BlueWater magazine

08/07/2024

I never get tired of watching flying fish!

Close up Flying fish
Photo by Sean Scott | Australia

27/06/2024

Pacific bluefin tuna bouncing back!

Good news! According to a new stock assessment, the recovery of Pacific bluefin tuna reached a major milestone—the species exceeded international targets a decade ahead of schedule.

The goal was to rebuild to at least 20 percent of the spawning stock biomass by 2034. The number of spawning bluefin reached 23.2 percent of the potential unfished spawning stock in 2022. While the trend is positive and accelerating, we will continue to support monitoring and research to ensure sound science and sustainable harvest of this species.

NOAA Fisheries researchers provided scientific expertise to inform conservation measures for the species. If the current management measures persist, the population is expected to continue growing. Read more about this fisheries management success: https://bit.ly/3RJZDdL

Photo credit: Adobe Stock

18/06/2024

Australian-made ATALANTA game reel. I'm always looking for vintage gamefishing tackle like this. Have you got one?

18/06/2024

DON'T stick the gaff in...😱

10/06/2024

How to fillet & steak a BIG tuna.
Fabulous! 😃

09/06/2024

Fishing for the future…

03/06/2024

I love these things!
Dogtooth tuna are the kings of the coral shallows - with a face that would scare anyone. I was face-to-face with a 200-pounder down 50-feet once.

18/04/2024

Australia: world leader in sharks…

09/04/2024

IGFA’s “Passports To Fishing” program is taking the world in the right direction. Looking forward to seeing it expanded throughout Oceania…

22/03/2024

Just back from my Oncologist…
After 4 long years - now NED for the past hour (No Evidence of Disease).
Time to celebrate!🎉🎉🎉
What a rollercoaster! That’s a ride I’m not going to line up for ever again! After 4 long years - now NED for the past hour.
Time to celebrate!🎉

07/03/2024

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND FISHING TRIP OFFER:

Only 2 spots left!!!!

Our good friends Rick and Lyn Po***ck are guiding a trip to Prince Edward Island later this year and are seeking like minded anglers to join them chasing Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna.

The package includes six(6)nights accommodation, five(5)days fishing, all meals, transfers to and from airport and boats, generous(20%)tip for boat crews and daytrips for the non fishing partners/wives that choose to accompany you.

COST TBA.

DATES: 5th October to 11th October 2024.

This is a once in a lifetime experience so be quick to contact Rick and Lyn on [email protected] to secure your spot, and for further information.

They’re looking forward to welcoming any and all enquiries.

Lyn Po***ck

22/02/2024

A sunfish eating bluebottles etc off the surface.

19/02/2024

12/02/2024

WHAT AN HONOUR
I was stunned! 😱

30/01/2024

What REALLY causes the tides? Here's a fascinating and fun video explanation...

20/01/2024

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND FISHING TRIP OFFER:

Our good friends Rick and Lyn Po***ck are guiding a trip to Prince Edward Island later this year and are seeking like minded anglers to join them chasing Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna.

The package includes six(6)nights accommodation, five(5)days fishing, all meals, transfers to and from airport and boats, generous(20%)tip for boat crews and daytrips for the non fishing partners/wives that choose to accompany you.

COST TBA.

DATES: 5th October to 11th October 2024.

This is a once in a lifetime experience so be quick to contact Rick and Lyn on [email protected] to secure your spot, and for further information.

They’re looking forward to welcoming any and all enquiries.

12/01/2024

This is a CLASSIC comedy - a very insightful reflection on Australia's recreational fishing scene. It still cracks me up every time!

04/12/2023

Yesterday while trolling on a glorious ocean of glass, we experienced a pack-attack from blue marlin only minutes after crossing the 4-mile opening on Breaksea Spit.

Two strikes, one hooked up and ran for 250-metres before the hook pulled out.

And another marlin followed one of the lures right to the boat while we wound it in.

Then nothing else all day, trolling until dark.

We anchored for the night at Double Island Point, just south of Fraser Island.

We’ll be trolling all the way home to the Gold Coast this morning, our last chance to hook that elusive Grander……

04/12/2023

Awesome tuna feeding!

04/12/2023

What are your experiences or thoughts on the new ’Sta-Stuk’ hook system?

Graham McCloy has used them for a while now, and he says they have definitely improved his success.

I’ve only used them for the past 10 days, so I’m in no position to pass judgement. I understand and really like the concept, however - although (as described in another post) the fishing has been very subdued, with fish striking half-heartedly at best - our conversion rate has been less than 20%😱, so I’m yet to be convinced.

Most strikes hooked up only momentarily, while some pulled free after 20 minutes. We were trolling lures rigged with a single hook positioned in the very end of the skirt, fished on 60kg tackle with a trolling drag of around 10kg.

In almost all strikes, even those that only pulled a few metres of line, the hook mechanism got tripped, or sometimes partially tripped - resulting in a shorter hook shank with less ability to pull in.

I’ve been wondering if the mechanism is tripping too early, before the hook has had a chance to pull in. Perhaps a tighter setting would help??? Or perhaps it was just a symptom of the very subdued fish this past week - as found on other boats too.

What is your experience?

04/12/2023

A frigate bird visited us off the shelf yesterday, shortly before a pack of dolphinfish slammed several lures in our spread. That resulted in a magnificent feast last night 😋

04/12/2023

Plenty of bait on the shelf edge east of Lady Musgrave Island yesterday. Yet, remarkably, there was very little activity on the surface. Few birds, no tuna, only one school of dolphinfish seen all week - and yet there were still several very large black marlin in the vicinity.

The marlin, however, seemed very subdued. Strikes - when we got them - were tentative and not committed, resulting in either no hook-up, or a short-lived hook-up that soon pulled free.

Capt Russell Gage and Rob Crane’s team on “Too Easy II” found the same thing. They’ve hooked and lost several 600 to 800-pound (300 - 400kg) black marlin over the past week, as well as another black estimated at 1,200 pounds (550kg), which they battled for 30-minutes before the hook pulled out!😱

04/12/2023

Racing the weather!
At dawn this morning we departed Lady Musgrave Island, leaving the very bottom of the Great Barrier Reef to race two developing weather systems back to the Gold Coast.

While Graham McCloy’s mothership headed to the inside of Fraser Island, we on the gameboat headed 50 nautical-miles in to Bundaberg to refuel, then 50 n-miles back out to the shelf to then troll the canyons on the outside of Fraser Island, continuing all through the night until we reach the Gold Coast sometime tomorrow afternoon - weather allowing…

It has been a FABULOUS trip, with great company and stunning scenery. And it’s not over yet…….