Tightlines Tiddles
FROM THE PRESIDENT
It’s December so I wish to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas and safe holidays to all members. We look forward to a more normal fishing season next year. Interclub rules will be out shortly and we will be returning to the standard Interclub format (over 3 days) and the Ladies day held on the Thursday before. They are also going to combine the All ports to run in conjunction with the interclub over 2 days. We await the rules for next year’s format. Congratulations goes to Jamie Mackay owner of Groundswell for taking out this year’s Tuna slam with a $2,600 prize for his YFT. Since the Bluefin side of the slam didn’t go off next year we will roll that over and there will be a $2,600 starting balance for next year. This up and coming season, I would like to make an announcement to the Juniors of our club and offer them the opportunity to fish onboard Tantrum during a few of the tournaments next year. We will advertise in the members page about details and how to get involved. Once again Happy Holidays and look forward to catching up in the New year.
Its official after a long wait Groundswell has WON the other section of the Tuna Slam 2021. Congratulations Jamie and crew.
Calendar of Events SGFC December 2021 4th - 5th Summer Pointscore Weekend 7th Club Meeting 18th - 19th Summer Pointscore Weekend 28th Committee Meeting January 2022 1st - 2nd Summer Pointscore Weekend 4th Club Meeting 15th - 16th Summer Pointscore Weekend 22nd - 23rd Botany Bay Bill Heyward Tournament + Central Zone Weekend 25th Committee Meeting
12/11/202 1st Marlin of the season Well what can I say but a massive Congratulations to the guys on Casey for taking out 1st Marlin of the season t&r for the 2nd year in a row. Also t&r 1st marlin of the season 2 years in a row to junior angler Daniel O'Neill. Awesome work boys there is also a case of Great Northern from one of our sponsors waiting for you.
Sydney Game Fishing Club TROPHY AWARDS 2020-2021
Congratulations to all Winners!
The 2021 has been incredibly challenging for gamefishing off Sydney. Earlier in the season the stripe and black marlin were patchy, bait was often difficult to find water temperatures seemed to regularly soar above 25 degrees in vast masses making it difficult to find productive breaks. So, when the yellowfin started to turn up in large numbers around late May it looked like we could finally get some decent fishing during the Winter months. This was further reinforced with the reports of some big Bluefin catches from the longliners in Narooma. Not surprisingly there was a buzz at the June club meeting as Karen presented the rules around the Tuna Slam and Ed Aspden took us through shared some excellent tips for reading satellite charts and finding fish. Like many others we started pulling out and re-rigging a favourite Halcos, Tantrum bullets and rubber squidgies in preparation for the first bite off Sydney. But despite some good 21 degree water reports were scant off Sydney with the exception of the odd albacore and some 20 odd kilo rat Yellowfin off Port Hacking. The weather wasn’t helping either it seemed whenever the tide and moon aligned the weather would go pear -shaped with big swells and 30 knots of Southerly. The whales came right on time though and in masses like I’ve never seen and when Ivan from Ambition hit one coming in from Brown’s I’m sure we all started thinking twice about those late evening cubing sessions SE of Browns. After a few runs to the Shelf barely turning a reel save for some oversize stripeys, we decided to target snapper on the in-shore reefs and wait for some proper tuna reports. The snapper fishing was actually pretty good this Winter particularly down off the National Park off XXXXX. A weather window and the odd report of tuna at the Bait Station encouraged us to venture out. I’d always wanted to try for a broadbill so I grabbed my kiwi mate Andrew Paykel who’s done a lot of broadbill fishing in NZ. So, on Friday XXXX off we headed for an overnight expedition into a calm weather forecast, a few days off the full moon, an esky full of big fresh squid baits and high hopes hopes of catching our first broadbill. Of course, as so often can be the case the flat seas and benign winds forecast turned out to be a sloppy Easterly tangle of a 12 knot breeze hitting a tagging 3 knot southerly current when we got into our targeted 600 fathom mark. Despite the less than ideal conditions we managed to set three baits rigged with lights at various depths on 80 kg gear and as the afternoon sun sank we settled into a decent drift, got a long slick of chopped pillies going and awaited the bite. If that wasn’t enough the water temp was a solid 23.5 degrees, way to warm for tuna or broadbill!
Tuna hunting on Groundswell By Jamie Mackay
Now Groundswell is usually a very comfortable boat at sea but as the tide turned low the wind picked up to 15 knots and our 13 metre tower swung in 40 degrees boobing us round like a big cork the reality of a sleepless night 35 miles offshore started to dampen everyone’s spirits. Added to that we had not seen any birds or bait or heard anything on the radio all day. This trip had all the markings of failure. So faced with sticking to the Broadbill plan it called for a radical change of plans. We rechecked the charts and sat images and decided to abandon our broadbill pursuit and instead track down to the Southern boundary of the Slam tournament in the hope of finding the cooler water that had been producing yellowfin down there. So, at 9pm we pulled in our deep set lines and headed off into the night at a whale friendly 7 knots. Underway Groundswell lots the rock n roll and we purred smoothly down the Shelf under the near full moon with a close watch at all times on the radar and AIS. A few hours before daybreak we hit our mark and the night-watchmen crew of Bryce Marshall and Tim Pope took a well earned kip while Andrew and I prepped the 24 kg outfits. Lures hit the water right on sunrise just an hour or two before the High tide change, there was a sea running but still very fishable with plenty of bird activity and bait showing up on the screen. We opted for a five-rod spread – two squidgies on the left short and long riggers, A tantrum bullet on the shotty and right long rigger and little deep diving Halco on the right short rigger. It took less than 20 minutes before the Halco went off a short fight produced a jell bean yellowfin of about 28kg. We were pumped just to see our first fin of the season. We reset and kept tracking North of the fishing boundary and started to mark more bait but this time with some seriously big fish marking up on it. The ‘bang’ my new Talica exploded on the big gold Squidgie set on the long-left rigger. Andy was on strike and this thing was peeling line like a French sub on steroids. We quickly set about clearing the lines and getting Andy harnessed up and set in the corner. As I said there was a 2 metre sea and Bryce Marshall did an excellent job keeping the fish tight and Andy on point. About 30 minutes later we had colour and our hoots of excitement could not be contained. A few more deep line runs when he saw the boat followed by some anxious circles just out of reach the gaff finally came together as Popey and I double gaffed the 57 kegs of beautiful yellowfin. High fives all around we bled and bagged our prize in a saltwater ice slurry and headed back to the weigh station. A few weeks later of course lockdowns hit and astoundingly we couldn’t go more than 3 miles East without copping ridiculously heavy fines. Then by the time we re-opened and Slam reopened the fish seemed to have moved on. We are pumped to have won this years Slam especially among the many incredibly experienced and dedicated anglers in our club, there were certainly bigger fish out there to be caught so yeah in many ways we got lucky. What is great is that our yellowfin stocks appear to be in good shape and combined with the strong run of big blue fin up to Jervis Bay this year hopefully these beautiful fish will remain a sustainable pursuit for generations to come. Congrats to all the other entrants in this years Slam and many thanks to the Club for staging the event. Jamie Mackay Groundswell
www.tantrumlures.com
By Greg Wall
I’m pretty sure I am not the only one that starts getting excited as the weather starts to warm up in summertime in Sydney. As the East Australia Current (AEC) starts pushing warmer water down from the North it means two things. The FADS (Fishing Aggravating Devices) will have been deployed for the year by DPI and they will start getting visitors in the form of the Dolphinfish (not to be confused with Dolphins). Dolphin Fish, Mahi Mahi or Dorado Now whether you call them Mahi Mahi (the Hawaiian name meaning very strong), Dolphinfish (nickname Dollie) or Dorado (the Spanish name) they are a fantastic sport fish performing aerial manoeuvres and putting up a fantastic fight. They are also an amazingly beautiful fish with golden shades intermingled with fluorescent greens and blues on the sides, back and pectoral fins. Not only do they have all that going for them but they are one of the fastest growing fish in the sea with a ferocious appetite and they are an excellent sustainable table fish. The lifespan of a Mahi Mahi is around 4 years and they can grow to well over a metre and up to 18kg in weight in this short time. A Powerful Fish built for Speed They are fast and they are hungry. A Mahi Mahi can swim as fast as 50 knots (92.5 km/h) and they need lots of food to support their fast lane lifestyle. They are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters and typically won’t start showing up until we have clean, warm blue water heading down from the north off Sydney of over 20 degrees. If you’re cruising around on the ocean and you see some floating debris, a tree or some coral spawning linesor similar it’s often worth a quick troll past this or a drop as bait fish will hang around this and where there’s baitfish…there can be predatory fish like Mahi Mahi if the water is warm enough. When they are on they will take livies, pillies, cut baits, poppers and just about anything. Cube up some fresh pilchards or whatever you have on hand to send them into a feeding frenzy!
Summertime in Sydney means Dollie Season
FAD Location
Latitude (S)
Longitude (E)
Distance from nearest access point (km)
(15) Port Stephens
32° 46.967'
152° 24.703'
Tomaree – 22.5
(16) Port Stephens South
32° 47.660'
152° 24.100'
(17) Newcastle
32° 55.333'
151° 59.935'
Hunter River – 19.1
(18) Swansea
33° 10.005'
151° 48.976'
Swansea Channel – 17
110
(19) Terrigal
33° 30.032'
151° 38.592'
Terrigal Skillion – 19
115
(20) Sydney North
33° 35.700'
151° 34.600'
Broken Bay – 22
105
(20A) Sydney North
151° 34.930'
(21) Sydney Harbour
33° 47.021'
151° 22.700'
Port Jackson – 8.5
50
(22) Sydney
33° 55.000'
151° 24.800'
Port Jackson – 15
(23) Sydney East
33° 59.316'
151° 20.951'
Botany Bay – 9.5
98
(23A) Sydney East
151° 20.626'
(24) Botany Bay Wide
33° 59.672'
151° 26.743'
Botany Bay – 18
140
(24A) Botany Bay Wide
151° 27.068'
(25) Sydney South
34° 08.356'
151° 22.621'
Port Hacking – 21
(25A) Sydney South
151° 22.946'
Depth (m)
120
130
95
The other great place to visit in summer to try your luck at catching one of these amazing fish is at one of the FAD’s off the east coast of Australia. So what exactly is a FAD? Put simply a bright yellow buoy on a long chain that is anchored to the sea floor. Over 30 FAD’s are installed along the NSW coast during the warmer months and then removed again for maintenance during winter. They are typically placed in anywhere between 50 and 150 metres of water and run Tweed Heads in the north down to Eden in the south. Over 95% of fish caught around FAD’s are schooling Mahi Mahi and there’s nothing better than pulling up at a FAD and having a school of Mahi Mahi in a feeding frenzy at the back of the boat. Here are a list of some of the FAD’s within easy reach of Sydney. For a full list visit DPI’s website at: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/resources/fish-aggregating-devices
Good to catch and great to eat Mahi Mahi is also a good source of Omega 3 Fatty acids, Protein, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Phosphorus and Selenium (they can have small amounts of Mercury). They have a distinct sweet and moderately mild flavour with a firm texture with large moist flakes. The darker portions of meat can be removed to obtain a milder flavour but they don’t typically have that FISHY taste to them. They are also great for the BBQ during summer and your guests will love the opportunity to try some exotic fish that may not have had the opportunity to try before.
So this summer, make sure you get out there and put a Dolphinfish on your bucket list to catch. The size limit is 60cm in NSW with only 1 over 110cm allowed (bag limit of 10). You can access a full list of FAD locations, bag limits and more by downloading the FishSmart app on your mobile phone. Just make sure you pick your day and your boat has all the required safety gear for the open ocean. Drop me a line with some good photos. Cheers Greg
During the week prior to “Spindrift’s” capture, the several local professional fishermen working the reef area known as “The Peak”, off Maroubra, had complained about the presence of giant, unidentified fish taking their snapper and teraglin under their boats. The Abbott brothers, easily the most successful of there fishermen, related their problem with these fish at the Watsons Bay Hotel. Most were sceptical at the suggestion that they were giant tuna, citing mako sharks or big whites as the culprits. Dr Jim Delohery had scheduled his fishing day and a little unkind weather was not going to deter him. Also he had recently purchased, at auction of course, a 39 thread outfit that had belonged to the flamboyant Sydney GFC angler Sam Jamieson and this was to be its first trial by the new owner. It was a heavy duty premium USA made “Tycoon” fibreglass rod with a 12/0 “Fin Nor” two-speed reel fitted, loaded with brand new “Ashaway” dacron line. This was identical tackle to that used by Alfred C Glassell Jr. to capture his 1953 All Tackle 1560 lb (707.61 kg) black marlin world record off Peru and used by Lou Marron to land his 1182 lb (536.15 kg) swordfish All Tackle world record, off Chile, also in 1953. A guest on “Spindrift” that day was the well known Sydney GFC angler Jack Farrell, for many years the gaff man on Bob and Dolly Dyer’s “Tennessee’s” and a very experienced fisherman and crewman. The boat set sail from Sydney Harbour around 8.30am and trolled to “The Peak” where they anchored up. Baits, 6-7 lb striped tuna, were set on shark traces and buoyed out astern of the vessel. At around 11.30am the deep bait, the new 39 thread outfit, took off at speed, peeling off an alarming amount of line, later estimated at 500 yards (metres). The dan buoy with the anchor line attached was not yet cast off as it was thought that it would be possible to fight the fish to the boat on the very heavy line. This went on for nearly an hour and George spent some time working the fish from a bow mounted rod gimbal. As he was making little progress it was finally decided to move off the anchor, The vessel went off in hot pursuit to recover the great belly of line in the water. Fortunately, the weather had deterred other boats so the usual problem of losing line around a neighbouring anchor rope was not a consideration.
FROM THE ARCHIVES. Australia’s largest tuna - 623 lbs (282 kg) of Thunnus orientalis! By John Mc Intyre.
Sunday, November 28, 1965 was a grey, showery day in Sydney with a moderate sou’east wind creating sloppy and uncomfortable sea conditions. It was also the day on which Sydney Game Fishing Club held its annual Christmas party for members and their children on Rodd Island, Sydney Harbour. Almost the entire fleet attended and despite the weather a pleasant day was enjoyed by everyone. At the end of the function the fleet dispersed to the various parts of the Harbour with a number returning to Watsons Bay to drop off people at the Club’s weighing station and club house. Imagine the surprise of those returning to Watsons Bay to be confronted with the sight of largest tuna ever caught in Australia, before or since! Hanging from the Club’s scales was a tuna of unimagined proportions - a body like a huge barrel, with over 6 ft girth and pulling the scales down to 623 lbs or 282.59 kilos under the new metric weights and measures introduced in Australia during the following year. The angler George Park and the crew of Dr Jim Delohery’s boat “Spindrift” were naturally elated at their bluefin tuna capture which was considered to be available for several Australian record claims, being 380 lbs (172 kg) heavier than the present record. The claims were for the All Tackle and 39 thread (130lb-60kg) classes. The All Tackle bluefin tuna record of 245 lbs (111.3 kg) was held by Mr Bill Stewart of Melbourne, a fish taken off the Lanterns, Tasmania in 1960 and the 39 thread bluefin tuna record had been held since March 1938 by the well known Melbourne angler Mr Tom Bell with his 238 lb (107.94 kg) tuna at Bermagui. George Park, a builder from Killara, Sydney, was an experienced angler and a long time fishing companion of Dr Jim Delohery, a Chatswood medical practitioner. Dr Jim had commenced fishing immediately after World War 2 with the NSW Rod Fishers Society and was, with George, a foundation and active member of Broken Bay Game Fishing Club. The vessel “Spindrift” was a sturdy, beamy 38 ft twin diesel timber planked cruiser, built some years earlier by a shipwright employed by Dr Jim. Her diesel engines were Leylands, originally designed and built for British light tanks in World War 2. Dr Jim had bought five brand new engines in their original packing cases at a post War disposal auction - plenty of spare parts.
Dr Jim Delohery went on to become a very hard working President of Game Fishing Association of Australia for the term 1968 - 71 and still attended auction sales well into his retirement. He is well remembered by those of a certain age as a nice man who seemed to attract some colourful characters aboard his boat. Dr Jim passed away in 1976 George Park moved to Norfolk Island several years after the big tuna capture and so far as is known, he passed away on the Island sometime in the early 1980's
George, who was then 45 years of age, was a fit man used to hard physical work as a builder and he really bent to the task but it still took him 2 1/2 hours to get the fish to the boat. The “Spindrift” crew could not believe the size of the tuna but Jack Farrell soon had the wire and was not about to let go. The gaffs went in and tail ropes were secured to aft bollards in quick time. The boat’s design pre-dated transom doors and with no adequate lifting gear, the tuna was slowly towed home- arriving in time to provide the ultimate surprise to the Sydney GFC party groups. Celebrations went on into the evening and spectators came from all over to view this remarkable fish. There was much discussion regarding the species although all agreed that it was a bluefin tuna. Fisheries scientists from CSIRO subsequently identified it as Hon Maguro bluefin tuna- apparently the name was from the Japanese meaning “big tuna” which it certainly was! Later research labelled the tuna as a “Thunnus thynnus orientalis”, a prime sushimi grade species encountered by the high seas long line fleets and which is reputed to grow to over 1000 lbs (454 kg). The tuna capture was later ratified as an Australian record in its own category and remains unchallenged to this day as Australia’s largest tuna. The southern bluefin tuna All Tackle record stands at 153 kg with Mr Robert Arnold’s St. Helens, Tasmania fish, and the 60 kg class remains Mr Bell’s pre WW2 Bermagui fish of 107.94 kg - 238 lbs noted previously.
Basic Bar Terminology “WHO’S GOT THE NEXT ROUND?” (I haven’t bought a round in almost 3 years, but I am an expert at diverting attention)
Country Doctor An old country doctor went way out to the boondocks to deliver a baby. It was so far out, there was no electricity. When the doctor arrived, no one was home except for the laboring mother and her 5-year- old child. The doctor instructed the child to hold a lantern high so he could see while he helped the woman deliver the baby. The child did so, the mother pushed, and after a little while, the doctor lifted the newborn baby by the feet and spanked him on the bottom to get him to take his first breath. The doctor then asked the 5-year-old what he thought of the baby. “Hit him again,” the 5-year-old said. “He shouldn’t have crawled up there in the first place!”
The Wife Cuts the Grass One Saturday afternoon, I was sitting in my lawn chair, drinking beer and watching my wife mow the lawn. The neighbor lady from across the street was so outraged at this that she came over and shouted at me, “You should be Hung.” I calmly replied, “I am. That’s why she cuts the grass.”
SAINTLY WHISPERS
Love the SAINT
What’s the most popular pickup line in Arkansas? Nice Tooth!
In Defense of Herself One night, an 87-year-old woman came home from Bingo to find her husband in bed with another woman. Angry, she become violent and ended up pushing him off the balcony of their 20th floor apartment, killing him instantly. When brought before the court on the charge of murder, she was asked if she had anything to say in defense of herself. “ Well, your Honor,” she began coolly. “I figured that, at 92, if he could f*-@k he could fly!”
Love, Lust or Marriage LOVE — When you write poems about your partner. LUST — When all you write is your phone number. MARRIAGE — When all you write is checks.
The Pharmacist A man walks into a pharmacy, buys a condom, them walks out of the store laughing hysterically. The pharmacist thinks this is weird, but, hey, there’s no law preventing weird people from buying condoms. Maybe it’s a good thing. The next day, the man comes back to the store, purchases anther condom, and once again he leaves the store laughing wildly. This piques the interest of the pharmacist. What’s so funny about buying a rubber, anyway? So he tells his clerk, “If this guy ever comes back, I want you to follow him to see where he goes.” Sure enough, the next day the laugher is back. He buys the condom, starts cracking up, them leaves. The pharmacist tells hin clerk to go follow the guy. About an hour later, the clerk comes back to the store. “ Did you follow him? Where did he go?” asks the pharmacist. The clerk replies, “Your house.”
But with this answer comes a new question, why was a large cobia full of benthic fish caught feeding on the surface far from the coast? Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any answers to this question in the scientific literature. Maybe this cobia was just a bit of an oddity, or maybe there’s something more to these southerly travelling cobia. Either way, most of the research on cobia is done in the United States, and more research is needed in Australia so we can better understand these fish.
Figure1- A 25.5kg Cobia caught by Aluhr at the 2021 Interclub
At the 2021 Port Stephens Interclub, a 25.5kg cobia (Rachycentron canadum) was brought to the weigh station by the boat Aluhr. As many anglers will know, cobia are typically associated with tropical regions and aren’t exactly a common catch this far South. That being said, this isn’t unheard of either, there have been plenty of records of cobia caught throughout central New South Wales. Being a trophic ecologist (food chain scientist), I couldn’t help wonder, what do these tropical tourists like to eat on their holidays down the coast? We collected the stomach from this cobia and chopped it open in the lab to have a closer look. Upon initial inspection, the stomach had a fullness index of 0.614, which suggests a moderately full stomach. But the real surprise came when we opened the stomach. Out from the stomach came plenty of skulls, vertebrae and other skeletal chunks. However, these weren’t the usual vertebrae or skulls we find in stomachs, these were all cartilage, suggesting this cobia has been feeding mostly on elasmobranchs (sharks or rays). The real identifier were the 14 small stingray barbs also found in the stomach.
Figure2- Cobia stomach content, primarily cartilage chunks and stingray barbs
Curious about this result, I decided to read what other studies had found and recorded about cobia diets. To my surprise, this is actually quite typical in large cobias. A study by Huskey (2020) published in Ichthyological Research quite clearly summarises dietary studies undertaken to paint a picture of how cobia feed. Juveniles predominantly eat small fish, shrimp, and squids. However, their diet changes quite significantly as they get older, they begin to focus on more benthic prey like crabs, eels, stingrays and other large benthic fish.
A Cobia full of stingrays By Tristan Guillemin
VALE Robert Curry 32/10/2021
BOTANY BAY GFC With great sadness, we announce the loss of club member Robert Curry. Rob and the boat name Marquis has been synonymous with Botany Bay GFC for 44 years joining the club back in 1977. He served his time on the committees of Botany Bay GFC, NSWGFA and GFAA. After starting out as a shark fisherman in his huntsman and 28 Bertman he turned his hand to marlin fishing and devoted countless hours chasing that ever elusive grander blue after purchasing Arch Livingstone's Striker Gloriana. It was a weapon of a boat that was the unbringing of many large marlin through the late 80's and 90s until he upgraded to his current blackwatch in 2005 that continued that trend although alot more tagging by then. If fishaholic was a term it was for Rob Curry. Just days ago checking the weather to see when he'd be back out their and check which crew were ready to go. He was a true competitor and a great fisherman who will be greatly missed. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. RIP Robert Curry
Fishing Update from 4/10/2021 Bit of an unexpected one from the other day while dropping at the mountain. Ended up going 45kg!