised at least a dozen fish though they weren't quite in a biting mood. We managed to catch 3 from 4 bites - all striped marlin around the 70kg mark.

On the second fishing day of the tournament after a strong wind warning, it was still quite rough with the seas around 3 metres. I didn't raise as many this day, though we did catch our bites, getting 2 from 2 (1 striped and 1 black). This gave us a total of 5 for the tournament with the winning boat in the tag & release division being "Gorilla" captained by Brett Thomas, catching 7 fish for the tournament.

I did a fun day fishing on the new 63' Bertram and wound a marlin in myself. It's been a good long time (approx 14 yrs) since I caught my last marlin. Great fun as it was 1 of a double header.

Continuing to fish now from Cairns for the rest of the year. Light to medium fishing for mackerel, tuna, marlin and sailfish.

LATEST FISHING FEB 08

2008-02-04T08:07:00.001+10:00

Had a great day's reef/bottom fishing yesterday with 7 regular clients from Cairns. The trout were on the bite (along with the damn sharks!!) Managed to catch in the order of 26 trout, a couple of nannygai, bluefin tuna and long nosed emperor. A very comfortable day on the water with 10 knots and intermittent showers.

LATEST FISHING JAN 08

2008-01-21T17:57:00.002+10:00

Well the weather followed me down to Port Stephens also, only getting in 2 days of fishing. First day out 2 days after a great bite we did not see a fish! The next day Mike bait & switched a nice striped marlin around 80kgs and saw another fish tailing (see pics). That was our only shot for the day but the fishing was on the improve with good reports coming further South from where we fished that day, so we were hopeful for the rest of the week. However, the following 2 days saw a Southerly of 30 knots blowing - cancelling the fishing. You can only say we tried hard with the options at hand and "should have been there yesterday!!".

Back in Cairns continuing to fish light tackle for Spanish mackerel, tunas, trevally and sailfish.

(Many thanks to Tim & Bec Dean, for the use of the Calypso in Port Stephens and thanks to George Trinkler who rode along and took two great photos, (one featured above!)

LATEST FISHING DEC 07 / JAN 08

2008-01-14T11:33:00.000+10:00

Hasn't been too much to report on of late with Christmas break etc. Back into the swing of things now although the weather presents a problem at the moment with strong Westerlys and a very active monsoon trough.

Have had clients arrive today from the States to get into some blue marlin fishing - though with the weather as it is, we have decided to fly to Port Stephens tonight to fish with good mate Tim Dean on the Calypso. Apparently the fishing's been great with Tim catching 7 from 7 yesterday. Look forward to getting into some good action.

Early January and late December saw good fishing for yellowfin tuna, dolphin fish, Spanish mackerel and trevallies.

My trip north with Japanese clients prior to Christmas, popper fishing and barramundi fishing was a great trip. Plenty of GT's around the reefs off Lizard Island. 1 memorable catch was 2 x 20+lb coral trout on the same popper (one on each treble). The barramundi fishing at Ninnian Bay was unusually tough. The strong East & North East winds made conditions less than ideal. This always makes barra fishing from the rocks quite hard. We still managed to catch some good fish though with the biggest barra around 86cm.

Hopefully on my return, the weather will have improved and I can get stuck into the light/medium tackle fishing from Cairns again. Will keep you posted.

Ross

LATEST FISHING DECEMBER 07

2007-12-12T06:47:00.000+10:00

Our last charter with Karl and the boys brought the season to a close, cathching 1 from 2 bites, though we caught a variety of other fish to keep us entertained.

Overall it was a considerably slower year compared to the past 7 that we've had, needing to be at the right spot at the right time throughout with some long waits between bites at times.

We caught 53 over 61 days of "heavy tackle" fishing with a range of big fish amongst them, highlight being Martin Hirsch's which weighed 1102lbs on the 26th October. We caught 2 others which we estimated 950-1050lbs and 13 estimated 700-900lbs.

Other big fish highlights were with Ray Doody's fish on standup and John Boocock's mate Peter on the final day of charter.

Am currently fishing 250kms North of Cairns off Lizard Island for GT's and barramundi, returning to Cairns on the 21st December.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION NOV/DEC 07

2007-12-02T08:20:00.000+10:00

Started from Cooktown with John, Paul & Peter and headed out to the middle Ribbons. It was fairly slow going on the fishing front at first, though the boys had a great time snorkelling and spearing. We caught 2 for the trip with highlight being a nice fish estimated at 950lbs that put on a fantastic show.

Our next charter on the 25th was with regular anglers Haddy and Spotty from Tasmania. We caught 5 for the trip, with 4 caught in 1 day and 1 fish estimated at 900lbs.

Am currently fishing off Cairns on the Linden Bank with Karl, Silly and Rod!! We caught 1 from 2 yesterday and will continue to fish here for the next couple of days.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION NOV 07

2007-11-19T19:34:00.000+10:00

After some great fishing with Adrian on days 10-14 November, we cut the trip short and headed back to safe anchorage in Cooktown a couple of days earlier than anticipated with gale winds predicted. A first for a marlin season in many years that we've had to cancel days due to bad weater and we haven't experienced a cyclone in these waters in November since 1977. Cyclone Guba is expected to cross the coast well north of Cooktown tonight.

I headed out today with Kiwi angler John Boocock and mates in fairly breezy conditions though expecting good fishing. We've headed to the middle Ribbons once again and will make our way South and finish in Cairns on Friday.

Will let you know how I'm going tomorrow afternoon with report posted.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION NOV 07

2007-11-12T09:11:00.000+10:00

Currently fishing with regular angler Adrian Gornall and have caught 2 in 2 days. 1 x small one at est 200lbs and 1 @ approx 700lbs yesterday. Headed up to the bottom of No. 10 Ribbon Reef and looking to head back towards the middle Ribbons today.

Prior to this charter, fished 4 days with Texans Terry, Brian and Kirk where we caught 3 over the 4 days.

Our 5 days of fly fishing with Ishi were not without there frustrations, with boats around us catching on conventional tackle though trying to get them to take the fly was tough. Had a great time though fishing with Ishi and we'll try our luck again next year.

Appears to be a pattern of a bite a day for most boats across the reef at present.

Winds due to come up today.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION OCT / NOV 07

2007-11-02T08:25:00.000+10:00

Great fishing again this year for Martin Hirsch. Overall tally for this charter (concluded 31st Oct) was 21 fish in 14 days. On our final fishing days we caught a big one around 900lbs with other several fish tailing, though difficult to get to bite. Averaging 1-2 bites a day - highlight being the 1102, weighed on the Boss.

Yesterday was our first day of fly fishing with Mr Ishikawa. We raised 2 small marlin though no bites on the fly. The wind was up again, making conditions difficult, though as we set out today winds have eased to 15 knots.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION OCT 07

2007-10-29T08:45:00.000+10:00

After a fairly exciting Friday, things quietened down a little Saturday with 2 bites, catching 1 smaller fish and just the 1 bite yesterday (Sunday). Next report will be Wednesday night (31st) when I get back into Cooktown. Weather currently 15-20 knots.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION OCT 07

2007-10-26T20:46:00.000+10:00

Caught the big one this afternoon - weighed 1102lbs!!!

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION OCT 07

2007-10-26T13:35:00.000+10:00

Have just refuelled and restored in Cooktown overnight and am now 9 days into a 14 day liveaboard charter with Martin Hirsch. We're currently experiencing fantastic fishing and have caught 17 marlin in total over the 8 days to date with several bites a day. Have caught 3 in 1 day x twice and 4 in 1 day being a highlight. 1 x 950lbs (est), 2 x 800lbs (est) and other good mid range fish. Yesterday we saw 1 of the largest marlin I've ever seen fishing on the reef and she came up as we had a double header on (200lb & 600lb fish) with plenty of action and ate a loose bait......back out to look for her today!!! Conditions are alot calmer with 10-15 knots and with the full moon upon us, expecting less bites though anticipating bigger fish amongst them.

Continuing to fish the middle of the Ribbon Reefs, looking to head a little further North.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION OCT 07

2007-10-22T07:01:00.000+10:00

Fishing has definately picked up in consistency, with good fishing for Brooke & Frank, catching 4 over the 5 days including 2 x est 800lbs and had a monster on est at 1100lbs.

Currently fishing 14 days with regular angler Martin Hirsch (The Big M) from New York and have to date caught 8 in 4 days: 950lb / 650lb / 400lb and several smaller fish.

Conditions have been incredibly rough and we continue to fish the middle Ribbon Reefs, with winds due to ease somewhat over the next few days.

Despite the ordinary weather.... all having a great time onboard and the boat is going well.

LATEST MARLIN FISHING ACTION - SEPT/OCT 07

2007-10-13T13:03:00.000+10:00

(First report of the season)

Headed out this morning from Cooktown with Brooke & Frank from the U.S. who are with me for 5 days and hoping for continued good fishing.

Have just finished a great 8 day charter with regular South Aussie anglers Larry, Webbo & Peds where we caught 5 marlin and 1 900lber on 80lb stand up that got away after 1.5 hours. Estimated : 1 x 750lb / 1 x 500 lb & 3 smaller fish.

September this year was unseasonally slow for everyone and inconsistent right across the reef, having to be at the right place/right time, with slim pickings ........... possibly due to lower than usual water temps and calm conditions.

The tougher than usual Sept fishing didn't detract from the great time had with anglers Randy, Doug and Lee from the States and the fantastic services of Dave & crew on mothership, The Boss.

Ishi........ we'll see you again in November for some more fly fishing frustration!!

We are currently fishing the middle Ribbon Reefs with 20-25 knots of wind expected this afternoon and to continue the next few days, providing reasonable fishing conditions ahead!

Photos / Videos to be posted soon.