MARLIN SEASON NEARS AS FISHOS GET EXCITED

THE best news of the week for Gold Coast fisherman is that the first of the small black marlin have turned up off our coastline.

Usually our first marlin turn up just before Christmas and the season really kicks off around mid January.

However Jason Heller scored a big one (pictured top left) on Tuesday trolling just off the seaway.

In the background you can see Surfers Paradise.

This is what makes the Gold Coast one of the greatest marlin fishing hot spots anywhere in the world.

It shows just how close to our coast the marlin travel.

Lucky Gold Coast fisherman (as the photo shows) do not have to burn hundreds of dollars of fuel to get to the marlin grounds as the bait in our waters move very close to the coast and therefore so do the marlin that feed off them.

The great news is while only the odd marlin is out there at the moment there are heaps of dolphin fish around, so if you put in the time you will be rewarded with a great fish eventually.

There are plenty of places to troll but try 80m of water off Jumpinpin Bar as a start. Good luck.

What a great Gold Coast shot of the first small black marlin of the year turning up off Surfers Paradise. Jason Heller scored this little black on Tuesday. Fish the Deep Charters got their first black marlin of the season on Monday, picking up this one...