Port Stephens On Broadbill

[slinkymalinky]

Unfortunately after just coming back from 3 days in Port Stephens on board Broadbill I'm still a Marlin virgin, but I was actually connected to a small black for about a minute before it spat the hook.... wow, even that little fish felt like an immovable object so I can't even begin to imagine the power in a 1000lb fish.

We fished Friday thru Sunday during which time only a handful of fish were caught by anyone... I think the trailer boat comp boys must have been disappointed. Friday we didn't see a fish; Saturday we raised 3 on teasers, landed a Stripie of about 50kg, dropped my Black and had another much better Stripie refuse the live Slimey switch bait.

Sunday we worked really hard and finally raised a couple of Striped Marlin late in the day. The 2nd fish also refused a bait after having a go at all 3 teasers. The first fish we pretty much missed entirely because all us punters were busy watching Emu (the deckie) cleaning some Dollies that we'd had a play with earlier while Ross (the skipper) was checking out his GPS. Always pays to keep your eyes on the prize.... by the time Ross, who was the only one on board concentrating, called the fish I just had time to see it absolutely slam the teaser on the left rigger. There's no telling how long it had been on the teaser but by that time it was very, very angry and didn't hang around after taking out its frustration on the hookless pusher.

Ross Hunter is a fantastic skipper and Broadbill is an awesome boat... set up perfectly so that everything you want is right at your fingertips. Right down to a pair of mini tuna tubes that have been obviously custom made for keeping Slimeys ready for switch-baiting. I wish I had a couple on my little boat for livebaiting kings. If ever you want a skipper (and deckie) who are going to work their rings out to try to get you fish... this is the crew and the boat. Broadbill managed to do a lot better than the vast majority of other boats out there over the last 3 days.

Can't thank them enough for a great if slightly frustrating 3 days. Learned heaps and had great company.

Cheers, Slinky

[arpie]

Hi Slinky

Shame your one hit spat the hook - sounds like a good time was still had by all tho.

Better luck next time!

Roberta

[mrmoshe]

Bad luck Slinky...at least you had one on the end of the line for a while...better than me.

Hope you get one boatside one day, as do I.

Cheers,

Pete.