Nick Cowley, skipper of the Narooma charter boat Playstation, loves it when a plan comes together – especially when it involves marlin.
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It was only last week that he and his clients hooked but lost a black marlin off Potato Point while fishing for snapper. Nick reckons the marlin probably took a slimy mackerel or some other small fish that took the bait on the paternoster rig, before becoming hooked itself.
There have been incidents of black marlin taking hooked kingfish on the way up at Montague Island, as recently as a few weeks ago.
They had that marlin in sight a couple of times before it took off taking them out around four miles to the east but even then they could not stop it.
So he went back to the same spot a few days later with a live marlin bait on a game rod but could only manage a mako shark as a consolation prize, as well as some great snapper.
Then on Monday, after managing a few good kingfish at Montague Island, the Playstation spent the arvo at Potato Point and put a marlin bait out again on a game rod. This time they managed a nice 80kg black marlin while snapper fishing, which was released after the battle. “Exceptional day!” Nick said. More photos
He was fishing with family relations making the day all the more special. The angler credited with the marlin was his relation Ross Pogue from Shepparton, Victoria, where Nick used to live.
Nick reports the fishing at the island continues to be tough, but one his clients, Mark from Cowra, on Sunday scored a solid 90+cm kingfish, all on 20lb leader and on a light rod fishing for snapper, after a 30-minute battle landed the solid king. They also got a feed of maybe a dozen snapper, plenty of undersized kingies and a couple bonito.
Speaking of hefty kingfish, Chris Sproal sent us in a photo Terry "Mako" Mulchay with a huge kingfish he caught at the Merimbula Wharf. It was one of three landed that day - March 29. All fish weighed around 12kg and took 20 minutes to land. Well done amazing “Mako” – an amazing effort!
Some Narooma Sport and Game Fishing Club members took advantage of the beautiful autumn weather on Saturday. Peter Rando, John Scott and Les Waldock fished Tuross wide for a lovely catch of snapper, morwong and pigfish, all caught on fish strip baits. They also caught some small dolphinfish and made the comment of how much activity was in the area with lots of bait, dolphins, sharks and a huge amount of bird life, all feeding. John Cathor had his boat out for a run over the weekend and caught a nice feed of snapper and flathead
Jan from NSGFC has been told that a few dolphinfish have been caught at the Narooma FAD, and that there is still some marlin about out wide and a few mako sharks caught near the island. He also took a couple of friends out to Corunna Lake on Saturday without much success, only a few flathead, a couple of snapper and bream - “certainly nothing to brag about but others there weren't catching much either”.
Mum Bianca Burton posted on the Narooma News Facebook page the tiger flathead caught her daughter Amy in 40m of water off Bermagui. It was Amy’s first trip to the ocean! She also sent in a photo of Maddy with her nice bream caught in the Bermagui Harbour.
Darren "Dash" Bowater from the Narooma Ocean Hut Compleat Angler has been at the bream with hard-body lures again having a great session with "master craftsman" Mark "Hippie" Carradus. The final results of haunting the flats of Wallaga Lake was 18 bream, two luderick, two flathead, and two cracking tailor. Many other fish won the battle mid-fight on light line, some of which kept a lure for their own trophy cabinet!
Ray at Brewing Camping Fishing in Moruya reports the fishing in the rivers and lakes is improving just in time for school holidays, flathead and bream being the main catches. Plastics for the flatties and prawns or mullet fillet for the bream. The headlands are still alive with squid, great live bait but even better in the pan. Salmon and tailor are still biting well on the beaches and the break wall, salted pilchards doing the damage.
Bermagui Country Club Social Anglers Club members meanwhile are reminded that this weekend – April 8-10 – the on and offshore competition is on. Weigh in by 12.30pm Sunday when members and visitors are welcomed for the social barbecue There are new members out there – so make it a date!