IT’S January and as usual that means that the LBG marlin in Jervis Bay are going off once again.
The last time I seriously fished LBG for Jervis Bay marlin was in the early ’90s which is about when most of the present gun fishos were born. Back then we carried all of our gear down a bush track that was difficult to follow in the dark. Gone are the days of bucketing water into blow up kids pools. Most of the serious guys these days run Honda four-stroke pumps that replace a large pool full of water in five minutes. Talk about taking the fun and exercise out of it!
The Tubes used to be a filthy, small platform littered with rubbish, discarded line and rotting bait that you could smell a 100 metres away. The last 30 metres into the platform was a 30 metre drop that had to be climbed and I can actually remember falling down that cliff in the dark one morning as a teenager, taking a heap of skin off my legs and arms. It now has a galvanised walkway and stairs. There’s also a toilet and rubbish bins up the top and this has greatly reduced the rubbish and smell down on the rocks.
While all of that work has made things more civilised, The Tubes is still very crowded in January and February, so unless you have a heap of time and LBG experience it’s probably a good place to avoid and not try and fish. There is absolutely no room down there when the action is on and most guys fish in groups and camp down there for days on end just to keep a spot and not lose the six foot by six foot piece of flat rock to house their live bait pool. When I was down there a few weeks ago I struggled to find four square feet or dry rock to put my LowePro camera bag on.
We saw two marlin caught when I was down there but with 30 guys fishing a very small platform and up to 10 live slimeys out at any given time, it stands to reason that any marlin swimming past is likely to be hooked. The past few weeks have seen some solid captures of black marlin in Jervis Bay with fish to around 150 kilos landed and several fish released. Marlin fishing like that from a land based platform really is very unique.
The fishing will probably last until March, but be warned – unless you know the area and have a lot of experience don’t even consider doing a day trip and expecting to catch bait or keep it alive or even get a bait in the water. It is very crowded by very experienced anglers and you won’t get a look in.
