Some of these traditional ‘marlin boats’ would burn through more fuel in a week, than our humble little trailer boats are worth! With advancements in technology such as affordable electronics and 4-stroke engines, catching a marlin is more achievable than ever from a trailer boat. Here’s a few tips to help you and your mates catch the fish of a lifetime.
When and where?
Marlin are pelagic fish, meaning they move with the currents offshore and therefore there are defined seasons where your odds of hooking one are largely increased. You will find all three species of blue, black and striped marlin offshore and usually on or past the continental shelf. However, there is a run of juvenile black marlin that frequent inshore reefs and are more accessible in small boats. On the east coast of Australia, these fish are thought to spawn as far north as cairns and migrate down the coast reaching numbers in Townsville from about August to September, the Sunshine Coast of QLD from October to February and down the NSW coast from December to March. From around October to December each year numbers of small back marling (5 – 40kg) can be found right up in the shallows around Fraser Island. Here, it is very achievable to catch good numbers of black marlin in less than 3m of water in glassy calm conditions within 50m of the beach. This is a phenomenon that I believe only happens here on the Fraser coast of QLD, how lucky are we! The key is to listen to reports and plan your trip around when the fish are likely to be around. Like any other pelagic fish, once you find the bait, you’ll find the fish.
Lures
Trolling small skirted lures around 7 inches long is a great way to cover ground and find the fish. I usually troll a spread of 4 of these lures at different lengths between 5 to 50m behind the boat at around 6 knots. Your optimal trolling speed will vary greatly depending on if you are driving with the current or against it. The key is to keep an eye on your lures to make sure they are ‘working’ correctly. Skirted lures work best when they spend half their time under and above the surface of the water, creating a bubble trail. If the lure blows out of the water more often than not, you are going too fast and if there is no bubble trail and the lure looks lifeless, than increase your speed.
Rigging these lures is very important to your success as well. When targeting these smaller black marlin, you will want to opt for around 100lb leader and small, light gauge hooks such as a Gamakatsu SL-12. Light gauge hooks tend to help increase your hook up rate dramatically as these smaller fish have hard mouths and put on intense aerobatic displays once hooked, which is where most fish are lost as the hook pulls.
Live bait
If you know where the fish are going to be, then live baiting is a deadly technique. Once you locate a bait school on an inshore reef, drop your bait jig down to get yourself some live bait. Ideally you are looking for slimies as these are the preferred bait. Yakkas and small bonitio also work well, but they are no substitution for a couple of good sized slimey mackerel. This is where having a good sounder is essential so you can mark where the bait is and even mark fish hanging off the bait. Once I have live bait sorted I like to use owner inline circle hooks in a 7/0 and pin the livie just through the nose. I flatline on bait on the surface and rig one with a sinker so I get the bait down to where the fish are. Even if you are marking fish 50m under your boat, it’s nothing to have a fish come up and smash a live off the surface. Once you have your baits in the water, keep your motor in gear into the current and position your boat as best you can over the bait. Slowly trolling live baits around a reef edge or around bait schools is a sure-fire way to hook yourself a marlin.
7 BLACK MARLIN HOT SPOTS
– Cape Bowling Green, Townsville
– Roonies Point, Fraser Island
– Point look out, North Stradbroke
– Gold Coast
– Coffs Harbour
– South West Rocks
– Seal Rocks