sanger Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Hey guys, We headed out on the water yesterday at about 630, couldnt find any slimies at north head or longreef but had loads of action on the sounder of longreef so we dropped lures about 2km of longy and started to troll. Long story short we saw heaps of dolphins, a sun fish and a few birds along with the odd school of fleeing sauries....... Problem was we didnt find a predator the whole freaking day!!!!!!!!! We found great current and temperature breaks and worked each to adnausium (big word, should probably know how to spell it before i drop it but what the hell). The temp ranged from 19.8 all the way up to 24ish. Some of the temp breaks we worked changed nearly 2 degrees in about 300-600m so they were good fast breaks and a few of them held fish but we could not get a strike!!!!! The current lines were also very distinct as you could see them for km's ahead of you but buggered if we could get a fish to take a lure even though we zigzaged them every which way for hours!!!!!! At one stage during the day we saw another boat only a few 100m away from us hook up a marlin working the same water so we must have been in the right area but couldnt crack the nut! Just when we thought all hope was lost one of the rods gave a buckle over and started pulling drag at a slow but steady pace! This is when we caught our large plastic sheet!!!!! We were all just a little pissed off to say the least because we thought we finaly had some action. So after around 200km and a solid 12 hours on the water and a 15hour day by the time we cleaned and parked the boat to say we were a little disapointed is an understatement!!!!! The worst thing is i still cant figure out what we could have done to improve the day other than have live bait that we couldnt find!!!! The only other thing i could think of is that maybe the day was just to good as the water would have been perfect for wakeboarding and the like as i've never seen it as glassy as it was yesterday!!!!! This marlin fishing thing is starting to bug me bad, as marlin fishing without the marlin isnt that fun and kind of hurts the wallet! I think im going to go chase kingies next time!!!!!Hope anyone out there in the next few days has some better luck than us!!!!!!! The water is right we just need the fish! Tightlines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abiasin Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 unlucky mate, im sure you will crack the code soon. just gotta keep at it and you will have the mother of all rewards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmac Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 (edited) welcome to gamefishing mate it took me 145 hours of trolling for my first marlin. mind you that was out of broken bay and i could have gone to places like port etc and probbaly cracked the duck first thing livebaiting. we were out every weekend back then and it sure did hurt the wallet but theres nothing better being out there. the fish are a bonus. the first one is always the hardest then it gets easier and you will start to realise what tactic you should employ when. hopefully your next trip will be the one! Col Edited December 28, 2007 by djmac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve07 Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 That's marlin fishing,everyone has done that many times,trolling all day for absolutely nothing,but then it does happen & its such a adrenlin rush that all those lean fishless trips get forgotten when a marlin slams that lure,the hooks stick & the fish takes off in the air towards the horizon. Once you experince that you will keep goin back out there trying to do it all again,you have to be patient & prepared to put in the long hour's too. I think i dropped my first 4 marlin that i was lucky enough to be on strike for,due to hooks being thrown each time,but then i hooked up & got my next 3 marlin in a row boatside which were all tagged & released. Hang in there mate,the marlin will come! getting it to stay hooked up is something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boban Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 (edited) Don't think the kingies are a given either mate. Like yesterday (same day as you went out), we got the bait but no kingfish. But that's the thing about chasing the bigger ones, the time spent between strikes can get rather tedious. You soon forget about it though when you get that reel screaming. I've never really chased the marlin (but that will change this summer), but I don't expect it to be anything other than an expensive exercise. Don't you love cleaning the boat when your eyeballs are falling out of your head. Edited December 28, 2007 by Boban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Don't think the kingies are a given either mate. Like yesterday (same day as you went out), we got the bait but no kingfish. But that's the thing about chasing the bigger ones, the time spent between strikes can get rather tedious. You soon forget about it though when you get that reel screaming. I've never really chased the marlin (but that will change this summer), but I don't expect it to be anything other than expensive exercise. Don't you love cleaning the boat when your eyeballs are falling out of your head. Hey Mitch, I have big plans for you when we get to Port Stephens. Always expect to catch fish and they will come Cheers Stewy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boban Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yes master Stewy, I shall be positive......and ready for action. I was going to go up tonight, but with the weather forecasts, there's not much point really. Not for me anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yes master Stewy, I shall be positive......and ready for action. I was going to go up tonight, but with the weather forecasts, there's not much point really. Not for me anyway. I thought we would tie up to the side of Broadbill and save fuel and get the real masters advice Hope we can get you a billfish while we are up there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boban Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yeah talk to Roscoe about it. Im sure he will be impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger Posted December 28, 2007 Author Share Posted December 28, 2007 Thanks for all the replys guys...... Not expecting miricles but we have already put in a serious amount of hours like 100+ in the last 2 or 3 months so with the conditions the way we were and the temp breaks and current lines we found on the day i was really expecting a little more than a big doughnut, especialy seeing another boat getting hooked onto one!!!! We have been getting our fair share of small tuna and some good dollies to keep us occupied in the meantime which is nice! As for the kings ive put more hours than i care to remember into chasing them this year as well but they dont cost you $200 in petrol everytime you go out especially when your in tinnies and if you dont manage a king you can usually have fun with some tailor or salmon or what ever else is around!!!! The other reason the towing of plastic squid like things is starting to get to me is that im heading overseas in about a month for a few years so time is running out a little to crack my first beakie, Its all good though! As they say Thats fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 55 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 HI Fishlexic what pattern were you trolling ? Did you change lures Sux when you go out for zip I would have thought you might have found Dollies under the plastic bag Sounds like the day was for rather than Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr magoo Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Thanks for all the replys guys...... Not expecting miricles but we have already put in a serious amount of hours like 100+ in the last 2 or 3 months so with the conditions the way we were and the temp breaks and current lines we found on the day i was really expecting a little more than a big doughnut, especialy seeing another boat getting hooked onto one!!!! We have been getting our fair share of small tuna and some good dollies to keep us occupied in the meantime which is nice! As for the kings ive put more hours than i care to remember into chasing them this year as well but they dont cost you $200 in petrol everytime you go out especially when your in tinnies and if you dont manage a king you can usually have fun with some tailor or salmon or what ever else is around!!!! The other reason the towing of plastic squid like things is starting to get to me is that im heading overseas in about a month for a few years so time is running out a little to crack my first beakie, Its all good though! As they say Thats fishing. keep your head up mate ,,we did the same yesterday for didley squat .Hope you pin one next trip maybe head north or south and tow baits ? if your boats trailerable arman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plankton Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 That's fishing. The only predictable thing about it is it's unpredicatbility! I'm bound to estuary fishing but occasionally head out of Sydney to game fish. The first time I did we caught a Marlin in the first hour of trolling and then lost a massive one a couple of hours later... this is very lucky and I'm sure that it doesn't happen often. Point being, sometimes the fish are there and sometimes there not. Usually when the weather is great and the water is glassy the fish tend to be deeper in the water cloumn. It's tedious but you don't want to give up so persevere! I'm still trying to crack a big Jewie and am starting to get sick and tired myself of fishing long nights for nothing. Plankton! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 (edited) HI Fishlexic what pattern were you trolling ? Did you change lures Sux when you go out for zip I would have thought you might have found Dollies under the plastic bag Sounds like the day was for rather than Chris Hey mate, Yeah we found a fair few floating bits of crap out there but didnt find any of the dollies that usually hang out under them!!! The pattern was mostly a pakula spread with a lumo medium sprocket on the long rigger, mosquito in hawaiin slash on the shotgun, top gun ball bearing nightmare on the short rigger and short corner depending on the time of day, a sprocket in black and orange ( cant remember the name) on the long corner, where the ones that spent the most time in the water. We also had some mbt lures out and pretty much one of every colour at various stages of the day. also towing a witchdotor. We ran one or two of the new pakula skooners but no go on them either..... We didnt actually change lures that often but over 12 hours you kind of get to try a few different things.... most of the changing was done on the shotgun and long corners though so we could leave our favourites stay put!!!! I think as was suggested that the fish maybe have just been deeper due to the amazingly flat conditions!!! We did try to find some slimey mackrel before we headed out without much luck! Like none! Just one of those days i think!!!! And as for sailing!!!! i think wakeboarding would have been perfect cause there was only the slightest of ne blowing.... it was actually kind of eerie out there!!!! Edited December 31, 2007 by fishlexic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 55 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Sorry mate but the was the only boat emoticon I have to agree about the flat water, as inside or outside you seem to get a better bit when there is some ripple/chop/swell running to create movement and surface distortion Even undersize throwbacks are better than zip but that's fishing Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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