2004 Fishing Report
2004 Marlin Season
We started the 2004 marlin season on the 10th September, fishing the Lizard Island / Cooktown area. This early to mid September fishing proved to be very good with around 2-3 bites per day.
Mid to late September provided great fishing for us although the hook up rate was less than great. Underwater footage showed the fish “doggy boneing” the baits or dropping the baits almost immediately upon hitting them. Lures had a higher percentage of hookups overall. We fly fished for 5 days, hooking and fighting 4 fish between ranging between180lbs-500lbs, though were unable to get any into gaffing range.
We encountered our first 900lbs plus fish around the 16th of September with lots of mid-rangers and fat rats in between.
October fished very well also with some really big fish around. Each week we saw some incredible beauties, catching 3 estimated at 1000lbs plus, with good numbers of 800-900lb fish also. Some days we consistently caught 4,5,6 marlin daily.
On one 4 day charter we caught a total of 15 for our lucky anglers.
The Lizard Island Tournament overall was a fair bit quieter than last season though a successful tournament for most none the less.
November brought along for us a selection of great fishing periods, encountering slower times also. No 10 was still the most consistent area of the reef for us although the middle ribbons certainly turned it on if you were in the right spot at the right time. We caught excellent fish on standup tackle also.
Our 100th marlin for the season was caught on Lena Reef and within 10 minutes of releasing this fish we caught another 850lb on a lure, topping off another season highlight.
As usual December fished well as around the Linden Bank area encountering big fish all the way up until Christmas.
We finished the season with a total 105 fish. The most marlin caught for the season. It was an exciting, enjoyable and successful season and I look forward to fishing with many of you again over the next few seasons.
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