“Tags in” – it’s the two words you want to hear after going into battle with the stallion of the sea, the mighty marlin. There has been a massive turn-around in fishing practices over the past decades that has seen catch and release at the forefront when anglers go chasing what is considered the pinnacle of sports fishing.
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I’ll lay my cards on the table early and say that I’m a strong advocate of the Game Fish Tagging Program, believing that a catch and release for marlin is the go to ensure the sustainability of the marlin fishery.
There is a certain allure about fishing for these ballerinas of the ocean currents. Whether it be a black, blue or striped, they are pretty much on the bucket list for all sports fishers.
And why wouldn’t they be? Although it can be a long wait between strikes sometimes, when you hook up on one of these stick faces of the ocean you get an instance adrenalin rush as they start peeling line off the drag and dancing across the surface of the water. Their aerial antics are awesome to watch and the bigger fish can give you an epic head-to-head fight really testing your skills.
Marlin around our local area seem to be in great numbers between January and March but depending on the currents they can turn up before and last longer if the water is right. The best time for black marlin seem to be when the water is between 23 degrees and 25 degrees. Striped marlin don't seem to like the water too hot and prefer the water around the 22 degree to 24 degrees mark. One of the most important things to search for when chasing marlin is bait.
They seem to like slimey mackerel the most around our local area but if the bait stays around the marlin seem to also, this also depends on the current. If there is a lot of current the bait doesn't seem to hold up in the usual locations (Drum Canyons, The Kink and Kiama Canyons) as it is hard for them to stay in the area with the push of the current.
In these conditions trolling lures or skip baiting seems to be the best idea on the Continental Shelf because you can easily cover ground searching for bait and you might snag a fish while searching for bait as the fish will be doing the same.
The inshore feef systems seem to fish well when the current is moving quickly out wide as the bait can get cover on the reef systems and generally the current isn't pushing as hard. In these conditions live baiting by either slow trolling or drifting baits works well. Locations like Jervis Bay and the Banks are ideal when the current is strong.
To be continued in next Friday’s South Coast Register.
