We've just finished trips with Joe Spencer from Cooktown and Capt Laurie and Julie Wright. Joe managed to release his first two black marlin.

Capt Laurie was a mine of information, built up over his 30 years on the reef and he was happy to share it with Capt Jared, Andy and Ant as well as answering my many questions on fishing with circle hooks.

The fish have been mostly smaller ones, although this one at 450-500lbs was welcome. We also had a nice one at 700lb to the boat but pulled the hook.

Hopefully the big one is just around the corner...

Engine trouble, rough weather and pure bad luck have kept us waiting for a big fish. We've had our share of smaller ones but until today the big girls have eluded us.

Today was the day and the wait was worth it.

We had just started off #5 Ribbon Reef at around 1:00pm today when the big girl - around 950lb - (and her smaller companion) turned up. She grabbed the big bait and took off, only to drop it after a short run. Smart work by Andy on the handline saw her back again, and this time she didn’t mess around. With the circle hook planted firmly in the corner of her jaw, she set off for the horizon with Capt Jared in hot pursuit. After a great fight we had her to the boat within 20 minutes, tagged, released and off to fight another day.

Hopefully, more to come and soon...

We're off and running for 2009! After a slow first day, things picked up at Linden Bank. We saw five, got a bite out of three and released two. Both in the 200 - 300lb range, but very welcome nevertheless.