MARLINS TIPPED TO HIT COAST IN BIG NUMBERS
YOU beauty, the small black marlin have arrived.
Not in great numbers yet but you are far from wasting your time trolling in around 80m of water out off the pin or the Gold Coast seaway.
All signs are by December and early January we will have a great marlin season.
Mates this week caught small blacks before the wind kicked in. The great news is there seems to be lots of bait to keep them hanging around.
Out wide on the shelf we have big blue and stripped marlin around as well but be warned: you have to burn a lot of fuel to get out there.
The great thing about the small black marlin is they are in close and can be caught by smaller boats including tinnies if the weather is kind enough.
I run a witchdoctor and a teaser to help bring on the bite when trolling and Pakula lures have been successful.
With so much bait around live baiting is a great option, my only advice would be to make sure your livie is matching the bait school.
If the bait school is slimey mackerel and you are dropping yakkas you could be wasting your time. In among the small marlin are some mahi mahi (dolphin fish).