REEF MAGIC CHARTERS

Hi guys back again, We had a eventful 2016 with Mike having open heart surgery and myself fracturing 3 vertebrae & rupturing 2 disks in a fall fishing in February. We both have had the year off but both recovered and back into it with our first charter off Sydney today. We we're hearing of a few striped Marlin being hooked but a lot throwing the hooks. Around 11 we had a double hookup but both fish threw the hooks. We continued to hear boats losing fish and we hung in till the 4.30 tide change and finally the bite we wanted. Solid hookup with a 70kg striped doing what they do jumping everywhere. After an entertaining fight we tagged a nice striped Marlin. We will be fishing out of Newcastle for 3 weeks from next week before heading to Port Stephens for the rest of the season. If your keen for a charter give us a call on 0407113349 Cheers Damo

Id be in 70-80 fathoms off Botany

Punched out into the swell today off Sydney. The dirty water didnt push anywhere out as far as we thought it would and the inshore fishing for little blacks looks good with a bit of bait in 50 fathoms. The water really cleaned up over the shelf and we had perfect blue water out to 300 fathoms but unfortunately no fish. We marked 1 late in the day but couldnt get a bite. Don't be fooled by the sounder as what looks like bait was today in some spots was a thermocline 50 fathoms deep from the bottom up and went on for miles. Good luck if you head out tomorrow. Cheers Damo

if you want to go somewhere to catch reds its like that from November through till May. The weather was so bad we couldn't get to our kingy spots but they are generally bigger in April than November anyway. We stopped on one pin & dropped 2 livies in and got 1 x 10kg king & a 30kg mako.

Hey guys.. Mike & myself along with his 2 sons headed over the ditch to fish with our mate. We fished for 4 days at Great Barrier Island off Auckland the weather not playing the game but the snapper fishing was great. We fished a combination of washes & gravel beds all with soft plastics and caught some good fish & lost plenty bigger ones due to light tackle & smart fish. We had constant rain one day & the winds never got below 20 knots & up to 38 knots at one stage but that's the beauty of the island being able to get into areas out of the wind. That was my ninth trip over there and never seem to get sick of it. Cheers Damo

Well the last week has seen solid numbers of striped marlin on the shelf with the currents bringing with it plenty of baitfish. From all reports there are some solid dollies about as well. We have been having some time off and just had our first day out doing some filming for the cricket show with Mark "tubby' Taylor & 2 time world boardercross Alex "Chumpy" Pullin. What a funny morning with poor Chumpy managing to pull hooks & get busted up about 7 times while tubby managed to get 1 from 1. Sometimes the luck just isn't with you but there were some solid kings amoungst them. If you fancy a charter off Sydney give us a call and we will see if we can get you onto some marlin. We are heading back up to Port Stephens in mid January and will be moored at Nelson Bay for approximately 3 months. Get in early & get a group of mates together and come up for a weekend or take advantage of our midweek special of 2 days for $3200. Hopefully this season will be as good as the last where there were plenty of fish about and some corker dollies. Cheers Damo

Hey Sratchie & Garry.. Great to get away and get back to the basics to catch the old trout. It can be difficult due to the weather but the gods shined on us and gave us a few good sessions. Yes Garry would be amusing to see Reef Magic on the dam but even though water levels are high we still managed to put the 12ft tinny onto submerged rocks trolling with the electric motor. Yes we will be back at Port Stephens next year & will be moored at Nelson Bay. We had a great season last year and can't wait to get back up there. Cheers Damo

With some spare time I headed down to Canberra & picked up my mate & his tinny & headed for Eucembene. Weather was great & the fishing was better. Plenty of smaller to medium rainbows & some nice 4lb browns. All caught trolling with Tassie devils. Cheers Damo

Agreed the Pakula medium sprocket in Lumo would be one of the lures - we have been running the new jet head style and it catches everything. The second lure which we believe has more strikes than any other lure over the past 5 seasons is the Prowler models from Black Bart - Either the bigger St Thomas Prowler or the smaller Tahitian prowler. They have an amazing head shake and the jets produce a long bubble trail. They can be run anywhere in your spread and will hang in in any conditions. Steve i would definitely add 1 of each to your collection. Cheers Damo

Everyone seems to worrying to much about altimetry at the moment. All the charts everyone is reading are nearly always 12-24hrs behind so you have to make some judgments for yourselves about where this water may be moving. We have caught plenty of good fish when the altimetry says that is should be a desert.. last week on Wednesday we hooked the 3 big bluefin and got 2 & yesterday still managed a yellowfin & albacore in water that wasn't meant to be fruitful. However if you checked the water temp charts there was good temp breaks in certain areas and these are where we caught the fish. Sometimes you can be just lucky.... but one thing i can confirm is that if you stayed tied up to the wharf because the altimetry looks bad your definitely going to catch nothing! Weather looks crap for a few days but next week looks like a glamour and hopefully the currents will play the game and the fishing improves next week. We are out Friday weather permitting. Cheers Damo

Hard day on the water today but we managed 2 albies and one yellowfin around 25kg. Cheers Damo

30 miles

Yes.. Give me a call on 0407113349

2 x barrels today off Sydney. 1 at 102kg & 1 at 115kg bluefin. Triple hookup.. bust 1 off got the little one after 2 hours but the bigger one took six hours on standup 24kg. We have Thursday & Friday available for charter. Cheers Damo 0407113349

We were about 8 miles south of browns in 500. Outthere got a 5 way hookup on bluefin and a few others got bluefin yesterday as well. Current was still pushing downhill where we were. At the moment it's just a matter of driving over a good patch there doesn't seem to be any obvious area. Water temp inside 1000 was good for both yfin & bfin but over 1000 got up to 19.5 Cheers Damo

I can confirm at least 7good yellowfin up to 60kg caught today. We didn't find any but a boat with us did. We managed out bag limit of albies.. Had a mako eat one & a blue shark eating frozen stripes that we fed him. Did see a free jumping marlin in 150 fathoms Cheers Damo

Yes the tight line areas are the go. You want your blue/purple and red areas. The blue areas are upwellings hence bringing nutrients to the surface creating more life. However you want to be fishing in those transition areas where the two different areas (highs & lows) meet and squeeze together. Working both sides of this main transition area can produce fish. Cheers Damo

Well reports today already have multiple boats catching bluefin & yellowfin off Sydney. We will be out tomorrow. Anyone wanting a charter get in quick. Cheers Damo

Heard that a few BF were caught and tagged wide 60 odd miles yesterday & the odd YF. There are a few fish down south off Bermi being caught by rec anglers. It will be interesting to see how much further the cooler water moves this week. I would still be heading south at this point 1500 -2000 off the gong. When you planning to head out? Cheers Damo

Out in 3000 fathoms on the cold edge. Good luck

Latest reports put the fish just north of JB on that colder edge. Good luck guys let us know how you get on. 8th - 16th of July is my pick of the days for really good fishing off Sydney. Don't believe the charts to much.. we were out Monday with all the charts showing water pouring up from the south giving us a false sense of the water. In reality it was pushing 2 knots downhill and to our surprise the charts dramaticlly changed in 24 hrs showing that water flowing south. Get out there guys and report back 24hr real time reports. As the old story goes... its hard to ctach them tied up to the wharf.... good luck over the weekend. Southern canyons 5 miles south in 800 fathoms would be my pick for Sunday. Cheers Damo

Went out wide yesterday. Temp break & water temp was positive but unfortunately no tuna for us or the other boat out wide with us. Still the odd fish being caught but no numbers yet. Reports off the longliners further south are very good for fish off Sydney over the next 2 weeks Cheers Damo

They aren't far away. Reports from Monday of 4 bluefin caught off Sydney Cheers Damo

35 miles double hookup

Headed out 60 miles today looking for tuna but only managed 2 dollies at 18 & 22kg. Had water down to 19.5 but was 20.4 wide Cheers Damo