Fishing Reports 2007/ 2006 / 2005

"ON THE HOOK" with Captains Ross and Glenn Hunter 16/5/07

As both Captains have had a well earned two weeks off after a long and successful Pt Stephens marlin season, but the rest is all but over.

As both Captains have had a well earned two weeks off after a long and successful Pt Stephens marlin season, but the rest is all but over.

THE RED HOT NEWS is that Glenn Hunter caught two 35 kg yellowfin this week so the holiday is over and the yellowfin tuna season is with us.There was an excellent blue marlin caught on Stickface Gary reported the big fish took 4 hours and was around 200 kilos
Once the word gets out that the tuna are running the rest days are well and truly over for us
The fish were both trolled on bibles minnows out very wide

Not to rest on his laurels the very next trip BILLFISHER caught a 90kg striped marlin The lads from ATARI had never seen a marlin before and were amazed at the performance that was to follow.

BOOK NOW FOR YELLOWFIN BEFORE THE RUSH STARTS
Our advise is to book now before the frenzy, that way you can pick the best moons and give your crew maximum chance of doing well on the fin.

We have posted a great HOW TO CATCH on yellowfin …Visit FISHING TECHNIQUES SECTION on this site you may get a few ideas and there are some great photos.

If you want a most exciting days fishing with your friends, yellowfin tuna will give you all the action you could ever imagine They simply are the best sportfish that swims and they're not bad to eat as well.

Having caught and released the marlin it's thumbs up all round.	The Atari team hit the jackpot with a great striped marlin.
This is how it was every trip last season Yellowfin fever.	Yellowfin fever it's here ...smiles on tired dials.
On the trace and still fighting.	The big striped close to release.

COSTS AND DETAILS ON A TUNA CHARTER

We take a maximum of 7 people at $250.00 per head or $1500.00 per day for the boat
We supply all Shimano tackle, a crewman and captain and the duration of the day is 10 hours.

TO BOOK RING 95342378

TIPS FOR THE NEXT FORTNIGHT
Blue and striped marlin on the shelf and the wild start of the yellowfin tuna season.

For details and great photos on last years season look in this column FISHING REPORTS and scroll back to May June, July August thru to November last year.

IT WAS GREAT SEASON AND THIS ONE WILL BE THE SAME

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CATCH THAT "FISH OF A LIFETIME" then do hesitate to book
now.

THOUSANDS OF ANGLERS HAVE ACHIEVED THAT ON BROADBILL AND BILLFISHER OVER THE YEARS.

"ON THE HOOK" with Ross Hunter - 30/4/07

The offshore scene for the past fortnight has been a little tough, the water has stayed warm at 23 degrees but has little in the way of piscatorial inhahidents. We have raised a couple of marlin but apart from the 240kg blue caught three weeks ago it has been dolphin fish and striped tuna keeping our customers happy.

The dolphin fish have been small (50 to 60 cm) and have all been caught around the fisheries FADS
Live bait however is a must, without it you may struggle.

The good news is that there is a great head of fabulous water coming down at the moment and it should bring some improved fishing with it, maybe some yellowfin tuna.

This time last year we were catching tuna on our boats and caught them right through to November giving us the best yellowfin season for a decade.

Yellowfin tuna are everybody's favourite, they fight like schoolyard bullies, and they eat well and are without doubt the toughest fighters that swim our oceans.

Read next weeks "How To Catch" series featuring yellowfin tuna
Look in………." Fishing Techniques and Hints"

It is not all doom and gloom though as the offshore fishery closes down a little then the inshore reefs spark up.

The Botany Bay charter fleet fishing the inshore reefs are catching good catches of morwong, snapper and kingfish. I was surprised yesterday when we had a reef fish for an hour and caught eight snapper on the drift and whilst we returned the majority (we had a group of USA anglers who could not cook them at the hotel) the fact that the fish were there in numbers had me thinking that a good session anchored and fishing floaters would work well and would certainly produce some bigger fish. The best grounds are off Coogee fish the 55 to 65 metre reefs and use fresh or salted striped tuna. The current is light and running slowly north. We are going to try this technique and will let you know how we go.

A very wet roscoe holds up a couple of the catch.The number plate says it all.	They were'nt big but great fun.
Snapper like this can be caught on floaters from now through Winter.	Some big Sydney dollys caught early in the season off the FADS.
Water spout off Botany.	A water spout last week off Botany This first photo shows it about to form.

We are running a "HOW TO CATCH SERIES" on this web site See Fishing Techniques and Hints Section.

In the series we feature blue, striped, blackmarlin, yellowfin tuna, kingfish, dolphin fish, salmon, cobia, snapper and more. It is worth a look, lots of great photos and hints from some most experienced fisherman.

I had a fish for blackfish with good friend Stewart Case in the upper Georges River. He and Donna are owners of the very popular fisherman's web site www.fishraider.com

I don't know what it is about black fishing that I enjoy so much, maybe just the serenity of the whole scene and the fact that they are one of my favourite fish to eat.

At our spot we met up with another friend and blackfish legend, Norm Jefferys who had caught 5 for the day. We ended up catching a dozen but only kept four. There were a heap of throwbacks and we had a great afternoon even if we were fishing in the torrential rain.

The beaches have been fishing well for salmon, tailor and bream a little bird told me Wanda beach especially

HOT PRESS a 45kg yellowfin was caught on Saturday at the "mountain" maybe our predictions are right…lets hope so but that report sure is encouraging. The fish was trolled. We have seen small fish jumping out very wide and did catch some so all the signs are there.

BOOK NOW FOR THE BEST MOONS ON BROADBILL OR BILLFISHER FOR YELLOWFIN TUNA For MAY/JUNE

Costs $1500.00 per day for up to 7 anglers

Last year hundreds of our anglers caught their first "FISH of  LIFETIME" when they boated their first yellowfin so why not give it a go (scroll back in Fishing Reports for some great photos of some big tuna)

"ON THE HOOK" with Captains Ross and Glenn HUNTER 17/4/07

We are back in Sydney after a long and most successful marlin season in Pt Stephens
.Broadbill and Billfisher's charterers caught and released 189 marlin for our two and a half month sojourn.

There were many happy anglers who realised their dream of catching "That Fish of a Lifetime" and that is most satisfying for us professional skippers.

The mix of species were black, blue and striped marlin, we managed one "Grand Slam" the blue, black and striped in one day with the boys from Maroubra headed by Anthony The Winch Chaffey and Johnny "Boo" Cartlidge.

The lads caught 16 marlin for their stay; many of them were marlin virgins prior to their trip, they are now seasoned veterans after their three days at Pt Stephens.

The early part of the season in January and February was fabulous with catches of 7's and 8's every day, however it did slow down in March. and April, back to ones and twos but that is still great fishing in any ones language.

It is what we have come to expect of this amazing fishery. We also caught some excellent wahoo, yellowfin and mahis.

"THE HUMAN BOLLARD" CATCHES HIS FIRST MARLIN
It was my Deckie John "The Human Bollard" Giles who enjoyed the trip home from the Port.

We trolled two lures and in latitude 33..12 off Bird Island, we had a striped marlin on, it subsequently fell off after a 10-minute fight …then another strike and it did not hook up.

Then at last John got lucky when a 70 kg striped finally stuck on the lure (giggle stick).

After a 30 minute battle John tagged his first ever marlin, it's a fact he's traced 180 of them working as a crewman, but never caught one personally so it was a great thrill for him.

It was a nice way to end our Pt Stephens season, that marlin rounded our tally to exactly 90 marlin for the season, a nice round number and a most successful season.

READ BRAND NEW SERIES BY THE HUNTER BOYS
"HOW TO CATCH AUSTRALIAN SPORTFISH"
GO INTO FISHING TECHNIQUES AND HINTS ON THIS SITE
For a full report and a series on "How To catch Australian Sportfish" visit our web sit "Go into Fishing Techniques and Hints" It is worth a roam through, lots of great photos and stories and some useful hints.

Back in the "Big Smoke" we have caught striped tuna and some small yellowfin out wide .on recent trips.

We had a good blue marlin hooked up last Monday. The big fish (240 kg approx) climbed on a Bloodshot lure and peeled off a few hundred metres of line in no time flat, it was all hands on deck as the big fish time and time again screamed around the ocean.

Unfortunately we lost it after a while and never saw another for the day.

A blue marlin on the rampage.	Beside the boat.
I back Broady up with great urgency as the big fish extracts copious amounts of sting.	Wow! what a fish everyone said.
John Vassala had caught some great fish on the lighter gear but the blue gave him a work over on the 37kg he reckoned.	ohnny Giles Broadbill's deckie has traced 180 marlin but never caught one. That changed when we were heading back from Pt Stephens last week.
Johnny holds the marlin as we push water through the gills before release.	Johnny the human bollard after releasing his first marlin Happy you bet!
Johnny Vassala on the bear gun The big 80 wide screamed as the big blue tore line off at an alarming rate. johnny Boo Cartlidge is very happy.

REVENGE OF THE BLUE MARLIN…. BROADY HOOKS A BIG LINE BURNER ON SUNDAY
However it all changed for us on Sunday, we were still smarting over the loss of that fish, so we went back out to try again to make amends, this time with the 37kg gear.
We spent all day trolling lures, live baiting around the masses of mackerel schools for a swag of striped tuna but "Diddly Squat" on the blue marlin.

At 3.30 I decided to run a brace of Bloodshot lures, John from Bloodshot had just given us a new one in the range and it looked great so out it went first, we trolled back into the shelf with a brace of big lumos, fizzing and smoking away behind us.

We had been working the 150-fathom line.with no strikes so we decided to try our luck in the shallow er purple 24 degree water.

Blue marlin have no manners, they are the Bluewater bullies, they hit with the speed of an F-18 hornet on full after burn and punch like a school yard bully. This fact was driven home in no uncertain terms when we got crash tackled by 220 to 240 kgs of blue muscle in 83 fathoms at 4pm.

The old Shimano beastmaster 80/130 screamed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz "Get the gear in" I yelled "And get it in fast".

The big fish removed 250 metres in 20 seconds and then burst out of the water like a Polaris submarine much to the cries of all in the cockpit "Wow! did you see that that was wild"
but it was just the start as the big boy jumped another twenty times.

I was on the gas in reverse backing up as hard as I could push Broady then after 10 minutes with a cockpit half full we had got back a couple of hundred metres.

Johnny Vassala was on the rod and hung on to the big 80 for grim death. He commented later having never experienced the heavier tackle (John caught some great stripes and blacks with us at Pt Stephens all caught on 15 and 24 kg).

He said "Man that heavy stuff lets you know you're fishing I thought I was going to get pulled out of the chair".

John did a great job on the rod and the big fish was released at the end of a great tussle and a great memory for all of us of those wild jumps.

There were a couple of yellowfin caught and a short billed spearfish The water is purple and 24 degrees and running lightly out wide to the south., however the inshore currents are stronger to the south at 2 knots.

On the reef snapper have been caught…Gary Park's"Patch Two" caught some good plate size snapper at the Hump last week The currents are still a little strong for really good snapper fishing but they will back off soon and then watch out there will be some great fish caught.

Predictions for the next fortnight Yellowfin out wide as well as blue and striped marlin
Snapper on the inshore reefs.

Captain Ross and Glenn Hunter's boats BROADBILL and BILLFISHER are available for charter on 9534 2378.

“ON THE HOOK” with Ross and Glenn Hunter
April 1

Our Pt Stephens season is sadly now all but over. I always find that a little melancholy After all BILLFISHER and BROADBILL have fished in excess of 118 days between them and have caught 191 marlin We have worked hard and not missed one days charter, seen many happy angler’s faces with the realization that they have just caught their first marlin, wonderful memories to savor and whilst the work load has been immense we have loved every minute of it and do not want to leave.

However as my dear old Grandfather told me when I was a child “Sonny all good things must come to an end” and next Thursday as Broady steams southward that will have happened.

THE PT STEPHENS 07 SEASON …..A SEASON FULL OF GREAT TIMES
Summarising the ’07 season we have caught some fabulous marlin, Blues to 160 kg , stripes to 140 kg and blacks up to 100kg add to that A “grand slam’, wahoo to 20kg, yellowfin to 30kg and a few big dollies and that has the ingredients for happy faces and stretched arms.

There were some small fin out wide	billfisher late march 003
Johnny Cartlidge The Legend with his Honker of a snapper caught on a soft plastic off Broughton Island Pt Stephens	Billfisher at work at Pt Stephens
Micko and the Triton team.	Big Dave Port Stephen's son and shark ace Sings Shark Fishin' with Ross
Chris Herbert and roscoe.Skipper of Absoulute They fished so well in the Northern Waters	Glenn Hunter's Billfisher team Fished very well
Scotty Thorrington and Ross at the Northern Waterr Preso night... a beauty with few sore heads the next day.

Unfortunately the later part of the season did quiten off, but even one marlin a day in normal person’s expectation would suffice but at the Pt Stephens marlin fishery we are spoiled so much and expect big numbers each trip.

I have fished these waters since ’73 and have experienced the good and the bad over those seasons, however the goods always outnumber the bads . My favourite season was without doubt ’97 when The Bat(my crew man of 9 years and great mate), myself and Glenn released 248 for the season inc. many 10’s and 12’s in a day, then in April 3rd the same season, we tagged 18 in a day.

It was a season of small blacks so much so you had to hide in the toilet to put the baits on.
We sat on the gunnels of Broady on that last day in April, toasted each other with a coldy as the sun set created a vision over Swan Bay and I commented then “That perhaps we had just fished the greatest marlin season ever, may be we had, time will tell.

We then fished the February of 2005 and on the 11th tagged 21 marlin in a day a day I will personally remember this for a long time, a tough day where double headers were the norm all day, it was that much more special because the fish were all big fish a mix of stripes and blacks up to 140kg a busy day where Rob Soxie Cox and myself were running all day to keep up with the non stop action, a day that I personally will remember to my grave but have no desire to repeat. I will retire “Hurt” on that one.

So many wonderful memories of this Pt Stephens marlin fishery that is in my opinion one of the best fisheries in the world and I will argue that with anyone who would challenge the fact.
My son Glenn on his famous boat Billfisher too has had some great days in 2005 I recall 17 flags up the rigger He one champion lady in the Interclub and champion boat day four

Hey look what I just caught	Grant Patterson on his marlin 006
Donna's striped before being released	Donna on her striped marlin A proud Stewy helps.
A great black on Billfisher Caught by Jamie Mackay	Happy You bet
A black flies high off Broughton Island Billfisher caught three that day	Flags were common in the Jan Feb. months Muliples every day

Many times I have watched the Billfisher puffing black smoke and hot on the tail of a rampaging marlin, always a hint of pride from his Dad, when I see the Billfisher backing up on a hot fish, there was a lot of that going on in January and February this season and a lot of black smoke from BILFISHER.

PT. STEPHENS ’08 book now
We ask all our customers who have fished the season to think about their dates for ’08 and book early as we are already getting hammered it bookings for that January February period.
So do not delay get in early Ring 9534 23 78 to book.

THE PAST TWO WEEKS
Both boats have targeted the inshore fishery and with some groups we have been luckier than others, but most have caught marlin.

On Billfisher Burmah constructions had day and saw some great action catching a couple of great fish that turned it on.

Jamie McKay too caught three in a day and emailed us some fabulous photos of their day. John Farley fished a couple of days and whilst they saw a few lookers the fish proved difficult to keep attached to, still caught a couple of fish out of it all. Greg Naris too caught marlin for their visit.

That took us up to a 40 knot southerly so no more fishing for Billfisher who is now back in Sydney.

On Broadbill had the great pleasure of fishing with my lifelong friend and schoolmate Ray Patterson.

Patto and myself went to Narwee boys High to gether so it was a special thrill for us both to have a fish to gether and laugh about some of our wild growing up times.

We struggled on the fish a little but it was a great experience when Rays son Grant ( a champion water skier and winner of this years Bridge to Bridge Grant Paterson) who was to experience the thrill of his first marlin fight when we hooked a big striped.
Grant did a great job on the rod and was all smiles when we released a 90 kilo fish.

He reckoned it was easier holding onto a ski rope at 100 miles and hour than the fishing rod with a wild striped on the other end. A trip I enjoyed immensely with Ray and his family and friends.

Big Pt Stephens striped There were plenty of them all season	A black marlin flies high off Broughton Jamie McKay pic..Island
Jamie at work on Billfisher	Another black marlin off Broughton Is
They don't all have bills A great Jamie McKay photo	Guess what Mum I'm on my second for the day
The result of a previous encounter. A lost bill... note it is starting to heal and grow back	Hooked up solid and still loosing line
We fished a few choppy days with Patto

Then came Stewy and Donna and the Fishraiders what a great bunch of people who were.
Stew and Donna own the best fishing site around www.FISHRAIDER .COM .AU and we are proud to sponsor the site. To fish with these people was a joy with Stewy never letting things gets dull with his constant humor and banter.

He is a funny man and had us in stitches during some quite times we caught a couple of marlin from a lot of lookers that were not in a feeding frame of mind.

It was Donna who fought a great black marlin of 100 kg on the first day only to have the trace break, not to be disillusioned by the bad luck she stuck to her guns and caught a beaut. striped on day three. “Outdoor Dan” was to catch a very active black marlin that circumnavigated the boat in no time flat, Dan Cooper reckoned the experience was wild His first marlin will stay with him for life.

So the season has all but ended with some great experiences, fishing with some great people who will take away from the Port a memory bank of fabulous times on

BROADBILL and BILLFISHER .
I know that it’s wishing ones life away but we cannot wait to return and do it all again in ‘08

BILLFISHER AND BROADBILL BACK IN SYDNEY
The marlin fishing is reported to be good in Sydney and we will look forward to the yellowfin tuna season starting soon.

Our trips are $1500.00 per day for groups up to six people. Ring 95342378 to book.
We do have some time over the Easter period Individuals welcome at $250.00 per head...

Next report from the BIG SMOKE.

“ON THE HOOK” with R0SS and GLENN HUNTER……….14/3/07

KEEPIN’ THE DREAM ALIVE AT PT STEPHENS
Marlin fishing at Pt Stephens has gone quite but we are still managing to find a fish or two Every group since January have caught fish , some maybe only one or two but most have had a great fishy time fishing this fisherman’s paradise.

It all started in late January for us, we went out bright eyed and bushy tailed not knowing what to expect and caught five stripes for the day We then had three days of eight and several sixes and sevens and took it for granted that this was how it will be all season……….wrong… it slowed down and the fish became scarce….why, it was all to do with the oceanic currents.
If it gets too hot here the fish disappear over night, I talk now of the stripes.

striped on the trace on Billfisher	The heat is on
Men at work on Billfisher	John Bloodshot lures traces another on Billfisher
Hey get back in the water	Traces up

The delicate balance of the right temp and current flow is critical to good fishing When we were catching the hell out of them the temps were a perfect 24 degrees and running slowly into the nor west. The hot water 26 degrees then ran and pushed all the 23 to 24 degrees water away and the fish went with it.

As a result of the slow fishing out wide we then turned our attention to the inshore fishery and whilst it has been steady pickings we have been catching blacks and stripes in the 30 to 50 fathom zones most days.

THE WODONGA /.ALBURY CONNECTION…….FISH HARD FOR GREAT TIME
The lads from Wodonga / Albury arrive and from that moment on we knew we were going to have a great couple of days fishing with these lay back blokes.

Mark Schlink was the organizer of the trip and as result we had a friendly competition between the two boats Broadbill and Billfisher.The first day it was Billfisher who caught the first marlin we had one bite but no fish. The Billfisher team had their tag flag up as they passed us but my crew were busy “admiring the white bellied sea eagle on Little Island” and would not acknowledge that their were any flags flying anywhere.…………much to the horror of the Schlink crew, who whilst only 50 metres away and yelling at pointing at the marlin tag flag to really rub it in, my crew were intent to admire the imaginary sea eagle.

Day two and it can turn around we were one marlin behind we needed a break and a bit of luck.
We fish a 20 knot southerly in rough conditions at 11.30 the right rigger goes off and we are up tight on a nice striped marlin. It was Brian “Glassy” Glass’s first marlin encounter and did a great job on the rod in the rough conditions.

There has been some small fin out wide Scott Williams holds his catch	Johnny quickly pulls Craigs black through the door and removes the parasites on its back
Craig Kermod releases his black without parasites	Cons marlin at the boat
Con gets a good bend going on his black marlin	The lads from Albury... Wadonga We had a great time.

We released the 75kg fish and got the baits back in. Glenn then reports over the bradio that he had one on and it jumped off. Phew! we live again and there was no real compassion on our boat as the boys went through the rules asking "Is a striped better than a black?" and also that in the event of a tie, we would win the trophy.

At 4.30 Glenn hooked a hammerhead, but it bit the leader through and got off.
The roars from the cockpit below was deafening when they heard the news over the radio.

Minutes later we hook up a hammerhead and Graham Jones catches it The trophy won by the Broadbill team………..The boys couldn’t get the flags up the rigger quickly enough, however as we went past Billfisher the crew were observing the sea eagles on Little Island. A great bunch of lads who we enjoyed fishing with very much we hope we will see you all back again one day.

The winning fish Graham Jone's hammerhead	Glassy on his striped marlin
Another day in Paradise Heading out.

Craig Kermod's team had to be most patient with us also to catch two marlin and a few dollies for their trip .Craig’s black marlin was covered in parasites when caught so we slid through the door and cleaned them off. These parasites that cling to the black marlins skin are like dreadlocks they must affect the dynamics of the fish by restricting its speed when chasing food. We cleaned all the parasites off the little black and returned it back.

It looked as though it had just had a “short back and sides haircut’ Well done Craig Then it was Con’s turn He released a 60 kilo black marlin after a great effort on the stand up gear.
The lads had been most patient with it all during a slow few days of fishing and behalf me and the crew we thank you for your company.

THE WATER COMES GOOD 24 DEGREES IN CLOSE AND PURPLE.
The water in close has gone purple and is 24 degrees…We jumped a black off yesterday and Reel Chase caught one beside us. My gut feel is that the fishing inshore is about to hot up. We caught two blacks the other day and Tim Dean caught a striped and a black We have a couple of RDO’S so I intend to get some land lubber time up until Friday.

We will be back into it after that. When we see a water change like this and when we know that the fish are being caught pretty well at Forster, just around the corner from Pt Stephens…………………………………… so it is going to happen we feel.

WE HAVE THEFOLLOWING DAYS AVAILABLE AT PT STEPHENS
(Cost $1700.00 per day for six anglers or $290.00 per day each)
March 19th, 20 Th 21st
Or 29th, 30 and 31st March

Individuals or groups welcome we caught 18 marlin in a day in late march in ‘97 so it could be well worth the trip. Ring 0418 462 476 or 0409 047 727 to book or for details .

“ON THE HOOK” with Ross and Glenn Hunter…. 5/3/07

Fishing at Pt Stephens has certainly taken a downturn, whilst this will not last; it is a little disappointing for us all. Some wise man once said “You can only catch what’s swimming in then ocean”but considering that our tally of marlin tagged to date between Billfisher and Broadbill is 170 marlin I suppose it would be rude to complain too much.

NSW ’07 INTERCLUB BEEN AND GONE
The largest fishing event in the southern hemisphere is over for another 12 months.

Over 200 boats fished and for most the fishing was pretty slow.

The Interclub has been and gone and life will start to get back to normal, no more sharing the ocean with 200 other boats in close quarters when the bite is on.

Tony