Larkin

Thanks GoingFishing! Definitely a day I’ll never forget! I remember reading about your marlin mission a few years ago with the research, chase and effort you had put in to get your first! resonates with me. Thanks Kantong! I still pinch myself. Lol Thanks mate! thanks for you kind words Basil! Was a crazy day that I’ll never forget - had to text you the pics lol. Hope you get yours one day mate!

Beats going to the tackle shop 😂 Poddies should work well, I’ve used yellowtails - but they seem to get hit only by the big girls.

It’s been small flathead out there for the last 6 months. worst part is winding up all that way for nothing! You always manage a good feed Dave!

Nice catch! sounds like you had a great time

Nice feed mate! Can’t go wrong with flatty and crabs! a few crabs on the move in the hacking and botany atm. good luck up north!

Well done fellas! Some very nice Jewies!

Thanks James! was lucky to get the hook up on cam.

Hahaha! I feel for ya Mike! Rattling the branches lol Those little buggers don’t stop at one sting do they

Well done linewetter! nice luderick! 👍 just watch out sticking your hands in the weed in the ocean pools without checking - I’ve been done by a fortescue fish when I was a young kid. The small 5-10cm fish hide in the weed. Most intense throbbing pain I’ve ever felt!

Thanks Mike! Seeing a marlin jump out of the water 15m away and then decide to take the bait was crazy!

Thanks Burger! The down deep fight was hard work! As soon as I’d try to give the biceps a rest, it could feel it and started to pull more 😂

Here’s the hook up vid

Thanks Brad! don’t know how he found me in time, lucky it was quite flat out there. Said the yellow ski stood out - which is why I purchased that colour. yeah, I’ve posted the hook up video on a Facebook fishing site - the format on here doesn’t like huge video files. Plan to make a vid on my YouTube - I’ll post a link here when I get a chance to edit all the footage. Thanks Wazza!! building my adventure stories, one fish at a time! Glad you enjoyed mate! You should hear me go off on the hook up lol will try to upload the clip on youtube and link it here. Thanks Isaac! Yeah, won’t forget this anytime soon mate! The fight of these fish is something else.

Thanks mate! thanks Donna! was a dream fish - happy it all went to plan. Thanks Restyle! Certainly a dream come true. Thanks Dave! Been working towards this goal for a while. Yesterday everything just came together. Thats fishing eh! Thanks Albert! You’ll get one mate! Thanks Bessel! Seeing it swim away was just as good as the capture! Thanks Blackfish! Always wanted to catch one, now can’t stop thinking about it. Lol Thanks Green Hornet! was an adventure that’s for sure! thanks Baitdropper! yeah, it totally is a different fish to the others. From its dance to the long battle! Something I won’t forget either. 👍 Thanks Regicycle! Journey is half the fun! Seeing the fish swim off was the icing. Thanks Mike! Loved every second of it mate!

Gday Raiders! I’ll start off by saying What a fight!!! Anyone that has read my reports over the years knows that I love this great sport of ours, and that I love to do it off a JetSki. Over the last year I’ve been preparing, with the goal of landing a Sydney marlin off a JetSki! I know marlin have been caught off a JetSki up north, and down south out of Kiama ect, but I believe this may be the first off Sydney. The last 4-6 weeks I’ve been on a marlin chase. Keeping an eye on water temps, weather, currents and baitfish numbers. I’ve been joined by a couple of mates on occasion, and other times on my own. I’ve trolled the edge of the shelf in over 650m and in close at some local known spots. The night before I told myself that tomorrow is the day - I’m catching a marlin! I felt it, I knew that it was going to happen! My mate had wanted to chase Dollie’s at the fads so he shot straight out from botany at first light, while I launched from Port Hacking. I had wanted to get some large slimies, but only managed yakkas/cowanyoung. Good size though, around 25cm. I started by trolling an 8 inch skirt out to the 90m mark where I had found large baitballs the previous week, but it was barren this time. Mate called me up on the radio, and I headed off to meet him at the Hacking Fads. No bait anywhere on the way out, stopped at a few spots that have held bait in the past, a klm before the fads…nothing. Trolled wide around the fads, slow trolled a large livie too. Again nothing. Decided to try for Dollie’s as my mate lost 2, and had seen some big ones swimming about, but they just wouldn’t take any baits. It hit 10.30, so rode over to my mate - told him I was going out for a ride around 3klm past the fads to an area I had sounded up bait in the past, & that I would be back in half an hour so we can head back in. Put out a couple of marlin skirts, a JB little dingo 8” in Evil colour and a Pakula mini sprocket 9.25” in lumo. Trolling the lures I noticed a small bait ball around 20m wide, then 500m away a bait ball around 30m wide, and a further 500m I went over one that was quite big - bait stacked around 60m wide and up around 30m off the bottom. I drove over, kept trolling a few hundred meters, then had that voice telling me to go back. Stopped, wound in the lures and turned the ski around. I traced back and there they were - lots of bait down low. I tie on a 10oz snapper lead using an elastic band to the snap swivel, grabbed the largest baitfish I had ~ 25cm, and down it went to the bottom. At this point a marlin dances out of the water 15m away from me. I hit the buttons on both my GoPro and Insta 360 cams. Grab the radio and let my mate know. I decide to raise the bait higher, grab the rod start to wind up, and the rod suddenly feels heavy, starts to bend and line peels off for a second or two …. then zzzzzzzzzzzzz and its all on!!! Never heard the reel scream non stop - out comes 250m of line in a few seconds and it starts dancing off in the distance. Aerobatics show like a gymnast! The surface fight goes on for 10minutes, at which point I get the fish close to the ski, it looks at me and says no! its not over, then the deep battle begins. This battles goes on for 35 minutes - half way through my mate finds me and starts videoing too. I’m spent, and my arms are dead wrestling it up from the deep. 2m gain, 10m loss as we fight back and forth slowly grinding the line up a hard fought meter at a time. I yell out to my mate “I can’t go on any more” and he yells back some words of encouragement to the likes of “you’ve got to fight on, this is your dream fish”. This gives me the determination to fight on. And fight on I do, and at the point my arms are about to give in…. it comes to the surfaces. I leader the fish around and grab the bill. It’s spent and I’m spent! My next thought is to get this magnificent creature swimming again. I guide it along side the JetSki, bent over with one hand holding its bill and the other on the accelerator I swim the fish for a few minutes making sure water is running through its gills. I feel it’s ready and I release… I see it swim down and I’m ecstatic! What a rush!! two thumbs up to my mate and I can’t believe what just happened. My first black marlin!! approx size was around 2.5m full length, tail to bill. Weight I estimate at around 70-90kg Gear used: MC Works 15kg rod DE626TSZ - all that tuna Spin 6’2 PE 5-8. Stella 14000, 88lb saltiga braid, FG knot to 130lb momoi leader, then 150lb to snelled 9/0 Trokar TK4 circle hook. Depth 150m, sea temp 24 degrees

Well done Brad - nice haul of crabs and gars. My mate also goes in his kayak for gars, said it’s easy cause it doesn’t scare them. Gets em in one of the bays near maroubra.

Nice catch mate! Plenty of baitfish in bate bay atm. The trag all seem to be around that size. One of my favourite eating fish. Didn’t want to keep the gummy?

Don’t know what’s worse, loosing a fish before you even get a glimpse or loosing it boatside when you know what you’ve lost. Mate 30 years between catches, can understand why loosing it must of sucked! From everyone’s responses sounds like others had similar results up there

Good get away mate! Love the set up - no big Jew, but I bet you still had a great time!

Good effort Rob, and a top feed there! Love the flounder whole in foil with butter and lemon slices inside.

Thanks Rob! A few good meals were had - that Bonnie made some delicious sashimi

Thanks Isaac! plenty of yakkas around gunnamatta wharf - didn’t see any kings around, but did see two watsons bonito flash by there a week ago Haha - enjoy the holiday mate!

Thanks Scooter weather’s looking good on Sunday, good luck mate! Hey Greg, Swell was predicted to be 1.6m but some big ones were rolling through at 2.5m mixed in with side swells & a short wave period. Wind was under 10knts, so not bad. Ski handles the rough really well - it’s why they get used for surf rescues & towing in big wave surfers ect. You do get quite wet when it like that though. mine also has collars (pictured with the fish) made from marine buoyancy foam. This gives it extra stability and positive flotation. Yeah it’s looking like a good season - large schools of yakkas on the reefs around bate bay and Jibbon - plenty of kings and they’re getting bigger. Out wider at the 80-100m mark at some spots I monitor, the baitfish is stacking heavy atm, I had planned to fish it before heading south, but was way too rough - I recon a very good chance for billfish out there with the amount of bait I saw. Thanks Zoran! Was good to get a feed this week. Ive been trolling out wide lately, together with a mate who also has a ski. Only one hook up (my mate) while we were trolling 50m apart. But fish spat the lure. Lure came back with a whack mark too. You taken Devocean out lately? Thanks Dave! The fish in the schools out there are getting bigger - 50cm models a few weeks back, now all averaging over 60. Was happy to get a couple of local trag too. yeah, there was no way I was riding down in those conditions lol Sometimes plenty of fish at your doorstep. Thanks Robbo! fish came on the bite 2 hours before the high tide - I didn’t want to leave. Thanks Brad! Got to put a few loops on them lol those Trokar TK4 circles have razor edges - as long as you don’t get the urge to touch the rod when it’s bouncing, rarely miss with them. Thanks Kantong! wife hates it when I lay them out on the bench top. 😂

Gday Raiders, was planning to head south to stanwell, but after catching livies and starting the ride down conditions changed and it got really rough. Swell up to around 2.5m - Turned around and headed in. Noticed quite a few boats followed suit. Decided to go for a squid instead, got 5. The weather calmed down so headed back out into Bate Bay. 2 hours before the top of the tide, the bite turned on. Non stop action for the next two hours. Landed around half a dozen kings, all 60-65cm on livies. Kept a 65, then had a decent sized Bonnie grab a livie too. Bled both out really well and head planted into an ice slurry. Plan to sashimi both so made sure they were preped properly. In between some more hits and kings, a couple of trag came up too.

So many boats stop at this area for a squid - hope it doesn’t get up. I might go past if I’m not stuck at work. Knee jerk reaction mate, to one idiot. I don’t think many fishos know that this is on the councils agenda.