Hervey Bay Black Marlin Fishing

Some highlights from last season while fishing with mate "Tumby" Tom Tierney - shoot by James Ibrahim for Shimano Fishing Australia . Unfortunately the numbers have not been as good this season as I highlighted in my previous post. It does need to be understood that this unique marlin fishery is not a consistent or predictable fishery – it’s not even an annual event. A good indicator that we will see numbers of these small black marlin in the bay is when numbers of these fish are encountered further north off Townsville & Cairns from around August each year. These fish aggregate around known baitfish grounds inside the Great Barrier Reef. Once they show up in these locations in numbers it is generally understood there will be a good migration of these fish down the East coast as they follow the warm water south & arrive in Hervey Bay from late September/ early October. They will generally stay in the Bay until Christmas, depending on the currents and baitfish. Our best conversions have come using skipping gars rigged using Eagle Claw Circle Sea Hooks Light Wire L2004EL in 8/0. I stitched my gars using waxed thread from just behind the head and left a bridle loop of about 3cm from the eye which you simply just loop onto the circle hook . Once the marlin takes the bait you need to allow them to run for approx. 10 seconds before closing the bail or lifting the lever ( depending on what tackle your using ) and just let everything come tight without striking. The circle hook will generally locate itself near the corner of the fish’s mouth or hinge. Once hooked circles rarely fall out and are also better on the fish without deep hook sets. The other great thing about using the skipping gars rigged with circle hooks is you can use light threadline gear as setting the hook is not the issue.