TASMANIA Offshore

Marlin, what marlin?

OFFSHORE Kelly Hunt

In last month’s report I made mention of marlin. This sparked a few questions and some keen interest, so this month we’ll look further into how we might catch a Tasmanian marlin – the golden chalice of Tasmanian offshore game fishing.

The species most likely to be encountered in our take a few tries, and don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen perfectly the first two or three attempts.

Much like any fishing trip, the weather is going to be crucial. To catch the bait in close and to find bait schools on the edge of the shelf and beyond is a lot easier in good sea conditions. Little or no chop and very little swell and wind will increase your ability and comfort in going about your business. It doesn’t hurt to have a schools and catch a marlin. It all sounds so easy (and sometimes it can be), but in reality it takes a crew a bit of time to get the skills and techniques together when there are a few fish around in places like Port Stephens and Bermagui. The limited opportunity afforded in Tasmania makes it problematic, so let’s go through a typical series of events that will be a rough template for getting your marlin game on.

First of all, get out on the water and off the back of some inshore drop-offs or reefs, and find some live bait. You are looking for some yellowtail scad, jack mackerel or blue mackerel – all of these are marlin candy.

Until the excitement of the big show, you will probably skip bait your livies. If you haven’t done this before, go out and catch a couple and get on YouTube and learn how to stich them up to skip. Don’t panic if your first attempts aren’t very good. No one needs to be an expert and rig one up like a 10-year Lizard Island veteran. Practice and then practice some more, and it will be fine. WHAT NEXT

Head out to your grounds and drag some skirted lures once you get there, as this allows you to throw down a search pattern at 6-7 knots. What you are trying to do is find some bait on your sounder – a big collection of bait on the edge of the shelf or just over the edge in 200-300m. While you troll about, mark up any bait you see and move about looking for more.

If you are happy that you have found some good pockets of bait here and there, drop down to 3 knots and set out two skip baits in your riggers. While you are at reduced speed, readjust your sounder and really try to get some good returns.

Now it’s on and you are looking for any sign of the bait being fed on. The beauty of this is you are fishing while you search. Traveling at a slower speed means you are not covering as much ground. Yet you have found some bait and the skip baits you have rubber-banded out in the riggers are fishing and could be hit at any time.

The bait school shapes on your sounder will change and move in the water column due to tide and current, but any big changes and having them tighten up and form pillars can mean they are being fed on. If this is the case, do some runs past a little slower and try and get a sounder screen showing an arch or a wiggly snake. If you come across such a thing it may be a marlin or two feeding on the bait and balling them up.

ACTION STATIONS

Now it’s time for the crew to come into their own. They need to bring in the skip baits and swiftly clip on a live bait rig and attach a live bait. We use some good quality 80lb fluoro leader and Owner circle hooks.

On your sounder you will be able to reference a few things – what depth the bait starts, where the bait school ends and what depth your suspected fish arch is. Now that you have two live baits ready to deploy, the skipper will call out two numbers. As an example, if the fish arch was at 60m he may call out “port side 40” and “starboard side 70”. The depth depends on the snapper sinker size to rubber band to your leader junction. In this case I’d use a 4oz.

With the rod in the side rod holder, the port side crew member can reach over and, from the rod tip, strip line to the water level and let go and repeat, hand over hand. Having the rod in freespool with the clicker on to stop and overrun is the key here. This will be about a metre at each strip and he can count out 40 of them. The starboard side team member can do same but strip from tip to water level, hand over hand 70 of them.

Now what we should have is the live baits down at roughly 40 and 70m, with their eyes wide open thinking, “why me?!”

So now you have the trap set, with drags set super light, and you should be drifting along with the bait school with two very nervous baits in the mix. Rubber band the lines up high into the riggers as quick as you can and then each crew member is in charge of watching their side with an eagle eye. You are looking for that rubber band to stretch under load or even for the mono line to start to coil loosely on the surface. This means the fish has bit and has felt the hook, and may be coming up for a jump. If this is the case, swiftly take up the slack and then look for some load on the line gently as the circle hook finds a home. The water pressure that the fish puts on the line when swimming up normally has the hook in a good spot. If the marlin has taken the live bait and is moving off slowly, point the rod tip to the water and slowly push the drag lever forward. This will draw the circle hook around, and with good luck set in the fish’s jaw.

If all goes to plan, good times are to follow. Hooked marlin are a lot of fun and often jump several times in spectacular fashion. Work hard on keeping nice and tight to the fish and use the flex of the rod and stay loaded. Monofilament is the best line to use in this case, as it allows a nice stretchy buffer between angler and fish. With a marlin’s ability to jump and put on a turn of pace, you need the elasticity to stop bust-offs.

It is a bit to take in for sure. However, if you are keen and willing to try a new targeted approach, there are fish out there. Possibly more than we even realise, it just needs a few more keen anglers to get out and have a few days specifically targeting marlin in good weather.

Until next time, tight lines and be safe.

Julian Overton with his 60.6kg marlin caught out of St Helens.

Tasmanian waters is the striped marlin. These fish are magnificent and, being the smallest of the three big marlin species we chase, grow to 4m long and 260kg. In Tasmania we see them more commonly in the 80-120kg range.

The limited opportunity we have to target these awesome piscatorial marvels means we have to have our heads around what we can do to increase our chances. I say ‘target’ because it’s a form of fishing that needs some attention to detail and planning. You can just waltz out on a normal fishing trip and be lucky enough to hook and catch a marlin in Tasmania. This, however, is rare and if you really want to tick one off your bucket list you’re going to have to spend some designated time and effort. This is going to look at some sea surface temperature details as well, and look to come out of a boat ramp that allows you to access a temperature break or strong push of the East Australia Current. The weather and currents in March mean it’s as good a time as any to get out and have a crack. The area in and around Schouten Island is a great place to start, as well as the traditional grounds off St Helens.

Once you have your day and area picked out, you can organize a meeting with your crew to discuss the plan of attack. Fishing for marlin is a team sport, and your crew needs to be on the same page. Make sure they understand this is a targeted mission.

SOUNDS EASY

Catch live baits, head out to shelf, find bait You are after bait schools getting shaped by squiggles.