Day 1: Let Down By The Weather
Day 1 saw us struggling to wake up to drag ourselves and go fishing. We had a quick breakfast and drove to the marina about 2 minutes away. There we were greeted by our charter captain, Captain Ross Hunter and our deckie “Emu”, both of whom would be our fishing guides for the next 3 days. The unassuming Captain Ross is no stranger to gamefishing and he is one of the respected pioneers of gamefishing in Australia. Inside his boat, the legendary “Broadbill”, lies a wall full of awards and plaques; testament to his fish finding prowess. In fact, during the 2005 season, Captain Ross chartered his clients onto an extraordinary trip, with 21 Striped Marlin hooked and landed within a single day. With such credentials, we knew that we could not be in any better hands.
Unfortunately for us, in terms of fishing, the first day was pretty ordinary. As forecasted, the weather was rough and we could not head out wide. The swells were running 4-5m and winds were in excess of 25knots. Captain Ross recommended we fish closer to the mainland for safety and we fully agreed.
We trolled small skirts towards an island called the Cabbage Tree Island where we were to gather bait and try for some juvenile Marlin. On the way there, we landed a Skipjack Tuna, which under the skilful salting and stitching of “Emu” our deckie, was quickly transformed into an oversized teaser which we were to use over the next few days. We tried jigging for baits, but the primary bait, the slimey mackerel were few and far between. Whatever bait that was landed was quickly bridle rigged onto the Triton Game B5350F-R /Tiagra 50s outfits and sent out via the outriggers. A central teaser consisting of our stitched up Skipjack was utilized. We slow trolled this configuration persistently along a submerged plateau but there were no takers and we used this chance to get some shuteye. Slightly disappointed, we could only keep our fingers crossed when Captain Ross checked the followings days’ weather forecast and assured us that tomorrow would be different.

Day 2: Lucky Number 8
Day 2 was a marked contrast from Day 1. When we awoke in the morning, the winds had slowed down markedly and the seas had settled a fair bit. This time the plan was to head out wide for some Striped Marlin action. We traveled for about 3 hours to a spot nicknamed the Moshpit aka the Carpark. At this locality, the baitfish schools were really thick and almost every drop we put our baitfish jigs into resulted into full-houses of large Slimey Mackerels averaging 9 to 10 inches each. Fishing for these baits was pretty fun especially when you got a full house of them, however we had to stay focused on our Striped Marlin objective and move on to better things.

As with the day before, all the live Slimeys were stored in the livebait well while two of them were bridle rigged onto 16/0 circle hooks that were crimped onto 300lb mono leaders. As we set up the two 50lb Triton rods via the outriggers, Captain Ross maneuvered the boat skillfully around the edges of the baitfish ball. With such thick schools of baitfish, we were feeling very positive and it was only a matter of time before we got a hit.

True enough, less than 10minutes into the slow troll around the baitfish ball and we registered a hit. Out of sheer bad luck however, the fish managed to throw the hook. We quickly re-rigged the rod and continued our trolling again and barely 5 minutes later, we had another take. This time though, everything held and we were connected to our first Striped Marlin of the trip! This first fish was a small one, estimated at around 70-80kg, but put up a feisty fight. It stripped about a hundred meters of line in its first blistering run as it tail-walked away from us. Captain Ross backed the boat to chase the fish and under relatively heavy drag settings and expert boat handling, we soon had the beautiful fish all lit up beside the boat. We intentionally fish slightly heavier drags and used the boat to our advantage so as to keep the fish in good condition for release. As Emu grabbed onto the leader, the tag pole was readied and before we knew it, we had tagged our first Marlin for the trip. Finally, with the first fish on board, the pressure was off and we proceeded to fish much more confidently thereafter.

We alternated ourselves between fishes and Kervin was next on the line to have a shot at the fish. Like a duplicate of the first fish strike, this take resulted in a missed hookup and we quickly bridled another Slimey out. This time however, the bait was taken almost instantaneously and the line snapped off the left rigger while Kervin grabbed onto the rod and readied himself for the fight. Just as I was about to reel up the other outfit to prevent tangling, the line from the right rigger snapped off too. Initially I had thought that Kervin’s fish had crossed onto the line until both our lines sped off in different directions; only then did we realize that we were onto a double hookup! The next few moments, things got a little dicey, Kervin’s fish immediately swam from the left to the right while mine did the complete opposite and sounded deep towards the left. Fortunately for us, Kervin’s fish was a smaller one of about 70kg and Captain Ross quickly and expertly maneuvered the boat to release his fish first before starting work on mine. The fish I had on behaved a little bit differently by staying deep all the time and even with relatively heavy drags and repeated palming of the spool while short stroking, I was unable to move the fish at all; the fish was simply sitting in the currents with its pectoral fins spread out to its advantage. To end the stalemate, Captain Ross drove the boat forward to increase the angle of the line to the fish to plane the fish up. Each time he did this however, the fish seemed to already understand our tactic and chose to sound deep again. This seesaw scenario lasted another 4 to 5 cycles until the fish unexpectedly made a mistake by surfacing nearby, going ballistic and tailwalking just beside the boat. The sight of a 100kg Marlin repeatedly jumping completely out of the water not more than 10m away from the boat is truly a sight to behold. Wisely, Kervin, me and Hoe meekly kept out of harms way while Emu took the opportunity to grab the trace and was dragged all around by the still feisty fish. Twice, he had to let the trace go as the fish stripped more line out from the reel that resulted in the wind on leader burning and slicing through his bluewater game gloves. Finally, after the battle royale, the fish gave in and surrendered beside the boat. Emu cut off the trace and we officially had on record the third fish of the day; a beautifully lit broad shouldered Striped with an unusually short bill.

A quick glance at my watch revealed that we had only been out at the Marlin grounds for just under 2 hours; things were starting to look real good. The next couple of baits we trolled all resulted in duplicate hook ups of average sized fish around 80-90kg. Kervin and me alternated between the fights and before we knew it, we had fish number 7 on the scorecard way before 2.30pm; not bad considering the fact that we only started Marlin fishing at about 11am!
The next shot at a bigger fish went to Kervin. This fish took the bait and like the first big fish we had earlier on, did a few spectacular tailwalks some 100plus meteres away from us before settling in to sulk in the current instead of expanding its energy on the surface. This fish made several power packed runs and even with Captain Ross backing on it at full speed, was still stripping line off the reel. With the gimbal belt and harness locked in, Kervin confidently took his time to fight this fish. Captain Ross again moved the boat to plane the fish up, but each time he did this, the fish would power off on another scorching run; stripping 100 odd meters of line each time before diving back deep and sounding again. This fish was smart, and after more than half an hour of intense fighting, some strain could be seen on Kervin’s face. As it was getting late and we had to prepare for the 3 hour ride back home, Captain Ross made a final chase to get close to the fish with Kervin cranking fervently on the Hi-Speed gear of his Tiagra to keep up. As the leader got near, Emu valiantly grabbed hold of it and pulled the fish in. All of us peered over the side and directly below us, the all lit up big Striped Marlin glowed with an iridescent indigo blue and violet hue; it was a breathtakingly beautiful fish. This fish was a fair bit longer than the width of our boat and Captain Ross conservatively called it for a 110kg fish, which was our biggest so far. As Emu cut the leader off, the fish gave a final flick of its tail and bade us farewell into the depths. The fight had taken more than 45minutes and as we had to head back to shore before it got dark, we left the still biting school of Marlin alone and chugged our way back home.

Day 3
The third day was another beautifully calm day. On this day we decided to do something different. Captain Ross recommended that we take another shot at the Moshpit before heading back to the FADs for some dolphinfish action. His other option was to head 2 hours further out from the Moshpit area to reach the deep offshore canyons and blind troll for a chance at a big Blue Marlin. We had seen some pictures of the massive Bull MahiMahi in excess of 20kg from his boat and after weighing in our options, decided on the former suggestion due to the uncertainty of raising a Blue. Besides, our arms were still feeling stretched out from the previous day’s fishing and the possibility of being stuck onto a big Blue for 2 to 3 hours on standup did not sound too appealing to us then.

Anyway, on this day, having heard of our previous day success coupled with the good weather, the Moshpit area was filled with many local boats and we now knew why the area was also nicknamed the Carpark. We tried slow trolling for a while but the disturbances by the boats seem to have turned the fish off. We then tried another technique called Switch and Pitch, whereby we trolled 2 hookless teasers off the left and right corner. The extra commotion the teasers made managed to raise a marlin. This fish actually came up to attack the teasers and as it could not get a bite out of it, grew even more aggressive and started slashing at both the teasers very violently. Kervin went on to keep the teaser lines while Emu fed out a Slimey and immediately, the fish homed in for the kill. This time the whole head, shoulders and tail of this fish broached the water to grab the bait and the fight was on! I had never expected marlin fishing to be so visually exciting and this fish really changed my perception. It took off on a scorching run and it tailwalked all over the ocean with us in mad pursuit. After a series of pumping and cranking and a lot of sweat from yours truly (I had foolishly removed my harness earlier and now had to fight this fish without it), the fish was brought in to be released.

After this fish, things quietened down and try as we might, we could not raise another. Seeing that the other boats were also not getting much hits, we proceeded to move to the FADs for the MahiMahi. As we were halfway there, reports rang from the radio that the other boats started getting hits from the Marlin back at the Moshpit; bad timing for us I guess, but still we were not complaining. Once we reached the FADs, we put out the same Slimeys that we used earlier for the Marlin in the hope of hooking some big Bulls on the Triton 30s. Unfortunately for us, this time the fish were all juvenile fish and were not interested in the big livies. We proceeded to downsize our tackle size and used our Bassterra XT and Lesath rods to flick out fillets of the Slimies. This time it was a fish a cast; it’s no wonder why there are so many Marlin about with this amount of food fish in the vicinity. Each hook up by the juvenile MahiMahi was accompanied by wild acrobatics as they cartwheeled all over the ocean. The fish were small but put up strong tussles and were extremely fun and exciting on the lighter gear. The beautiful green yellow sheen on each fish shone in the afternoon sun and before we knew it we had landed around 10 pieces of these bejeweled beauties. As it was getting late, Capt Ross signaled for us to keep our lines and head back home.

As we sat in the cabin on the way in, reality finally kicked in. To me, what we had just experienced over the past few days can be considered world class fishing. 8 properly fought Marlin including a double hookup in approximately 4 hours of fishing was something I had never experienced before; nor will likely encounter again in the near future. Yet tales of consecutive double hookups and several hundred Marlin marauding several massive bait balls on the momentous day where Captain Ross landed 21 fish kept us enthralled as we promised ourselves we would be back. Probably the next time round we would try for a rarer adversary like the Blue or Black Marlin or perhaps even a big bad Mako; but in the meantime there we were basking in the last of the suns rays as we replayed each battle silently in our heads and smiled to each other; the Triton Game fieldtest had come to a very successful completion indeed.

You may wish to view more photos of the Triton Game Rod Fieldtest by clicking here

This topic has probably been preached more times than I can remember, however as an angler wishing to conserve fish stocks way into the near future, I shall repeat some of the tricks used to minimize harm to the billfish when we are fishing. This is probably useful and applicable back in South East Asia; given the large numbers of Sailfish that we have back in Rompin.

Circle Hooks:
Circle Hooks are great for Billfish as they latch on well onto the jaw and seldom cause damages like J-hooks can. A swallowed J-hook can pull out the entire fishes’ stomach or gill and make release difficult. Some people still steer away from circles citing poor hookups; but the thing to remember when using circles is not to strike hard, or for that matter strike at all. Striking will only cause the hook to be pulled out as the hook point is built inwards and this has nothing to catch onto. Rather a circle should be fished with minimal drag that is increased once the fish swallows the bait and moves off. This causes the circle to latch onto the jaw of the fish and hook up. Circle hooks also have better fish holding capabilities especially on a jumping fish due to the difficulty of dislodging the hook due to the inward facing barb.

Use High Carbon Hooks:
Regardless to the type of hooks used, we must always expect that at certain times, it is virtually impossible to remove the hook out of a fish without harming or overstressing it. Countless cases of hooks in the gut or gills are prime examples of this. To prevent any fishes’ death, please try to use high carbon hooks. These rust very quickly especially in saltwater conditions and a fish that has been badly hook should be released simply by cutting the hook itself with a heavy gauge cutter or by cutting the leader as close to the fish as possible

Use Suitable Equipment:
A lot of anglers mistakenly assume that by using really light line, they are giving the fish a chance of survival. I used to have this kind of perception too until I realized I was doing more harm than good. Going ultra-light is an erroneous move and usually two things happen on such fights. The first scenario that you can have is of a fish that ends up busting you off on the light line and trailing hundreds of meters of line with it. This not only slows the particular fish down and inhibits its feeding but the trailing line can be dangerous to other sea creatures as well. The second scenario that you can have is when you fight the fish to exhaustion on the light line. The tired fish when released is no longer capable of swimming properly and either sinks and dies a slow painful death or gets sharked. To me, ultralight line class fishing for billfish is more of an ego thing and does nothing for the fish or proves anything about the fisherman’s capabilities. A good sports fisherman is one who respects his quarry and uses the appropriate gear to handle his fish so that he can release it in good condition.

Chasing Fish:
For our Port Stephens trip, we used the boat to our advantage to reduce the fight time so as to keep the fish in good condition for release. Without the assistance of the boat, each of the Marlin fights would have lasted well over an hour; which is detrimental for the wellbeing of the fish. This is one aspect of fishing that is less often seen or used in South East Asia. Backing up on the fish, flanking the fish from the side or using the boat to plane the fish up from the depths can all be utilized to get the fish back in more quickly to ensure of a successful catch and release.

To sum it up, Billfishes or for that matter all species of fishes deserve some form of respect from us and it is our duty as Sportsfishermen to take only what we need, to protect and to treasure what we have and to ensure that fish stocks stay healthy for years to come. Tight Lines!