It’s the best time of the year, renewals are now due and we are looking forward to an excellent winter season. Kick starting with the Tuna Slam we roll into the Geoff Woolley Memorial Monster Mako Tournament in early August. Early reports indicate that the tuna are turning up on queue, right on time for the Tuna Slam. The slam has a simple format with heaviest bluefin and heaviest yellowfin splitting the pool. Cost is only $250 per boat. Anglers need to be financial members of a club (preferably the only club with a club house and bar). Winter pointscore finishes on the last day of the Geoff Woolley Memorial Monster Mako Tournament. Presentation of the Monster Mako Tournament will be held the Tuesday after the Tournament.
Sydney Game Fishing Club will hold their annual presentation on Sunday the 25th August. This will be held in conjunction with the CZ presentation. This should be a fun afternoon at the club. Bookings are essential contact Annita for more details. Also please don’t forget our raffle of the year, thanks to Phil and Vicki Webster. Tickets are $100 and the prize is a 4 hour cruise on board Lady Audrey for 30 people local beers, wine and food included. What better way to spend the afternoon. If you would also like to help selling tickets please get in contact with Annita. Tightlines Tiddles
FROM THE PRESIDENT
2019 SGFC Major Raffle of the year A huge thank you to Phil and Vicki Webster for their generosity for the 2019 Raffle of the year, a 4 hour cruise on Lady Audrey includes local beer food and wine for up to 30 people. Tickets are $100 each please see Annita. If you can help sell some tickets please see me. ALL PROCEEDS GO TOWARDS THE 2020 PETER GOADBY PRIZE POOL.
Calendar of Events SGFC July 2019 1st Start of Annual Tuna Slam + Winter Pointscore continues 2nd Club Meeting 30th Committee Meeting August 2019 3rd and 4th - Geoff Woolley Memorial Monster Mako Tournament 2019 + end of winter point score 6th Club Meeting 25th SGFC Club Presentation + Central Zone Presentation 27th Comimittee Meeting September 2019 3rd Club AGM SGFC 21st - 22nd Start Summer Pointscore 25th Comimittee Meeting
The Winter Pointscore is comprised of both a ‘Capture’ and a ‘Tag and Release’ section: Winter Pointscore Capture : There are no set point score days i.e. you may fish on any day but only the highest point scoring fish for each of the winter months is eligible. The winner is the boat with the highest aggregate points over the four winter months (May, June, July and August). Winter Pointscore T&R : As with the Winter Pointscore Capture there are no set point score days but in this case only the day with the most Tag and Release Points for each of the Winter Pointscore months is eligible. The winner is the boat with the highest aggregate points over the four months (May, June, July and August).
06/05/2019 End of Summer Pointscores – Winter Pointscore Commences… As of the end of fishing on Sunday 5th May 2019 the Summer Pointscores being the ‘Keith Whitehead Trophy‘, the ‘Poros Trophy‘ and the ‘Tennessee ll Trophy‘ have now been completed and finalised for the 2018-2019 season. Boats wishing to chase the ‘John O’Brian Trophy‘ and the ‘Line Class Trophies‘ can continue to do so until 30th June 2019. As of the 6th May 2019 the ‘Winter Pointscore‘ has commenced and will continue until the end of fishing of the ‘Mako Tournament‘ on the first week-end of August 2019, unless otherwise advised.
Left of page 22/05/19 A nice yellow fin for Bobby on club boat Markoo today. Good to see the tuna still hanging around, they've been off Sydney for a few weeks now. Get out there whilst the weather stays good. Right of page 19/5/19 New member Ryan Nemec onboard his boat Game changer just weighed this nice Blue marlin 188kg on 37kg guess what lure yes the Brad J doing the damage.
The graph at the left shows the length/weight relationship for yellowfin tuna. To determine the approximate weight of your fish, measure from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail, then draw a vertical line on the graph from the length of the fish to the curve, and from that intersection, draw a horizontal line to the weight axis. Courtesy of and acknowledgement to Dr Julian Pepperell
We have a new leader for the Snapper Trophy. 12-6-19 4.2KG Snapper Date: 9-06-19 (120 meters north of the Bait Station South of Broken Bay) On board: Obsession Angler: Mark Holmes
29th June 2019 Markoo on the Yellowfin After reports of yellowfin of Sydney earlier in the week, Markoo headed out at sparrows for an early fish today with Max and Simon. They found the yellowfin busting up at their arrival on sunrise. The crew had 4 fish tagged and captured before 10am, in the 30-35kg range and headed home by 1030 before the wind came up. A few others were also called in and I think they might have also got on later in the arvo. Great day.
My first but not last World Record Blue Shark
Back on the 1st of October 2018 i was lucky enough to go shark fishing on my dad's boat the mighty Tantrum. And onboard that day we were luckily enough to have Jamie Ward and Janet West come along and tell us some of their secrets on catching world record sharks. I learnt that day that what gets put into the burley counts. And this helped bring up my now World Record catch of a 168.5kg blue shark on 15kg line. It took me about 1hr 45 mins to chase it down and have Jamie hitting it with the flyer. We then headed into the weigh station. When we weighed the blue shark and the weight was called out. Mum quickly went and whipped out the world record book to find out that it was 3.5kgs heavier than the current record. Mum then proceed to go to the bar as she was over the moon. An interesting fact about getting a junior world record is that is based on heaviest over all they don’t take into account line class. This makes achieving a junior world record a little bit harder as line class does not come into play. Makira Wright
Method: In a bowl whisk together the honey, oil, vinegar, basil and pepper. Add the cucumber, season with salt and pepper and let the mix marinate for approximately 10 minutes. Preheat the grill, setting the burners to high. Toast the croutons on the grill for approximately 30 seconds on each side until golden brown. Remove from the heat and rub one side of each crouton with the garlic clove. Set aside. Add the tuna to the cucumber mixture. Mix well and season to taste. Scoop two tablespoons of the mixture onto each crouton, sprinkle with a little fleur de sel and serve immediately. Recipe courtesy of Skip .
With the annual run of blue fin tuna just around the corner we thought it would be a good time to wet the appetite with one of our clubs members favourite bluefin recipes. Ingredients: 2 teaspoons honey 1 cup cucumber seeded and diced 1/4 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes 2 tablespoons olive oil 12 toasted baguette slices Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 clove garlic peeled Fleur de sel 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 150g fresh caught tuna diced
Bluefin Tuna Bruschetta
I’m Fshn Linden Brockhill Haines Hunter 585R IMFSHN Black on White No 6m 2.4m Fiberglass Twin 90hp Evinrude E-Tec 2250kg on trailer 26kn 34kn 210L 120nm Trailerboat 6
Focus on I'm Fshn
A set of trailer lights go for brisk early morning swim. It’s 5:30 am at Roseville Boat Ramp and most sane people are still in bed at this time of a Saturday morning let alone in Winter. But alas, staying in bed isn’t going to get you the early morning bite and us fisher-people do have a little bit of crazy in us, so after some early morning hello’s in darkness (The team for the day was Linden Brockhill, Skip Heat, Myself and Linden’s Uncle Richard), a quick launch at the ramp and quick redistribution of supplies we head off through Middle Harbour, under the Spit Bridge and out the heads. The plan is to go out wide and see if there is some Marlin around or better still some tuna! I’m Fishn is a great little (just under 6 metre) Fibreglass Haines Hunter Trailer boat powered by twin 90HP E-Tec’s. Both the Haines Hunters and the Haines Signatures are renowned for being great little multipurpose boats that offer a smooth ride and I’m Fshn doesn’t disappoint in this department. Being a trailer boat it doesn’t have the luxury of the extra room the bigger boys do but it actually has a lot packed into a small space. Rocket launchers, Outriggers, Simrad Sounder, Fusion Sound System and pretty much everything you need for some serious trolling out at the shelf and doing some drops around browns. Surprisingly the 4 of us fit quite nicely and we settled in ready to punch out South East of Browns where there had been some reported action over the last few days. I was told about the potential of a smooth ride out to the shelf on a bright yellow bean bag so when it was time, I settled in snugly for the ride out. I must say it was a first for me and it added just the right amount of shock absorption required to blast out quickly to spot “X”. It was a beautiful blue calm day out on the water with almost no swell. Unfortunately as is often the case, a quiet day on the ocean can mean a quiet day on the reel and it did seem to be heading that way. On the way out we saw a huge pod of dolphins chasing some bait, and as usual they had a play alongside of the boat. Always something magical about seeing these majestic creatures out on the open ocean and always a challenge to be pointing the camera/mobile in the right direction when they jump boatside.
Here are some basic specs on this Boat:
Boat Name Owner Model Registration Body Colour Fly Bridge (Y/N)? Length or OAL Width or Max Beam Material (Plate or Fibreglass) Engine(s) Total Weight Cruising Speed Top Speed Fuel Capacity Cruising Range Mooring Type Licensed to Carry
By Greg Wall
After a few hours or quiet trolling around the water erupted in front of us as a huge school of sauries ran towards the safety of the boat (being chased by something more scary than the boat), followed by a second school running towards the boat. Definitely a great sign and all crew were now on high alert expecting a hit at any moment. We started doing circles and laps in the general area and also mentioned to two other SGFC boats in the area that it was looking “pretty fishy” over here. We saw a few more runs of bait running for their lives as the 3 boats continued to work the zone. The 3 boats were Ivan (Ambition), Benn (Markoo) and us. It was bound to happen sooner or later and eventually bam! Markoo was hooked up and fighting. After a respectable fight for a new member Bobby he managed to land a 62.5 kg Yellow Fin Tuna. Nice effort Team Markoo! Unfortunately that was the only Tuna raised from that spot that day so glad it was a SGFC member that got to claim it. After a bit more trolling it was time to head for home to beat the sunset (it was whale season and none of us were keen to hit one in darkness). A great day on the water and beautiful seas. It was a pleasure to be out on I’m Fshn for the day and have a look at his setup. It’s a great little rig.
IRISH SAUSAGES Shamus and Murphy fancied a pint or two but didn't have a lot of money between them, they could only raise the staggering sum of one Euro. Murphy said 'Hang on, I have an idea.' He went next door to the butcher's shop and came out with one large sausage. Shamus said 'Are you crazy? Now we don't have any money at all!' Murphy replied, 'Don't worry - just follow me.' He went into the pub where he immediately ordered two pints of Guinness and two glasses of Jamieson Whisky. Shamus said 'Now you've lost it. Do you know how much trouble we will be in? We haven't got any money!!' Murphy replied, with a smile. 'Don't worry, I have a plan , Cheers! ' They downed their Drinks. Murphy said, 'OK, I'll stick the sausage through my zipper and you go on your knees and put it in your mouth.' The barman noticed them, went berserk, and threw them out. They continued this, pub after pub, getting more and more drunk, all for free. At the tenth pub Shamus said 'Murphy - I don't think I can do any more of this. I'm drunk and me knees are killing me!' Murphy said, 'How do you think I feel? I can't even remember which pub I lost the sausage in.'
Love the SAINT
SAINTLY WHISPERS
legs look. You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a moustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes. NICKNAMES · If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah. · If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Bubba and Wildman . EATING OUT · When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back. · When the girls get their bill, outcome the pocket calculators. MONEY · A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs. · A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale. BATHROOMS · A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel. · The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.
Men Are Just Happier People! What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another petrol station toilet because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress - $5,000. Tux rental - $100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Two pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original colour. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes - one colour for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your
ARGUMENTS · A woman has the last word in any argument. · Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument. FUTURE · A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. · A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife. MARRIAGE · A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. · A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does. DRESSING UP · A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail. · A man will dress up for weddings and funerals. OFFSPRING · Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams. · A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!
Each summer as the offshore waters of Bass Strait begin to warm, the baitfish population increases. The baitfish are followed by the smaller predators such as barracouta and arrow squid. Right behind these are the big predators, such as bronze whalers, blues, threshers and my own favourite, the mako shark. While most Bass Strait makos are around 20-50kg and provide good sport and great eating, a smattering of bigger fish ranging from 80-300kg are hooked each year. These are the sharks that get your blood pumping with excitement, and trepidation, as you try to anticipate the next move of a fish with a very bad attitude. The Perfect Body Designed as a fast-moving hunting machine, the mako has a lot of things going for it aside from sleek good looks. The thickset body is all muscle and is pushed along by a broad tail that creates massive power and propulsion. The mako’s pointy nose and narrow head cut through the water with little resistance. The whole outfit is stabilised by the huge caudal keels at the base of the tail. The mako’s jet black eyes make it look especially mean, and this is topped off by a set of evil looking teeth. They are one of the few sharks in the world that always have teeth showing, even when their mouth is shut. The mako’s dental work is made up of several rows of long dagger-like teeth that are designed for grabbing and holding prey, rather than cutting. This is because a mako’s diet is consists of fast-moving but soft-fleshed food such as fish and squid. To successfully target mako sharks you need to understand their behaviour and lifestyle. Unlike most other species of sharks that spend large portions of their life in the bottom half of the water column, makos spend a fair proportion of their time hunting in the top half, because this is where their prey lives.
The Mako Sharks of Bass Strait by Lee Rayner http://fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/1173-The-mako..
Mako Hunting Grounds Sharks are sharks and will turn up wherever they feel like it, although most makos tend to like the cleaner ocean waters. To reach these waters safely, you will need a boat of 5.5m or bigger. Good launching ramps are located at Stony Point, Rhyll and Newhaven. One of the key factors in finding any predatory species is to look for areas where there is a decent food source for them. For Victorian makos this usually comes in the form of squid or barracouta. Key areas to start looking are where the bottom falls quickly into deeper water, such as out from Woolamai and over the Flinders Bank. These spots lie at either end of Phillip Island. Take a look at your GPS and you will see what I mean. Shallow water is another option and can be a great place to find numbers of makos, especially in February and March. Try looking in 20-40m between Kilcunda and Inverloch. Then you have the deeper areas. Although Bass Strait doesn’t get really deep, the 60-70m line is a top place to find a mako, especially a bigger one. Out here the bottom is fairly featureless, but it provides a good hunting ground and produces many sharks each season. If you are fortunate enough to fish the west coast, off places like Port Fairy and Portland, then you also have the option of fishing out along the edge of the Continental Shelf. This is another great place to find bigger makos, with lots more of 100kg, as well as some frightening monsters – although I would suggest getting some practise on the smaller ones first. Berley The key to attracting sharks is without doubt good berley. By this I mean it needs to be made of fresh fish, and, importantly, it pays to know what is in it. When targeting mako sharks it is best to have a berley that is very fine but oily, which will spread a long way across the surface and sink very slowly through the water column, Here in Victoria, I use a lot of fish such as barracouta and salmon, both of which are common in these waters. To this I add extra oily species, such as pilchards and tuna, wherever possible. Most of this is finely minced
and frozen into blocks that can be placed in onion bags to let out a constant, fine trail as they thaw. This is added to by actually punching fish pieces through the berley pot. I believe the constant noise of this also helps to attract sharks. To boost the trail it also pays to have a 5L bottle of good quality tuna oil with pin holes in it hanging over the side of the boat. This is a great help in letting you know where your trail is going, and this oil slick alone can attract plenty of sharks. In the deeper water, a cube trail of cut pilchards can also be successful in dragging a hungry mako from the bottom. Most importantly, make sure you keep the trail going all day long. Too many people forget about the berley when a fish is hooked, and the trail is broken. This is the time to get serious about berleying, as it’s common to have another fish or two arrive while you are fighting the first. Baits, Traces and Hooks When it all comes down to it, you can use any bait you wish, however my favourites are whole striped tuna, and strips of bluefin or yellowfin tuna. These are oily and appeal to makos. Other great baits for Victorian makos include live or dead arrow squid, as well as barracouta, especially when it is fresh. If you need tougher bait, I often put out big bait like a whole Australian salmon – quite often the smaller makos will leave them alone. With all larger baits such as whole striped tuna or squid, I tend to favour twin hook rigs. Often a mako will hit the bottom or middle of the bait, so I like the idea of the second hook to pin the fish. Smaller baits are often placed on single hook rigs, either pinned through the end of the bait or placed lower in the bait then stitched in tight. Hooks and traces for makos obviously depend on the bait and tackle being used. It is pretty pointless using big heavy wire and 12/0 hooks on light tackle, as you will struggle to set the hook. Conversely, small light gauge hooks can be straightened on heavier 24kg tackle if the pressure is really put on.
Facts There is no size limit for makos, but an angler may only keep one per day, landed whole or as a carcase. You cannot use more than 10L of berley, and you cannot use mammal blood for berley. Facts GEAR FOR MAKOS Light 6-8kg outfit (Shimano TLD 15 reel and snapper style rod). Medium 10kg outfit (Shimano Tyrnos 20 or Tiagra 20 reel and T-Curve 8-10kg rod) Heavy 15kg outfit (Shimano Tiagra 30W reel and T-Curve 15kg fully-rollered rod) Super heavy 24kg outfit (Shimano Tiagra 50W and T-Curve 24kg fully-rollered rod)
As for trace lengths, a good option is to use a 400lb wind on leader and a shorter wire trace of 3m. This may still sound long, but it is quickly used up when a 2m mako gets the trace wrapped around its fat body once or twice. The wind on leader system and shorter trace is also easier for tracing in trailerboats Bait, Positions and Tactics Because makos are more of a surface shark, we find good success running a big bait out the back, 100-150m from the boat. The idea of the large bait is that smaller 20-50kg makos will swim past it, but any big banger that is a bit shy and holding back from the boat will find it irresistible. Closer to the boat, about 25-50m back, we run a smaller bait such as a fillet of tuna, small salmon or a slimy mackerel. These baits are held up with the aid of a balloon, which is attached at the top of the trace. Finally, we also have bait straight under the boat, which is run off a downrigger a few meters from the bottom. If you don’t have a downrigger, then a simple break away rig attaching the sinkers via light monofilament or rubber bands will work. This bait is generally a smaller one that has a single hook in it and has often proved deadly, taking several sharks in a single day while others didn’t get touched If you have enough outfits it also pays to have another trace rigged with a bait on it and kept in the esky. This can quickly be attached to an outfit if a shark decides to swim past the baits to the back of the boat. Final Stages Makos do make great eating, so if you plan to keep the fish, you will need to gaff it. A solid fixed head gaff will do for small makos (20-30kg) if you slip it into their gills and up into the head. On bigger fish you will need one or two flying gaffs – and prepare for battle. Again, put the first gaff into the shark’s head. Then try to get a tail rope onto it and get its tail out of the water. Finally, if your crew has one mako in the boat to eat, please think about letting the rest go, as it is a fishery we need to look after. Rolling up at a boat ramp with six dead sharks definitely doesn’t make you a legend.
