THE PT.STEPHENS '06 SEASON on BILLFISHER and BROADBILL
by Ross Hunter
Pt Stephens is our second home…having fished these amazing
waters since 1974 I can now walk into the local pub The Salamander Shores and be
treated as a local…….mind you it took a long time to shake off that "smart arse
from the city image that some country folk feel ……..even if it is not true"
Yes! To me the Port is my favourite home, a magnificent picturesque place…….the
place we live for three months every year……………………….. then for the next 9 months
look forward to returning
At the end of January each year my Son Glenn and my self migrate to the Port
with our charter boats Broadbill and Billfisher …
The passage by sea from Botany Bay (our home port) is 110 nautical mile from pen
to pen.
It is a trip which is reserved for Captain and crew ….a trip where the deckies
can fish have a beer enjoy some sea food along the way,
A trip to relax before the day after day of charter work starts.
We
work 110 days between the boats these days are, made up of early starts and late
finishes…testing days for Captain and crew…Imagine arising at 5pm most mornings
…walking to the boat, carry out the engine checks, ice down the drinks and food
for the day, prepare the berley and bait for the bait grounds…. all this is 30
to 40 mins then pull out of the pen a t 6.30am fish all day knot always in flat
calm conditions. Then when the action is on you are hanging on to a rampaging
marlin getting your arms stretched so that you resemble an orang tan, then rig
more baits, change baits ………head back to land 25 nautical mile, clean the
dolphin fish and ice them down, wash gear on the way, scrub deck and hose with
deck wash clean up customers scraps, ice left over bait having rigged 6 to 8
"skippers" for the next day, these are buried in ice and brine.
The boat is backed into the pen at 5pm to 6pm and the wash up and clean takes
around 30 to 40 mins…day over………Hit the hay and get ready for the same to
morrow.
At the Port we can work up to 14 days without a break and whilst
we are professionals and have been doing this for 25 years…..one can get a
little weary, especially if the weather is not kind and we are working in 20
knot winds every day.
One would have to think that we are mad to take on such a busy life but when you
are born to the breed of marlin fishing
To experience the chase and the hunt, the sight of a big blue flying ever
skyward or angler's first marlin experience……that smile on their face knowing
they have just caught their first marlin…………..these are only some of the joys
which bring you back each season keener than ever.
THE TRIP TO AND FROM
The trip to and from Port Stephens is always enjoyed as a time
for the team to do what we cannot do when we are working, a little bonding
between captain and crew without customers present, perhaps a beer or two and a
few laughs , a bit of music on the stereo, always a fun day, a day we always
look forward to.
We generally stay close to the shoreline to enjoy the scenery and personalities
of the different sea side towns.. Oceanic communities, surrounded by high cliffs
and white sand beaches, they look so much nicer when looking at them from Mother
Ocean………..Broken Bay, Terrigal, Norah Head, Lake Macquarie Stockton Bight and
then the first glimpse of Tommaree headland, the highest mountain at the heads
at Pt Stephens………. A sight that is always great to see
The trip normally takes about 12.5 hours at a troll speed of anywhere from 7.5
to 9 knots.I choose always to cruise, not just as a fuel saving exercise but for
the peace and quite of lazy swells that gently pass by without the scream of
turbos and high revving twin Cummins diesels ……Yes! all day to get there so
where's the hurry.This year on the way up we were down to 7 knots heading into a
2.5 knot south set most of the way Whereas on the trip back, three months later
we cruised at 9.3 knots with current assist.
Some people ask, especially our clients "What do you reckon
Ross, will it be a good season.?"
My reply is generally "Just hang on mate, I will warm up the crystal ball for
you and have a look."
Whilst I have fished these waters for many years and whilst over the past 40
years my search for the ultimate marlin season has never ended there is no one
who can predict the success of the next season.
The modern marlin fisherman is pretty skilled these days …what with 2 kilowatt
colour sounders,GPS systems, tackle that is fool proof and in some cases side
scan sonar, we have become a high tech breed…..not like the heady seventies when
the fish were every where but all the fisherman had as a guide was a 3 inch
compass on the dash of the 4.5 metre tinnie….. No sounder (only the rich had a
sounder and most times it was an old FG 200 Furuno paper model with accompanying
flashing light.
I could never figure out what the flashing light was for) and in many cases no
radio……..
It makes me cringe to think about it now ..Going to sea in those tiny boats,
mind you not far to sea …but then again you did not have to venture to far
anyway as there where good populations of marlin at all the popular grounds…The
Sir John Young Banks, Montague Island,
Bateman's Bay, Jervis Bay and to the North Pt Stephens then further north
Hathead.
These were the popular Ports for the sport fisherman in the '70's……... we caught
marlin back then but more from luck than good management
PICTURESQUE
PT STEPHENS
I swung Broadbill's bows into Port Stephens at 5 pm Both John
Giles my crewman and myself breath in the beauty and of the surrounding
coastline. Pt Stephens has to be the most superb Port to enter on the coast.
The bastion of islands that shroud and protect the entrance, are the remnants of
a prehistoric volcanic age.
Named by the aboriginals Boondlebah.to the south, Yaccabah, Cabbage Tree to the
north and little Island the most easterly outcrop…….all surround the Tommaree
Head land and as we steamed through the heads they seemed just that more
picturesque, maybe it was the afternoon sun or maybe the apprehension that we
were here and now ready to go and do what we do best…catch marlin. We always
plan a couple of days free to do any boat maintenance, tackle preparation, and
bait prep and so on.
Having done this the customers arrive .we meet them at the Sally Shores have a
beer and then take them to the unit ……and tell them "See you at sparrow fart
boys" The whole of February, Glenn and myself caught great catches of
predominantly stripes and blacks as well as the odd blue. Most of the blues were
around the 100kg but we also caught a couple of line burners around the 200 kg
size.We held our tournament "The Northern Waters Invitational". This was
restricted to 15 boats and was most successful with 12 boats tagging and
releasing 59 marlin for the 3 day comp.We were lucky enough to win Champion Boat
on Broadbill with Billfisher getting Runner up .
That was OK! …..keeping it in the family. Glenn tagged 11 we tagged 14 with Phil
Bolton's team It was all good
All boats fared well "Inya Dreams" tagged 10 fish Triton 9 any many others on
5's and 6's.
THE CRICKETERS
We then had Mark Taylor and Merv. Hughes fish two days with us as they have done
for the past few years
The lads are great fun to fish with…….. It is hard to realise sometimes that
these fellows are indeed legends in the world of cricket but when they fish with
you it is like fishing with your mates.They are great fun and the most
unpretentious blokes you could meet and they love to fish and they're good at it
.One of the highlights was when big Merv suggested he would tag the next marlin
.It was Phil Emery on the rod and as we backed over to the marlin a most
respectable striped of 120kg..Merv lets fly with the tag pole.As he lunges at
the fish the whole pole flies through the air at great speed heading for the
marlin Having seen this I give the boat a few extra revs to pick up the pole
which has diss appeared 3 metres underwater only to pop back up after a short
time. " Big Merv says, "I'm pretty sure I got him"We are in tears with laughter
when Johnny traces the fish and low and behold there is the tag buried perfectly
in the big stripes shoulder.I asked Merv."What tribe he was from?" It was a
superb bit of marlin spearing"
The boys tagged 10 fish in their two days and had a ball. We tagged a swag of
blacks,stripes and blues….. Most of the marlin was 70 to 80 kg average and no
matter where you come from they are healthy fish…We also caught dolphin fish to
20.5 kg and yellowfin tuna to 25 kg
I recall one day in mid February…….It was a classic calm sea ,there were three
boats fishing the Mosh Pit, Billfisher, Tim Dean's Calypso and myself. For the
entire day one of us was hooked up and reversing up on wild marlin ….We all
tagged in excess of 7 marlin each for the day and then to add a bit of icing to
the cake knocked over a dozen or so dollies on the way home.
WAS IT A GOOD SEASON?
February was brilliant The two boats caught 130 fish …the water then went hot in
the first week in March reaching 27 degrees and all the striped marlin being a
temperate water fish headed south in the 24 degree stuff Straight into the arms
of the long liners who killed 700 fish only to glut the market and to be told
not to catch any more.
When will our Federal Government get this "buy out" sorted out and buy these
blokes out before we have no more oceanic stocks left………….700 marlin for Christ
Sake you idiots!
We worked hard all season often fishing some windy weather and sloppy seas we
tagged 155 marlin between us………a good season Yeh!
However seasons are generally compared to previous seasons, for instance in '97
we tagged 248 on Broadbill alone …In '2005 we tagged 300 fish between the two
boats… a season where the fish bit well for the whole stay.We get blasé
sometimes,. maybe expecting too much from every season but it is probably the
fact that this amazing marlin fishery never lets you down.If you went to any
other port in the world and said you tagged 248 for the season they would not
believe you.
At Pt Stephens we expect it…..bring on 2007
