Australia, a good Big Game zone?

It's a vast country and the fishing is so varied - from the tropical waters of the north through to the temperate waters off South Australia and Tazmania.

Any number of our members have fished there with great success. We've recorded numbers of Black Marlin, some estimated at in excess of 1000lbs, from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. The giants - all females - are normally encountered from mid-September to say mid-November. But earlier in the year they encounter lots of smaller, juvenile Marlin (and Sailfish) - great fun on light tackle or fly gear. One of our members, currently living in Belgium, fished there last year and I have asked him to post a note of his trip.

But, and I know there is a lot of interest in Germany in Shark fishing, one of our members used to fish for the Great White Sharks in the shallow waters, often just 10 metres deep, off South Australia. THe largest he landed weighed 1704lbs - 773kgs. But several years ago, because of their endangered status, all fishing for them was banned. However I understand there is excellent fishing for BIG Tiger Sharks at Moreton Island, just north of Brisbane on Australia's 'Gold Coast'.

What may be of interest to some reading this thread though is the light tackle and saltwater fly fishing off the far north - the Cape York area - that one of our members has sampled. Here's a brief note of his latest trip.

Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland
In early April (2004) Geoff Flores fished with a mothercraft operation – Carpentaria Seafaris – in Australia’s remote far north, 80 miles off the tip of Cape York in Queensland. Sampling different locations the mothercraft – Capricorn Mist - moves anchorage each day with the anglers, of which there are a maximum of 14, fishing two to each skiff. Light tackle or fly angling opportunities par excellence!

Fishing 30lb tackle Geoff had a wonderful time catching lots of fish. Although he did experience some trouble with the sharks that appeared quite adept as ‘snaffling’ the fish whilst being played. And some of these were 60lb plus fish, being literally bitten in half!

In total he had specimens from nine different species during his six days of fishing including Coral Trout, Bigeye & Golden Trevallies, Queenfish and Tanguigue (Narrow Barred Mackerel). And photographs of some of the fish may be viewed by clicking here.

I know it’s a long way but the fishing potential is phenomenal. Should you want to explore the operation’s comprehensive web site click here.

Since Geoff's trip I understand that they, as well as fishing the Cape York area, also, for the period between November and April, move the operation and target the northerly end of the Great Barrier Reef.

Black Marlin from the Shore
Recently I just seen a video which show anglers hooking, and occasionally landing, smaller - up to 400lbs - Black Marlin from the cliffs at the entrance to Port Stephens harbour. (That's on Australia's east coast.) They use beachcasters coupled with big game reels and float their baits out, supported by balloons. Real extreme fishing!

But I understand as well there's similarly a place they catch them, together with big sharks, on the west coast, north of Perth. If anyone's interested let me know and I can easily obtain that information.
Dave

You will find fishing for Great White Sharks is now banned in most states as they are an endangered species. Fishing for Whalers, Tigers, Hammerheads etc., is possible anywhere on the east and west coasts.

As for Giant Black Marlin the North Queensland Coast is the best place for them although they turn up all along the east and west coasts as they migrate. Every year there seems to be a Grander Black caught off New Zealand.

What you don't hear much about is our Blue Marlin fishery. No Grander Blues have been caught recreationally as far as I am aware to IGFA rules anywhere in Oz but one was only a few pounds under from the south coast of New South Wales. Every now and again a boat fishing on the east coast gets spooled by monsters, even on 130s so they are out there. The mainstay of our Blue fishery are fish in the 90-200kg range. 4 heavy tackle fish (using gear over 24kg in waters deeper than 100m) a day would be a good day. Up to 10 have been caught in a day with one boat locally connecting to 16 in two consecutive days in March 2004. They might not be big by world Blue Marlin standards or as abundant as some places but they still put on that Blue Marlin display greyhounding across the top during their initial few runs. Grand Slams can also be had when things are right - Blue/Black/Stripe in quite a few areas.

Our inshore Billfish fishery consists of the migratory run of juvenile Black Marlin and Indo-Pacific Sailfish which are targetted with 6kg and 8kg line. The Blacks have the same pattern but the Sails can turn up anytime anywhere.

Australia is so vast with so many options it would be like asking someone from the US about their fishery. Questions would need to be location or species specific.

My experience is mostly on the light tackle fish. I have had one day of 11 Black Marlin in a day and about 4 days of 4 Marlin or Sailfish in a day. Other Gamefish are also common as bycatch or targetted. Sharks where I come from are regarded as a pest as they are so common and there are more glamourous things to be caught. More and more people are chasing the Heavy Tackle fish now for some reason.

Hi Smithy
And firstly welcome to the forum. I was interested to see your observations about the Blue Marlin off the east coast. Certainly a more 'unpredictable' fish in the way they fight than Blacks, and the jumps are spectacular.

I'd heard them caught out deep further up off Brisbane but hadn't picked up on any reports from New South Wales before. Keep promising myself a trip to Oz - what months are they encountered in, and what are the best ports to try for the run?
Dave

Hi Smithy, a really good article mate, I have only fished for small fry in Australia, but have alway's been a fan of the Cairns fishery simply because of the stories of grander Blacks. I live and work in New Zealand running a small charter boat from Whakatane in the Bay Of Plenty. Of some interest to you might be our Blue Marlin fishery which runs from sort of Feb through till April, of special interest is the location a very small coastal community called Wiahau Bay which is about an hour by boat from here, this location boasts blues in excess of 300kg and is the mecca for this species during the national big game fishing contest. A good friend of mine last year tagged two Blues in excess of 250kg and the third one fell off at the boat and this fish was even larger, all in one day !!. Another question for you, how often do your shore based anglers capture marlin from the rocks ? this would be an absolute blast to have a crack at.
All the best Lionel