Port Stephens

[knapers]

Well today i got some unreal news that made me want to cry with happiness. We are going to port to chase some billfaces this weekend and hopefully i will land one or ten. I was just hoping that i could ask for any and all information that you guys have for a first timer boater to port. Thanks for any help. It would also be handy if you guys had GPS refs for us, where to put the boat in, where to get livies, where to stay. Cheers fellas.

[knapers]

Great reading swoffa, we have never been there before, so we have dead set NO idea of whats going on. Catching livies, lures used, we have a heap of big skirts. umm gps marks are something we really need, Boat ramps, and the big question will they still be there when we get there.

If we cant catch marlin or a yfin, what else can we catch and what with???

Comon fellas give us a hand, cheers again.

[knapers]

Swoffa you must be stoked having your fish on there site, good work

[knapers]

Cheers Telco, im actually a bit worried about the weather this weekend, we cant go if the weather is shit. But thanks for the dolphin info, we actually saw a couple when we were coming back from terrigle fad on the weekend, pretty awesome stuff.

Another question, will the Marlin be around and if so for how much longer?

Thanks again.

[knapers]

Any info is more than welcome Swoffa, Cheers mate.

[knapers]

Actually one more question Swoffa, did you have more success with slow trolled livies or skirted lures?

[djmac]

dont say im not good to you knapers.

gps here will help:

http://www.marinews.com/exploring/gps/fg_nsportstep.htm

theres plenty of action to be had at port.

livies can be obtained around the headland as u get out of the so called bar.

few bills around the gibber if theres bait.

kingies around the pinnacle and broughton island and the like. and i mean big kings we got a 28kg model there last year.

how big is your boat?

if you're going to go to the shelf. go to the "car park" a well known gps spot

troll lures until you find bait, if you find bait troll around the edges. no luck?

whack a bait jig into it and feed the livies back out on hooks and wait for the bite.

theres good water still so you should do well.

by catch of a decent dollie and yellowfin happen regulary.

Ive heard a few rumours of some big blues around the shelf at the moment.

have fun

Col

[knapers]

Alright another question swoff, um what lures should i use , i get the point.

Your too good to me DJ, love your work mate. I have printed that off, as you can tell the only thing at the moment stopping us is the weather. Say a prayer for me that the weather will be good. The boat we have is a Haines Signature 630f, DJ how far is the shelf from port? I am loving all the answers to my questions, thanks heaps fellas and keep it coming.

[djmac]

shelf is about 28 miles

easy to do in the haines

weathers lookin ok u might get a bit wet but the swell will hopefully stay down.

lures depends what you have.

id be running all skirts

id be running a lumo style on the long rigger or long corner if ur only running 2 lures (cant go past the pakula lumo med sprocket)

short rigger have a black and purple style

short corner maybe similar colour and a bit smaller and a bit of dark green (something that looks like a slimey)

long corner maybe a blue green style or an orange

if you find bait on the way out stick to it.

could pick up a small black or a stripe.

[Bashir]

The shelf is a big run, places like the carpark are an easy 45km trip. Got no idea what's around up there at the moment, but there might be a few blacks and stripes inshore here and there. Your best bet would be to troll lures until you see good bait, jig some slimies and get them out on some circle hooks. Other then that, the islands are have some shit hot kingie fishing.

[knapers]

Shit, i dont know if i will be able to sleep now to then. Im so pumped for some action. Thanks fellas, one thing, with the kingies, would it be best to slow troll lures or livies?

[Bashir]

big kings dont really hit lures in my experience. Best to use big live baits like big slimies, bontito, frigates and pike for a big kingie.

[Guest bluecod]

Knapers,

There's a deep cigar shaped reef that runs north/south about 8 klms east of Broughton and is a known marlin spot. We saw freeswimming marlin on it late February but could not entice a strike. We were looking for bait schools and heard on the radio there were big balls of bait over towards the Gibber so we trolled our way over - about 3klms due north of Broughton we got an 85kilo black on an Express Cockroach on the short rigger in about 120' of water - other boats in the area were also hooking up about the same time [change of tide]. Next day the same area north of Broughton was lousy with bait but no marlin.

We usually have a couple of rods with bait jigs ready to be dropped over if we come across bait balls when trolling. If you come across a good bait ball its a simple matter to throw the motor into neutral and pull some livies out on the jigs. Whilst the lures sink we usually have no problem with them - once you've got bait its a simple matter to change over to circles and tow livies around the school. Last year we got two hook-ups when feeding livies back into the balls we had just caught them from - one hookup about 20 feet from the back of the boat.

Good luck on the weekend

[jewie hunter]

No info but good luck

Jewie Hunter

[djmac]

big kings you will find on the bottom.

only ever had them hit lures when they were feeding on the surface at the back of fish rock at swr.

kingies have a livie under a balloon surface.

one around midwater and one on the bottom.

make sure youve got good gear for the one on the bottom because they will find the reef rather quickly!

[knapers]

We got our outriggers early this week so they wont be fitted, im stoked with all this info as fishing for marlin is new to both my oldman and i. Cheers

[Guest bluecod]

Knapers,

Bit of advice if you do hook up - have a plan - work out beforehand who is going to do what [clear the other lines, drive, take the trace etc etc] know where your gimball buckets are and have them adjusted, same with harnesses, have your gloves, pliers/side cutters handy if you do end up needing them to cut a trace or remove hooks from bone.

When you've got the marlin alongside, keep the boat moving forward so that you've got water flowing over the marlin - helps them to recover and keeps them calmer i.e. they don't freak out as much as no water flow is something they're not used to.

Try and position the boat so you fight them out of a rear corner [gives the angler good leg support and the skipper can see the angle of the line easier] and watch out as near the end of a fight they can get under the bow and you can lose them quiet easily.

Their bills are like 80 grit emery paper so you'll need gloves to bill them and BTW the end of their bills are quite sharp so it is advisable to make sure they are not "green" when you bring them alongside, particularly if you want to retain the gell coat on the boat.

[knapers]

Thanks heaps Bluecod, great info there. As you can imagine i am very pumped for this weekend. Even the thought of a catching a marlin is driving me nuts. Cheers again. Actually one question, when chasing a marlin, i have seen them do this in fids, how do you go about 'chasing' it, dont you need to keep tension on the line at all times?

[djmac]

you do need to chase down and you definetly need to keep the line tight at all times.

when chasing the fish down.

normally with your old man on the wheel. stand directly behind him so he can see where your line is, that way you can chase it down and he can see your line.

always make sure the pressure is on.

dont forget to set ur drags before you go out.

theres a heap of stuff you need to know really.

i suggest you get the between the lines cd by peter pakula.

its a bit late to get that before you go so have a read here.

http://www.pakula.com/all%20article%20index.htm

if i were you i would also make a bill rope up just in case, its simple and effective.

[EVAN]

Plenty of livies --Yakas,slimies-- around shoal bay walf, just tie up to one of the boat morings. Also heaps of garfish there aswell, but if you don't want to be anoyed by the gars -- the right head land as your going out the heads-- plenty around that corner but aslo can be choppy -- shoal bays the go nice and calm and heaps there.. if you want anything bigger i caught 3 bonito 30-35cm of that same point on tuesday while fishing for snapper-- with cubes of pillies and next to no wait .

[knapers]

Thanks again fellas, i feel like a kid at the moment. Turns out we are sleeping on the boat Saturday and Sunday nights, and to add to the good times i will be having this weekend, i spoke to a mate yesturday and i will be fishing the racks for the first time for bream before going up the coast for a marlin (fingers crossed). The only way this weekend could get anybetter is if i meet a nice girl or win the lotto (coz the fuel will be a bitch this weekend)

DJ, mate could you tell us a bit more about a 'bill rope' how would you rig yours up? I can imagine its simple enough, but how do you go about it?

Even, thanks for the info mate. Another question for ya. You said the walf at Shoal bay is a good place for livies, do you reckon we could tie up the boat there for the night? I will definately try that out for the bonnies as well, apparently they are good bait for marlin. Cheers for all your help and keep it comming

[djmac]

basically all you need is a length of rope and a smaller thinner bit of rope.

all you basically do is have a loop in the end of the thicker rope. anchor rope is fine. and make sure the end is looped.

at the top of the loop, tie the thinner rope to it.

so basically when the fish is near the boat you get the loop and push some of the big rope through itself and create like a slipknot.

put it over the bill and pull it tight. and that will hold the bill nicely.

now tie the fish off on a rail or cleat. and you can remove the hooks etc.

obviously keep ur gloves on!

now when the hooks are out, you can swim the fish with one hand holding the fin and the other on the rope.

once shes ready to swim away pull the small rope and it will pull the loop undone.

and away it swims. im looking for a picture of it but i cant find one and im at work.

im sure u get what i mean??

[knapers]

Yeah i thought similar just without the thinner rope, cheers, i will tie it tomorrow night.

[EVAN]

Thanks again fellas, i feel like a kid at the moment. Turns out we are sleeping on the boat Saturday and Sunday nights, and to add to the good times i will be having this weekend, i spoke to a mate yesturday and i will be fishing the racks for the first time for bream before going up the coast for a marlin (fingers crossed). The only way this weekend could get anybetter is if i meet a nice girl  or win the lotto (coz the fuel will be a bitch this weekend)

DJ, mate could you tell us a bit more about a 'bill rope' how would you rig yours up? I can imagine its simple enough, but how do you go about it?

Even, thanks for the info mate. Another question for ya. You said the walf at Shoal bay is a good place for livies, do you reckon we could tie up the boat there for the night? I will definately try that out for the bonnies as well, apparently they are good bait for marlin. Cheers for all your help and keep it comming 

43791[/snapback]

If you are staying on the boat you could anker there, But there is only private morings so you wouldn't be able to leave the boat there. If you are staying on the boat head further up the bay --heaps of calm hidden away spots like fame cove across from soldiers point, there are public morings there, For any info the national parks and the waterways are in the same building in nelsons bay on the water near the mariner, Have a good trip look foward to hearing good reports.

Cheers Evan,

[knapers]

I hope to post a good report as well Evan. Cheers mate.