We have had some amazing off shore trips with our customers on Broadbill and Billfisher lately Catches of yellowfin tuna nearly every trip as well as encounters with our favourites, the marlin.

Local Bangor angler Peter Beaumanis’is crew managed 10 yellowfin last week and Steve Naza’is group fared well with 8 fish .

.Local Sutherland dentist Mandy Kwok’is Father Peter also had a great day with 9 yellowfin .Most fish were trolled on Bloodshot Tuna Hunter lures”and bib less minnows

The reason for the good fishing is a big eddy of 22 to 23 degree water is sitting off Botany Bay and has brought our piscatorial friends with it.

There have been many other groups who have experienced the thrill of tuna fishing … & even although the fish have been on the small side they are still great to eat and the customers love the double and triple hook ups.

On our boats we generally allow up to 10 per day then we tag and release the rest ensuring that we set an example of conservation of stock. For our customers.

This way our crews have ample fish for a few meals and we leave plenty for the future generations.

The good news is that the Federal Government has announced a 170 million dollar buy out of commonwealth long line licences. This will be accepted by many of the long line operators of which there are over 120 registered boats working our east coast. Their catches are falling and they are suffering financially from having to travel long distances to sea to catch the tuna. Fuel burn and lack of catch is seeing the industry in dire straights. Most commercial boat owners, I feel will negotiate this buy out or go broke.

A massive reduction in long lining will see the replenishing of our yellowfin tuna stocks back to how they were prior to the wholesale slaughter by overfishing by long lining

Yellowfin tuna are one of our fastest growing tuna with a life span of about 7 years They do not breed until they are around 3 years old or 30 kilos Therefore if they are left alone with only a few caught by recreational anglers, the stocks will return within a few years.

It has been a long haul to get the Federal government to listen to us and I so pleased the Senator Mc Donald has realized that we must protect our fish stocks before they disappear forever.

The boys from CRC Civil caught a great catch of snapper, morwong, pigfish and kingfish last week.

Glenn Hunter has been fishing south of Port Hacking for great catches of Blue spot flathead and jackets

Hot Press Billfisher caught 7 yellowfin tuna and 12 kilo dolphin fish to day. That is the first dolly for the season so the water is lookin’good…summer’is here and we aren’it complainin’.

We have been fishing the wide oceanic grounds for yellowfin and marlin.and I need not to tell you that there have been some really unpredictable changing weather . Hot summer afternoons can bring violent storms Westerly winds too …the worst of all winds when fishing the wide grounds, especially for small boats

During one day last week we observed a 17-foot trailer boat trolling the same area,.we were working.

On that day there was a strong wind warning for westerly winds, the worst wind when returning from an offshore trip.

My boat Broadbill is a 40 foot cat and a superb sea boat, she weighs around 12 tonne and on that day we encountered 25 knots when returning to port, this does not worry us too much, just a lot of spray and the occasional thump from the short sharp wind induced sea.

However it is another story in a tiny 17 footer that weighs 600 kg.It is 25 nautical mile of slamming a terrible head sea with every second wave 2 metres high and 2 metres apart. Such a sea can only be negotiated at 6 to 8 knots meaning that it could be a four hour, wet, lonely and frightening trip home, a motor failure during this epic could be fatal… I really do urge small boat owners to be careful.

I started my career some 45 years ago in small boats I also founded the Marlin Broadbill Boat Company and fished from our 17 foot Billfisher and Broadbill boats for many years, so I do know the dangers associated in fishing wide from small craft .

We have endured 30 knot gales which frightened the tripe out of us leaving us with the thought that we should be more careful next time, we got away with it, but the experience taught us a most valuable lesson……..to be more careful next time.

Since those early days I have seen storm fronts and winds to 100 knots, such winds would blow a small boat off the water out wide……..So please be careful

It is Christmas, the fishing is great, so let’is keep safety foremost in our boating

A Merry and Safe Christmas to all fishos and our customers from the Hunter family.

Whilst we have full books for our three-month migration to Pt Stephens, we still have a few share days available but will be closing the books soon.

You can join us for three exciting days fishing @$950.00 per angler including accommodation.

This is a fishing holiday, which you will remember for along time fishing with BROADBILL or BILLFISHER.

The past few trips to sea have rewarded our anglers with some great fish ,however none better than Paul Hobb is first gamefish, a 90kg striped marlin .

The big fish was feeding on a school of tuna when our Bloodshot Tuna Hunter lure, being trolled in Broadbill's wake, attracted the marlin.

The hook up was solid and at first I thought it was a yellowfin tuna, however after two hundred and fifty metres disappeared off the big Shimano, I was convinced that we had something of a larger size. We backed up after the fish with a certain amount of haste to retrieve the mass exodus of line.

The marlin then solved our curiosity by leaping high time and time again to the thrills of all on board.

We tagged and released the big fish after a 35 minute battle which we all enjoyed immensely

As a skipper of a marlin boat it is a relief and a great thrill to catch and release that first one sort of takes the pressure off a bit.

These days all these great fish are tagged and released, on our boats it is mandatory.

The fact that we have not killed a marlin for over a decade now is something we are proud of.

I personally cannot believe that people in this modern era would want to kill one of these great fish they certainly will get no respect from me.

Our anglers Cronulla's Paul and David Johnson, Paul and James Hobbs, Daniel (from SURPRISE IN A BOX) a company specializing in adventure tours and his client Alex Hreszczuk all had great day catching 8 yellowfin and the striped marlin.

Wanda Surf Club's Brad Harris and Garry Swan also had a good day catching yellowfin and striped tuna as well

Glenn Hunter too got amongst the action catching 7 yellowfin on the same day on Billfisher.

He also reported good catches of reef fish and flathead to the south of Port Hacking.

Prior to the past half a dozen trips we have been scratching around, catching one or two tuna for the day and working hard for them

The current flows have not been favourable for good tuna fishing. This has changed now with better water flowing south as we speak. My crystal ball tells me to expect some great game-fishing as result of this flow.

We have caught most of our tuna by trolling We find that during a tough season, covering water is a better option than cubing. If a school of tuna is spotted then cubing can work, but when the fish are a little scarce then trolling will work better .

We watch our sounders, which we set to 100 metres this gives us better bait definition and will also pick up the tuna.

When this situation is encountered we will work the area for a while, most times a bite will be encountered. Most of our fish have been caught on the wide grounds There have been a few caught inside the shelf however these have been in the minority. We only use Bloodshot tuna hunters and Bib less minnows.

A warning however if marlin are around pull in the minnows as it is almost impossible to hook a marlin and keep attached on a minnow.

We should see the start of some good marlin, yellowfin tuna and mahi mahi over the next few weeks and that is exciting.

PT STEPHENS ‘06

We still have a few spots available on our boats for next year…..Pt Stephens will provide you with a fishing holiday you won't forget for a long time.

Last year we tagged 300 marlin. Caught mahi mahi up to almost as big as they grow. Add to this some yellowfin tuna and there is the potential for a wonderful adventure on the Bluewater, one that you will not forget in a hurry.

COSTS.. The “Three Day Package” including accommodation is $950.00 per angler.

You do not have to have any experience just join us for the ride…the novice angler are our favourites, every fish caught is really appreciated by the new chums and we love that.

We have share charters for mid Feb late March and a weekend in April. Individual bookings welcome . We require a deposit now balance later.

BILLFISHER AVAILABLE FOR THE ’06 INTERCLUB

Four days of champagne fishing the largest tournament in the southern hemisphere.

Last year Glenn won champion lady and champion boat day four and was only a couple of marlin from winning champion boat over all.

If you have a group that would like to experience this great spectacle and enjoy the excitement of the Interclub Ring 029534 2378 to book .

The tournament is run over two weekends. The last in Feb and the first in March. Do not leave it too late to round up a team as we do have interested parties.

My great mate Brian “The Moose” Nesbitt and myself have had enjoyable times this month catching blackfish in the Georges River. Our best day has been nine. Not brilliant fishing, but most relaxing Days full of good conversation, many laughs, sitting in a boat on the Georges…….Who would want more?

“Angler Paul Johnsons's account of a great days fishing on Broadbill with Ross and Little Johnny” - 5th of November, 2005

Its all started with the a group of novice TUNA fisherman looking a bit "green" in the 2 meter + swell.

Ross (Skipper - the Marlin master)
Johnny (1st mate - the Marlin virgin)
Daniel (the missed it man)
Andrew (the family man)
Dave (the doctor)
Paul (not marlin Paul)
James (16yr old - marlin awakening)
Paul (marlin Paul)

With no strikes by 12.00 noon all anglers were looking a bit concerned but not disheartened.

Sure enough we looked out about 150 meters and saw a 90kg STRIPER MARLIN 6 to 7 foot jumping completely out of the water every 20 seconds.

16yr old James had just wandered onto the stern 10 seconds before the Marlin strike, as he was not involved with TUNA 1,2,3,4 or 5 he was urged into the chair.

At the time unaware he was managing the first Sydney MARLIN of the 2005/2006 season.

Ross & Johnny got the other lines in and were ready to play with this STRIPED MARLIN hook up.

16yr old James brought the MARLIN in from 250 meters astern to about 70 meters (With Ross's expert assistance) before handing over to Dad (Paul).

Paul, Ross & Johnny worked together to get the STRIPED MARLIN (90 KG 6 to 7 foot) along side BROADBILL to tag it. The tag went in, Johnny grabbed the STRIPED MARLIN'S bill and dragged him along side BROADBILL, took the hooks out, ran water through its gills (no longer a Marlin virgin and was tattooed in the process) and the STRIPED MARLIN decided it was time to depart.

Johnny (the Marlin virgin) - Its a good fish
Daniel (the missed it man) - I thought it was a dream, I missed it
Andrew (the family man) that cheap red wine last night
Dave (the doctor) - eat and you'll be fine
Paul (not marlin Paul) -Remember Paul caught the Marlin
James (marlin awakening) - I'm feeling better
Paul (marlin Paul) - These little ones (tuna) don't interest me

ROSS - 7 YELLOWFIN and a STRIPED MARLIN, you have to be happy with that - Johnny where is the Marlin flag

DUNBOGAN TOO MUCH FUN

Isn't it funny how a fisherman's passion for different spheres of fishing can live dormant for years. Maybe as a youth, a fisherman may have scrambled the rocks fishing the drummer and bream or perhaps wandered a lonely trout stream with fly rod in hand always anticipating that fish of a lifetime but not always catching it..

My fishing career has been very much like this:..The many facets of fishing which I love so much in my youth have never left me they have been tucked away for another day, to emerge again and to be enjoyed again, even more now than those many years ago.

I fished with my Grandfather and my Dad wandering beaches or sitting in my Grandfather's beautiful rowing boat on the expanses of The Brisbane Waters at Tascott. Fishing with them, listening and hanging on their every word

Those days are still so precious to me, the love of all these more simple forms of fishing are probably as much, if not more enjoyed today, than when I was a youngster.

Whilst these times I do spend 180 days per year at the helm of my charter boat BROADBILL chasing the big pelagics around Mother Ocean and please don't get me wrong, marlin are my passion, I just love catching these amazing fish . they are the ultimate challenge for a skipper and they are my favourite fish to catch at this stage of my apprenticeship as a fisherman.

I have many times thought about this and whilst it is now fourty years since I caught my first marlin. it led me into a lifetime of a learning program in an attempt to understand the whys and wherefores of the species.

Broadbill has 22,000.00 hours on the hour metres and 70% of these hours have been spent chasing these remarkably exciting fish This boat has released over 2000 fish.. best season 97 where we tagged 247.

So I guess there has been some success along the way. but here's the cruncher I still have so much to learn.and still go out ,troll all day for diddly squat

A fisherman's apprenticeship, for want of a better description, spanning over fourty years and I still learn something new every trip..these fish are without doubt the fisherman's fish they are hard to hook ,hard to keep hooked and a challenge to catch.

However when on the end of a line, nothing in the water will be more spectacular than these athletic, aerobatic fish. It is this facet of fishing I find myself enjoying so much in the summer months.

However whilst I regard marlin as the pinnacle of any fisherman's career.. I still get a different kind of contentment and joy from fishing a lonely beach, just on dark with the surf rolling at my feet or throwing a fly over a feeding trout or standing on a river bank, watching a float on a good blackfish bite.

These days I really do love.. the more simple forms of fishing returning from years gone by.

a personal feeling emerging again, to enjoy, when I am not catching marlin or tuna.

No boats..no rough seas just good old Terra Firma..me and my childhood passions returning again what a great world it is ...the one of a fisherman.

I have met many fine people over the years who have taught me much in various forms of fishing.

My dear old Dad and Grandfather both now deceased,without doubt the ones whos encouragement led me into the world of fishing.

The salt of the earth Newcastle coalminers at Scott's Head ,Allan Wotton and Nev Haggerty They taught me how to pick a good gutter on a beach and how to catch the illusive beach worm. I was then a youngster following them around the northern beaches like a stray pup.

The steelworkers at Pt Kembla Bill Crann and Bill Carloff who taught me the art of catching bream in the washes of Windang Island when I was a teenager..simple things to them never realising that their lessons would stay with me for life.

Laurie Woodbridge ..my hero. A great Cairns marlin boat Captain and pioneer of the heavy tackle scene, a quite unassuming man...a man who taught me much in the early Cairns days in the mid seventies, especially about the patience required to pursue these great fish. never a word about disappointment,if a bad day was had. No! More the thought that to morrow will be better.

There have been many more I could mention but it would take up the whole chapter.

The point I make is that fishing is a lifelong journey there are many self appointed experts with melon headed egos. Such egos should never enter into a fisherman's repertoire or thoughts because once one thinks he's learnt it all, then he has ceased learning and has just started going backwards.

Fishing is a persuit which should be a passion to be savoured and loved in quite humble manor, always ready to learn..never sitting back on laurels always ready to pick up scraps of learning along the way, especially from some one who has accumulated much over a particular type of fishing pursuit.

Blackfishing is a great passion which I personally have been enjoying immensely over the past few years. maybe as the years go by. this is where we head. if so, it's fine with me.

As a blackfisher man I have much to learn, whilst I have fished for them on occasions, they have not been high on my favourite species until the past few years.

I have a bunch of mates Bob The Roadrunner Morgan ( we courted our wives to gether some 40 years ago ..we must have got it right as we are still married to the same girls) Brian The MooseNesbitt a friend of 40 years and John (the Gnome) Robertson We grew up to gether as teenagers. joined the St George Sportfishing Club to gether in the early 70 s

Every year we all go away somewhere. be it trout fishing..or a bit of beach and rock at Yamba, but in the latter decade it is the sleepy hamlet of Dunbogan near North Haven we have settled to.

We are joined each year by the young guys our sons and their friends.they fish from their tinnies in the river, whilst I tend to keep out of the boats and stick to Terra Firma chasing blackfish

In this field I have been fortunate to befriend a few locals, they have been very much my mentors in this exacting world of blackfishing.

Wonderful blokes who have fished the blackfish all their lives men who I was embarrassed to stand beside, such is their skills .and so poor was mine in comparison.. men who have forgotten more than I know, such is their knowledge of blackfish

They sensed, however that I not only enjoyed their company but wanted to learn from them so they went out of their way to help me improve my basic skills.

Locals Jack Ellis, Brian Perkins and the late Ian Bato have taught me so much over the past few years to the point where I am not in their class, but feel much more comfortable rubbing shoulders at our favourite haunt.

About 9 foot Jack'I reply. Take it down a foot he'll say and bingo the bite is on again.

Brian said Thursday will be the day Roscoe ..it is the perfect day in the month.

The late Bato, a Vietnam veteran and his dog Sally, a champion bloke who died last year; leaving us all with great memories of his company fishing on the wall at Dunbogan

This year we caught some great blackfish. fish to 1.5 kg ..not big numbers, but a four to 8 fish. per session ..per angler

We fished the wall using local weed and cabbage and had some great times catching quality blackfish and I loved the experience.

Whilst I would head off with blackfish rod the boys were intent to win the converted flathead trophy on the Monday

Banana Bob Cartwright, Stinky Willess, Glenn BigBird Hunter ,Kevin Banger Banks, Ricko Clay, The Gnome, The Road Runner and the Moose

The day progressed and by the radio scheds.. Big Bird with 20 flathead was up in numbers but not in quality The Moose was looking good with a 50 centimetre fish until Banana called one in at 51 cm on a squidgy.

It was turning into a neck and neck battle to the end. However the best fish was Bananas 51 cm flatty which took out the annual event

This year the bigger fish were scarce when compared to last year but that's fishing for you.

We fished hard enjoying each others company over the afternoon beers and I'm sure all look forward to 06

Whilst we have not fished too much since returning Glenn Hunter on BILLFISHER score two 20 kilo tuna on his last trip to the shelf. The fish were trolled on Bloodshot tuna lures.

These lures are by far the best tuna lure we have encountered over the past 30 years They really do work

It is really time to get serious about striped marlin encounters These fish will turn up on que over the next few weeks.

My prediction is that wen will have a late run on the fin leading into a great marlin season. Lets hope the crystal ball is accurate!

Whilst we are very heavily booked we have some share days in early Feb late March and early April

Due to a late cancellation Glenn Hunter's championship winning boat BILLFISHER has become available for the largest tournament in the southern hemisphere. The Interclub

Why take your own boat and have to pay mooring costs etc This away you fish all day walk on and walk off..no cleaning, no fuel and you fish with one of the best Captains on the coast

COSTS for groups up to 6 people $1,600.000 per day for the charter of the boat..that is for 4 days over the Interclub plus the mid week Toyota Tournament..You could be fishing this spectacular tournament for as little as $1330.00 per head.

ON THE HOOK” with Ross and Glenn Hunter - 28th of September, 2005

SNAPPER TECHNIQUES REVISITED

Sydney’s fishing remains constant without being brilliant. We have caught great catches of reef fish on the reefs off Maroubra and Coogee.Glenn Hunter on his boat Billfisher travelled to the Stanwell Park area this week for good catches of plate size snapper and other reef species both days.

The anglers caught up to a dozen snapper on floaters at anchor.

One yellowfin can lift the spirit of a boat.

Back to the north, fishing in 30 fathoms off Coogee, either drifting or anchored such species as snapper, blue morwong every specie of leatherjacket have been the result.

The past couple of days the currents have started to run hard from the north and this really does make this sort of fishing harder …..This combined with the leatherjacket plague slowed down the snapper for a short time …Prior to these changes some great snapper were caught on every attempt.

Best method has been anchoring and berlying, best baits; squid, cubes of striped tuna and large prawns Such baits fed down the slick are dynamite on the snapper, however with this technique the conditions play a big part and have to be right.

If one of the following conditions is not right this system will not be successful.

IMPORTANT GOVERNING FACTORS

(a) Wind direction ….If the breeze is from the south and the current from the north, the boat may lay the wrong way and you may find that you are fishing under the boat and up the anchor rope…..This is when drift fishing is considered.

(b) Too much current…..In summer the currents can run much harder than in the winter and spring. If the current is over 1 knot it can make floater fishing very difficult. What happens in strong current is the bait cannot be presented along the bottom where the snapper will be feeding on the berly trail because the strong current will not allow the bait to sink …..putting heavier sinkers on defeats the purpose of “floater fishing” The fact that we are trying to have the bait float down with the berly is filed by the current run. Once again drift fishing becomes the better option.

GET READY FOR SOME WILD YELLOWFIN ACTION

On the wide blue-water, we have had two trips fishing for yellowfin and caught three tuna but covered a lot of water to catch them The fish were trolled on bib-less minnows and Bloodshot “Tuna Hunter” lures.

It is amazing how one tuna can see a quite day turned into “high fives” in the cockpit.

For Peter Andis’s crew this happened when a yellowfin climbed on a mackerel mauler, although not a big fish, it made the boy’s day. As did the two 15 kg fish we trolled up for Brian Armstrong’s group You would have thought the boys had just won Lotto. …such is the thrill of a yellowfin tuna on the end of line, even if only in the smallish size.

It did for Peter Andis fishing on BROADBILL last week. Ross reckons they will turn up in numbers in the near future.

Normally September is a great month for tuna I have forgotten how many great tuna we have caught over the past in the spring, however the fish will not turn up just because it is spring ….the water has to be right not too hot not too cold and heading south. There in lies our problem at the moment but don’t despair because the good water is very close now and for all you tuna nazis out there get on the case because it is going to happen this month and December ……….We are most confident about that.

DO I CUBE OR TROLL.?

Once upon a time we rarely trolled for tuna …the norm. was to head to the shelf, generally pull up in 150 to 200 fathoms, cube for an hour or two, by then the tuna would be every where 20 maybe 30 fish swimming around the transom of the boat…..however times have changed and whilst there are still reasonable schools of tuna left..Long lining has probably had more of an effect on the tuna stocks than we all realise.

We there fore troll more in an attempt to cover ground looking for birds or jumping fish.

We no longer catch fish in close very often, but have to work wider and wider every year.

It is as if the schools have retreated to the central Pacific for protection …but little do they know that the international long line fleet are awaiting them when they arrive.

Best trolling lures Bloodshot “Tuna Hunters” and bib less minnows.

This is what the boats have been catching once the current kicked in. Not too many snapper but a good barbeque anyway.

There are great reports of big catches of tuna at the canyons north of Broken Bay and that water is heading our way, and will bring the tuna with it …my guess is within the next fortnight we will be knee deep in them.

BROADBILL HAS A STRIPED MARLIN ENCOUNTER

Hot news is we raised a striped marlin yesterday and encountered acres of baitfish in 90 fathoms ……a very exciting sight and looking good for the next few weeks

PREDICTIONS FOR A GREAT MARLIN SEASON

BOOK NOW FOR PT STEPHENS ‘06

We still have a few days available for the port next year;

There are spots in early Feb and late March and a weekend in April.

They were jumping everwhere all season in '05. The boats tagged 300 marlin for the Pt Stephens adventure.

DETAILS OF THE ADVENTURE

If you are interested, we organise accommodation and three day packages for our anglers @ 950.00 each

This is based on individual share bookings or you and a mate or two joining a group.

All you have to do is turn up, nothing else is needed.

It could be buying your way into the best fishing holiday you can have anywhere.It is a cheaper three-day package than fishing from your own trailer boat and having to worry about fuel costs..Trailering…getting to the wide grounds where the fish are and cleaning up afterwards……..all these problems disappear when you charter BROADBILL or BILLFISHER.

Come and do battle with real fishing……… the giant line burners of Pt Stephens.

Last year we caught and tagged 150 marlin per boat as well as plaque proportion.,……mahi mahi to 18kg, yellowfin tuna, snapper and mulloway.

If you would like to enjoy this sort of fishing with the most dedicated and experienced skippers on the coast……… Do not worry if you have no experience in this sort of fishing ………..We have that and both Glenn and myself will make sure you are looked after with kid gloves.

Check out some of the photos of last year.

BILLFISHER HAS BECOME AVAILABLE FOR THE INTERCLUB

Due to a cancellation Glenn is available for charter for the Port Stephens Interclub.

Last year Glenn won Champion Lady and Champion boat day four and was only a fish or two off the leading boat for champion boat over all

Costs $1550.00 per day

The tournament is over four days and groups of six people can fish.

Approx cost per head $1033.00 for the four days tournament fishing

Don’t miss this great opportunity to fish the largest and most exciting tournament in the world competitively with the best boat……………… the mighty BILLFISHER

Ring 029534 2378 urgently as bookings are closing soon.

"On the Hook" with ROSS and GLENN HUNTER - 14th September 2005

THE BLUEWATER BOYS HIT PRETTY BEACH

There are some beautiful places in this magnificent country we call Australia but no more beautiful than Pretty Beach south of Ulladulla on the south coast of NSW.

The boys after a morning on the south beach at Pretty Beach salmon and bream.

The feature I love about this area is the feeling of ruggedness and remoteness The coastline meanders for miles to the south ….rugged cliffs with no buildings the only form of life, a couple of white bellied sea eagles hunting prey…..an area of coastline which takes your breath away with its’ beauty.

Serenity at its best..the smell of the salt air and a remote beach at sunrise.

Of a night a visit from the eastern grey kangaroo population along with a half a dozen brush tail possums ads just a little more nature to the scene of Australiana at its finest.

The kangaroos came round and enjoyed the guitars and singing

It had been 30 years since my last visit to this remote bit of country in those days we camped on the northern hill with the St George Sportfishing Club. In those days we caught kings, northern bluefin, mack tuna, salmon, bream tailor and generally had the most wonderful fishing holidays…..great memories indeed.

Aqua monster's groper The fish was released.

It was on a trip last year to The Great Ocean Road that we called into this remote pretty spot whereon we agreed that we would return in the Spring for some layback, beach and rock fishing.

Last week that happened and what a great time we all had.

Yellowfin caught on Broadbill last week

There were nine of us; all “dyed in the wool fishos” with varying degrees of skill, but with huge amounts of enthusiasm. Imagine going fishing with guys with names like; “The Cogga, Cordless Ken from Mitre Ten,Aqua Monster , Harry Potter, Big Bird The Toolman, Kirgo, Beaudy Boy and Sparky Mike”. We caught salmon, bream, drummer and a lone groper which was released.

We fished the beaches of a morning, the rocks during the day and of course a couple of cool beers and a yarn around the campfire were mandatory as a night-cap of an evening. A bunch of mates doing the blokey thing, fishing the most magnificent piece of coastline I have ever fished and loving every minute of it……………………………………….What a great time we had.

SNAPPER ARE STILL GREAT

Back on the offshore Sydney scene both Glenn and myself have been concentrating on some exciting Spring snapper fishing.

If you are a keen snapper fisho. August, September and October are the best months. Light westerly winds and slow current runs to the south are what we want for perfect snapper floater fishing. The westerlies are good because they allow the boat to swing with the current whilst on anchor and also because they keep the seas calm for inshore fishing.

Yellofin have been scarce but they will be on the bitye soon...this one caught on Billfisher last week

Our favourite snapper spots are all pretty much in 35 fathoms of water so light currents of under one knot are imperative to good floater fishing any stronger runs will make it too difficult to get the baits down. If stronger currents are encountered then the paternoster rig must be used however this method because of the extra lead being used does not produce as well, in my opinion. The 30 to 35 fathom depth is the perfect depth to fish floaters, yet is deep enough to be off the hard ground enough that the sweep and other rubbish will not be such a worry.

Best berley is pilchards cut into fine cubes and cubed out liberally all day, the number one bait we prefer is a healthy slab of striped tuna then in order of favouritism after that, pilchards, squid, cuttlefish or large peeled prawns.

Frank Mazzotta's group with a good catch on Broadbill last week

A RARE BLUE WAREHAU CAUGHT ON BROADBILL

As promised last web update a fairly rare warehau or sometimes called a snotty trevally was caught on Broadbill a few trips back by John Bozic These fish a pretty rare and whilst we have caught maybe half a dozen over many years, it is safe to say they a certainly not common. They fight very hard and John reckons it was very nice to eat.

John Bozic with his rare catch a Blue Warehau

On Broadbill and Billfisher we have caught great catches of mixed reef fish over the past few weeks, such species as mowies, pig fish, leatherjackets of all kinds and of course last but not least our favourite the snapper. Best fish over the past few trips 3.7kg…..the average size has been around the 35 to 38 cm these are by far the best eating size.

YELLOWFIN SCARCE BUT ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Out wide the Yellowfin tuna are still scarce but will make an appearance soon.

We caught a couple of small 15kg fish last week and dropped a couple more.

Ross and Gavin playing a few bush ballads around the campfire at night

There is a mass of 20-degree water flowing down so keep your ear to the ground because the Spring run of yellowfin will not be far away.

All tuna were trolled on Bloodshot “Tuna Hunter Lures”

There are certainly a swag of mating blue and mako sharks around Glenn spent 2.5 hours on a large 200kg version of the above with USA angler Tod Macsuga feeling like he had done a ten rounder with MikeTyson after the drawn out struggle. Glenn also caught a 20 kilo tuna on the troll.

Yellowfin have been a little scarce but don't despair as September and October are the best months. Fish like these big boys will do.

PT STEPHENS ‘06 on BILLFISHER or BROADBILL

Little has to be said about the great season the boats had last year……300 hundred marlin tagged including 18 and 21 marlin tagged in one day.

Add to this, great catches of dolphin fish and snapper and BROADBILL and BILLFISHER drove out of Pt Stephens at the end of last years season with the knowledge that a great season was had and all that fished with us had a wonderful fishing adventure.

Whilst we are quite heavily booked there are still spots available for share charters.

COSTS ….Three days fishing including accommodation at $960.00 Do not leave it too long if you are interested as bookings are limited.

Captain Ross and Glenn Hunter’s boats Broadbill and Billfisher are available for reef and tuna trips on 9534 2378

Or visit web www.gamefishingcharters.com.au

"On the Hook" with ROSS and GLENN HUNTER - 16th August 2005

SNAPPER, SNAPPER and more SNAPPER

Snapper have remained our targeted species throughout the past few weeks, but don’t dismay because September historically is the best yellowfin tuna month off Sydney and they will be back with a vengeance.

Between the windy weather we have had some great catches of snapper to 3.5kg There was a period where the current ran hard from the north, this always makes it hard to fish floaters whilst on anchor. During this time the fish went a little quite, however once the current backed off, especially after a week of solid wind, the fish came back bigger and better than ever.

Our best catches on Broadbill came from a reef we nick named “Hunter’s Hill” mainly because we did not have a name for it; I don’t think there was one for that matter.

Phil Bolton's great yellowfin tuna caught on Broadbill

It is a reef situated off Coogee in 30 fathoms of water, therefore as a reference for the crew and also the amount of time that Glenn and myself spend there fishing, we called it that and it sort of stuck.

This reef over the years has produced many great catches of all kinds of reef fish from kings, mowies, jackets, pig fish and the best of them all, snapper.

Last week our reef did not let us down. We had a few mixed groups on charter and had good catches each day, the best being last Wednesday with Victorian angler Craig Wiltshire and his son Logan.

We caught some great snapper up to 3.5 kg as well as mowies jackets and flathead, the bonus for Jordan, my crewman and myself was that Craig could not take the fish home, living in Victoria, so we inherited them.

About to land the prize

Guess who’s been eating snapper four meals a week since?

As we suggested in my last column the floater system has worked so well.

This method involves anchoring on the drop off section of the reef (i.e. where the reef drops off to the gravel..Not on the higher part…………where every sweep in the world lives).

Craig and Logan Wiltshire caught some great snapper

Floater fishing will always produce the big fish, this method entails a substantial berley trail a very light ball sinker, which sits on the hook and light 6 to 8 kg line. The bait can be squid, pilchard but by far my favourite is a good slab of striped tuna. The baits are fed down the berley where the big reds are hunting.

Hang on when a strike is encountered cause it is always an adrenalin pumping screamer.

RARE FISH

John Bozic caught a really rare fish for our waters.

The fish was a blue warehau or snotty trevally. We have caught maybe half a dozen of these over a long period of time They are superb to eat and kind of look like a small blue eye cod.

John’s mate Victor Spojanovic also had a great experience when he caught a great snapper of around 3 kg We also caught a good catch of mowies jackets and pig fish on the day.

Carrie's great snapper

We had a great day with Anthony Orley’s team. The boys all work at the leading real estate business, Elders Real Estate at Kellyville. These lads were on BROADBILL when we set a Port Record in ’97 catching 18 marlin in a day and releasing 248 for that amazing season, so for some of the crew know there way around a fishing rod.

It is always a pleasure as Captain to hear the words “Mate that’s the biggest fish I have ever caught “ that’s what Carrie (the new comer)said when he landed his 3.2 kg snapper. The lads had a good day on the reef species finishing up with a great box of snapper to 3.5kg leather jackets to 1kg mowies and pigfish.

It was a superb, almost Spring day as we fished with Anthony, Jacko, JB, Carrie and long time friend Bruce Gilmour, we fished calm water with a real nice bunch of blokes,.caught some great fish and had a ball doing it………………………………but isn’t that what fishing is all about?

The lads from Elder's Real Estate had a great day

My favourite way of cooking snapper is to bake them in the oven.

Wrap the fish in foil and garnish with a little olive oil garlic and chives…cook for 30 to40 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

Personally, I do not fillet the fish, I feel that eating them off the bone is better, the wastage is less.

On the wide grounds there are schools of mako sharks, just ask USA angler Tod Macsuga when the played a 200kg mako for nearly three hours on Billfisher last week. The huge fish was released after an exhausting battle.

Part of the catch of the day

These superbly streamlined sharks come to our Tasman waters to breed in the Spring.

It is not unusual to see the sharks swimming around with massive bite marks, missing fins generally looking like they have taken a fair beating.

In each case they have as part of their mating ritchoual, I am thankful that us humans don’t have to get that aggressive to breed..

Fred Edmonds had a great struggle with this Port Jackson..the fish was released Deckie Jordon holds it up

Yellowing tuna have been scarce with only a handful caught this month (see the great fish caught ).

A couple of trips back by Phil Bolton It was Phil’s first good tuna and I am sure won’t be his last.

The fish was trolled up on Broadbill on a “Tuna Hunter Bloodshot lure”

Predictions for the rest of the month;……….The return of some great yellowfin in the Spring and the continuation of some really good snapper fishing.

Jacko reckoned these snapper are OK

PT STEPHENS ’06 …….Come and join us from Feb.to the end of April

This fishing adventure is as good as anything you will find for wild marlin, mahi mahi and snapper action

Imagine three days of red hot action on BROADBILL or BILLFISHER.Fish with the guys who are never too far from the action They have the records to back it up with great catches over the years

You can join a group charter privately.

John and Vic with the Warehau (better pic will be available next update)

THE COSTS.Three days fishing, including accommodation @ $960.00 per angler or $1500.00 per boat for groups of six people. Ring 9534 2378 for a fact sheet and more info but do not delay as bookings dates are getting scarce.

Deposits of 10 % due at booking balance by December 20th

COME AND ENJOY THAT FISHING TRIP OF A LIFETIME

"On the Hook" with ROSS and GLENN HUNTER - 22th July 2005

Sometimes in a fisherman’s career everything goes right! Last column we predicted some good snapper fishing over the next couple of months…and every now and then the crystal ball works.

Glenn Hunter got real lucky with this superb gem

For Andy Zammit, Jordan Mc keon ,Glenn Hunter and myself that happened at the Stanwell Park Hump this week.

The weather at last has settled for a while, gone are the gale forced winds, so we decided to go for a captain and deckies days snapper fishing last Thursday..

Andy and Jordan with a couple of superb reds

The burble of the twin Cummins diesels broke the early morning 5 am silence as they burst into life taking us across Botany Bay and to our favourite snapper spot 17.8 nautical mile to the south as we cleared the Towa Peninsular I eased the throttles down and BROADBILL……the big cat leapt onto the plane to cruise at 20 knots, we were looking forward to our day a, blokeys day, where we can relax and enjoy what we all love………… a good day on the reds

We fished Shimano Corsairs overhead reels, light double-handed rods loaded with 6-kilo line…

This method of snapper fishing is called “floater fishing”

It is the only way to catch big snapper I reckon!

Jordan holds up his personal best 4.25kg snapper. Check out the bump on his head....the fish.......not Jordan)

The technique involves anchoring on a favourite section of a reef in our case in 60 meters of water.then berleying with pilchards or striped tuna. This is done by cutting the pilchards into small pieces and casting the cubes back into the water, this sends the snapper a message that we have arrived and ready to do battle.

The large baits of striped tuna are attached to a 2\0 bait holder hook and fed back down the berley trail This is done by casting the baits out and then the line is stripped off the reel with the rod tucked under your arm

The bait should sink at the same pace as the berley cubes, to get this right, a ball sinker is placed on the line, this sits on top of the hook, no swivel.

The current determines the size of the ball on the day, the smaller the better. It is important to keep the sinker weight down in order that the bait floats to the bottom naturally.

Eight of the ten snapper caught by the boys on BROADBILL last week.

It is most important that the wind and current are both in the right direction by this I mean If the wind is blowing from the west and the current is from the north that is OK, however if the wind is from the south and the current is from the north then it could mean that you may be fishing back under the boat and that won’t work for floater fishing.

The strike from a good red is always a moment of great excitement for an angler as line pours off the reel. It is like a giant tuna run only the fish is smaller in comparison but I have seen a lot of tuna in my day and a big snapper at the net is just as exciting and they taste better than tuna.

Glenn’s fish was a classic …the strike was text book a huge run……… then a slug it out for 15 minutes on the light line…champagne fishing.

Winter and Spring is the time for big snapper

We caught ten snapper from two to six kilos and as we steamed back to Port and enjoyed a cool drink we all agreed that it was a great days snapper fishing.

Winter and Spring are my favourite months for big reds so if you have a joy for this sort of fishing give us a call 9534 2378

Our snapper days on charter are for up to 6 people.

The hours are from 5am to 2pm and at a cost of $1,100.00 for the boat or $170.00 per head.

Some can have big humps but they still taste the same

The day includes; The Captain…… either Glenn, Soxie or myself, a deckhand to clean and ice your fish, Shimano tackle and bait.

Thus making a snapper trip, a most affordable and exciting day.

We do share charters if you do not have a full crew.

It is not always men's work

Out wide the yellowfin are starting to make a comeback

We managed a 40-kilo fish last week, but it was the only one for the day.

The water is still good for tuna and I will predict now that the weather is being kind to us again, good reports will follow.

YELLOWFIN TUNA TRIPS are $1350.00 for the boat or $220.00 per head and they are all day.

Spring snapper from "The Hump"

REMEMBER WHILST WE HAVE CAUGHT OVER 60 YELLOWFIN SO FAR THIS SEASON (visit previous weekly reports by scrolling down) THE BEST MONTHS ARE AUGUST. SEPT…OCTOBER…..So do not despair if you have missed out so far as they will be back on with a vengeance again soon

REMINDER……PT STEPHENS ’06 IS ON AGAIN……Come and enjoy some of the wildest sportfishing you could ever dream of dolphin fish, marlin and tuna ….We welcome groups or individuals with a three day package inc accommodation

Three days fishing the most exciting waters in the world for $960.00 per person including accommodation. This includes ten hours fishing per day, Shimano tackle, Captain and crew fishing on the best boats on the coast with the most respected Captains and crew.

Check out these gems......They just don't come any bigger...all caught on floaters

Last year Ross and Glenn caught 296 marlin inc 21 marlin in a day and every customer hada ball A word of warning however they are all coming back and the boats are already heavily booked so if you would like to join Ross and Glenn do not hesitate to book now.

A deposit will reserve your spot all credit cards accepted

CATCH THAT FISH OF A LIFETIME

"On the Hook" with ROSS and GLENN HUNTER - 30th June 2005

BROADBILL AND BILLFISHER HAVE HAD A GREAT TUNA SEASON SO FAR AND IT WILL GET even BETTER

Having just returned from a superb three weeks sailing Far North Qld barrier reef waters With my wife and good friend Brian Hooker and his wife Jan aboard their 43 foot sailing cat “Hooks”.

There has been varying sizes fom small to big....... but they are all fun and in many cases angler's first tuna

We spent lazy days travelling with the northern trade-winds through the sunny Whitsunday’s then northward to Gloucester passage on to Cape Upstart where some excellent muddies were caught as well as spangled emperor and grunter. From there we sailed to Cape Bowling Green spending a day or two there and then to Horse shoe bay Magnetic Island off Townsville……..named because when Capt Cook sailed passed there he experienced compass problems from the magnetic pull from the minerals in the rocks that surround the Island ………hence its name.

A nice 70kg tuna

It was all too good…and so relaxing eating fresh sea food a coldy or two of an afternoon travelling through some of the prettiest scenery in the world.

I would love to say it is great to be back, but 26 degree days in Qld were nicer than 12 degrees in Sydney and T shirts beat jumpers every time.

Good things however, must end and we are back in the big smoke at the grindstone for a while.

Great shot of Emu Steve's striped with Bloodshot lure about to be released

The fishing off Sydney has been great, however the bad weather and accompanying strong winds have been a major draw backing getting to sea to fish.

BROADBILL SCORES A WINTER STRIPED MARLIN

They were hungry

Local angler “Emu” Steve Fielding got really lucky a few trips back when an 80 kilo striped marlin devoured the green Bloodshot lure being trolled behind Broadbill.

The marlin took us by surprise as we were working a patch of yellowfin tuna on the shelf to the south of Botany Bay.

A big tuna being gaffed on Billfisher

The left rigger flew back on the strike and we all thought it was another tuna until the big fish jumped clear of the water….. tearing heaps of the twenty four kilo line off the big Shimano reel.

Steve has caught over twenty marlin off my boat and settled into the battle like a veteran , after half an hour of hard work we tagged and released the marlin.

Another great shot of the striped

On that day Glenn Hunter on Billfisher and Broadbill caught 16 yellowfin and the striped marlin between them, a great day in anybody’s book.

Since the start of May we have had some really nice 21 degree water running down the shelf line this has seen a great start to our yellowfin season which will run until November.So far this season our anglers have caught excellent tuna to 60 kg however the recent catches have been smaller but the water still looks good so there will be some great fish caught this season I am sure.

Double hookups have been common the boys get busy

Reef fishing has been very good with good catches of snapper both from the Light off Kurnell and the grounds off Coogee, both drifting and fishing floaters at anchor is working well.

David Grimes and his fin

PREDICTIONS FOR THE TUNA TO GET EVEN BETTER

Winter and Spring are great seasons for reef and yellowfin tuna fishing.

Yellowfin always bring smiles to faces

At present the weather has been too wild and wet to fish the ocean but after this rain I will predict some excellent river and estuary fishing for species such as mulloway, bream, blackfish and flathead.

Garry Smith and tuna

The bays always fish well after the wet so brush the dust off the rods and get out and have a go. the results may surprise you.

Vj and mate.........curried tuna for dinner to night

Tip of the Week…….Fish Tom Uglys or Taren Point bridge for mulloway best bait live squid or fresh dead squid and don’t be afraid to try a soft plastic squidgy Fish the tide changes of an evening near the pylons.

More tuna

"On the Hook" with ROSS and GLENN HUNTER - 7th June 2005

YELLOWFIN TUNA...THE FISHERMAN'S FISH

Winter is with us, cold mornings chilled by light westerly winds. It is gloves and beanie weather as the winter fisherman heads to sea at day break, knowing well that these next few months are the best fishing months of the year, especially if it is a feed of snapper or yellowfin tuna you want. If you can put up with the chill factor the ocean is a great place to be and will produce the goods. We have nailed some great snapper and this will only improve between now and spring.

Anchoring and floater fishing will work well, drift fishing too will be successful. Fish around the 30 fathom line. Out on the wider grounds yellowfin tuna and albacore are being caught, the biggest tuna going 75kg caught last Sunday by Mike Clarkson. Mike caught the fish trolling wide of the mountain on a lure.

12 year old Nick Vella playing his 48kg yellowfin on 10kg

Glenn Hunter on his boat BILLFISHER has been catching tuna to 55kg whilst BROADBILL has caught some excellent fish as well. Our best catches have come from the southern grounds, so get your tuna gear ready because it could be a great bit of action on this next moon if the currents remain favourable to the tuna.between the two boats we have totalled over 60 tuna and they are still there including some honkers...so get on the case...if you want to charter do not wait until they go to book.

Young Nick stands proudly next to his 48kg tuna after a 2.5 hour battle on 10kg...A great effort

One great effort was pint size angler, 12 year old, Nick Vella who fishes from Pat Diasinos's boat Yum Yum...The lad hooked and fought a big yellowfin tuna on light ten kilo tackle for two hours last Saturday. He finally caught the fish which weighed more than him after a back breaking ordeal, it weighed 48kg a truly great effort Nick, congratulations. How good is it to see a lad who has more to do in life than sit around either vegetating around a computer or television set...a great effort young fellow we are all very proud of you.

The tuna were smaller but still great fun. Just ask VJ and Brad

There are a few marlin around with hook ups being encountered on a regular basis over the radios, last weekend there were two stripes and a blue caught and with 22 water temp this will continue. We have pretty much caught the majority of our tuna on the "Tuna hunter Bloodshot lure"...It is dynamite.

THREE SALTYS HEAD TO THE FRESH

Having just returned from Jindabyne for a week of trout fishing with old mates Gordon Johnson and George Walker, it was like coming back to the tropics after experiencing the cold minus degree, Snowy Mountain mornings.

Gordon Bloody Johnson (the 50 kilo kid, not everyone gets a song written about them but Gordon did).

Getting bigger...smiling anglers a great sight to see

To give you a rough idea what a bloke has to put up with whilst sitting around the camp fire at night this is a self explanatory verse from the song "The 50 kilo kid" which I wrote a few years back featured on my first album Bluewater Country will give an insight:

It's an experience over a schooner
To listen to his tales of giant tuna
His travels throughout the world
A trail of broken hearted girls
Yeh! the ladies sure love him
And he's no squib
Yep! He's a goer now...the 50 kilo kid

Yes the ladies sure loved him and their Seeing Eye dogs showed affection as well. As you can imagine Gordon and myself have been mates for many years and dish it up to each other constantly...but one thing for sure we have caught many fine tuna and marlin whilst fishing on Mother Ocean, but most of all we love a week or two fly fishing for our be-loved trout.

A great shot of Ross's rainbow Gordan took underwater

Ah Yes! the serenity of a mountain stream, babbling rapids...a magpie sings from the timber as we work a crystal clear stream...me 'n my old mate bloody Gordy...just lost and consumed by the excitement of it all...that is if the fly line doesn't freeze in the minus 5 degree temp. You know it is always good to fish with a mate whose glass is always half full rather than half empty. I have seen trips when dynamite was on order as it was the only way they were going to get a fish but Gordon whilst on his fourth four finger scotch and water whilst sitting by the campfire at night would come out with that old chestnut..."I reckon it will all turn around to morrow I can feel it" Yeh! If the dynamite turns up I would mutter under my breath.

It's a distinct advantage when fly fishing, if you mate is left handed and I have never had the nerve to tell Gordon (a left hander) why I like fishing a stream with him so much...As you can imagine on a small stream like the Thredbo...two right handers casting beside each other in close company can end up with a glow bug earring. I'm not suggesting for one minute that if Gordon was right handed that I wouldn't go...but I probably would have to take it into serious consideration...having just thought a bout it a bit more.

Gordon's great brown caught on a black nymph on fly in the Thredbo

Then of course there is my other salt water friend Hornsby's Bob Jane T Mart's proprietor "Tyre Barron" George Walker. This guy is...as I quote another line from the song "Shark Fishing" off the same album:

Become unbearable can't take it anymore
I'm a groupy at the tackle store

Between Gordon and George there are more lures, rods, reels, electric motors, down riggers, lead core lines, fish smokers, fancy plyers, lures, tackle boxes, a sounder that constantly shows fish that never bite, torches that go an your head,torches that for that matter go any where...You name it these blokes have got it as well as a back up in case the original doesn't work.

I'm pretty sure they were Queen scouts in their younger days cause they certainly are always prepared.

Gordon reckoned my beanie looked hideous...what would he know?

We fished the lake and the Thredbo River and had a wonderful time, catching some great fish, even if it was minus seven in the mornings.

One of my true fishing passions is to work a stream like the Thredbo with no 5 fly rod in hand...polaroiding the fish, then presenting a fly to them..wether you catch the fish or not is all part of the challenge...a most relaxing and rewarding pastime...and we love it and had a great week. We caught some nice browns and rainbows in the river on the fly, the best was Gordon's 55 centimetre Brown caught on a nymph, the next was my fine rainbow caught a glow bug. (see the great underwater shot taken on the lads submersible camera).

Trolling a lake of glass. George Walker laps it up

During the crystal clear windless days we trolled the glassed off mirror lake and had good catches of salmon, browns and rainbows. Best flies were weighted glow bugs above a nymph in the river and Tassie Devils and trout pattern Rapalas in the lake, trolled on lead core lines. We smoked all the fish having submersed them in Gordon's secret brew made up of a mixture of goat's urine and battery acid and they were superb.

Tips for the next fortnight snapper on the reef and most definitely yellowfin tuna on the wide grounds and if it is a nice relaxing day you want, blackfish in the Georges River.

Getting in to the fresh...Ross gets tight on his rainbow

**Tuna trips cost $230.00 per head or $1350.00 for six people for the boat. Ring 02 9534 2378 to book.

AN ANGLER’S HUMOROUS STORY…………

”A GREAT DAYS TUNA FISHING” by JOHN VAKIRTZIS

Fishing with Ross and Soxie on Broadbill - 13/5/05

Another ordinary Wednesday at the office when I checked my messages. A message from Bako said “What are you doing on Friday? Give me a call ASAP”

I returned the call. Bako tells me “Sorry for the short notice but I’ve organised a deep sea fishing trip in 2 days. Spiz, Beefa and a major client of mine Peter are going. Are you interested?”

My reply was “How can you expect me to get organised in less than 2 days. My Friday is booked out with patients, I’ve got prior commitments, people are depending on me for treatment. I need to make some phone calls. By the way I’m in.”

I ring my nurse to inform the patients that due to unforseen circumstances I would not be able to see them on Friday. She said it sounds a little fishy but she bought it none the less. Emergency patients were double booked on Thursday and the rest fitted into Saturday. Sometimes you’ve got to make sacrifices.

I ring up Spiz. He tells me he’ll pick me up at 6.15 am Friday morning. “You better be up I don’t like waiting” He said.

Thursday was a full on day but the anticipation of Friday helped me get through it.

Wake up Friday 5.30 am. Light breakfast consisting of two Travel calm tablets. Wait for Spiz 6.15am. Wait for Spiz 6.30 am. Wait for Spiz 7.00 am. Finally his Ute pulls into my driveway. “Good afternoon Jimmy” Spiz said nothing he wasn’t in a good mood. “Everything ok?” I asked. Spiz told me that he was sore all over after reintroducing his body to gym work. “I can’t stretch my arms out, my back is killing me, I can’t walk properly and I didn’t sleep last night.” I laughed and said “Perfect you’re ready for a big day of fishing”

Pick up Bako and Beefa and after a Greek coffee go to the boat ramp to pick up Peter.

We hop on board “Broadbill” and meet the Captain Ross and the deckie Soxie.

Ross starts explaining the safety procedures and the rules on the boat while we are busy checking out the rods and fishing equipment.

When Ross finally got our attention he told us that there are 20 knot winds and 2m swells out there so it won’t be comfortable. “If you guys don’t want to go we could leave it for another time”. By this time we noticed the size of the gaffs and where already making ourselves comfortable in the cabin. Ross replied “I guess we’re going”

Broadbill leaves Sans Souci Public Wharf. The adventure begins.

We stop after 20 minuets and catch a dozen small mackerel for live bait. It was fun, hopefully will catch something a little more substantial later.

Ross starts the boat up and we start to head outside the heads. The rods are out and the trolling starts. Rod assigns us numbers 1 to 5 and corresponding 12 minute shifts. I was number 4. If the fish strikes during your shift it’s yours to bring in. Sounds like a pretty fair system. A lot better than a stampede of 5 guys rushing for a rod when the fish strikes. Could get nasty.

John poses proudly with his first tuna........note the swell in the background.....It had a couple of the lads searching for travel calm pills

Our enthusiasm was high as we kept our eyes on the rods. Two and a half hours later the enthusiasm levels had dropped. The wind was up, as was the swell. It was getting cold and uncomfortable. We all started to feel a little wheezy. Time to pop some more Travelcalm. “Beefa you want some you don’t look too good” Beefa nodded and popped it down his throat. Then he went pale. I’d seen that look before. I knew what the people of Pompeii felt like when Mount Vesuvius erupted. We got out of the way as Beefa made a bee line for the deck. It was too late. The first eruption occurred on the deck. The second was better directed for the ocean but a sudden wind gust ensured that the vomit ended up mostly on him. After a few more heaves in and out of the boat the big unit felt better.

I looked at Soxie and said “I guess it’s up to you to clean it up”. He replied “Its not part of the job description” as he gave Beefa a hose. He used it on the deck and on himself.

I decide to go to the dunny for a number 1. After a couple of minutes of watering the toilet seat and its surroundings I knew what it was like trying to piss while being in a cement mixer. I wonder if the clean up was part of Soxies job description? I was too embarrassed to ask. I flushed the dunny anyway because Ross asked us to. What I really needed was a mop for the floor, a sponge for the walls and something for the ceiling.

I got out of the toilet with a few extra bruises just in time to watch Bako heave his guts out. This guy was smarter. Downwind and overboard. Soxie was happy. But then he didn’t know about the dunny yet. There’s spew everywhere, piss on my pants and the swell is getting worse and not a fish in sight. Oh well at least I’m not at work. I go into the cabin and tell myself well it’s going to be one of those days. I’m starting to feel sick. I try to sleep. As I start to doze off I hear that magic sound. Bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Soxie shouts out “Number 4”.

The sea sickness all of a sudden disappears. “That’s me” I shout as I side step Bako whose doing another technicolour yawn and I head for the chair and grab the rod. I feel strong as I start to reel it in. Soxio and Spiz give me a few tips on how to reel when they soon realized I had NFI on what I was doing. After about 15 minutes I knew the fish was tiring but so was I. It wasn’t easy trying to bring it in while at the same time posing for Beef's video camera. (But someone had to do it). As the fish got closer, Soxie shouts “Double”. I’m thinking “great 2 fish, no wonder it’s so heavy”. My arms felt like lead weights but I kept reeling. The only problem was the line was still going out while I was reeling. Soxie told me to be patient because the fish was still fighting. A few more turns and I could feel the fish tiring. (It probably also knew I was just about gone myself). Then Soxie shouts out “Gaff”. I just thought don’t miss Rod I’ll never forgive you. He didn’t disappoint. He brought it into the boat. A 40kg Yellow fin tuna that came up to my shoulders. It was a big effort for me considering the second biggest fish I ever caught was an illegal sized bream. It was worth the effort. Everyone was excited even Bako who was still creating coloured fountains.

There was renewed enthusiasm now. However after another 2 hours of being thrown around in the big swells depression started to set in. I told Peter (the new number. 4) that number 4 was the lucky number. He didn’t seem so sure. I tried to cheer the boys up. “Hey 40kg of Tuna that’s about 8 kg each. Not bad” They weren’t that impressed. Then Bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. “Number 4” Peter gets in the chair. The premonition came true “Bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. “Double hook up” Spiz wasn’t waiting to be called he knew he was next in line. He’s motto is ‘Take the rod and ask questions later’. Spiz grabbed the other rod.

Ross told Spiz to keep the tension on while Peter bought his fish in. Spiz puts the rod between his legs for leverage and hangs on. I know the guy was in pain before the trip started but now he was reaching a new level as the fighting fish put pressure on his rod which in turn pushed Spiz’s testicles internally. Spiz gritted his teeth and hung on. (His balls however went hanging as well). I told him that at least by getting his nuts crushed it would take his mind off all the other pain he had earlier in the day. For some reason he wasn’t amused. I then reminded him that in footy he was always comfortable under the high ball so he should be used to it. Again no response. “Would you be interested is some Jatz crackers”. Still silence. I then offered to take the rod off him. He finally opened his eyes and said in a high pitched voice “No friggin way” Last time I offer to help him. Either way he was going to have a testee I mean testing time. Every time the fish ran his crown jewels turned into pancakes.

In the meantime Peters doing it tough. Beefa suggested that Bako place a knife next to Peter’s line and ask his client “Have we got a deal or not?” Then I said “Great idea you’ll never have more negotiating power than now”. (Even though when you think about it Soxie with a baseball bat in one hand and a knife could also command a fair bit of negotiating power.) Bako for some reason doesn’t think it was a good idea as he heaved more of yesterday’s dinner overboard. (It’s funny how it always looks like corn and bacon.)

Peter was still working. As he brought it closer to the boat I could see that this was bigger than the one I caught. “Almost there” Soxie said. Peter replied “I’m glad because I’m f…ed”. Then Bizzzzzzzzzzzz The fish takes about 100m of line with it. It must have smelt Beefa's vomit and it took off. I don’t blame it.

“You’ll have to start all over again” Soxie shouts with a grin on his face. He was enjoying this.

Peter looks at me as the line goes out. “You want a rest” I asked offering to take the rod off him. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Hey you can’t blame me for trying.

Ross seeing what’s happening tells Peter to get up and let Spiz take the chair to bring his fish in. Spiz’s maracas were happy. They could finally start to creep out of his arse.

Spiz sits down and despite me continuously turning his chair in the opposite direction of the fish he brings in another 40 plus kg Tuna. I tried to give the fish a bit of a chance but Spiz didn’t balls it up. Despite being literally knackered his technique was too solid. Unlike his nads which had turned to jelly.

Peter then sits in the chair and after a marathon fight and plenty of encouragement he finally landed a 50 kg Tuna minus a tail which a shark took as Soxie was gaffing the Tuna. In the meantime Bako is still dry retching as he brings out stomach acid, bile and a piece of his large intestine. He must be getting close to empty by now.

The boat now started to resemble a war zone as the Tuna were splattering about. Soxie puts them out of there misery with a couple of hits on the head with a baseball bat. And if that wasn’t enough he also did some brain surgery on them with a 12 inch knife. I was impressed. I might even invite the guy to my next surgical day at the office or even the annual baseball game. The guys got talent.

It was time to celebrate and take some photos. We took photos of us lifting them, hugging them, kissing them, everything but making love to them. Even though at one stage Ross said to me “Are you trying to lift it or root it”? Soxie just looked at us thinking “Bloody wogs.” And as far as I’m concerned he can think what he wants especially when he’s holding his 12 inch knife.

Anyway by the end of it we all stunk. Most of us from fish and some of us from spew. I knew that my wife wasn’t going to be impressed washing my clothes. Beefa’s main concern was trying to convince his wife that his smelly lips where from kissing Tuna. If she didn’t buy it his sex life was over. As for Eunuch I mean Spiz it didn’t matter with his rocks mutilated he didn’t have to worry about sex anymore. Despite all that he still had a ball on the boat and said now he can pursue his singing career as a soprano.

Who is the more tired after a busy day on the tuna? John Bakamis has a lay down with his friends at the wharf.

Ross starts to head for home as Soxie starts to return the live bait back to the ocean. I’m glad our fathers didn’t see it. They surely would have cried at such wastage. No fish is too small for the Greek frying pan. Soxie then starts to gives us a lesson on filleting the Tuna. Again I was impressed by his surgical skills. We tried to get him to fillet all 3 of them but he politely said “No f…ing way”. His speech may hinder him in gaining acceptance in the Royal Surgeons Academy. Either way I wasn’t going to tell him especially when he’s holding a baseball bat.

Then Bizzzzzzzzzzzz. Bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Another double hook up. Bako and Beefa move in and bring in two smaller tuna. The hook up cured them of their sea sickness. Not as big as the other three but at least we have reunited the Tuna family. Grandpa, Mum, Dad and a couple of kids. It was fitting to keep them together. I’m saying “Isn’t that cute” as Rod grabs his baseball bat and go to work. Thud. Thud. Thud.

All in all Bako organised a great day. The guy bent over backwards to please us. In fact when I think of it the guy was bent over for most of the trip, mainly spray painting the port side of the boat. Captain Ross and Dr Death Deckie Soxie were also fantastic.

I told Ross “We’ll be back. All we’ll be waiting for is a 2m swell and a gale warning” (And of course for Spiz’s gonads to re-emerge).

“ON THE HOOK” with Ross and Glenn Hunter - 15/5/05

YELLOWFIN FRENZY

TUNA FEVER HITS OUR ANGLERS

The fishing on the Tasman sea off Botany Bay since our boats returned from Pt. Stephens went a little quite for a couple of weeks.it was quite a culture shock for Glenn myself and our crews , an occasional marlin raised, a few striped tuna but in general pretty disappointing especially when compared to our fabulous run on the marlin up north.
However it changed with a vengeance when the oceanic currents that we fished so successfully at Pt Stephens moved southward bringing some great yellowfin tuna fishing, probably as good as it gets.

The boys from the Nippon group with three of their catch John, Peter and Jim.....Proud anglers and why not!

There is nothing more exciting to a fisherman than the screaming runs of a big tuna as they half empty the big Shimano reels of line on the first run, screaming reels on double hook-ups, bent rods and gut busting tuna action is on The fever starts it's sickness that dyed in the wool tuna fishos live for. Because of my tender vintage I have been fortunate to have had "tuna fever" more times than I can remember. It is one sickness that I always welcome.

It is strange sickness that I have experienced that can send anglers to the tackle store spending vast amounts of money in order to be able to go back to the fishing grounds and more efficiently live their dream..in the grip of "tuna fever".

Three fine yellowfin in the cockpit of Broadbill and hooked up again

I have seen men lie to their wives about the cost of their newly acquired rods and reels Saying such classics as "They were reduced to half price I had to take advantage of such a bargain".
It is all a result of the tuna fever sickness.

During the past fortnight Billfisher and Broadbill have caught some great tuna ranging from 8 to 60 kg.
We have trolled fish from as close as 60 fathoms to as far out as 200 fathoms. The big fish have been roaming inside the shelf to feed on sauries on the tide change, after that they will be caught in the wider waters.

"Mate the biggest fish I ever caught before was an undersized bream......How good is this "said John Vakirtzis

It proved to be a dream day for Sydney lawyer Peter Trevaskis and his Victorian dairy farmer brother Mick as well as Stuart Rea; the boys fished with Glenn last Friday and caught 5 tuna to 55kg.

These fellows had tried for years to achieve this result and were almost at frustration point with the gamefishing scene..when the drought broke for them.

After their great days tuna fishing to say they weren't happy would be an understatement, they were ecstatic. Sometimes it is like what my Grandfather told me when I was a lad "Good things come to those who wait" He was so right especially when it comes to tuna fishing these days.

John Bakamis and Peter Watling with a five great tuna

These lads, however were not the only lucky ones to experience the power of tuna fishing and to be caught up in tuna fever, just ask Nippon Express's John Bakamis when on his day on my boat his clients Peter Watling, Jim Spears, John Vakirtzis and Nick Kaiser also caught yellowfin to 50 kg.. These fellows had never caught a big tuna before and for John as he said to me on the way home "The biggest fish I've ever caught is an undersize bream" These blokes will be eating tuna for the next three months.

The biggest tuna that the boys caught was caught on a double strike both fish were screaming off with Peter Watling's really on the gas as it ripped a couple of hundred metres on the first run. We concentrated on Jim Spear's fish which was slightly smaller estimated around 40 kg. This fish was eventually boated, we then chased Peter's fish backwards to get back some of the missing line back on the spool.

50 kg tuna................Boogie on the gaff

After a lot of grunting a grinding the big fish seemed to come in a little easier. Upon tracing we realised why. a big mako shark had bitten off his tail They don't go so well without their propeller, but Pete wasn't complaining he had been bent over for the past 30 minutes so a little help from the mako was welcomed.
The fish was around 55 kg.

Another beaut. tuna on Billfisher for Peter Trevaskis"TUNA FEVER" had started.

We had three other great days local anglers in Matt Lumb's group also caught tuna, as did Jack Riley's crew these fish were not as big but never the less were very much enjoyed by the crews. The big fish were trolled on Bloodshot lures which the manufacturer named after his test pilots ie Glenn and myself "Tuna Hunters".

These lures are a must for anyone serious about trolling for tuna.

There are still a few striped marlin around we have raised fish or two along the shelf line.

Boogie and Mike struggle with this one.............best of the five great yellowfin on the day

Isn't it always the way the fish are out there and the winds come and we cannot get out to the grounds, as soon as they abate we will be back out I will report later on that.

BOOK NOW FOR TUNA FEVER DAYS

If all you tuna nazis in cyber want to experience some wild tuna fishing don't hesitate It is so important to remember that the tuna do not care about us mortal anglers they come and go just as quickly, so if you have never experienced tuna fever then book now rather than later.

Either email us or ring 'cause it's "hitting the fan out their at the moment!"

The boys from Nippon Express had a ball. They were walking around like apes for days after the tuna stretched their arms that much.

Costs $230.00 per head or $1350.00 for either boat We recommend 6 people.
Everything supplied but food and drinks duration of day 10 hours.

Capt Ross and Glenn Hunters champion boat's Broadbill and Billfisher are available for yellowfin tuna charters on 9534 2378 - 0409 047 727 email gamefishing@bigpond.com

PORT STEPHENS '05

“A WRAP UP”

Billfisher and Broadbill have just returned from Pt Stephens having experienced one of the best marlin seasons for the past two decades, both Glenn Hunter and myself have been privileged to experience world-class marlin fishing since January.
Highlights include such milestones as twenty-one marlin in a day; this feat was achieved on the eleventh of February and surpassed my boats personal best of eighteen in a day. I thought that I would rest my days on that figure but records are only made to be beaten and that was done on a day where the marlin had the bait balled up on the shelf…. giant bait balls surrounded by up to fourty marlin packing the baitfish tighter and tighter until a given time when the big striped marlin would attack it with a vengeance in their feeding frenzy.

For our local anglers Carlo Panerello, Mick Ross and Nick Vitale this was a special experience. You see they had never caught a marlin before so to end up with twenty-one in one day and set a new port record was pretty special. We caught fish all day by backing up to the bait balls, throwing in two baits, catch them then we would head straight back to the frenzy and hook up two more.

I am sure that none of us on Broadbill inc. my crewman Rob Cox and myself will ever forget that great day. All fish were released.

BILLFISHER JUST KEEPS CATCHIN’THEM 146 FOR THE STAY

Then it was Bill fisher’s turn when Glenn consistently caught fish, his best 17 in a day. However his tally at the end of the season was 146-tagged marlin and that gave him Champion boat for the port and the season. He also won “Champion Lady angler Trophy” in the Interclub Tournament. His angler local lady angler and member of The St George Sport fishing Club Joanne Nadin caught 14 marlin in the tournament and seventeen for her week stay, a great effort when you take into account there were 280 boats competing.

George Walker gets amongst the small blacks

Billfisher also won “champion boat day four” and “champion boat” in The Northern Waters tournament for local anglers in Steve Gauchi’s group. They tagged 10 for the three-day tournament with Joe Vella winning champion angler tagging 6 marlin personally, a truly great effort.

The Port Hacking Gamefishing Club team performed well and constantly to end up fourth or thereabouts in the Interclub. The Team consisting of Billfisher, Triton, Broadbill, Rebel and Barnstorming…
We all had a quite day on day one but came back strongly over the next three days
All that fished had a great time.

We caught and released 291 marlin between Billfisher and Broadbill, thus giving all our anglers a wonderful and productive adventure for their stays.
It’s easy when the fishing was that good.
We also caught some great mahi mahi and sharks during our season at Pt Stephens.

CHRIS O'NEIL SAID “JEEZ PAL!”

Chris O’Neil is one of the keenest marlin fishermen around as well as that he and Allan Davies are amongst our most loyal clients, having fished on our boats for many years…

They have seen it all, the glory days of hiding under the gunnels to get a bait out, the fish were that thick in ‘91 to ’93…………. Then that amazing season of ‘97 when we tagged and released 248 marlin for the season on Broadbill.

However they too have seen the tough times when just one fish would do! …. Such are the highs and lows of marlin fishing, but the boys just take it on the chin and shrug their shoulders and know that to morrow is another day.

They are very much experienced marlin fisherman.

Marlin all over

The team this year made up of C. O’Neil, Allan Davies, and Phil Gerard. Wayne King and his son Kingy and last but not least Ewin“the Bear”
All the lads had fished before and had caught a truckload last year on Billfisher so they were bright eyed and bushy tailed to duplicate the previous season where from memory they caught nine the first day on skipped bonito.

If it’s a beer and a punt you like these fellas know the field……how much the horse is carrying the jock’s name and what his dog has for dinner…………..and a cold beer “Jeez Pal”

It is that sort of holiday a group of boys off the leash for a few days, they are going to have fun on land, do some serious fishing at sea but at the same time have fun doing that too.
Well five marlin as well as a rather large whaler shark was the tally.
The fellows had a ball and we will look forward to their company in ’06 “JEEZ….PAL”

A whale shark swam over to check things out

THE LAST TWO WEEKS AT THE PORT THE FISHING SLOWS DOWN

We really wanted to go out with a last flurry of red hot fishing, just like last year April was a blinder but alas the water ran hard to the south and the fishing waned as a result.

That’s not to say we did not catch anything, both boats still caught marlin but not like we had been catching all season…………….It was chipping away time one or two a day was the result, but as a wise man once told me “If you could catch a marlin every trip it would be pretty good”

We had been spoilt and we had got used to it so we expected multiple catches per day especially for our last two groups but it was back to the old grindstone put the thinking cap on and try to get it right.

Just ask Ryan Kirgan...he was a marlin virgin but not for long

MIKE BARNITT CATCHES EIGHT IN FOUR DAYS

One of our favourite visiting anglers is Mike Barnitt He hails from the States and arrived in OZ as a marlin virgin…. He had caught some great yellowfin tuna on Billfisher last year on a previous visit so he decided to try his luck on the Pt Stephens marlin.
Mike is a very quite guy with limited use of his limbs due to a sickness some years ago …so for Glenn and Boogie it was a milestone must to ensure that Mike went back to the USA with a bit of marlin action and some great memories of our Aussie fishin’ ……….Well he certainly did that!

Mike Barnitt caught eight marlin on Billfisher. It's those hot pants that do it

Day one fishing the middle grounds on the shelf the first bait was taken in minutes and low and behold Mike was attached to 130kg of screaming hot, aerobatic black marlin.
Mike was worried that he may have been pulled out of the chair by the fish so the boys used his belt to put around his waist as additional security, this was all he needed and the gloves were off and the fight began ……40 mins later the big fish was tagged and Mike had a run on the board…
However he wasn’t backing off now, not now he had a taste for this great sport of marlin fishing..

Mike went on to catch a further seven marlin inc tagging one fish with a satellite tag…. A great effort.
Mike we were all very proud of you and were thrilled at the result

To see a man who does not let adversity of health get in the way of giving it a go was most inspirational to us all …
Good on you Mike you are a beauty!

JOHN GOWINGS CREW (THE FOOD IS SENSATIONAL)

Long time clients John Gowing, Steve Byers and Forster’s Greg Ridgeway have fished with me on Broadbill for many years … a nicer bunch of anglers you won’t find.
It is always a great gastronomical experience fishing with these blokes, the food they eat for lunch is always five star …such delicies as smoked salmon and capers with piquant sauce followed by some other European concoction is worth looking forward to.
The fishing this year was tough for the three days.
We fished the FADS for mahi mahi and loaded up on them but on day one we only had one looker.

Then on day two the bite was on and we were in for a better day but mechanical gremlins turned up and for the first time in many years my dear Broadbill coughed, spluttered and blew white smoke and then the port engine stopped…..so ended my hopes of a good day.
The injector pump had tossed in the towel and it was a one-engined boat that is never conducive to a good day’s marlin fishing so we headed back to Port to arrange repairs. Many thanks to Geoff at Mayfield diesel they dropped everything to repair the fuel pump on a 48 hour turn around.

Day three saw the lads out on the vessel “Tsunami” belonging to my nephew Craig Summerville, he kindly offered it to us for the day, to get us out of trouble.
Soxie was the Capt ………….I stayed on shore to effect repairs
He headed to the area where we had caught so many marlin before and it wasn’t long before John Gowing was getting a workout by a 100kg striped marlin.
The fish turned on great display to eventually swim away with a billfish foundation tag.

The Luddenham boys....Rod and Mal Mackander, Harry Wozniak, Chris McAleenan, John Pace and famous rodeo bull rider Dino Pace...They had a great time and caught the hell out of them:

MAURICE SINCLAIR SAID:

“ALL MY LIFE I’VE FISHED AND NEVER CAUGHT A MARLIN”

The season was by now fast ley coming to an end …we were now down to our last three days.
We had a great bunch of lads to finish up with, ………..A group of ten fisherman headed up by Maurice Sinclair and Eden Thompson. The lads chartered both Billfisher and Broadbill they were in most cases new to marlin fishing, a few of the guys had some experience but it would be safe to say the majority were new chums……….that’s great from a Capt and crews point of view because these are the crews that really appreciate every fish that’s caught.
Maurice Sinclair runs a busy international company and was really looking forward to a break and hopefully breaking the voodoo of 30 years of fishing and still no marlin…. A few hooked on lures, but they fell off etc..
This was on my mind as we headed to the shelf on day one I was aware that the fishing had gone off but I really was hoping that we could break Maurice’s duck.

Upon arriving we jigged fresh bait …..Soxie put out the bonito teaser on the teaser rod and we ran two big slimey mackerel off the riggers through blacks clips ….the wait was on.

6 tag flags not a bad days work

We had a bet with Billfisher First fish, most fish and biggest fish so the pressure was on. I glanced back at the teaser and there was a giant set of lit up unmistakeable pectrol fins of a 100kilo plus striped eye balling it. ……Visible to me from the extra height of the fly bridge but not so to the anglers at water level in the cockpit.
“Fish on the teaser” I yelled Soxie immediately pulled the live bait out of the slimey tubes on the transom of Broady and fed it back beside the teaser
The secret now is to keep the fish from eating the teaser this is done by pulling it away at a given time, leaving the live bait with the hook in it as the only option.
Most times this worked, but this was a fussy fish, I called instructions from the bridge to Soxie but the stubborn fish did not respond to anything we tried
As I watched the fish veered off towards the right rigger bait.

My heart was in my mouth as I watched the rigger tip, if it started to jerk back a little it meant that the bait was in panic mode because of a large marlin about to eat it.
Maybe 20 seconds passed since I had last seen the fish …maybe he’s swam away as many do..Maybe he’s just back there somewhere in the pattern…………Just when things looked a little grim the rigger clip opened, the reel screamed and we were hooked up, Yeh! A sigh of relief.

I looked at the GPS and it told me it was 10 05 am “Number 1” I yelled to the angler knowing that this was the 10 minute strike order
Maurice jumped up and into the chair I he screamed with delight

“Yes! That’s me”

I was thrilled that the first fish was in his strike zone, after all he had organised the adventure and he really did want a marlin.
Glancing across at Billfisher who was fishing 150 metres from us I noticed that they too had hooked up simultaneously.
I called up Glenn on the radio and he said “Looks like it’s a race for first fish trophy Eh!”
I reckoned we would get ours first, but not so ….the big striped sounded and went deep and it was a battle royal that Maurice was in for he was going to have to earn that first marlin.

Sweat beads dripped off his for-head as time and time again the double came in view only to disappear back into the depths.
After nearly an hour a 110kg striped was released and the Voodoo was broken.
We had a tired but elated angler on our hands another cherry broken…
Billfisher had tagged their black marlin first and then tagged another.
Day two was a toughie so we headed to the FAD and bowled over 20 or so mahis per boat
Day three we went to the Gibber in close and spent a great afternoon giving a guided tour of Esmerelda Cove, finishing up with a snorkel and a swim at Coal shaft Bay.
A little bit of guitar a singsong a beer and some nice food at Coalshaft, completed a great time at Pt Stephens for the boys, Captains and crew.

A busy season? Check out the tag flags and what do you reckon!

That was our season…long days of serious marlin fishing… we were lucky with weather only loosing 1 day out of the 1005 we worked we drove out of Pt Stephens with some wonderful memories, some great milestone achievements and the thought that Pt Stephens ’06 is only 10 months away.

ALL ANGLERS THAT FISHED ‘05 ON BROADBILL OR BILLFISHER

DON’T FORGET THAT YOU CAN BOOK NOW FOR PT STEPHENS 2006 TO RESERVE A SPECIAL TIME OF THE MONTH RATHER THAN BE DISAPPOINTED.

Capt Ross and Glenn Hunters championship winning boats Billfisher and Broadbill are available for fishing charters on 9534 2378

We are still fishing the Pt Stephens cobalt waters and yes we are still catching marlin on BROADBILL and BILLFISHER , however there have been some major changes take place with the oceanic currents that dictate our fishing. Towards the second week of the interclub the water on the shelf started to run and went from a perfect temp of 23 degrees to 26 degrees….. it also day by day picked up momentum to run from 1knot to 3.5 knots and alas the marlin moved on.

Temperate water is so much better than hot 26 and 27-degree bath water..Nothing will live in that except for the odd blue marlin, but what happens sometimes is that the offshore fishery closes down but the inshore areas will fire and that is what happened up here…Put away the bent butt 15 and 24 kg tackle and get out the 8 and 10 kg stand up gear and let’s have some fun.

Little blacks on light gear are fabulous fun and are always a great challenge for angler and camera man…

All season the Billfish flew high

Both Glenn and myself and our crews very much enjoy this sort of fishing…not that a 140 kg striped rampaging across the ocean isn’t pretty exciting or a giant blue threatening a spool job doesn’t get the ticker pumping …. The small blacks are very controllable but are a wonderful visual experience as they are generally fairly close to the boat when jumping allowing keen photographers to get some fabulous pics.

So for the next few weeks Broady and Billfisher could be found livebaiting the 20 to 50 fathom line off the outer light off little Island at Broughton or the Gibber.
During this time we tagged many marlin …..The best day was 10 followed by 9 the next day for Billfisher.
You’ve gotta love this place!

ADAM GARVEY...ADAM HEATHER AND SHOW BAG RELEASE SIX IN TWO DAYS

Heathcoate piano mover Adam Garvey and friends have fished Pt Stephens for many years with me and are always great fun to fish with.
I went to school and grew up with Adam Heather’s Dad so it is a little ironic that 40 years later I fish with the son ….Then there’s “show bag” as the boys call him….
I said to Adam ‘Why do you call him show bag?” He replied’ ‘cause he’s full of shit

Great Australian humour I love it!

We fished off Broughton Island and had some great fun on the small blacks …they probably weren’t biting quite as well as we would have liked but six in two days is OK

We fish light stand up gear with 100 lb trace and Gamakatsu… half circle hooks …they are excellent for the small black marlin they get them in the corner of the mouth every time….thus ensuring a better chance of a speedy recovery.
We also caught a couple of sharks.

DAVE BASTIC AND THE COCKIES CATCH A SWAG OF THEM

Fishing on Billfisher the boys from the bush had a ball over their two day stay. They are from Naromyne and are more used to murray cod and yellowbelly, so to mix it with some hot marlin action was a great challenge but the boys from the scrub stood the test.

They certainly know how to enjoy themselves and a cool ale ….
A lot of fun was had around these guys.

It was Dave Bastic who MID MARCH ON BROADBILL WAS SHARE CHARTER TIME.

For the next fort-nite we had the pleasure of in many cases seeing many anglers experience the thrill of releasing their first marlin and in most cases these anglers were on a share charter by this I mean they joined a crew of in some cases people they have never met before and fished the three days as a group. It is quite a thrill as a captain to see a group that are complete strangers enjoy the thrills of marlin fishing and mother ocean by the time the three days fishing is over they all have become best mates reliving their experiences over and over again when back on land ……the ocean has a way of doing that.

These individual share charters cost around $900.00 and that includes accommodation that’s not a bad deal.

Our first share charter was a great bunch of super keen marlin virgins made up of Ryan Kirgan, Peter Hawley, Byron Gardener, Andrew Walker, Roland Chowney and last but not least Nick Vass. Of this crew no one had caught a marlin so it was going to be a wild time if they all could break their ‘ducks”. It was with great expectations that we headed through the heads and caught our live baits at Little Island.Would they bite today was the big question ….well they did and as Broadbill headed back through the Tommaree heads that night there were no marlin virgins on board the lads had all caught one each ….six for the day …smiles all round.

We caught a few more over the next few days including some Mahi and hammerhead sharks
A great three days fishing for crew and Captain.

IAN THOMPSON SAID “I JUST WANT TO FEEL A FISH ON MY NEW REEL!’’

Ian Thompson and his friend Peta traveled from Canberra to fish a shared three days with Grant Grubal, Neil Guy, Nick Pennison and Nick Vass who was fishing the week with us.

Ian an ex Navy man had some great stories to tell us about his travels over the oceans throughout the world…..we all enjoyed the tales …but it was his new rod and reel which he really wanted to christen ….He said “I don’t care if I don’t catch the fish I just want to see the rod bend and the reel scream”

Two days of fishing went by and very little action was experienced the water was green … the weather had turned a little nasty ……we hooked a couple of marlin and dropped them………we had tailing marlin that refused our attempts to entice them into eating our baits to no avail….. Generally things were pretty quite, the fishing had slowed and the fact that the weather was a bit dodgy meant we were stuck with fishing close to Port.

On day three we tried all the tricks to catch a fish …trolling live baits in the washes for a king..dolphin fish …..and of course marlin..nothing it seemed wanted to bite.

So it was with diss appointment that we headed back to port with only a couple of marlin catches and a shark or two for our three-day adventure.
At Little Island we decided to troll really close in the bombie washes with the live baits in a last ditch endeavor to catch a few kings or a cobia.
Soxie set the gear out and I trolled 20 metres off the rugged rocky bombie shrouding the Island, we pulled the big blue mackerel baits only metres off the white water when a screaming strike was encountered on the second time around the tiny Island.
It was Ian’s new rod that was bending at breaking point …..He jumped on it, set the drag and line poured off at break neck speed.
I was a little puzzled as to what we had hooked.maybe a whaler shark a big cobia or a giant king …….I gunned Broady away from the rocky foreshore in an attempt to pull the big fish into the deeper water to avoid being reefed the fight progressed for a few minutes…… I was still a little puzzled as to what we had hooked but not for long as a 60 kg black marlin jumped high on the end of Ian’s new rod….. We all screamed with delight at this sight … I was shaking my head wondering what a marlin was doing in 15 metres of water but I was not complaining …….The old adage of “fish are where you find them rang in my ears”.. As we chased the fish in the shallow waters … Ian did a great job on the rod to eventually release his first marlin to achieve his dream and to the delights of the crew after a pretty quite three days of fishing.
Never give up till the fat lady sings….Eh!

WE TAG TWO BLACK MARLIN WITH HI- TECH. SATALITE TAGS.

Our next crew was once again a mixed bunch on a share charter Nick Vass was still with us and had accumulate a marlin a few sharks and some dolphin fish he now joined the new crew of anglers made up of Martin Rudd, Steve and Kerry Plant, Steve Tasker and Victorian Mike Carter, none of the crew had experienced marlin fishing, certainly never caught one … That was to change as we trolled the first day off the outer light … a patch of shearwaters wheeled and as we approached the feeding birds a strike was encountered it was Nick Vass’s strike he set the circle hook like a veteran as a marlin flew high.

The action was back on, along with some nice weather….. it was looking much better again.
Nick did a great job on the rod as the tired marlin was traced billed and a satellite tag placed in the fishes shoulder.
These tags were given to us by Australian marine biologist and long time friend Dr. Julian Pepperell…the tags are from the International Billfish Foundation and are worth $6000.00 each.

They stay in the fish for 5 months storing all kinds of information..Lat and long. depths the fish travels etc.. …After 5 months the tag releases, floats to the surface and relays the stored info to a satellite…..very exciting and a great way for us to learn more about our marlin fishery and the species

This sort of fish tagging is what is needed in order that we take a lot of the guesswork out of many of our theories.
We are thrilled to help pioneer and be part of the new program.
Not to be outdone another marlin was tagged with Steve Tasker the lucky angler

It was the young Victorian doctor, Mike Carter who had traveled a long way to get away from the Mexican barracouta to try his hand at catching a marlin … he did not have to wait long as a black marlin devoured the bait and flew high …. Mike hung on for grim death eventually sub due-ing the fish where- upon another sat. tag was inserted
Mike come to the flybridge after his first ever marlin capture and was still shaking with excitement as he shook my hand……I was pretty thrilled about it as well…..once again the joys of the job.

More Reports next week.

The boats will be back in Sydney on the 14 April so we are available for charter on 9534 2378

Also for all those who have sent me photos I thank you we will include them on our web site once we get back to my main computer it is difficult to do from Pt Stephens.

I apologize for the lack of reports but some things become difficult during a red-hot marlin season at Pt. Stephens….the marlin come first and the paper work second. We have worked 38 days without a break so the reports have been secondary to the first problem. …tiredness.
We now have three days off so here we go with the wild Pt Stephens marlin season.

Soxie swims Mark Taylor's big striped before release NB circle hook in corner of mouth

BROADBILL SETS A MILESTONE ON 11/2/05 21 MARLIN IN A DAY

Our last report included my boats personal record of 21 marlin in one day an achievement that maybe never surpassed in the future, but will be remembered all aboard Broadbill’s memory bank for the rest of our day…The reason this day was so special was the fact that the fish were all between 60 t0 130 kg Our previous record was 18 in a day but these were small blacks from 30 to 70 kg.The Striped and black marlin were feeding on bait balls, schools of baitfish hoarded to gether by in most instances 40 to 50 marlin . The marlin continuously circled the bait until it was packed so tight that they resembled sardines in a tin, then at a given moment they would enter into a 20minute feeding spree …to watch this unfold was to be real happy you weren’t a baitfish. We would sit on the edge of the mayhem, throw two live baits in and simultaneously hook two marlin. …. Chase them down then return for a re-run to catch another two……….it would have been possible to throw six baits in and hook up six marlin but that would be too busy…. so the action continued until 6.45 pm when the magic 21 st fish was released……………five weary fisherman including myself my crewman Soxie and our three anglers Mick, Nick and Carlo had been part of a little bit of history, resetting our ’97 record and possibly setting a record that we may never see again……….but isn’t that the intrigue and unknown factor of the fascinating world of marlin fishing?

Tired anglers Mick, Nick and Carlo after catching and releasing 21 in a day

BROADBILL a BOAT or a BULL

We then fished in mid Feb.with Father and Son team, Rod and Mal McAnder…….. These boys are great fun to fish with and love a good challenge on a rampaging marlin,however it not just marlin that are a challenge for these guys as Dino Pace will testify….Dino was one of the most respected bull riders, not only in OZ but also in the USA They now breed wild bucking bulls for the rodeo circuit and I’m proud to say have named the wildest and meanest bull of all after my boat BROADBILL So if your at a rodeo and the cowboys are getting thrown then it may be the ‘Big Mean Broadbill” in action……..The boys released 9 marlin on their 2 days on the boat they had a wild time and were great fun to fish with.

THEN IT WAS MARK AND MERV.

There are many pleasures in a fisherman’s life and I am privileged to do what I do, take people fishing and perhaps be a part of history in their life by maybe catching that fish of a lifetime, but when you are in the company of cricket legends Mark Taylor and fast bowler Merv Hughes… I all of a sudden feel like it is my privilege ……These bloke are however, despite their amazing feats on the cricket field, just normal nice guys who love their fishing.

Warming up with the "Merv Swerve" - the boys went on to catch a dozen in two days

What a joy it was to see both of them getting their arms stretched on some really solid stripes ,blacks and blues….Yes! the boys caught a “Grand Slam” on their first day at sea …it was action all day and after their two day stint was over they had all caught a couple of fish each by releasing 13 fine marlin.

The charter was bought by Guy of UBL Wahl burg at a charity golf day for Mark and Merv’s Charity “A Sporting Chance Foundation” ……Managed by Jack Hughes, Mark Taylors lifelong friend, the lads contributed $15,000.00 to the charity as well as accompanying the team fishing.

The highlight of the trip apart from seeing Merv … “On the Wagon”….(no beer for the big fellow….. he was determined to loose weight for the TV show) was when we hooked up a 140 kg striped…this was a big fish and it was Jack Hughes turn in the chair ..The conditions were around 25 knots from the north creating pretty good 2 metre swell running powerfully southward …once we hooked the big fish it thrilled all with 10 minutes of aerobatics then powered down sea with swell.

Merv wasn't sure about water in the cockpit Roscoe hits 'em hard and fast backwards

I glanced at the big Shimano Tiagra and realized that the distance between the marlin and me was 400 metres and increasing ….I called on every bit of BROADBILL’S backing up ability but things were tough the swells were running at 15 knots and we were doing 12knots backwards… marlin was winning, hands down …more line poured off the spool which was now getting quite empty… at this point I hammered her real hard backwards to try to gain line…. we surfed down a big one and bellied out at the bottom and filled up the very large cockpit with blue water

Merv. Was now standing knee deep in water and yelling up at me on the bridge “Hey! Roscoe isn’t the whole idea to keep this shit out of the boat and stay afloat?” We cried in laughter and spun the boat around to chase the fish bow first…. by the time we got it Jack was exhausted and Merv.. was looking for his floaties. Few, except Mark had ever caught a marlin before and all that left Soldiers Point after their two day experience will remember it for a long time……all had caught a marlin or two and thoroughly enjoyed their intro to Pt Stephens at its best and likewise we enjoyed their company.

GLENN HUNTER’S CREW ON BILLFISHER WIN 2005 NORTHERN WATERS TOURNAMENT

The second “Northern Waters Invitational tournament” was a most successful event. We had 17 competing boats with around 73 anglers.This is a tournament organized by Glenn and myself ….. Kindly assisted with sponsorship by Shimano and The Salamander Shores resort at Salamander Bay.The accent is very much on a bunch of like-minded fishos who get to gether to enjoy each other’s company on the bluewater…

Winning lady angler Joanne Nadin with brother Paul, Glenn Hunter and faithful Deckie Boogie

There is a trophy “TOURNAMENT WANKER” this one can be feared by all, even an angler fishing too seriously could win ‘the wanker’ However this years winner was Rob Duddy and Murray Prouse …they were refueling their new boat “Wahoo” ….they commented to me that the new Honda twin outboards are only using about 20 litres of fuel a day….now at this point I was amazed because having built over 300 Broadbill boats back in my boat building days all I remembered about outboards is that they were rather fond of fuel but alas modern technology must have them running on air I thought to myself…..The very next day I was doing the radio scheds and it went like this …..when we called “Wahoo…Wahoo …Broadbill give us your position and fishing report..please?”….After a slight pause, the radio crackled and it was Rob Duddy who had a slightly despondent tone to his voice and said “Ross we are in the Mosh pit (a spot on the shelf some 20 nautical mile from port)….and we have run out of fuel!’…..Apparently when the boys fueled up the air lock in the design of the tank only allowed a fill of 40 litres ….They were towed back by the Coastal patrol whereby Rob made a substantial donation to the organization….and I believe is currently running around town looking for a certain fuel tank manufacturer.

There were 35 marlin released over the three days of the competition with all boats faring well. Mark Mickellsen on the Shimano boat Triton fished very well with a total of 6marlin to take out runner up plus a 12 kilo mahi …Heaviest snapper was Brent Harding on local legendary boat Billistic……Heaviest mulloway went to local boat No Regrets…Most meritorious trophy to 12 and 13 year old Mitch and Jake Cecatto on the boat Out Wide for tagging and releasing their first marlin

However the Champion Boat tag and release I am very proud to say was Glenn Hunter’s boat Billfisher Steve Gauchi’s team won the converted trophy giving Joe Vella champion angler as well.

Glenn, Joe, Steve and David Boogie Bogle celebrate champion boat with Joe Vella cchampion angler in Northern Waters tournament

The presentation night was great the food sensational and many thanks to Phill Bellamy for some great guitar playing on the night.

Thanks to Chris Herbert and his crew a the Salamander Shores hotel ……………..Gordo and Froggy and Margeret
All that fished the tournament had a ball it was fished with fun in mind there was some great fish caught and all who attended enjoyed and we certainly look forward to NORTHERN WATERS ’06...

TIM BENTLEY’S CREW CATCH 18 IN TWO DAYS

Tim Bentley rocked into Soldier’s Point with no idea that the next two days marlin fishing on BILLFISHER was going to be so red hot that they would be running the decks to keep up with the action..The boys released 18 marlin in two day they left Pt Stephens …………..going WOW!

Tim Bentley and his Moet Team The boys caught

It is important for all our crews to realize that February at Pt Stephens was wild marlin fishing you do not get better than it anywhere in the world where marlin are caught…….better than world class fishing….I back this up with the following stats. Billfisher and Broadbill have released 258 marlin since February 4………and that is what dreams are made of.

I apologize for the lack of input to our fishing report column however this update will be followed shortly with more reports on “The Pt Stephens Interclub” and how the boats fared in March

Ross and Glenn Hunter