Offshore set to improve
The offshore scene has been slow to put it bluntly and things are only just showing signs of improving. The Hervey Bay tournament held in November showed there is some red hot fishing on its way down – hopefully! There were good numbers of blue marlin out wide over the canyons with most boats finding multiple fish, in fact the top boat got 7 for the two day event. Victorian angler Gus Theobald towed his 5.6 metre centre console all the way up for the event and reported some great fishing in close finding the odd black marlin as well as wahoo and mahi.

I recently fished the Club Marine Coffs Harbour Tournament and things were very slow. The current was pushing north inshore and despite acres of bait the area was dead. The best fishing was well wide where a few boats trolling lures encountered some big blue marlin. Unfortunately more fish were lost than were caught but a couple of boats lucked on some flotsam and found a patch of mahi and small fin – so there are some fish around.

This all points toward a decent blue marlin season so fingers crossed. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the impending inshore black marlin season which has almost been non nonexistent further north in Queensland.

There are sporadic reports of tuna off Sydney Ivan Bennett on Ambition cubed up one nice yellowfin while further south there are still sporadic reports of yellowfin and albacore. With the fish so spread out I think the best approach is to troll early in the season and really focus on the temperature breaks.

Best kingy season on record
If you have been reading my blog you will know how good the kingy season has been so far off Sydney. The offshore reefs have slowed a bit with the main concentration of fish being found inshore over the reefs and headlands. The best part is that it’s only the beginning and they should get even better. To top it off the fish are big, in fact looking at my records I have caught more fish over 10kg than any other season. This year there will be some huge kings caught this year.

My prediction is there will be some big kings caught this season and not just off Sydney but also south over traditional grounds like the Banks, Jervis Bay, Montague and Eden. So don’t make excuses get out there and find some big hoodlums!

Interestingly last year popper fishing was deadly but this year it is all about live baiting. Most importantly I have found getting the right bait is the key and let me tell you it is all about slimies this season. Fishing the grounds we have watched the other boats catch heaps of smaller kings on yakkas but the moment we slip a live slimie over the side we instantly pulled a heavy weight king. So there is a lot of merit in putting in the hours to find the right bait.

Slow trolling livies is always the best way to cover grounds. I like to run one as a flat line and then add a sinker to the other to get it down deeper in the water column. Interestingly it is often the surface bait that produces the biggest fish.

If you’re fishing in water deeper than 20 metres then a downrigger is worth its weight in gold. One trick I can offer is to always fish the reel in gear because there is a natural drop back with the line running through the release clip. Wherever you fish for kings never take your eyes off the sounder and watch it not just for bait but fish as well.

Mahi coming
Although there aren’t many reports yet if the current continues to rage south then I suspect these guys will appear early this season so watch the currents and if the water is clean and blue get out and check the FADS. The early season fish are often the biggest so being the early bird you will get the worm!

Bring on the gamefishing season!