to RipCharts (www.ripcharts.com) or FishTrack (www.
fishtrack.com) is an investment that will pay for itself in
fuel savings and unforgettable action many times over.
FOCUS AROUND STRUCTURE
The other way to find aggregations of action is to
scan nautical charts for undersea formations such as
canyons, pinnacles and kinks in the shelf edge. These
seafloor formations disrupt the current flow, causing
upwellings that congregate the larger bait species that
blues feed on.
However, a raging current flowing into structure can
sometimes cause such a strong upwelling that the
surface water ends up being green and dirty, which
is a turn off for blues. When this occurs you may
find better results fishing up-current or well down
current of the structure where you’ll hopefully find a
noticeable water colour edge.
These colour edges can also be found ahead of time
using the ‘chlorophyll’ setting on the satellite charts
mentioned above.
Once out there and on the search, simple observation
is still important. Always be on the lookout for current
lines, tuna schools, floating objects or anything else
that may be worth investigating with your lures.
Contrary to other species of billfish, there’s less
need to search for mid-water aggregations of smaller
baitfish since blues typically hunt larger prey species
like skipjack tuna that may not be easy to locate via
sonar. That said, big schools of flying fish and even pilot
whales – which often indicate a localised abundance of
large squid – are all signs of a good area to fish.
TRAILERBOAT TACTICS
Because of the large search area to find these fish, the
leading tactics for blue marlin worldwide are to either
troll skirted lures or run hookless teasers and then
switch a bait to any fish raised. Either way, the general
approach is the same.
Although open trailerboats offer an advantage over
larger cruisers for chasing blue marlin, they do present
unique challenges that demand a revised set of tactics.
When hooked-up to a blue from a trailerboat,
the angler will need to be able to move freely
as the skipper takes full advantage of the boat’s
manoeuvrability. This requires stand-up tackle with a
quality heavy-tackle rod bucket and harness.
Most Aussie blue marlin weigh between 100 and
200kg, but fish weighing more than 300kg are always
a chance along either side of Australia. For many
anglers, 37kg gear is ideal as it is comfortable to
manage and provides enough pull to put you in with
a good shot at landing any bigger blues that jump on.BRAID WITH TOPSHOT
I run 37kg off a Shimano Tiagra 50WLRS, which when
filled with braid backing such as Jerry Brown Hollow
Core and a short (50 to 80m) topshot of 37kg mono,
will pack on an easy 1000m of line. Together with the
right stand-up rod, you’ve got a light, punchy outfit
that can be easily manhandled around obstructions
like cabins, outriggers or outboards. However, if you
have your sights set on a once-in-a-lifetime hogget,
stepping up to an 80W-size reel running 60kg line is
certainly workable in a trailerboat.The crew aboard
Freeballz with a
blue estimated at
more than 300kg
off Exmouth in
November 2015- proof that a walk-
around trailerboat
of even modest size
can certainly catch
big blues!
“Centre-console
or walk-around
cabin boats
enable the
skipper to stay
right on the
bolting blue’s
hammer.”
bluewatermag.com.au 63Trailerboat blues