For those who haven't noticed, things have been somewhat busy over on the other blog this week But happily most of the hard work is now done and we're just waiting for the marlin fishing to start up again.

On this side of the pond, Capt. Luke has put in many early hours bass fishing. It's hard work, but someone has to do it ;-)

Despite the most secretive of intentions, the word on spot X seems to be out with more and more craft joining us there on the weekends though the week day morning are still pretty quiet. Capt Luke was there with Kelvin again yesterday morning where Kelvin suffered from too many rods syndrome and managed to get a double hookup of bass while trolling from the bow.

After the trip on the weekend, there were plans for another cobia fishing trip yesterday instead but that was foiled by us and the BlueWater crew on Wednesday as we discovered the cobia too have moved on. Still, we had a great day out of bottom bashing. Tim caught this 30lb jewfish and we all added several pearl perch to the mix. It was glass on the open water and we haven't had many days like that here all year so we certainly enjoyed it.

Word is that the boys on the 36's also jumped a marlin off on one of their float lines so there are still a few fish hanging around.

The BIG and SMALL of my Bass fishing on the weekend.

With the marlin fishing a little quiet over the winter months, Capt. Luke made his first trip out in his new toy today - an Old Town Canoe. (In search of the Australian Bass which is the latest Capt Luke craze.) Heading up the back of the coast, in the quiet waters, he and mate Kelvin released a nice little bunch of Bass in a couple of hours with a Bream or two and Flathead thrown in for good measure, the best measuring in at 47cms.

The boys used an array of crank baits, surface lures and once the school was located switched to vibration lures. The verdict on the canoe is "awesome". It took a little to get used to, no sudden movements but both agreed it was a stable ride and it certainly didn't scare the fish. The electric (a 28lb Min Kota) pushed them along at a surprisingly speedy rate. It's attached to the canoe by a bracket across the back and makes it a very handy and maneuverable combo. Also, by having the electric on the boat it enables you to troll between spots.

I will be finding out first hand on the weekend myself. Virgin canoe-ist.

Also posted on the Black Marlin Fishing Blog.

Another wild weekend of weather on the Gold Coast and another weekend of fishing down the drain as Capt. Jim cancels planned trips. I did get around to a little bit more of the video editing from last year - it's such slow progress - so thought I'd share a couple of more clips.

Two clips on You Tube:

Mat's tag pole camera footage of Brendan's Black Marlin on board Kekoa.
and
A late season small Black Marlin on a beautiful day at Linden Bank on Reel Chase.