Visiting anglers from the US, Joe and his son Matt started their trip on board REEL CHASE with a big fish straight up. While Joe was in his cabin getting things sorted after just arriving at the fishing grounds off Cairns, and within minutes of putting the baits into the water a 750 lb-er climbed aboard leaving 13 year old Matt the only one standing to take on the fight. This he did with great panache and the big marlin was tagged and released a short time later.

The next day Dad Joe got his turn when the duo went two from three shots on smaller fish. The following day saw an invasion of the smaller fish with eyes bigger than their mouths trying to eat the big bait and the team managed just the one marlin successfully tagged from four bites.

73 year old angler Julio has been wanting to go giant black marlin fishing for years and this season was his time. Day one on Monday, he had plenty of practice on some bites that did not stick until late in the afternoon when a 450 lb-er climbed aboard and was successfully tagged and released.

This practice came in handy as on day three of his trip, Julio hooked up the fish of a lifetime, an 1,100 lb-er which he fought for 45 minutes before she also was successfully tagged and released. A great effort!

REEL CHASE headed out for the day on Thursday with guests of Pierlite on board. Local angler Daryl has been trying for a while to catch a marlin so was very keen on watching the baits all day until a 350 lb-er hopped on. The resulting tag and release was Daryl’s first marlin, but will certainly not be his last.

October 25 – 31, 2009

Congratulations to the team on Mauna kea who took out the 2009 Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic with a total of 11 black marlin tagged and released.

This year was notable for the number of really big marlin that were seen during the week of the event. In all 10 giant black marlin each estimated to weigh in excess of 1,000 lbs were tagged and released amongst the fleet of 27 boats fishing in the Tournament. As well as this, many other big fish were seen and/or lost along the way.

The team fishing on board REEL CHASE had a share of the action from the bigger fish. In one day they raised three that were around the mark, but could not convert any into a successful tag - these big girls do not get to grow that big without learning a few tricks along the way!

The team ended the week with a small marlin on the first day but got it together on Day 6 with a 500 lb-er and an 850 lb-er.

Once again fishing on Linden Bank off Cairns, the weather conditions were very good but the fishing was quiet. Finally a school of yellowfin appeared and trolling a feather hooked up a nice jelly bean sized fish for bait. This had instant results for as soon as the bait was put into the water, a huge marlin launched an attack and was on. Angler John fought the fish to the boat several times so that the crew could get good underwater footage and some spectacular aerial photos as well. The first marlin over 1,000 lbs released by REEL CHASE for Season 09.

View the Youtube clip of the bite on the yellowfin.

Guests of Pierlite enjoyed a day out to Linden Bank but the marlin fishing was a little quiet. However angler Steve got more than he bargained for while reeling in a tuna. The tuna was grabbed by a large bull shark measuring over six foot long which subsequently got hooked. 45 minutes later an exhausted Steve finally got the 600 lb shark to the boat for photos and release.

View Youtube footage of the shark action on the pole camera beside the boat.

The first trip of the heavy tackle season was over the past weekend with a group of South Australian anglers on board. Several marlin were seen on the trip with one being released, however the trip was highlighted by some very impressive catches (and some releases) of monster mackerel, GTs and tunas, including several of the hard fighting and much prized eating variety the yellowfin tuna.

The fishing out of Townsville this year was disappointing. The Townsville Billfish Challenge was held earlier this month and over four days of fishing, 30 boats tagged and released a total of 12 juvenile black marlin and 8 sailfish. With this in mind, Captain Jim avoided Cape Bowling Green and instead took a group of reps from Pierlite up to the Palm Islands group on September 16. He worked over the usual fishing hotspots of Albino Rock through to Hayman Rock and along the rocky drop offs and shoals in that vicinity, but with little result. The mackerel and tunas were just not on the chew.

The boat and crew will now bait fish on their journey north to Cairns for the start of the giant black marlin fishing season, starting there later this month.

REEL CHASE and crew arrived into Townsville this afternoon. Trolling their way through the Cape Bowling Green billfishing grounds, they managed to tag and release one juvenile black marlin. A sailfish was spotted on the baits however the only two on board, the skipper and deckies, happened to both be in the tuna tower at the time and by the time the deckie had slipped all the way back down to the cockpit, the fish had gone. Similarly another two bites from very likely billfish went unrewarded, but Capt Jim says he is confident that there were definite signs of other billfish lurking about the bait schools.

Second trip to Bugatti
Thursday 20th August, 2009
A follow up visit to Bugatti Reef by REEL CHASE in conjunction with the mother ship OPHELIA again saw action on some of the hardest fighters in the northern waters, the GTs with a mixed assortment of good sized pelagics such as spanish mackerels, and great eating fish such as coral trout, emperors and sweetlip. Lady angler Mim landed a fantastic 10kg red emperor to gain the cheers and admiration of everyone on board.


Bugatti Reef
Wednesday 12th August, 2009
An exploratory trip this week by the crew on REEL CHASE out to Bugatti Reef, north east of Mackay, saw plenty of action on huge mackerel, GTs, and many other pelagic and bottom species.



Yeppoon
Friday 7th August, 2009
REEL CHASE had a couple of trips out of Yeppoon with reps and guests of Pierlite this week. On Tuesday with the weather quite sloppy the fishing was quite slow however those on board on Thursday had a fine time amongst the nannygai and emperor as well as catching and releasing a monster cod.

REEL CHASE and crew have left the Gold Coast on the annual trek northwards. Initially the boat will dock in Yeppoon followed by Mackay and then on to Townsville for the light tackle sailfish and juvenile black marlin action at Cape Bowling Green. Later in September the boat will head further north to Cairns for the heavy tackle giant black marlin season.

REEL CHASE and crew have now returned to the always fabulous Gold Coast where the blue marlin fishing is off to a good start. The boat will be available for fishing charters there until July.

Stramac Lighting took some guests out on REEL CHASE, again out of beautiful Port Stephens, on Wednesday March 11th and in trying conditions tagged one striped marlin out of two shots. The following day their guests also scored another successful marlin tag and release. And on Saturday, March 14th, guests of Philips embarked on a trip on REEL CHASE. The marlin fishing was very quiet however the guys did take some fresh fish home when they got into a school of mahi mahi on one of the FADs.

Ventured out of Port Stephens in calm but swelly seas on board REEL CHASE on March 6th and had morning success tagging a striped marlin. After missing a black marlin soon after, the anglers rounded out the day with another stripey tagged and released later. The following day, guests of Maxim Electrical ventured out on REEL CHASE and while they saw several fish, it took a while until one striped marlin stayed hooked and was brought to the boat for tagging & releasing. Another day and another trip out and these guys hooked two striped marlin and successfully tagged one.

Boats and crews are currently in the middle of the NSW Interclub Championships with over 180 teams competing. The team on REEL CHASE were almost off to a great start with a striped marlin jumping onto a lure as the lines were being set, but unfortunately it did not stick and jumped off again soon after. The team did contribute to their Club score the second day when they hooked a double header and successfully tagged a black marlin. Several double and triple hookups were recorded over the weekend with mixed results. Lead club at the halfway mark is the local Newcastle/Port Stephens Club. The following weekend, anglers on REEL CHASE made a valuable contribution to their Club's standing with 2 striped marlin tagged & released.

REEL CHASE and crew have arrived at the beautiful natural harbour of Port Stephens in New South Wales. On the trip down from the Gold Coast, deckhand James tagged a black marlin near Smoky Cape.

The little black marlin have certainly arrived in Gold Coast waters in the past couple of weeks. Local boats are tagging up to 10 of these fish per day in close between the Seaway and Jumpinpin Bar. The REEL CHASE crew took the boat just outside the Seaway on December 12th for a quick trip and were rewarded with a solid hook up on a 25kg black marlin which they tagged & released. A couple of trips since then have also produced good marlin action.

With the giant black marlin season over for another year, Captain Jim and deck hand James headed REEL CHASE southwards from Cairns to the Gold Coast for the Summer. Along the way as they passed by the Bunker Group of Islands, Capt Jim decided to put out a couple of lures to see if there were any billfish in the area. Within an hour they were hooked up and successfully tagged & released a black marlin.