Been awhile since our last report as we’ve been fishing almost every day and slack on the computer side of things.

Some excellent fishing was had over the last week of Feb with our best day being 8 from 8 with 4 blacks and 4 striped.  Mark Codner from the US fished with us for 2 days at the end of Feb and 1st March, we managed 7 bites for the 2 days and caught 4 with Mark catching his first black marlin which gave us a good run around and a memorable fight.

Todd Fechner also fulfilled his bucket list “fish”catching his first striped marlin.

The fishing has slowed somewhat through the early part of March with changing conditions everyday – strong currents, green water and the bulk of the bait dispersing and becoming more spread out.

We fished the “carpark” yesterday and things definately looked on the improve with all boats there getting a couple of shots and marking some good bait along with the marlin.  Water temp is around 26 degrees with some good blue marlin in it along with some fat striped marlin around the 200-230lbs mark.

We caught 2 over the last 4 days out of the 5 raised with a nice blue marlin caught for Bill yesterday at an est 300lbs.

The fishing still remains excellent from Port Stephens with catches of 5 & 6 marlin a day not uncommon in the leadup to the Luhrs Shootout Tournament  held over the weekend.

The tournament hosted 90 boats with the team on Gunrunner taking out first place with 13 fish, followed by The Force with 10 fish and we took 3rd place with 9 fish.   Boats that fished for blue marlin on the shelf and beyond had plenty of bites and some nice blues were caught, with the biggest weighing in at 230kg.

With the tournament now over and the crowd dying down mid week, we’re looking forward to the next 3 days of fishing before the Interclub Tournament kicks off on the weekend.

The fish are still biting here in Port Stephens.    Out today for 3 days with the George, Glen and Paul Campbell from Cairns with the weather due to come down and hoping to improve on the 8 fish caught from the previous 4 days of fishing with 2 blacks amongst 6 stripes.   Bait is still thick with water temperatures ranging between 24 and 25 degrees.

Capt Ross Finlayson – www.australiangamefishing.com

The weather has been fantastic to date through January with clear water and little storm activity off Cairns.  Ross and the Top Shot  had good fishing last week with  catches of wahoo, yellowfin tuna, Spanish mackerel and a black marlin for Chris King around 200lbs.

With the marlin fishing tapering down over the next couple of months off Cairns – it is currently red hot in Port Stephens for all species – stripes, blacks and blues.    Latest update from Tim Dean on the Calypso for last 2 days of fishing was 5 striped marlin each day  between 80 & 90 kg.     Ross heads down to join Tim on the Calypso this week for a few weeks with Biggles  heading down later in the month for some tournament fishing.