▲TopTHE 2009 PT STEPHENS MARLIN SEASON

By Captain Ross Hunter

A great Ray Alley photo of a Pt Stephens black caught on Broadbill

So it was with great apprehension and anticipation as we arrived in early January, looking forward to a great season, after all it was only two weeks back and they were everywhere.

But alas, the world of us dedicated marlin fisherman never runs easy, just one change in conditions and water flow can seriously effect the whole scene and that happened when the ocean started to flow hard to the south bringing 28 degree water with it, but inshore the water was 16.5 degrees. This left us with a few blue marlin out wide and no small blacks in close. The stripes our most prominent fish had done a runner from the hot water. Their favourite temp is 22 to 24 degrees and it was always going to be difficult to find a striped in 28 degrees

Matt reckons that this is hard work

Glenn Hunter on BILLFISHER excelled with four blue marlin from 120 to 220 kgs in mid Feb. as we worked the Almark Reef for kings and mahis. The season in Feb was tough but with hard work and a bit of cunning we did manage to catch several stripes, by late Feb things were improving slightly and catches of ones and twos per day were getting feasable .

Then came late March and the throttles were down as catches of 4’s 5’s and 6’s per day became a reality.

We spent 3 hours on a 240kg blue marlin on 24kg for angler John Vassalo as well as having the thrill as skippers catching many anglers who prior were marlin virgins their first marlin this is always a thrill for us professional Captains.

Leon's big black on the trace

Pt Stephens was at last living up to its reputation as one of the great marlin grounds in the world.

▲TopPT STEPHENS 2009 BEEN AND GONE

Steve's striped jumps on the trace The fish was naturally released

With the early 27.8 degree water nothing lived and then inclose the 16.5 degree water was too cold for the small blacks to venture into.

Fortunately many of our anglers have fished with us for years and had some pretty spectacular days of eights and ten marlin in a day and they are understanding fisherman who just shrug their shoulders in the knowledge that Glenn and myself never stop trying and always give 110% but sometimes that does not even work when the fishing is tough, but I guess that’s what makes us appreciate the good times.

Billfisher on a hot marlin

It sure is a funny old business we call fishing I just wish someone could invent a crystal ball that works, that would make our job do much easier.

It was “Woy Woy” John and Richmond’s David and Tarvis who were all marlin virgins, However that did not last long as on their last day they all caught marlin on Broadbill.

▲TopBILLFISHER EXCELLS ON BIG BLUES

John from Woy Woy plays his first marlin

▲TopBROADBILL FINISHES STRONGLY

It was “Woy Woy” John and Richmond’s David and Tarvis who were all marlin virgins, However that did not last long as on their last day they all caught marlin on Broadbill. We caught four for the day. Bateman Bay’s Dave Morgan and his mate too caught marlin breaking their virginity. We had a great day on our last charter at The Port with local Miranda company Integra Water. On this day all the crew caught marlin and we really enjoyed that.

Billfisher's 240 kg blue caught by David Hilne on Saturday

Prior to that we averaged threes and fours every trip and this all made up for the slow start in January and February, but alas all good things come to an end when we headed home from Stephens last Friday. We had heard some rumours about some yellowfin and good marlin fishing but really did not know what to expect.

▲TopSYDNEY FISHES WELL AT EASTER

We caught a mixture of Blues to 240kg , blacks to 150kg and stripes to 140kg it was a slow, frustrating start to the season in early Jan through to late Feb. but later on it came good when the water cooled to 23 degrees and ran into the nor west.

Billfisher backing up after a big striped marlin

We had the privilege of having local marlin photographer Ray Alley on our boats and he took some wild marlin photos……………………………… check them out.

Daves Black goes crazy

Striped Marlin

We found atree and it was loaded up with dollies on Saturday

A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow Four marlin tag flags