Perth Game Fishing Club Marlin at the Trench, Jurien Bay and Abrolhos, Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna, BIG GUNS comp, Social night, GAMEX Interclub.

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1 Perth Game Fishing Club In Postal Address: PO Box 57 North Beach 6920 Perth Game Fishing Club 2012 President: Johnno Wroth In this issue: Marlin at the Trench, Jurien Bay and Abrolhos, Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna, BIG GUNS comp, Social night, GAMEX Interclub. 2nd February 2012 Fishing An outstanding weekend just gone suggests that we are in the midst of a cracker season with blue and striped marlin, yellowfin tuna and wahoo along with the usual spray of mahi mahi and tuna showing up. Talking with each of the skippers, it appears there were very few other boats at the trench chasing billfish. In the big marlin years of the late 90 s, it was not uncommon to see 8 or 10 boats targeting billfish on a week-day the point being that most of the boats that have been chasing marlin this month have been successful imagine what a higher level of fishing effort (more boats) might result in. First up though, a contribution from member Sean Sicree regarding the previous week. Went out on Big Daddy on the stormy Friday morning (20 th ), blowing a 40 knot easterly and the blackest sky I have ever seen. Heading for the trench with fingers crossed that the weather would turn. We started at the PGFC FAD that showed no sign of life then ran with the wind across the trench almost to the other side. It was so windy that there was not a bird in sight. By around 10 am the weather started to clear and we turned and punched back towards the FSC FAD. Upon arrival we were greeted with around kg dolphin fish which we had fun with for a while and kept a couple for dinner. We were looking for marlin so the mahis were all caught on heavy gear with smallish metal head high speed lures. Around the weather had turned and the birds came in their thousands congregating over large schools of small striped tuna. We got a 12 kg wahoo out of one of the bait schools. No other pelagic action but a good feed and a good day all the same. Big Daddy went on to tag two blue marlin on Sunday (29 th ) details to come The Weston boys, Ben, Joff and their dad Colin had a great couple of days aboard Ben s Caribbean. (This is an abridged version, the whole story and images will be published in the year-end Strike magazine.) Ben takes up the story. We set off in Caribbean on Saturday morning with the intention of running out wide in search of some yellowfin and marlin. We picked up some little southern blues in the 170s and ran them as live baits out to the FADs with no success. Once past the FADs, which were loaded with boats throwing whole squid with massive sinkers at 2 kg dollies we decided 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 1

2 to head wider into the trench out towards the 1000 m mark due to the amazing water and calm seas. As we headed out the water temp was rising steadily and all signs were good. Moments after crossing a current line the 24 kg on the long rigger exploded to life. Joff grabbed it and I started to clear the spread. Whilst cranking in the short corner another striped marlin grabbed the long corner and came out of the water for two jumps before throwing the hooks. In the middle of this, yet another fish came in and wacked the bird teaser with squid chain so hard that all that was left was the central pin and the teaser rope! We took a very quick photo of Joff s fish, then swam it and watched it power back down to the depths to recover. After getting all the gear back in the water we trolled the grounds around the initial hook up point for another 30 minutes without success and so headed wider again to 1000m. The water temp here was upwards of 26.3 degrees and the surface was covered with phytoplankton of some sort with millions of very small fish sheltering under these red cloud banks. As we approached these banks we saw some old timber doors in the water and hoped they would be holding some decent dollies. We were not disappointed. They came from every direction and started smacking into the marlin lures. We would estimate there was over 100 fish in the 6-10 kg range smashing every lure. We decided to have some fun on 2 kg and pinned about 10 fish in quick time. Surprisingly there was a nice wahoo swimming with the dollies wondering what all the fuss was. We soon tired of catching dollies and left a very hot bite in order to try and find a wahoo in the area. We didn t have to wait very long. The 24 kg was smashed and the 37 kg was eaten by a wahoo. Unfortunately it pulled free at the boat after being scull dragged in on 37 kg. You will see above, the tooth marks on the lure that didn t get eaten, there were clearly some decent sized fish in the area. We decided from here to head to a spot where we encountered a good blue last year and almost on the mark the short corner was annihilated by a rampaging blue that grey hounded off into the distance at an alarming rate. By the time the spread was cleared we had less than 50 turns left on the 24 kg reel. We got back under control by getting down wind and proceeded to get the bow out of the line and made some good progress towards the fish. Unfortunately we dropped the fish less than 40 metres from the boat. I was, as you can imagine, gutted as this was a fish in the 150 to 180 kg range and would have resulted in a wonderful day out. Interestingly the smaller lures were certainly the pick this day and accounted for all fish. Purples and lumos were most successful. The image above shows how the 150 kg snap had been totally bent out of shape and the lure was somewhat incredibly hooked into the 90 degree bend and had held through part of the fight under an immense load. Clearly the lesson here is to make sure you use extremely high load snaps or the wind on type, as even on a 24 kg outfit with only 8 kg of drag at strike there is clearly enough force to spring these lighter clips open. Reflecting on the weekend, Joff s thoughts were my first billfish tagged this year (and at the trench) after a few missed opportunities. I wish I had taken my switch-bait outfit along - 15 kg spin would have been great fun on this. 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 2

3 Dave Gray had planned a quiet family Australia Day weekend in Marjorie Bay but the temptation became too great with the calm water and wind-less conditions. We fished Saturday morning with Robin and Desert and friend Alex, around the 100 to 130 m lines west of Rottnest. It was alive with very small striped and southern bluefin tuna all around 1 kg. We were in a nice patch of 25.3 water when all 4 rods went off with a mixture of lures including a new Halco Crazy Deep, Richter Dorado, Richter Jelly Babe and a Black Bart Mini Pelagic. Robin picked up the 4kg outfit. Desert (8) and Alex (11) struggled to pick up the 10 and 15 kg rods so I got them to leave them in the rod holders whilst I reeled in the first yellowfin. Luckily after a few minutes the 2 girls were able to get the other 2 fish to the boat without any rods being broken then we concentrated on Robin s fish as it was playing up a little on the 4 kg outfit. After 10 minutes colour was spotted in the crystal clear water and we netted a nice 7.8 kg yellowfin for Robin and some very nice tuna steaks for the BBQ. All 4 fish were between 5 and 7.8 kg. Dave discovered these very interesting cartoon character like critters in the innards of the YFTs while checking their livers for positive identification as yellowfin. The images have been sent off to Dr Julian Pepperell and the Australian Museum for positive identification. Initial results indicate a type of box fish further details to come. They certainly don t look quick enough to get away from a yellowfin. Scores Latest Club Championship Scores can be viewed or downloaded HERE. Scores are changing every week and there s some surprises among the front runners. The Neil Patrick Trophy details will be updated next week. Tags Members requiring tags for all categories should contact the club s weigh-master John Webber on , or john@webbers.net.au 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 3

4 And there s more Tim Carson took this picture by holding the camera over the side of the boat at the All Marine Services FAD after the big storm on Friday 20 th. Note the tagged fish at bottom left. WA Open Jurien Bay As most will know by now the Shimano WA Open will this year be held on March 31 st and April 1 st at Jurien Bay. Arrangements for fuel, accommodation, boat storage and venues is nearly complete. Very solid sponsorship is coming from businesses in the Jurien community. Further details soon. Craig White s Valkoista charter operation has been running flat out since early December, alas he had not had the chance to dedicate any time to billfish until last Tuesday when he raised a small black in 60 m of water, followed by two blues, both of which were tagged temperature was in the low 24 s. Another crew, excited by Whitey s success, tagged a 150 kg blue the following day. There are also some very big mackerel coming from the second bank. Abrolhos Islands Looks like things are hotting up at the Abrolhos Islands with Murray Olden raising 3 blue marlin last Friday (27 th ) and tagging one estimated at 250 kg. The Abrolhos tournament is coming up in April, Click here for information. 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 4

5 Social Night Social Night Next Tuesday February 7th - at RPYC Fremantle 5:45 onwards come and share your tales of the summer fishing with lots of other members. The Smoke Shack is sponsoring the evening with their formidable Bradley Smoker freshly smoked fish and meats to tempt everyone. Last Year IGFA launched the new All- Tackle Length Record category and new records are quickly being achieved for many species all around the world. Unfortunately few have been submitted for WA and none from Perth waters or PGFC members. This is about to change! PGFC s mostly tag and release fishing suits perfectly this type of record and as the new category is in its infant stages provides our members the opportunity to achieve world records for some of the pelagic species that swim our waters. At the social night on Tuesday 7 th February, Life Member and IGFA Trustee, Neil Patrick will discuss the species list in this category and demonstrate just how easy it is to measure the fish with the IGFA ruler and submit an application. For members who require an additional or replacement copy of Strike magazine there will be copies available free at the social night. Crews With the fishing activity hotting up, now is the time for boat owners to find that extra crew member for a weekday or weekend foray to the trench. If you are wanting a crew or to get in touch with someone who may be available let us have the details to put on the website. Details should include name, preferred contact method and time and anything else that is relevant. Potential crew members should give similar details. All will be put up on the website. contact@pgfc.com.au Some skippers are already talking about consolidating crews on the bigger boats going to Jurien Bay for the Shimano WA Open. Rules After some time waiting, GFAA has released its DVD entitled Game Fishing Australia outlining rules and procedures. This is being sent free of charge by WAGFA to all our club members. If you haven t spotted it by the end of next week please let us know. Having reviewed the content, it is informative and entertaining and well worth watching for all newish members and those that have been game fishing for many years. Wanted From member Russ Jackson January 22nd Thank you very much for posting my crew wanted for Gamex & AIBT, mission accomplished! You can delete it Now I am seeking some old school game fishing rods. I want the old style long game rods 6-24kg. Fenwick use to make this style of rod. If anyone has one or more and wants to sell them, I am interested.please me rjackson@iinet.net.au Thanks, Russ 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 5

6 Weather For the lastest update in weather forecasts and conditions Sea Surface Temperature Image taken at 0342 EST 1 st February. High spot temperature of Currents half those of last week and less uniform For updated images Fremantle Tides Friday 27 Saturday 28 Sunday 29 Time Height Time Height Time Height Tide data supplied by 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 6

7 Divers at FADs In the last Hook-Up we alerted members to the negotiations being conducted by WAGFA with DoT regarding the safety issues of divers at the FADs. So far unsuccessful, but not over yet as far as WAGFA is concerned. The article below has appeared in the department s Boating Communities newsletter dated 24 th January. Note the highlighted section snorkelers at the FADs are not required to have a Code A flag, so if you are trolling past a FAD at 8 knots you travel 500 m in the time it takes for a snorkeler to dive and surface; good luck trying to avoid them but remember as a skipper you are liable. For Sale Rods and reels January 25th Two matched custom made bent butt chair rods (37kg) fully rollered, two Shimano 2 speed Tiagra 80 reels regularly serviced Contact for details Gamex Interclub Tournament The club will be sponsoring 2 teams of anglers to fish the WAGFA Interclub Tournament to be held concurrently with EGFC s Gamex even. Invitations to apply for this sponsorship are included in the flyer on page 9 of this issue of Hook-Up. Images We get a lot of images sent by and phone to be considered for inclusion in Hook-Up, for identification purposes or just for interest s sake. In the past couple of weeks there has been a surfeit of pictures of billfish lying on boats, being held up bodily for trophy pictures or in other poses. Be aware tht there is no shortage of do gooders out there who would delight in using these practices against the interests of recreational anglers such as our members. It is the club s policy not to use images such as these in any of its publications. It is further suggested that our members do not photograph fish that are to be returned to the water other than when they are in the water. 2nd February 2012 Hook-Up Page 7

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