Here's my two cents. I am not a game fisherman, yeah I have caught one, yeah only one and I've put my crew onto one - yeah only one! I am heavily involved in Counties Sport Fishing Club and have weighed many striped marlin, literally hundreds. In that number i include all the T&R cards I see & our club has around 60% T&R rate. I once weighed 7 in one evening I've only weighed one blue and one black along with a NZ women's record YFT. I've weighed three broadbill the biggest going 255kg last year. All those fish are from out west.
What that really means is I have no clue on how to catch them
but I hear all the stories, see all the tackle and all of the lures. Some people will disagree but 99% of people are honest about the info they choose to share when they are buzzing after a catch, especially when I join them for a beer afterwards
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I have a 'party trick' where I can guess the weight of a fish, easily within 10% I don't know how I do it but the first question I always get is 'Do you think it will go 90 Smudge'? The last two fish I weighed I said at least 100 (it was 103.6) the other i said it was an easy 90 and it was 93. So I know a little bit but don't really apply myself nor do I particularly enjoy trying for them. The last couple of years I've thought about having another crack but haven't mustered the enthusiasm.
Get on with it Smudge! What's your point???
Well it is this: two weeks ago there was bluish water at 80m. There were tuna at 100 and marlin from there out to 200m. There weren't many trailers at Te Toro but I weighed 3 fish.
Weekend just gone I weighed one and there weren't many parking spaces left. Close to 80 boats.
Jeeez this is dragging on Smudgie!
Anyway! The blue water was approx half way to Australia thanks to the stormy easterlies prior to the weekend. The fish were out deep. One was caught out at 900m. The one I weighed was about 250m. I could have caught a boat load of snapper and gurnard in the time it took them to get there. That is my thing.
The next opportunity to get out safely looks about 10 to 15 days away and if the conditions allow it will be magic. I promise you. That's my story.