A large mass of marlin moved in to Australia’s
south-east coast during late summer,
producing spectacular striped marlin action all
the way from Port Stephens in NSW down to
Mallacoota off eastern Victoria.Newslines
Striped marlin fire along Australia’s south-east
Mid-January to February brought
exceptional striped marlin fishing
down Australia’s south-east coastline,
firing-up from Port Stephens in NSW
to Mallacoota in eastern Victoria.
It’s a rare thing to have so many
ports and locations firing all at the
same time.
Victoria well and truly stamped its mark
on the Australian gamefishing map during
this period, delivering more than a month
of exceptional fishing when a sub-tropical
blue water current with temperatures up
to 24°C pushed in to the coast just east
of Gabo Island. The new marlin grounds
off eastern Victoria may very well become
Australia’s hotspot for big striped marlin if
the next few seasons continue to produce
similar results.
On February 12, two trailerboat teams
together with Richard Abela’s Victorian
charterboat Dream Catcher II tagged
and released 23 marlin off Mallacoota. It
was a day full of highlights, during which
Richard’s clients scored a 10-marlin day
as well as a successful marlin triple-
header. All boats saw large numbers of
marlin that day, with Robbie Daniels,
Luke Meli and Steven Clarke raising more
than 20 aboard Robbie’s 6m Seafarer,
landing nine for their efforts in some very
ordinary conditions. Similar results were
found by boats fishing the waters off
Ulladulla and Jervis Bay in southern NSW,
with most crews seeing up to nine fish
that same day.
The quality of the striped marlin
was consistently high, with numerous
specimens estimated at more than 130kg.
A monster caught by Maria Gomes was
estimated at over 150kg, so could certainly
have challenged the long-standing GFAA
Women’s All-Tackle record.
Black marlin were mixed with the stripies
on the NSW grounds, whereas in the
slightly cooler southern waters off Victoria
the marlin were almost exclusively striped.
The Mallacoota hot streak fizzled out
towards the end of February when some
colder water moved in.
A huge mass of baitfish along the NSW
South Coast is likely to keep the action
pretty hot through March, even with the
new Ulladulla-based trawler licensed to
work the Small Pelagic Fishery hard at
it day and night, scooping up tonnes of
baitfish. Hopefully the pressure of this
operation won’t be felt by the baitfish
biomass, although its long-term effect on
Australia’s south-east gamefishery may
not be known for years to come.
Marlin action in the vicinity of Bermagui
ramped-up at the beginning of March as
the East Australian Current slowed and
baitfish stacked up on the traditional
grounds of 12-mile Reef and Tuross
Canyons. If things keep progressing the
way they have been, March and April look
set to deliver spectacular gamefishing in
southern NSW.TasmaniaVictoriaNew South WalesAustralian
Capital
TerritoryMallacootaBermaguiJervis BaySydneyMelbournePort Stephens