Ross Hunter

Ahrr, Me Father was the keeper of The Eddystone light...he married a mermaid one fine night ..from that union there came three ..two little fishes and the other was me ....singin' Yo Ho...Ho! the winds blow free Oh! for the life on the rollin' sea. Ya gotta fathom that out in nautical terms.....love it!

AHRRR....PIRATES I LOVE 'EM I be of the old school..the era of pirates and treasure ....nautical miles, fathoms and plunder at sea J. Buffet once wrote Yes! I am a pirate, 200 years to late ...the cannons don't thunder..... there's nothin' to plunder I'm an over 40 victim of fate ..Arriving' to late...... Arrivin' to late. But I still love tradition ....nautical miles and fathoms....................yeh!

I have just read a reply to a piece I wrote in the St George Leader about Marine Parks and "No Fish Zones" in my column "ON THE HOOK" which I have written for 20 years. The reply says Quote; "I expect most people..........inc many fishers support the idea (ie marine no fish zones) Today we have bag limits...but we surely need a few off limits to any fishing. We may then find that our catch actually increases in the adjacent areas....It isn't rocket science" unquote Thanks Mr Mike Robertson of Como The problem in your comment is that closing off one sector on fish that are migratory only means they get more pressure on them when they move to the other area down the track a bit, where a fisho can fish.....it isn't rocket science at all it is common sense, but unfortunatly you are not in tune with the real problem. What about the camping reserve owners, the NSW anglers who pay NSW fisheries for the right to fish NSW waters,the charter boats, the bait and tackle shops, the local store and the families who have fished these places on their Xmas holidays for generations This is the sort of uneducated crap is what we are up against. Why don't we just cease all recreational fishing in NSW waters, imagine that, we would be culling the fish in 5 years if this theory was true. It's just like the comment that the advisor to the Marine Parks said......"Well you ask any one and they will say.......We don't catch as many fish to day as we used to" MMMM that's Scientific proof I guess. Oh! well back tio the battle field!

Bob, Thanks for that info..... As I read your charter and I cannot see how we can be in any way suspicious of your party. You guys are the best deal in this issue. Youv'e got my vote, just keep up the good work....As I've said before about these "No Fish Zones". They are the most significant proposed changes I have seen in a Lifetime of Fishing and we cannot just lie down and let it happen If it were right it would be a different matter. But it is so bloody wrong and a bad deal for all of us Thanks again Bob you are a champ.

Thanks fellas ...As I said before I personally hate getting political but I also do not want "No Fish zones" for Fishos with out reason.So then I look at the only other form of attack and that is by the polling booth. That is the beauty of this superb country Freedom of Speech is a wonderful thing Let's talk about it? Ross

Phild In reply I agree that all governments have to share the blame here. I think I point that out pretty well in my post. When you talk bluefin you talk Feds when you talk kingfish traps you talk State. Once again my great friend and former State Fisheries Minister Bob Martin was responsible for the banning of same. After having called several of us fisherman who had accumulated some knowledge to gether and asked us for our thoughts on the hideous things, we told him it will be the ruination of the species. He banned them that year.....A good man that I wish was still Minister He was labour. These drones we are putting up with now have not asked our opinion or done any research on the subject. As I said I loathe politics but there is only one way forward and that is to change governments I am open to suggestions................ Let's talk about it, there may be a better mouse trap.! But fence sitting is not the answer.

To all Fishraiders...... As fisherman, we are a pretty lay back bunch..We love the feeling of freedom that Mother Ocean brings us..... We love the thought of fishing a lonely beach maybe with the familly, catching a bream, salmon or tailor.We love a relaxing blackfish session off the rocks enjoying the serenity of it all. This may all end for us at the next elections with the Greens wanting more and more Marine Park Sanctuaries. It just annoys me so much that a goverment has treated us fishermaen with total contempt ..a government who has told us that we will not be fishing in areas like Coff's harbour,Seal Rocks, Broughton Island, Cabbage Tree Island, Jervis Bay and Batemans Bay. These decisions have been made without any Australian Scientific Research and have been hammered at us in a manner reminicent to an Iron Curtain era. The NSW recreational fisho is being used as a political pawn by a frail NSW Labour government, relying and cow towing and brown nosing to the Greens for preferences. This I find quite sickening. It is wrong but because we are a lay back bunch who have never really had to stand up for our rights we find it unpleasant to make noise.......Well! people the time has come to take action, not just for our era but for future generations. Don't think that once the idiots get their way that there won't be more closures there will.....Such colures will drive us all out over seven kilometres to catch a fish off our own shorelin. For small boat offshore users a danger element becomes a factor with bad weather etc.. I am a greeny, for example I was on the original commitee in the mid seventies which drew up the current tag and release program.......We also banned the killing of marlin on our boats Broadbill and Billfisher for the past 16 years....We are proud of the fact that our boats insist on catch levels below NSW bag limits. We havea sign on our boats that reads "REAL MEN DON'T KILL MARLIN LET THEM GO!" This is an attitude that we are proud of...it is a respect for the ocean and it's inhabidents that we really do care about and like to pass on to our clients as ambassadors in the job we do as charter skippers, as we take people fishing from Australia and all over the world. I take great pride in my accumulated knowledge of Mother Ocean, her birdlife, her fish species etc. I have seen in my short lifetime spanning 50 years, oceanic species dissapear or endangered......all because of bad management by commercial fishermen and government governing bodies. I have experienced actions taken on species under threat, all too late.... species that we will never see re group. This has been saddening and needless, but alas the dollar must come first and let's face it the Japanese must have their Sashimi and don't mind paying for it either! So lets allow them to eat our oceans into marine deserts. So as dedicated greeny I am concerned and will continue to fight for our oceanic fish population. However when it comes to our inshore coastal species, especially our pelagic, migratory species (I talk now of the coastal dwelling fish like salmon, tailor,blackfish,long tails and bream) these species are certainly copping a bit of pressure from the coastal commercial netters and trappers, but the poor old recreational angler could not harm these stocks under current bag limits whi;le their bums point to the ground......(which, let's face it how many times do we bag out in a season) Despite of these facts we are now being dictated to by a Government party inc NSW Fisheries headed up by Macdonald who sits on his hands and says bugger all. The Dept Of Wildlife (what the hell are these clowns involved with a section of ocean that has been governed by NSW Fisheries since "Adam was a boy" doing in the scheme of things any way?)..................maybe it is their way of controlling massive areas of coastline and being able to crawl and grovel a little further to the greens. If you really do care and I really hope you do, then remove any previous traditional thought on voting for a party from your thoughts. It is natural that we have familly voting habits etc....and consider voting for the future of fishermans rights ....Vote for THE FISHING PARTY and LEAVE THE GREENS OFF ALL TOGETHER ...... I have had meetings with Shadow Minister Duncan Gay and he has assured that a total review of Marine Parks will be taken if the Nats are elected and I do believe him. I ALSO BELIEVE HE IS A GOOD MAN AND HAS GIVEN US THESE ASSURANCES IN WRITING.There is light at the end of the tunnel if we act now. You know, I have never been a political person and I love this magnificent country we call OZ but I am MAD because Marine Park No fish Zones are wrong and we have to stand up for what's right and whats' Australian and being dictated to by idiots who don't know what they are talking about does not fall into the Australian way We will only get one shot at this so let's make it right .....it really is our fishing future...think about your vote in March I will get Mrs Swordfisherman to add some how to vote details onto this post..........Am I getting old and cranky.......let me know your thoughts ?

In answer to both questions Sperm whales are a toothed whale. they grow to 18 metres in length and they feed on squid . So if you were a young tuna and the massive cetaceans were diving to the depths catching squid and the fact that they do not have knifes or forks means that there would be a lot of excess waste as they tear at the food........mmm left overs for the yellowfin . Yummy Regarding distance at sea I am off the old school were distance is measured in nautical mile and depth in fathoms IE 1.2 nm to a mile You can double that for kms......but don't do that,keep tradition alive and learn Nms and fathoms it's so much better..and it sounds so professional...To answer your question we were 60 kms out Ross

Broadbill and Billfisher had a good time catching a swag of yellowfin tuna both days .Saturday was great with light nor east breezes. Sunday the nor easter got to 25 knots later in the afternoon but we had it up our tail so all was good on Broady..she just laps that stuff up. Interestingly we fished 5 mile east of Browns before we found the temp break. Once found we trolled 15 fin between us on Bloodshots and minnows. On Sunday naturally we headed to the same area I headed northward and at 10 miles past Browns that temp break could not be found 19.7 degrees and green all the way I decided to head further north adjacent to Long reef, we worked in 800 fathoms We angled back to the shelf and at 300 fathoms we found a pack of sperm whales. We trolled around these and whack, double hook up We caught one and the other fell off The temp had by now reached 21.7 degrees, we had found the break . We worked in 250 fathoms 32 nautical mile north of our home Botany Bay. Having found "the nest" we worked it hard and trolled yellowfin all afternoon, mostly on the bib less. We had to leave biting fish at 2.30 pm to negotiate the long haul home . We caught a heap of fish ranging from 6kg to 18 kg. A good weekend was had by all. Tip for Fishraiders If you see whales or sun fish it pays to troll over to them keeping a sensible distance of course, the school tuna follow them, a bit like cobia under the manta rays. I will update our web site with photos and a better yarn later.

Broadbill and Billfisher had a good time catching a swag of yellowfin tuna both days .Saturday was great with light nor east breezes. Sunday the nor easter got to 25 knots later in the afternoon but we had it up our tail so all was good on Broady..she just laps that stuff up. Interestingly we fished 5 mile east of Browns before we found the temp break. Once found we trolled 15 fin between us on Bloodshots and minnows. On Sunday naturally we headed to the same area I headed northward and at 10 miles past Browns that temp break could not be found 19.7 degrees and green all the way I decided to head further north adjacent to Long reef, we worked in 800 fathoms We angled back to the shelf and at 300 fathoms we found a pack of sperm whales. We trolled around these and whack, double hook up We caught one and the other fell off The temp had by now reached 21.7 degrees, we had found the break . We worked in 250 fathoms 32 nautical mile north of our home Botany Bay. Having found "the nest" we worked it hard and trolled yellowfin all afternoon, mostly on the bib less. We had to leave biting fish at 2.30 pm to negotiate the long haul home . We caught a heap of fish ranging from 6kg to 18 kg. A good weekend was had by all. Tip for Fishraiders If you see whales or sun fish it pays to troll over to them keeping a sensible distance of course, the school tuna follow them, a bit like cobia under the manta rays. I will update our web site with photos and a better yarn later.

Hi Raiders, Galeforced winds have once again kept us off the high seas However the good news is that all looks good for the weekend. The current flow looks good and we predict we will catch yellowfin again thus making this amazing season, never ending. Both Glenn and myself have had a great run on the fish and whilst we have been catching them for many years, it is still a great thrill to see a first time angler gaze at a half empty spool on a rampaging tuna run..They simply are the most powerful fish in the ocean, and the average angler begs to experience their power and tenacity.We have had the pleasure of sharing that experience with many anglers over this great tuna season.Including a swag of Fishraiders All the fish caught in the past fortnight have been small ( ranging from 5kg to 20 kg) with the 5 to 6kg schoolies being more common. We have been doing better to the south rather than the Mountain but that can change. Best lures Bloodshot Tuna Hunters and bib less minnows. There have been acres of stripey tuna around, which do keep boredom at bay during the quite times. We dropped down to 6kg and had a ball last week on these little bullets. Will report in after the weekend Good luck if you venture out. I will be doing a series on fitting out a trailerboat for #####ing on my radio segment on 2ky's Hi Tide at 5.45 am on Sat and Sunday over the next month or so, if any one's interested.

At last both boats fished on the weekend and the weather was great. Both Glenn and myself decided to try trolling. The fact that we have not fished much because of the windy waether it was almost an experimental tour. I fished for kingfish in the morning on the Saturday and whilst we did catch a couple and got hammered bya 12 kg specimen, generally the area was slow. We caught some silver trevally and a bit of other stuff, mowies and general rubbish ...but it was slow.So at around 10.30 we decided to troll to the shelf We found blue 22.5 degree water loaded with striped tuna , so much so that in some areas we could not troll 200 metres without double hook ups. We dropped down to 6 kg tackle and the customer's had a ball catching these bullet like projectiles. We caught heaps , salted them and they will be saved for snapper baits later on. Glenn Hunter trolled the wider grounds and caught boxes of stripeys and a few small yellowfin tuna.The fish are around 5 to 8kg but were tough to find I did hear some radio talk about a couple of 45 kg fish but did not see them. We fished for snapper in 30 fathoms off Coogee using our nice fresh striped tuna baits for zero results on reds, but a few trevally, pig fish morwong and assorted rubbish. The reef fishing over the weekend was pretty scatchy for us . I really do not enjoy that sort of fishing this time of the year.Give me the Winter and early Spring anytime.One things for sure we have plenty of bait in the freezer. The water is getting hotter it is purple and our smaller cousins the mahi mahi are just starting to show up and it will not be long before we have a better show of the big boys and my favourites ......marlin

We fished through the week and caught a few tuna All were caught on bibless minnows in 300 fathoms. There are a few out there but they are small around the 6 to 10 kilos.......but alas they are yellowfin. The ocean was littered with long liners maybe they did better on the dark shots on the full moon . We finally will get out this weekend so will report later on our efforts. There is good flow of water at the moment off Sydney and a striped marlin or two will not be far away. Ross and Glenn

Thanks for the post Mallacoota Pete This is what I find so bloody dissapointing about the whole system. Why didn't the overseer of this Fishery (Federal Fisherys) know that these magnificent fish live to 100 years of age?. Why did they allow wholesale slaughter of them at the St Hellens Sea Mount for years untill someone realised that they had overfished them?. Here we have a species that probably does not breed untill they are 25 maybe 35 years of age. I say place them on the endangered species list along with gemfish and southern bluefin now......but it is like closing the gate once the bull's bolted .Where the bloody hell have the greens been during all this? Oh! that's right pushing stranded whales back in the water. My argument is that it is this fishery which is in very bad shape not our beaches and coastlines and it is just another case of very bad management by governing bodies. These are the same people in a different camp who we are supposed to believe in and have confidence in. The same people who have done no research on the species involved, who are jamming Marine Parks down our recreational throats and we are supposed to have confidence in them.

It is scary and sad......I am old enough and ugly enough to have lived the great era of "life with out long lining". Those wild days in the late '60's and the great times of the 70's When you could not get a commercial Fish market any where to take a tuna ...they were cat food. Enter the Japanese ,who would take a bite out of your arm if you spilt a bit of soy sauce on it and in a quick 20 years we have seen the demise of our pelagics. All cut up in jig saw puzzle pieces and eaten raw.......seems as though there's been a bit of bad management somewhere. It is such a complex problem to fix because we can control our waters but we have no control over International waters IE The Pacific Ocean on our doorstep from the highly efficient and lethal international long liner and purse seiner fleet...it's enough to turn a man to drink Ross

Thanks for the replies Raiders. YES WHEN THE JELLY BEANS ARE AROUND... THERE ARE ALWAYS THE KIDS THAT EAT THEMNOT TO FAR AWAY! Wind I'm sick of it............. I just saw a black dog get blown past and he still had his chain on ! How windy is that?

Southern bluefin live for 30 to 35 years and do not become sexually mature untill they are 8 to 10 years old That is why they are not recovering, where as yellowfin live for 7 years and breed at 3 years they have a chance but bluefin are in danger. Ross

Billfisher and Broadbill fished last Friday for the first time for a fortnight On the weekends it has been blowing for the past four. We caught a heap of yellowfin tuna all trolled on Bloodshot tuna Hunters See link to there web on www.gamefishingcharters.com.au and bibless minnows. We trolled the fish at the Southern Canyons.That's the good news the bad news is the biggest was 13kg...and guess what it's the weekend and it's blowing it's tits off as normal. Oh! the joy of being a fisherman. There is a puddle of really good water heading southward at the moment If we can get a break in the weather there will be some exciting fishing in the next week or two Get out the marlin gear.

Bob, Thanks for your report as always most interesting. The whole scene is a debarcle of over regulation. The way I see it is that the real problem is Oceanic fish stock management, or the lack of for the past 20 years. Deep water trawl, purse seining and the demise of the orange roughy. kingfish Etc.......We cannot blame the commercial fisherman, they were only doing their jobs, earning an honest living .So who do we blame? The people who allowed it to get to a point where some species should be on the endangered list...Federal and State Fisheries. In every instance be it the Inshore or Offshore fishery commercial pressure has been the problem. There has never been any research done by any Australian Institution on sustainabillity of pelagic stocks..."just go out boys and catch the hell out of them pay your taxes and away you go" is the attitude..They did that and did it well, with to day's satalite oceanic photos and technoligy, did it remarkably efficiently, but the stocks suffered badly to almost extinction in a couple of species over acouple of decades The poor recreational fisherman, who works to bag limits and rarely achieves them could not harm the fish stocks to any great ammount even if they fished every day of the year. A good catch of 2 or 3 tuna per trip might relate to 15 fish for the season I have seen catches of 300 tuna in one shot on an Australian long liner."Tonnage versus recreational Kilos". The whole Inshore Marine Parks issue stinks of a brown nose to the Greens for preferences as well of gaining control of massive areas of prime NSW coastline. I say buy out the commercial trappers from the M. Parks, if they must, that would be good, but allow the NSW rec angler access to fish Marine Parks They must do this as they have no research that gives any indication that our inshore species are under any direct threat from Recos pressure. These so called papers and pen pushing advisers are to "full of it" for my likings and us fisherman are being dictated to in a most annoying way by a pack of idiots for are so wrong in ill founded theories read from some overseas findings. This is Australia and unlike the USA we have less than 5 percent of the population in comparison with totally different bio diversity.We cannot even draw a comparison from such statistics. Recently the Feds have allocated 220 million "Federal Licence buy out" to fix their decades of bad oceanic fisheries management by oceanic raping. The "Federal licence buy out' will help some species in the long term, but some will never recover.Especially SB.tuna and Roughy and maybe gemfish. Have we shut the gate after the bull 's gone? Should Southern Bluefin be placed on the "endangered species list" whilst they are receiving accolades from others on their great work on our oceans?. You see! if it breaths air and makes us feel "warm and nice" then protect it and spend millions doing it....but our whales and dolphins have no preditors and are multiplying in great numbers theyv'e been beaching themselves for the past 10.000.years, but let's spend thousands putting them back in the briny only to have them swim over to next beach a day later and repeat the whole scene, but the exercise is good publicity if it makes National TV for a Green group....The Koalas have been cuddled nicely and that's good they needed it, the forests are under control and that's great no more woodchipping great, no ones blowing up the oceans at the moment.....that's even better Mr Shirack..so what's left "Lets make some Marine Parks and ban all fishing in them"but unlike the above mentioned you cannot see the fish as they don't live in our environment but to quote a Marine Parks advisor recently "Well you ask any one and they will tell you... We don't catch as many like we used to" So we must need some sanctuaries...That will be nice and GREEN that will make someone feel good, "nice and warm like"...........and it's definately not the NSW fisho The Inshore Marine Parks must allow recreational fishing and that is that.We must be allowed to continue going camping with our famillies and fishing alonely beach where and when we like! Let's keep belly aching and then get rid of them in the March Elections

Mick , We just keep on belly aching and writing to the Ministers and the Premier.....let them know that we do not want fishing closures . I will try to attach a great guide for everyone.It is a page from my club The St George Sport Fishing Club's newsletter On how to attack the buggers. Thanks for your interest.. tHAT DID NOT WORK WILL POST LATER Ross

Loved the bit about the yanky accent. The study that the advisors have taken their advice from is from the good old USA...or maybe lower Zarzidua at the bottom of the Siapan sea...what's that got to do with our species or bio diversity?. I really am suffering a lot of un wanted blood pressure from these drones...but we can beat them and that will be worth it. If any one has not been to Pretty Beach they should look it up on the map and go there. Sit on the grassy hill admire the rugged beauty that in there so natural while you rig your beach rod,whilst the kangaroos hop past. Enjoy the breathtaking view, the rugged coastline to the south. A white bellied sea eagle may hover above the rugged cliffs as Mother Ocean ends her journey as she crashes onto the shore. Un inhabited, wild, magnificent Australian coastline all the way to Batemans Bay.This is my favourite piece of the world and these idiots threw a dart at the map and chose it as a NO FISH ZONE.....why!! Having just returned from the Barrier Reef It is a joke to look at a chart of the Pacific Ocean and see the sections of green zones , yellow zones. We travelled and trolled 100 nauitical mile one day and had to pull the lures in 6 times only to put them back out 3 miles further on. Over regulation at its best and totally useless Recreational fisherman at places like Pretty Beach may take a few salmon, bream and a few tailor from the area, but not enough to put a dent in the migratory population. So why have a no fish zone? Is it that the greens have the timber in the forests sorted (that's good I agree with that well done) The koalas and ducks are Ok! ..( that's also good) The whales and dolphins are in the thousands.( Oh they breath air and they make me feel warm and nice..that's good too)..So they now want to save the fish from the monsters that catch them and eat them ..fisherman....that's bad, especially when they don't need savin' and they have NO AUSTRALIAN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH to back there very flimsy overseas theorys up. OR IS IT THE LABOUR PARTY BROWN NOSING FOR PREFERENCES? My long time fiend and fellow pioneer of the current tag and release program Dr Jullian Pepperal agrees with this theory that there is no evidence that no fish zones are needed as discussed with Allan Jones on 2GB. And that's good enough with me "ON WITH THE WAR" We will fight them on the beaches We will fight them everwhere We might be smelly, we might be salty but we are not idiots and we pay for the right to fish where and when we like. Keep up the noise people............. Ah! must go and have another blood pressure pill

The leader "Your View" Email amartinez@fairfax.com.au Dear Sir, As your long time author of On the Hook a column I have written for the Leader for over 18 years now I would like to challenge the Secretary of National Parks Association Mr GarySchoer I refer to his letter last Tuesday 24 th Re The marine Parks Issue.headed "FISHING FOR A SEA CHANGE" WHY DO US FISHERMAN HAVE TO PUT UP WITH PISCATORIAL FOOLS? Re Mr Schoer's letter of last Tuesday. Having been an offshore fisherman all my life and the author of the fishing column "ON THE HOOK"in the Leader… It annoys me so much that we are being dictated to by a bunch of fishing illiterates on these Marine Park Issues.. Including closures of fishing areas, affecting all fisherman. I have fished the Pretty Beach area all my life. I cannot tell you the joy I get from standing on a lonely beach with my sons, just on dusk, enjoying the serenity of this amazing area catching a few salmon or bream… I look forward to the day when I can enjoy the same with my Grandchildren. Three generations of fisherman breathing in the magnificence of this beautiful, picturesque place. Well Mr Schoer if you and the Marine Parks advisors, whoever they are and I am most convinced they would not know the difference between a snapper and a crab, have your way, this sacred place, as well as many other popular spots on our coastline will be banned to all fisherman. Why? because the labour party wants green preferences. What about the Fisherman who pays their $25.00 per annum to fish all NSW waters.? There has been no Australian scientific study carried out to prove that closing an area will benefit the migratory fish population. Fisherman, fish to strict bag limits and very rarely bag out on any specie, ensuring stocks for the future. As a fisherman of 55 years experience and a founding member of the fish-tagging program, it makes me so wild that we have to deal with piscatorial fools like you and your party. I am sure that every fisherman who wants to enjoy "The God Given Australian Right" to enjoy fishing our coastlines where and when they like, knows who to vote for in March and it will not be labour…It will be the Lib/ Nats.and there are one million of us most unhappy fisherman. Captain Ross Hunter Ross Hunter's Gamefishingcharters P/L Peakhurst 9534 2378

Thanks for posting this reference to the marine parks saga. As fishernman we must not lie down and cop these No Fish Zones.Having fished these beautiful areas all my life I am devistated that this will all end, if these idiots have their way. There has been NO Australian Scientific Research been carried out to prove that there is any benifit in such sancturies. This is totally a political move for green preferences using us fisherman as the footballs.We may be a salty, smelly lot but we are not idiots... I urge ever fisherman who cares to make as much noise between now and the elections as they can Because if these drones get their way, we will all be fishing in aqua culture tanks as there will be no where for a recreational fisherman to go to catch a wild fish.It is not Australian and it is not right to be dictated to by a bunch of piscatorial ignorants. Every NSW fisho must take the time to ensure their vote counts at election time.

Glenn Hunter had a great day last week catching four tuna to 40kg prior to that he trolled up a fish in 150 fathoms and the cubed another three. I have been watching the oceanic patterns and the water has broken up a bit, so wether they will be there next trip is any bodies guess. I dropped a striped marlin and caught two fin last trip. It will not be long until the billfish are worth fishing for. We normally catch a few from now on. Pt Stephens is already hotting up with some good stripes caught in the past few weeks up there Last year we tagged 160 marlin in February between our boats Billfisher and Broadbill only to see the currents run hard southwards and heat to 27 degrees flushing every marlin away to the south for a few weeks untill it cooled down again in April. Those stripes do not like that aweful bathwater, so let's hope we get the 22 to 24 degree currents and the action will stay with us all season in '07 at Pt Stephens The hardest thing at the moment for us all is to go fishing in amongst the gale forced winds....surely they will settle soon. Have just come back from a week at North Haven, blackfishing with the good old mates. Read web site www.gamefishingcharters.com.au for update. Saves writing it again . Lots of blackfish, flatties and good times Isn't that how it's supposed to be! Ross Hunter (gamefisher)