Fishing Australia

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY...

Luke Evans was out trolling for Tuna in 100 fathoms of water off Batemans Bay when the ratchet on the 24 kg outfit started screaming off big time.  It was on for young and old as Luke grabbed the rod and started fighting the fish while his dad cleared the other lures and manned the wheel of the boat.  The fish took a small skirted lure rigged on 200 pound mono leader and fished well back in the spread. 

Even though it is a little late in the season, the water was still 19 degrees so Luke was secretly hoping that this was going to be his first marlin. The fish stayed up the top and charged back towards the boat several time before shaking the hook. Luke reports that the line was scuffed about half a meter above the lure…my money says it was most likely a marlin, but heck it could’ve easily been another type of gamefish…only the big fella upstairs will ever really know...

Meanwhile Luke is now more hooked on fishing than ever.

BLUEFIN TUNA GREAT EATING IF CARED FOR PROPERLY

It is great to see that a small number of experienced tuna anglers are getting amongst some huge blue fin tuna. One caught off Merimbula recently weighed a whopping 167kilograms!

It has however been a little disturbing to see pictures on the internet of some boats with 4 and 5 tuna over 100 kilos or cleaning tables with dozens of 30 to 40 kilo specimens that haven’t been cared for properly. Bluefin are a great eating fish but need some TLC once caught if you are to realize their true potential. These are fish that fight so hard that they cook in their own body heat if not iced down immediately after capture (a condition known as burnt tuna syndrome).

For best results use heavy tackle to get the fish aboard as quickly as possible, bleed the fish immediately and get the fish on ice or place hessian bags of ice over the fish to set and preserve the flesh.

Heck if you can go to the effort of heading 25 miles out to sea you can go to the effort of making sure the fish you catch are in prime condition-talk to you’re your local fish monger or co – op for lots more info on how to look after these magnificent fish.  Note also that while Bluefin tuna are making a bit of a comeback they are still a long long way from being in the numbers they used too, so consider taking only what you need rather than as many as the bag limits allow.

LAKE JINDABYNE BOAT RAMP UPGRADE - TEMPORARY CLOSURE

Snowy River Shire Council wishes to advise that the Jindabyne Boat Ramp at Snowline will be closed for use from Wednesday 15th July to Friday 24th July inclusive. The ramp will reopen on Saturday 25th July. See the Council Media Release in the News section of my Blog.

In the meantime there has been some excellent bank fishing at Jindabyne, especially up around Kalkite

EDEN KINGFISH RECAPTURED IN NZ!

"Some fish just can’t help getting caught again, with two exceptional recaptures recorded recently, as part of the NSW DPI Game Fish Tagging Program", NSW DPI Recreational Fisheries Manager Phil Bolton said recently.

“The first was a yellowtail kingfish tagged near Eden, in NSW, in the winter of 2006. It was recaptured 1170 nautical miles (straight line distance) and 873 days later off Mangawhai Heads Beach on New Zealand’s north east coast. This is only the third record of a kingfish traveling from Australia across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand waters.”

A blue marlin was also recaptured, a staggering seven years and seventy one days after it was tagged.

For more information see the NSW DPI Recreational Fisheries Release in the Blog.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos
www.fishingaustralia.tv

Robs Column Brought to you by the Hellenic club of Canberra.