# Official SW Rocks Bash Trip Report



## JT

The word from Pauly (On The Edge) was that a 6 foot plus 80 Kilo black Marlin was boated and landed by PaulO from a Hobie Revolution today. Marlin steaks for dinner.

Not sure of the exact details and apologies if some of the details are wrong. That is fresh from Pauly's "mouth of the horse" as of an hour ago.

JT


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## bazzoo

Awwwwwwww c'mon Ken , i have been waiting all week to hear how you guys went on the water, i have logged on 8 times a day in anticipation of someone up there using their laptop , but ,no , not a sausage , i really want to hear that someone got some good fish .


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## woopie

WOW what a Marlin it was it was about 8 foot long probally 80 to 100 kg caught by Pauly what a top fish Welldone 
Woopie :


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## Nodds

I don't know about the rest of you but I can't wait to see the pics of that :shock: an 8 foot marlin :shock: go Paulo

Yeah I agree with Bazzo get those reports rolling in 

cheers nodds


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## Physhopath

I got photo's of Paulo's marlin but I think it's only fair he post's his pics and tells his story first.
For the record it went 78 kilo's, was 2.5 mtrs long and was caught on 30lb very old braid.

When I saw him last ( about 5:30 this arvo ) Paulo was between exhaustion and elation. 

Marlin steaks for dinner tonight.


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## bazzoo

Yeeeeaaaaa guys , now its getting good , a marlin from a yak , You Beauty , am hanging out to get all the details , and Ken really looking forward to that vid , keep em coming fellas and ladies .


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## chrissy

Yeah it was a bit of a struggle wrestling when it came in shallow enough water. :lol:


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## craig450

WOW!!! :shock: 
Cant wait to hear the full story!! really wish i could have made the trip up for this one


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## fishingchap

MARLIN,YAY

hurry up photos quickly (drool) want see biug fish (drool) :lol: :lol:


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## grant ashwell

This was a great week with today being the best day providing the ideal warm current and flat conditions . I'm sure Paul will have tell his story hundreds of times and there are a couple of quite remarkable points to it which I will raise later if he forgets. Paul displayed remarkable tenacity and strength of which you will no doubt hear about. He certainly did a lot more than "just land a marlin" and has my deepest respect. Paul has raised the bar for all of us..
It was great to see the spirt of good will from all when he beached. I'm sure we would all have enjoyed being the successful fisher but everyone was genuinely happy and pleased for Paul. This is great reflection on AKFF members and the "family" spirit of kayak fishing. This was also evident as I wandered around being made welcome with as many beers as I could have drunk had I been able. I'm a fairly solo person but would make the effort to turn up again if it presented.
Generally the fishing was rather difficult and required a lot of effort however, this is the same story up and down the coast this year.
Thanks to all attendees for giving me many good memories..


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## DGax65

Sounds like a great time was had by all. I can't wait to see the pictures.


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## Guest

78k Marlin. Wow... just, wow. bring on the photos and vids guys. Top effort


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## Mushi

25 AKFF yakkers, good times, and a bloody marlin   CANNOT wait for the story and pics :shock: 

Well done to everyone who made the biggest akff trip to date


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## sbd

!


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## Seasquirt

I too like bazoo have been checking constantly for even the faintest report hoping that someone would manage a post. Waaahhhooooo Paul for the Marlin its gonna be hard for anyone to top that effort I/we/all are just hanging on for that report. You little ripper    
Cheers
Pam


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## Robbo

Arrgh...the anticipation of reading about the marlin catch is almost unbearable! It's almost 3am and here I am logging on to see if anything has been written! :lol: :lol: :lol: Nothing substantial yet but I can't wait!


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## Dave73

What a result, well done to everyone involved, sounds like it's gonna be an annual trip now? :lol: :lol: 
Looking forward to the report and pictures.

Well done Paul, stoked for ya mate. 

Now stop resting that arm and if you can raise it to type, then make yourself a brew and start telling us EVERYTHING......

Cheers Dave


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## keza

WOOOOW that was a buzz, i was out there with Paul and the whole thing was so exciting, i never once thought i wish it was me. In fact the way it turned out i don't think it could have been done with a paddle, but just being there i think we all felt we shared his glory to a degree, it was just such a great thing to be part of i am still buzzing from it.
My body is so stiff and sore from all the paddling over the last few days, Paul must be crippled.

The whole trip was a great experience with so much learning and what a great bunch of guys.

GOD I LOVE THIS SPORT.

will post some pics and yarn later.

buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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## keza

Ok, i hope this is ok to do but the one picture Paul won't have is a shot of him with the fish so here is one and then he can add the story.

still buzzing


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## Astro

now thats a fish........


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## tweeds

Sweet Jesus!!! Unbelievable effort Paul. You legend!


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## sbd

Onya paulo, that's a fish alright.


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## polylureosis

Holy, mother of all marlin, batman (AKA Paulo)


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## water_baby

Hloy mother of god. that would have been phenomenal, on a weekend where not much else seems to have happened. i need reports people :lol: :lol: and pictures :lol: :lol:

well done PaulO 8)


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## Kevin

Great result. And I agree with everyone who was just happy for the successful angler and thrilled to share in his elation.


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## paulb

Awesome Paulo - you so deserve that fish especially after so many days and so many km's out there on the hunt. Look forward to hearing the story in all its glory ! Well done, well done, WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!


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## beefs

Wow :shock: its all been said before but an amazing capture, can't wait to hear the story. Can't believe it only went 78kgs - it's a beast!

PS Unrelated funny story about marlin - on the barge back from Fraser island on a geography school trip back in the day a dolphin jumped and the brightest :? girl in the class exclaimed - "look - its a Merlin!" :lol:


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## Tim

**** yeah!


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## Biggera Yakker

Nice fish!
Who saw the fight?
Tell us about it!


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## crazyratwoman

A lot of people are still at SWR.... apparently we had just left when Paulo hooked up dammit!!!!!!


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## YakMan

First class fishing and very worthy of a report Paulo.

*That is a truely awesome catch.*

We brag of 80cm kings and you bag an 80kg Black Marlin. :shock:

Fantastic effort and great photo.


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## PeteyH

I am just in the door from SWR. Not wanting to extend the agony, but Kezas picture does not fully do it justice. there is actually a fair curve in it in that shot. You gotta wait to see the one of three AKFFERS holding it up in a straight line!!!!!!
Had you been there when it came in i am telling you it was unbelievable. The best will be when you hear the outfit he got it on!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA. YOU WILL LOVE IT !!
Very proud to belong to AKFF, the cameraderie was superb. 
I guess this knocks off my Rockcod for the Hall of fame Davey? 
Pete


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## Davey G

I too have just walked in the door at 4pm Monday. I won't be able to download pics till tomorrow am - sorry (but I do have some beauties).

Pauls effort was huge. i was out trolling a few kilometres offshore and had just passed Paulo and Crushie on their way back in, trolling along the current line in the opposite direction. We'd all managed to pick up some livebaits and were trolling them around. A couple of k's out I watched one of the flotilla of stinkboats play and land a (what i thought) was a good Marlin - around 4 foot long and 45 kilos. It jumped several times, and put up a great show. I radioed the guys and a few started heading out to see if we could hook up.

After 20 minutes or so of trolling out deep we turned around and started heading back in close and then I saw ANOTHER marlin jumping - hang on, theres a bunch of yaks just behind that fish! I radioed in to the guys in close to ask who had hooked up, but none of them had radios and momentarily we were unsure.....

However it soon became clear when I saw the sand coloured revolution getting towed across the water at warp speed that it was Paulo!

I'll let him fill you in on the next 3 hours of mayhem. Suffice to say he was one very tired but happy chappy last night...

Full report and pics tomorrow...


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## jaredluke

Bad luck about the fish boys but sounds pretty good with all the yakers there  . I bet you got a few looks from the people in the stink boats 8) :lol: :? Holy jesus what a fish


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## sulo

Wow, what a once in a lifetime fish!!! Paulo,you're one hell of a fisherman. 
I'm gonna feel pretty bloody inadequate catching flathead now.


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## Garfish

speechless!

i think the forum should go further south next year and have it in mallacoota.


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## Breambo

Thats a great catch from Paulo, good work there. Im with everyone else waiting to hear the details. :lol: 
What other good fish were caught down there ?


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## keza

Ken, don't forget the 12kg Blue Fin.
my dog is feasting on the scraps from the carcass as we speak (type)


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## fishnfreak

cmon i want pics


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## Tim

fishnfreak said:


> cmon i want pics


seconded.

What are you slackos doing, sleeping, or working or something?


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## Cuda

Yeah, c'mon you slackers - we want *all * of the juicy details, including Paulo's stupendous effort to land a whopping 78 kg Marlin :shock: Great effort PaulO.


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## fishing mik

bloody fantastic cant wait to see some more pics WELL DONE PAUL 
i think you will take out this months comp with that beauty  

cheers mik


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## GoneFishn

That is incredible what a fish. No wonder there is no report from him yet he's probably still waiting to get feeling back in his arms after that effort :lol:


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## Guest

I'm in absolute awe - that Marlin is an absolute pearler. Well done Paulo, you've just become a living legend. Now I'm going to start spending more time trying for marlin off Jervis Bay. Yes, I'm envious as hell of that fish (make that monster)! I guess that totally ends any suggestion that a great big game fish can't be reeled in on a Hobie Mirage kayak. Indeed, I think it (along with some other examples since that suggestion was made) proves quite the opposite.

Questions: how did you paddle/pedal back with the fish on board? Did you tow it? How do you think you would have gone if you were on your own? Would there have been any chance of you bringing it in to land, or would you have released it? And how far did it tow you, and how fast were you clicking? Oh yeah... what bait/lure did it fall for?

Great effort on some of those other fish mentioned as well. Yellowfin tuna, Longtail tuna, etc. Despite it being relatively quiet, it sounds to me that some of the more notable catches would have made it all worthwhile for all.


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## Slide

Fantastic capture. I am sure it took awesome angling skills. [_Mod edit: Mild comment on C&R removed - something for discussion as a separate topic - see below...

Any future posts discussing catch & release on the marlin will be deleted immediately. Paul has performed an amazing kayaking & fishing feat here and it does deserve respect. Posts which detract from it will be deleted. No further discussions are to be entered into regarding this.

Catch & Release is an important topic, and one which does deserve discussion, but this thread is not the time or place.

Back to admiring the big fish please & the wonderful pics. ]
_]


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## crazyratwoman

Thanks for the great weekend everyone!

Unfortunately I couldn't kayak or fish but had a great time meeting everyone and putting faces to names, (most which i can't remember now lol) :lol:

Hoping this could be an annual event and looking forward to the Forster bash now hehehe where hopefully I'll be back in action, If i'm not then i'm not going rofl :lol:


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## wobbly

Yes, it was a great weekend of fishing, very different to fishing local waters, the powerful swell, confused lumpy bits and beached surf landings tested the metal and equipment.

The fishing was slow with the reasons confirmed by many locals as due to the fresh water pouring out of the Macleay river keeping the salt water brakish and and cooler.

One big lesson learnt is the need to have all fishing gear organised and readily available. There was too much to learn in one long weekend, particularly a rethink on tackle is required and an adjustment to headspace regarding fishing for BIG monsters. I believe SWR will be visited regularly from now on.

Can we have fishing dates for the next year bash.

Good Time and thanks to everyone for making it a top time.

Pity about the mobile speed camera that bliped me doing 7 over the limit - Damn.

Regards

BRian


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## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## evarn

I am speechless.. I am without speech...

I am going brown(er) from envy!

Well done guys


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## saysme

Congratulations Paulo, what a fish! What a huge effort by all the guys who ventured offshore.
Dean1 and I stayed at his uncles cabin a couple of K's up the road which was very comfortable but made it a bit hit and miss catching up with the rest of the crew. I future I would probably Though still managed to get reports from Red and Kraley and other AKFF members like John who fished Back Creek. 
Back Creek fished OK:
PB flattie of 73cm CPR landed onj Friday Arvo another of 60cm on Sunday morning and about 15 flatties 29-33cm over the weekend. 
First bream on popper Saturday morning first bream on Plastic Sunday morning from the Yak several other bream from a combination of HBs and SP's
Other species caught and released up the Creek. Mangrove jack!( obviously lost), Fingermark, Mullet, Rays, Saw sharks(5) up to about 5ft cruising in on Saturday night.
We also did lenty of bait fishing up the river and little bay with enough bream and whiting to feed us Saturday and Sunday night and to take some home for the family as well- Deans bait fishing mojo outfished me by about 4 to 1.
Also Caught my first shark to off the rocks at Trail Bay a 50cm ? Dog shark. on my 6lb bream rod.


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## 123SHARKY123

i think all the guys that yak & catch amazing fish kings tuna MARLIN are numero unos you guys deserve a big round of applause fantastic luv your work the bar has certanly been set again fantastic WOW


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## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## saysme

Now Red you are getting desprate for photo's  But I did land it with the first cast.


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## Papasmurf

awesome fish mate!!!

some great photos there red. looks like u guys had a great time.


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## troutfish

Slide said:


> Edited by Mods.
> 
> This thread will not be allowed to develop into a fight. Any future posts discussing catch & release on the marlin will be deleted immediately. Paul has done performed an amazing kayaking & fishing feat here and it does deserve respect. Posts which detract from it will be deleted. No further discussions are to be entered into regarding this.
> 
> Catch & Release is an important topic, and one which does deserve discussion, but this thread is not the time or place.
> 
> Back to admiring the big fish please & the wonderful pics.


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## fisherdan

Here, here!! What a great trip, I never thought I could have so much fun watching others catch fish, I learned so much in those few days in varying conditions watching different fishing techniques on some amazing water with great people. Thanks everyone for such a great time.

I have to turn over my Marlin steak, it's dusted in Paprika and Dukkar, yum, thanks Paul!


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## bazzoo

Amazing , absolutely bloody amazing :shock: :shock: , i still cant believe he landed that big fish off his kayak :shock: :shock: , and i am still dumbstruck about how you guys got it in   , i tell you what , if your not proud of the camrardarie amongst the guys and girls at AKFF then your hard to please , so good , so damn good , well done all of you , but i want more photos and reports , c.mon now spill it all , the social stuff too, if you dont , we'll make it up and print it :lol:


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## karnage

:shock: big congrats to u paulo. u deserve a segment on "a currnet affair" for your outstanding acheivement.....highly anticapating more details from u


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## paulb

My family & I would also like to say thanks to Gatesy & Ken for suggesting the trip and getting the wheels in motion - we would have never discovered such a special part of the world otherwise. Great beach for the kids (& for us to launch), a little history with the gaol, kangaroos grazing outside the tents, kookaburra's for alarm clocks, BBQ's overlooking the beach and sunset, great camaraderie - it was truly a magic spot and we were so lucky with the weather. Sure the fresh water subdued the fishing, but it also subdued the local boat traffic to less than what we normally get in Sydney. I'm so pleased that Paulo finished the week in such style, I certainly would love to come back again.

Thanks guys & gals !!!!!!!!


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## Blaen

That's one hell of a fish Paulo, congratulations, that's once in a life time type of experience, WELL DONE.

Hey and well done to everyone else as well it looks like an excellent time was had by all involved.

And well done to the mods too, great work guys.


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## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## chrissy

Well ill show ya a few pics from sat morn and sun morn. Saturday Doug,Wal and i had our yaks on the beach at about 5:30, and got around the point about 15min after. I saw some huge longtails leaping out of the water not far in front of me put they didnt want my lure. I only managed two slimies, and to say the slimies were hard to get would be an understatement. I trolled for a few kays out along the current line in hope of a cobe. Duran was trolling a livey aswell and wasnt very far behind me. I thought i could here a the faint sound of a ratchet screaming in the distance. I turned around and saw Him hooked up to a solid fish heel bent in heading for the horizon. After taking 100 and something metres of his triton speedmaster he finally had it contolled and heading to the boat. 30 minutes had past and he had it to the boat. As soon as it popped up Duran yelled out "SPANIARD". I couldnt believe how big it was and as soon as i blinked a huge bronze whaler came and smashed it. Cutting through his metre long wire trace. We were shocked to say the least. While he quickly paddled away from the area i leisurely kept paddling, for some reason not even thinkin that the shark could have been behind me. Nothin much happened after that and we got in before the southerly really kicked in.
































What a beautiful place








When the southerly hit

Sunday mornin the southerly was a mere breath as we paddled through the miniture break at 5:30am. Again it was extremely hard to get slimies,i got a few at around 9:30am. I trolled a slimie for miles out to sea all the way to a popular marlin ground in about 45m of water. A few of us saw one of the stinkboats get a small marlin. It was the only fish i saw a stinkboat catch all weekend. :? As a few of us started to head in closer again, we saw a marlin jump in close about 500m off the Gaol. We were all amazed to see that Paulo was hooked up and gettin towed to New Zealand. Not long after my ratchet screamed onb my TLD25. I thought it was a cobe cos it was so deep but after a 10min fight it turned out to be a mack tuna. Oh well still fun and great bait. I will let paulo and the rest of the guys tell the rest of the story. and i hope ya dont mined me posten up a pic of the marlin at a better angle.








The joys of tuna :shock: SHARK!!!








finally a fish


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## hoit

What a great turnout of AKFFers and what a fantastic effort by Paul to land the Marlin. Those Revos are just fish magnets. :lol:

Regards
Grant


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## DGax65

Holy shnikees; that fish is huge. Great pics Red & Chris. That looks to be an absolutely beautiful spot to fish and camp. I would love to get over there for Round 2, next year.


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## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## bazzoo

Hell Leigh , thats a good peddle paddle , green island is a fair way down , and fish rock would have seen you coming home by friday fortnight , but saying that , there has always been GOOD kingfish around fish rock and in the alley that divides it , glad to see the kayaks had a surf , gee it sounds like a great weekend


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## pcsolutionman

All I can say Is WOW, awesome fish Paul, fish of a lifetime, So you keen to try for some up our way now??

Lee


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## Barnsie

WOW, speachless with that. What an amazing catch. Congrats on an amazing hook up, let alone landing. Hope you all had a great time there, looking at those photos confirmed in my head just how much fun i WAS having at work last week. . . . . . . . .Hope to see you all soon for a local bash. cheers


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## paulo

Hi all. Just made it home from one memorable trip. Im still pinching myself. Too stuffed to write anything now but have the day off tomorrow and will try and write a blow by blow description of the full three hour battle. Post away with the photos and video. I have only seen a few myself. I couldnt manage to take pics whilst dodging stink boats, fighting the fish and trying to stay in the yak. What an amazing place and what a great bunch of people. There was no way I could have landed that fish, physically or mentally, without the support of those yakkers that stayed with me throughout the whole ordeal and the collective will I could feel coming from the rocks and then the beach when I rounded that headland with the fish in tow. Treasure the moment guys.... WE caught that fish together!!!!


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## L3GACY

Am i right to believe Paulo has just made Australian yak fishing hystory? Top effort mate and to all that assisted, that catch will be hard to top mate. CONGRATULATIONS!


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## JTC

Congratulations Paul,

That's one mammoth effort, and a fitting reward after such an epic battle. I can't even begin to imagine how it would feel to battle such a powerful fish (it weighs more than I do) for 3+hours, incredible!

The photos with it on your kayak are absolutely awesome, it really puts it's size into perspective. Like everyone else I can't wait to read your full, blow by blow report.

I just read that we broke the record tonight of the most registered users online at any one time (66 users). No doubt this thread played a big part in that and I'm sure at some stage tomorrow as the word spreads, we'll smash that record again.

Once again mate, congratulations!

Cheers,

Jason.


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## Daveyak

I too am speechless, what an amazing effort. I can't wait to read more...


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## Robbo

I'm stunned. :shock: Absolutely stunned. :shock: :shock: Well done Paulo.  When I read the first reports that a marlin was actually yakked I assumed that it was a smallish fella but nearly fell out of my chair when I finally saw the beast on the yak. What a brilliant photo! Never again will people assume it is an urban myth that a marlin of that size can be caught in a kayak. The evidence is now before us all!The euphoria of bringing that fish in must have been indescribable! Paulo, you must have been dead on your feet! I was sporting a massive smile while reading the posts  I can only imagine how you must feel! :lol: :lol:


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## Billybob

Blimey!

Take a bit of time off from the water (and the board) and look what happens! :shock:

Ah well, I can stop looking over my shoulder now. :lol: 

Excellent effort mate.


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## Dillo

Paulo

I , like all the land based AKFF guys when you rounded the point, really appreciated the effort you and your support crew had put in on the marlin    . The spirit of AKFF was really evident when the marlin was finally beached and the people gathered on the beach broke into spontaneous applause   

Amazingly your exhaustion was overcome by the realisation of what you had achieved and it was hard to believe that here was this guy who had just spent hours battling a gamefish moving freely with no apparent pain , happily posing for photos with no fatigue evident. That evening at the marlinfest (barbque) tiredness began to raise its head.

All I can say Paul is well done and it was a pleasure to be a witness to your achievement.   

Rod


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## rawprawn

I know it might sound stupid but I actually feel very proud that one of our members achieved this. Well done to all involved.


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## KingHit

Awesome effort to all involved!! What a great fish and a top effort.


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## onemorecast

Amazing Effort Paul. Battling anything for 3 hours in the cockpit of a kayak offshore is a huge effort. To be rewarded with a fish like that is awesome.

Did anyone find out whether it got any local media coverage? (It should have)


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## Peril

Bravo Paul and all those who assisted.

And a big cheer to Gatesy for planting the germ of this trip, even though he couldn't make it. You must be pleased with the result


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## Scott

Guys/girls. Sounds like an awesome trip in what used to be my backyard. Some truly amazing fishing obviously took place and the best thing of all is how much this will promote the sport in Australia. Paul, you have my utmost respect mate, a exceptional capture and one I am sure both you, your support crew and a lot of spectators on the beach will never forget.

Catch ya Scott


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## keza

here are a few shots from out on the water.
unfortunately the camera got steamed up with excitement back in the bay but you get the idea.

Red verses the trawler








the support crew, paul near tip of rod








everyone tried to give him plenty of room, no one wanted a bill in the neck either.








paul coming back into the bay, note the difference in water colour.


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## keza




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## basadev

I am speechless. Great effort, great result.


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## LoboLoco

what anamazing trip! some ripper fish, and...... what can i say...... Paul you are amazing  thats one diabolical fish!


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## pescado

Unbelievable! I have just read all 7 pages of posts and have to say that the photos and reports of the trip have made my day. Paul, as has been said, congratulations on such an outstanding capture. I cant even fathom what catching a fish of that size and power would feel like - looking forward to the report. Red, awesome photos mate, really makes me feel like i was there, you have a true talent for capturing the spirit of yakfishing. Im absolutely pumping up after reading all this, once again, top effort all and look forward to more reports and photos rolling in...ps: did i read that fingermark were caught???!!


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## chrissy

Here are some more shots that i thought were quite good. Just look at the sort of gear he got it on. Unbelieveable, ill say it again what a legend PaulO, you have thrown us into another level of yak fishin we never thought was possible.  
















YEEEHAAAAAA bring on next years southwest rocks :lol:


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## Marty75

Go Paulo and the Hobie Revolution! I am biased re the Revo's 

Would love to have been there to watch the battle first hand. But thanks to everyone who posted pics and their own account of the great weekend away.

This one will go down in the Hall of Fame and will be the stuff of local legend up there. I'm sure all the bystanders in the photos would have got a thrill out of seeing a kayak-caught Marlin up close as well.

Congratulations to everyone for their own fishing successes up at SWR.

Marty


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## crazyratwoman

wow Chrissy, love that last shot of the gear!


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## Jeffo

congrats to all involved. Well done

Cheers

jeffo


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## Kayak4Fish

A friend just sent me this report.
That is awesome.
Welcome to the Billfish Club









I know first hand how exciting that is. Congratulations.


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## bazzoo

Mods , i agree with Kim , as this is such a momentous capture and may not be repeated in many many years or ever ,, could we have this as a seperate thread, all posts in here and photos relating to this capture , so that people wanting to post about their social activities or how big that flathead was wont feel that they are detracting from this absolutely magnificent effort by Paul and the boys and girls who assisted , i know its possible to shift posts , so how about it , make this the" kayaker catches giant marlin "thread , and all other posts in "our south west rocks gathering ". thanks guys.


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## Cid

Paulo,

What can I add that hasn't been said already? Congratulations on a superb effort that will forever live in the folklore of Kayak Fishing in Australia! I'm waiting with baited breath to get your blow-by-blow account and I can imagine how sore you're probably feeling right now. But I'll bet you still have a HUGE smile  on your face.

And fantastic stuff from your "Support Crew", too. It's great to know that this sport generates such camaraderie amongst its members - it bodes well for the future of this growing lifestyle. Well, it is a lifestyle for most of us! :wink:

Just sen-bloody-sational!

cheers,
Cid


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## Rod L

What a fantastic experience, well done to all involved


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## Guest

Nice Report Roberta

It was good to here about the trip rather than the marlin for a change, good piccies too 

Cheers


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## Davey G

OK, my report is going to be in parts - too many pics and stories to fit into one post.









Arrived Thursday arvo after a 6 hour drive at Arakoon campground and set up camp in the wind then wandered over to the rockwall with Redphoenix to see what lay in store for us offshore. The surf pounding in around the corner was a good size with a 3 metre swell out wide smashing onto the rocks and sending walls of spray 30 feet up in the air&#8230;.not a good sight. Pauly (On the Edge) had told us that the current was running south at warp speed and paddling against it was a challenge. Hmmm, welcome to South West Rocks&#8230;

That evening we shared a few beers with our neighbours Keza and Fisherdan while rigging up and planning our strategies for the morning. Despite the heaving seas we'd had reports that some of the guys who'd fished on Thursday had caught Tuna and that Grant Ashwell had a cobia bust him off yak-side so spirits were high. Kraley had told us that getting live bait was 'super easy' :shock: so we had our livey tubes ready to go.

*Friday *morning dawned with clear skies and light winds.







The swell had dropped off a few feet and we were on the water around 6.30 trying our best to rustle up some livebaits. The joggly conditions made it a bit tricky, but at least there were only a few stinkboats out (the river bar was too dangerous for boaties to get out). After an hour of nothing doing on the livebaits I started trolling a big hard body and large soft plastic, however they were ignored. Met up with Paulo and he said that he had a mark on his GPS only a couple of kilometres out so we paddled out there in the hope of livebait. Met up with Grant who was on the same mark, but again no sign of bait on the sounder. What's going on?? Where are all the fish?? All of a sudden I heard some shouting from one tinny that was out there, they had caught a small blacktip reef shark on a bait jig!

Paddled around for another hour or two and then came in dejected and sunburnt. Grabbed the camera and took some shots of the other guys heading in through the waves.







. The weekends first casualty was spotted (and photographed)- Darren /Physopath - (that's pronounced FISHOpath by the way) had rolled his yak coming back in.





















Everyone else managed to stay upright.






































































.







The surf was just perfect so a ferw hours later myself and Red went out for half an hour and perfected our surfing skills. What a blast! Catching unbroken waves and riding them 200 metres (And not falling off) was a great way to spend an hour and it also now has given me heaps more confidence. As Kraley said - instead of dreading the surf landing, I now look forward to it. Yeeeeeha!









That arvo Keza Dan Red and myself were sitting at our campsite bemoaning the lack of fish when we spotted a large black and silver mass moving across the sandflats. A school of fish! Red quickly grabbed a rod and ran the 20 steps down to the waters edge closely followed by Dan and Keza.







These boys were determined to catch something today! After 20 minutes of chasing the school around they worked out that they were in fact Eagle Rays cruising the shallows&#8230;..









Friday night we had a group barbeque and met some new faces and re aquainted ourselves with ones we'd already met. It was good to see a few younger members (Duran, Chrissy etc) amongst the more 'mature' members. And as Arpie said - the camaraderie amongst everyone was first class. A few beers, snags and steaks were consumed and we all drifted off to bed hoping for a better result fish wise) on Saturday.

More to come..


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## Davey G

Saturday morning again dawned nicely, but with a hint of South in the wind. After a bowl of Weetbix and fruit and one of FisherDans strong coffees (I'm still buzzing) we were on the water again. As I rounded the first corner I hooked straight up to a nice 40cm bonito who was probably a bit big for livebait but got a 10/0 hook through the nose anyway. The blue water had come in closer today and the bait schools were back. Getting bait, however, was still a task.









After we all caught a procession of tiny (4" long) flathead, bream and colourful little fishies (see pic)







on the bait jig, I finally gathered a couple of yakkas (yellowtail) and replaced my bonito with one of these and then started trolling&#8230;&#8230;and trolling,,,,and trolling. Hmmmm.















Redphoenix called me over the UHF and said he'd found a school of bonito who were surface feeding so I paddled across and spent the next 15 minutes casting and fighting a few scrappy little bonito. Red got into a few as well, and we had dinner sorted.
















A little later the first puffs of wind came up, then it got stronger, then it was a full blown gale. Crikeys, the paddle back into the wind was a bit tough but we made it back in one piece and hoped that everyone else had gotten back safely too. A disconcerting thing was that only a few of us seemed to have radios despite our calls for people to carry them prior to the event.









Saturday afternoon was spent fishing off the rocks in an area protected from the wind. Despite sighting some big schools of cruising fish (we think mullet) and a sea turtle, nothing was taking poppers, metal slices or pilchards. However it was nice to sit on the rocks and watch the ocean for a while. Saturday late arvo Red and I went beachworming and Red (the worm whisperer) managed to get about 20 while I ripped the heads off a few and then caught a couple of stupid slow ones. These were then converted into whiting bait and a few tiny (10cm long) whiting were caught late in the arvo. The wind had died by sunset and we were looking forward to a better day on Sunday


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## Davey G

*Sunday Bloody Sunday!*

The conditions we'd all hoped for had finally arrived. The swell had dropped and the water was like glass. The blue water was lapping up against the cliff faces and the schools of bait were thick on the sounder screen. At one stage a huge school of slimeys were going nuts on the surface, something was obviously chasing them&#8230;A flotilla of yaks formed a couple of hundred metres off the jail and started gathering bait.







Slimeys and yakkas weren't too hard to get today (but those pesky baby flathead were still there too!). However there were also about 30 stinkboats jostling for position at the bait grounds. There were no real problems (but I bet the boaties wondered where the hell all the kayaks had come from) and soon we all had a few liveys to drag around on the blue wobbly.

About 10am I started heading out to where some of the powerboats were fishing - in around 45 metres of water and about 2km offshore. Chrissy followed and Fisherdan and Keza weren't far behind. We passed Paulo and Crushie who were trolling back into shore. Paddling out I was keeping an eye out for any surface activity when I spotted something leaping out of the water a few hundred metres in front&#8230;Hang on, there it goes again!! A marlin!!!

I radioed to Chris, Dan and Keza that one of the boats had hooked up to a Marlin and we started heading out for a look, and hopefully to catch one too! The fish was playing up and leaping everywhere so I didn't get too close but it looked about 4 foot long. After the boaties had landed it they said it was around 40-45kg's. Nice fish!!

We all kept on trolling around, keeping some distance between our yaks and the boats in case another one hooked up. After a fruitless half hour I turned around and started heading back in along the current line. I then looked back inshore only to see another marlin jumping. Crikeys another boat had hooked up!!

However on closer inspection I could see half a dozen kayaks who were still back at the bait grounds were positioned right behind the jumping fish. I was wondering which boat had hooked up when it occurred to me that perhaps, just maybe, it was one of us who had the marlin on. After a few seconds I saw Pauls Hobie screaming across the surface getting a nice sleigh ride. Yeehaaaa! I radioed the others and told them what was going on and we started heading back in, however there was really no need as in a few minutes Paulo steamed past me under full marlin throttle and heading out to sea.

Just as we were approaching Paulo, Chrissy who was trolling alongside me, hooks up as well! Pauls fish started heading towards me, and Chris was on the other side so I quickly pulled in my livebait so that we wouldn't get tangled around each other. I stayed with Chris as he fought his battle, and after 10 or so minutes he boated a feisty mack tuna. Well done Chrissy!









After that I joined the support team heading out to sea. At one stage Paul had the Marlin at the side of the yak and was wondering what to do next. Happily, he didn't rush anything or try to grab it, because the fish still had plenty of fight in it and doing that could have turned very bad, very quickly. With his crew of support yaks (including Crushie, Redphoenix, MangoX, Psysopath and Weapon), Paul kept on fighting the fish while Dan, Keza and myself started paddling back along the current line in the hope of hooking up as well. After an hour of trolling we headed back to the beach to wait out the fight and prepare ashore for the planned beach landing.

After 2 hours Paul still wasn't back and we'd heard via a phone call from Red that he was now dragging it back as it wouldn't come up to the surface. We assumed it had died and on hearing that, Grant Ashwell grabbed Keza's yak and a length of rope and headed out to try and tail rope it for the paddle back to the beach. However the fish was very much still alive and swimming slowly under Pauls yak as Paulo held the rod and peddled his way (slowly) back. The support team slowly headed home.









On approach to the beach a few of us waded out to offer support. Paul entered the surf zone and shallow water but the fish didn't want anything to do with that, so turned and headed back out to sea. Pauls arms stretched a little longer and he really dug in and stood his ground. After a few more minutes with the support yaks shepharding the Marlin towards shore it was finally landed. Grant Ashwell did his best Croc Hunter impersonation and jumped of the yak to wrestle the fish ashore, joined by Paulo and a few others.

The job was done! A single handed, unassisted catch and landing of (probably) Australias largest kayak caught Marlin. Paulo hooked up at around 11am and it was about 2.15 when it was beached. Paulo was understandably completely exhausted. It was an enormous effort and something that 99% of us wouldn't and couldn't have ever thought about doing.

It was only after he'd landed it that we found that the fish was hooked in the flank and the leader had wrapped around the bill. Paulos $79 rusted up and creaky old BCF combo with a huge squidgy soft plastic (the Sex Toy) had done the job! And the Hobie had got him back under pedal power - I'm convinced that theres no way this could have been done on a paddle yak.








































































The pictures tell the story, but this was one fish that I'm sure none of us will ever forget. And as someone earlier said, it really feels like we all had a part in it, and we certainly enjoyed the experience just as much as Paulo did (but withouth the sore arms). Everyone helped him with claening the fish and the marlin steaks were distributed amongst all the AKKFers that remained on Sunday night, and a few slabs were cooked up on the barby that night.
















Well done to everyone who attended SWR 2008. I counted about 35 paddlers all up. Another successful AKFF event capped off by the most speactacular sunset imaginable.!
















ps. Red got a nice bonito on Sunday too. :lol:









pps.. Oh, and by the way. The couple that were camped near us said they'd taken their powerboat down to Green Island on Sunday and were just getting ready for a snorkel when a 3 metre Great White Shark exploded out of the water right next to their boat. So the fact that we all got home safe and sound and with all limbs intact I reckon makes it a successful trip.


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## wapstar

WOW a fantastic report well done everyone...oh yeah WOW


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## paulo

Wow... Im amazed at all the responses. I will get down to writing the report of the capture this afternoon but I would just like to say a few things before I do.
Firstly, to all the forum members that weren't at SWR, thanks for the well wishes and support. I have never been involved in sport where everyone is so positive and supportive. I must confess to feeling a little over whelmed by it all. I do hope you feel in some way part of this because you are. I have learnt more about the sport of fishing and in particular kayak fishing, from all of you in the last three months on the forum, than I had learnt in the 40+ years prior.

Secondly, I have to say a big thank you to all the charter and private boats that moved out of my way, at the expense of their paying customers, during the fight. I hope this filters back to them somehow. In spite of all the pre-trip hysteria, I encountered less power boats than I do on a normal days outing up home here, every single day I went out. Every boat I encountered contained nothing but friendly exchanges from fellow fishers just as hell bent on hooking a big one as we were. Not once during the seven days I spent there, did I ever feel threatened by them and their behaviour on the water towards those in yaks, was considerate, if not downright helpful at some stages, to say the least.

To you guys that organised the trip a huge thank you. Gatesy and Kraley and Im sure there were others. I would never have found eden without you. Gatesy, its ok if you hate me mate. Just teach me how to catch a kingie when I come to Sydney.

Though I have fished all my life I dont consider myself an expert in any way. I have only fished from a kayak since Sept last year and had never actually heard of it before then. I am a complete novice. My game fishing experience is down to one or two four day trips a year over the last ten or so on charter boats. I went to SWR after two months of reading what all of you have contributed over the last how many years and put it into practice each day. I spent a lot of time and money preparing for this trip and was completely focused on a single outcome. Hooking (not landing) a marlin over the seven days I was there. So much so, that I must apologise to the members that I never got to have a chat to over the weekend. I will definitely meet you all next year if not before.

Each day I learnt something new from the people around me and the location I was in. Each of the six days prior to that I put up to 7hrs and 15km in every day, regardless of the conditions. On the last day, in perfect conditions, I tried something different and was lucky enough to hook up. As you will see from the report of the fight, that was the first in a long line of lucky incidents that saw me make it through the full three hours and land the fish of a lifetime.

Though I am happy with whatever the mods decide to do with the thread, the catch was a very small part of what was a fantastic week for some of us, and a weekend for others, in one of the most beautiful places I have visited in the world. It has to be the mecca for this sort of kayak fishing in the country. It also happened after a lot of the members present, had already headed for home. So many other catches of trophy fish were made by the people there, that they deserve full acclaim. I want to read about them too. I was so busy with my own pursuits I missed some really good stories and I was there!! Had Sundays events not unfolded, I would have left SWR feeling totally satisfied by one of the best holidays I have had in years.

To the people that supported me throughout the whole three hours .. thank you ...thank you ...thank you ... I couldnt have done it without you. You cleaned up the mistakes I made throughout the fight. You gave me your own water when my muscles cramped. At the two plus hour mark I was shot mentally and physically and you constantly reassured me it was all good, I was going to make it. Yet never once did I feel that you were there until I need you. I know some of you were out wider than you have ever been before. Thank you for the courage you showed. You were all AMAZING. I will never forget what you so selflessly did for me.
And when I neared the rocks and I saw the face of Grant Ashwell arrive, I knew I was going to make it home. Grant, I cant tell you what a week I had with you out on the water. I thank you for all the knowledge I leached from you all week. Your words rang out in my ears throughout the entire fight. Your answers to my incessant questions about the fight, the currents, the winds are what got me to the rocks. Your guidance into the beach was what landed the fish. But most of all thanks for the company out there. I would have done it all alone, but the week was so much better to have someone just as determined near by. I cant wait to get down there again and enjoy a fish with you.

To the people that were on the beach... thank you ...thank you ...thank you ... 
When I was 20m out a wave of akff'ers waded into chest deep water, at great personal risk, and subdued the fish. Others secured my yak and took my rod as I collapsed to my hands an knees and convulsed on the beach. I have to eat more for breakfast. After, when it was time to clean the fish and my hands cramped so badly I couldnt hold a knife, others stepped in and did it all for me. Sunday from 11am on is a bit of a blur but the photos and stories will piece it all together for me.

Determined and uncharacteristically lucky I was. Legend I am not!!
I know first hand its not the first time in Aus. I personally know of at least one other and I suspect there are a good few fisherman almost as modest as the man I spent last week with, that have also achieved what I have, in far more trying conditions, alone and unassisted. These people are the ones to be admired. The nature of the event and the number of witnesses to the fight and the eventual landing of the fish, has not afforded me the opportunity to display a similar level of modesty. It has also attracted its share of unwanted attention and criticism I could well do without.
Any one of the 30 or so akff'ers that ventured offshore could have been the one to hookup. They worked just as hard as I did and many without any reward. So many of them pushed their own personal boundaries throughout the week and came out on top. Congratulations to you all.

There are many a finer fisherman than I on this forum, in every aspect of fishing. In the offshore stuff people like Breambo, Spooled1, Couta1 and Grant regularly bring home the bacon. In the freshwater, creeks and estuaries up here, people like Dodge, MacFish, Lazybugger and the boys at Redcliffe, Sunshine Coast and Bribie catch monsters of each species, make their own lures and pass on their knowledge and experience openly and selflessly. The Sydney boys regularly brain the hell out of the Kings. A species I am yet to attempt from the yak. Apologies to the rest of the country. There are so many of you, I follow the local boys, trips and conditions most of all.
The legends on this forum are the people that contribute endlessly to what a wealth of knowledge the place is. The moderators go without saying. I am in IT myself and understand the time each of you boys put in. Thanks. Gatesy with his bait tubes, Gra with his water trailer, Dodge and Baldy with their roofrack mods, Red and Co with their sounder mounts, beefs and breambo with their homemade chatterbaits. Too many more to mention. All ideas I either burgled before SWR or I am about to put into practice in the creeks and offshore up here in the coming few months. If what happened on Sunday buys me the chance to fish with each and every one of you and learn the part of our craft you are each experts in, then I am indeed a happy man. I just have to find the time. 

If landing that fish raises the profile of our sport and inspires some of you to get out and have a go, then I am pleased. If you think you cant, then have a think about this. I am forty seven years old. Though I row a single scull 2-3 times a week I dont consider myself overly fit, but I dont carry any weight. I have some bad habits that also reduce my fitness levels. I am not a particulalry skilled angler in any form of the sport. In some I am still a virgin. Never in my life before have I pushed myself to a level where every physical and mental fibre is working overtime to out-think and out-muscle an adversary, for three hours. Even a game of football only lasted 80 minutes. When I reached the beach I lost everything I had left in me. I had drunk four litres of water over the three hours. Over the first few hours after the event, the lactic acid build up from the fight caused my fingers and hands to cramp into birdlike talons and my arms and leg muscles gave way on many occasions. I felt generally unwell (and euphoric) for the next 12 hours. I have never felt like this before. Two days later I am bruised down both sides from under my arms to the backs of my knees. At times I had a leg over each side of the kayak, leaning back so the force with which it pulled me along, didnt take it past the angle of no return and flip the kayak But at the end of it all I survived and have a memory that I will take to my grave. There were a few others there that wont forget it in a hurry either.
You can do it. Have a go.


----------



## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

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----------



## MangoX

Best Bash to date 

Everyone has posted the weeks events so eloquently I'll just summarise my trip highlights with a few pics.

* Top spot  will definitely attend next years bash and maybe even head back Oct/Nov this year.
The camp ground is great. Easy beach launching (sort of :roll: ) Great sunsets and views all round.










* Was great to meet new and familiar faces. In particular Grant Ashwell who is a true gentleman and hardcore fisho (and all round sportsman), who offered
his knowledge and showed me the results of putting in the time and hard yards to land a fish. Once again Grant, thank you


















Blue Fin Tuna










* Surf landing/launching. Learned a few more things over the weekend. Dont launch at 45 degrees to the waves (with backwash waves coming in side on :shock: )
Leash and store everything. I normally don't.
I got rolled (actually more like fell off the back of a wave as I went over it sideways and lent over to far :? ) I had everything leashed. Only lost some pliers.
Collected everything else that floated away. Rolling the kayak back over and getting back on is no longer a concern. I also left the fishing stuff on the beach and went for a 
bit of a kayak surf. I was really fun  I am more confident and for now prefer to raise the rudder and mirage drive and paddle. Although after seeing Pauly standing up 
on his Adventure surfing a wave back to shore :shock: and Ken surfing his severely neglected bathtub :shock: :shock: I suppose its possible.... 8)

* Packing and selecting gear to take out. I normally don't put to much time into the selection and packing problem. Have a couple of "Off Shore" tackle boxes and stuff 
my crate with everything. Getting them out on the water and rigging is another thing. Now I will selected every jig head, lure, line and sinker.....one or two tackle boxes
in the centre hatch and everything else leashed.

* Sunblock just doesn't cut it. On Sunday, while out witnessing the Marlin jump 3 times (thing I will never forget), the sun was unbearable. Had my legs in the water while looking 
down for Mr Toothy, and Im scared sh!tless of them :shock: . Need to get proper protective clothing, even if its not a comfy as boardies and singlet :?

Anyway, like I said .... best Bash so far...if you missed it, make sure your there for the next one.

Here are some more pics

Admiring the master


















the freshwater crew - Rod, Peter and Greg


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## MangoX

Ok...I know there are a couple of pics floating around (maybe even video) of me and and overturned kayak.....
Where are they ????

Keza had a bit of fun on the backwash waves  
Here he is smiling after he has straightened the kayak, but he was actually going sideways !!









Dan heading out










Swell on Thursday looked a bit daunting


















great views


----------



## PalmyMick

INSPIRATIONAL STUFF!!!!!!!!


----------



## wigg

Paulo

What an effort
Truly amazing
I think your efforts have rocketed the sport light years ahead 
We should nickname you Bannister ( the guy that broke the 4 min mile first)
This feat will no doubt put kayak fishing on the map.
I am sure all the bruising and stiffness is well worth it.
It really puts Sydney fishing into perspective. We get all excited about an 80cm king.
This will push some of us to get out and push the boundaries a little ourselves.
Truly inspiring well done.
What do you do for an encore?

Cheers

Wigg


----------



## Duane

Great reports, makes me quite jealous.

Well done Paulo, awesome effort. Was also nice to see that you don't need the latest and greatest gear to achieve something amazing. 

(just noticed 12 people on this forum at the same time!!)


----------



## Bartek

Well done guys & gals (especially Paulo) sounds like it was a great trip with an exceptional finale, I am more than a little jealous :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


----------



## mcbigg

I'd like to add my congratulations to everyone for what looked like an absolutely fantastic event.

Paulo, it is not only your capture of a simply outstanding fish (from anywhere, let alone a kayak!), but your modesty and your aknowledgement and praise of other people's help as well that makes you a legend. People will talk of this for years to come. It was a legendary achievement by you and all those that supported you. Congratulations and thanks to everyone for uploading all the picks and stories!


----------



## devo

Gday Paulo ,

I just want to add my congratulations on a magnificant fish mate. 
Cheers
Devo


----------



## kayakfisherman

Unbelievable effort. I have really enjoyed the stories and pics. Well done

Cheers
Brian


----------



## Physhopath

There was someone in Paulo's support crew that deserves a very special mention.

Crushie who has only peddled a 'yak for a very brief amount of time, was there the whole time !! 8)

Not quite sure how far out we ended up, but not once did she Quaver.
It was Crushie who handed over her water without hesitation!!

Well done again Paulo, truly an amazing day.

Well done Crushie truly brave.


----------



## Seasquirt

Great reports every one, I am enjoying them all---- keep them coming  Since I had no chance of making the trip  I am trying to live out the experience through reading all your reports. Looks like every one that was there had a great time and a story to tell, fish landed or not. I will definitely try for next year. Keep those stories a commin .....
Cheers
Pam


----------



## simond11

Few words can describe what I am feeling now. I was devastated when I received my flying roster and realised I was heading for Los Angeles-New York on the weekend of SWR. Shattered! I will make sure I bid accordingly next year for the next SWR bash.

Paulo, what a fantastic effort, mate. Catching a marlin is a feat in itself. Catching one from a kayak is simply brilliant. Congratulations to you and everyone who was there during the weekend, and especially those people who showed what the true spirit of fishing is about - friendship and camaraderie.

You have all put kayak fishing well and truly on the map now, and I am sure it will receive a lot more publicity than it has so far.

Again a fantastic effort from everyone. Let's do it again next year....or sooner!!!
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


----------



## homemade

Awsome stuff great to see all had a good time.have to try and make next years. :mrgreen:


----------



## fishinswing

Top effort Paulo, what a wonderful effort to hook and land such a magnificent fish. Great work on the team supporting him as well, without the backup, he may have struggled to land the marlin. It would have been a great weekend. 

Hey paulo, please describe the outfit used to catch the marlin (line weight, reel and rod etc)? Unless I have missed it somewhere.


----------



## JD

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## paffoh

Nice catch, nuff said...


----------



## spottymac

Awesome effort Paulo,and thanks to all the other AKFF members who have done a great job with all the reports and pics of a top weekend at SWR,


----------



## ArWeTherYet

I think booking a site at SWR next year will need to be done well in advanced now. 

I enjoyed reading through all the reports posted so far......its taken me awhile. I'm very envious, maybe next time.

Paulo looks like all that peddling around woody head has paid off, if nothing else it must of built up your leg muscles. :lol: I guess in the end all that local knowledge that you would of got while down there helped heaps. 
BTW its always good to see a boy from Brissy pull off the big one. Congratulations mate.


----------



## Dodge

That has been 10 pages of enjoyable reading on the outing, and congrats to all for the reports, and well done on the big beakie Paulo, a special memory for you and all who witnessed the capture


----------



## mcbigg

Paulo, you don't work at SGIC do you? 

(those that have seen the ad will know what I'm talking about)


----------



## crazyratwoman

Roberta... sounds like ur allergic to the sandflies! we only had the normal mozzies further up the hill, those hexam browns are pure evil!


----------



## simond11

Probably one of the better products is Bushmans Tropical strength. I use it quite a lot beach fishing in the evening and at night. Use copious amounts of it and make sure you keep applying it regularly as perspiration will tend to dilute it. Ensure you wash your hands before you touch any bait as the smell could taint it.
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


----------



## Rstanek

Paulo, that is an awesome fish! :lol: Sounds like it was a great trip, hopefully I can get there next year...

If Paulo doesn't mind, may I suggest that someone sends a detailed account of his capture, along with a few photos into Modern Fishing or another magazine? Obviously any prizes or whatever would go back to him. Just an idea, but imagine the level of interest that would be instantly shown in the sport when people read about a capture like that! It's a mammoth effort from any craft, but unassisted from a kayak on 30lb gear? Inspirational stuff!

Well done again mate, and everyone else who managed to get up there  .

Cheers,
Rowan.


----------



## varp

Extraordinary result and I've absolutely gobsmacked by it. Sextoy on a rusted 30lb, $79 BCF Combo from a Revo :lol: :shock: :?  :lol: 8) 8) 8) 8)

Legendary stuff and a massively hugely sincere congratulations Paulo. To all those who were present - you lucky sods. It's a beautiful thing to be at such a momentous event and I'm sure you'll all not forget it in a hurry.


----------



## Davey G

This event has created some interest in the wider fishing community however its up to Paulo as to whether he wants to submit himself and his fish to any official 'outside' publicity or interviews. Paul's been corresponding with the moderators regarding this, and ultimately its his decision, so the mods (and I'm sure Paul) would appreciate all members giving him a few days to collect his thoughts and let the dust settle for a bit before sending any photos or alerting the press.

Thanks one and all.

DG


----------



## Davey G

OK, heres the list of attendees (my apologies if I missed anyone, as I didnt get to meet everyone there)

Davey G
Red Phoenix
FisherDan
Keza
Kraley
On The Edge
Paulo
Crushie
Arpie
Estuary Girl
Wal
Chrissy
Woopie
Mango X
Psyshopath
Paul B
Brianj
Hoffy
Sandsahark
YankattheBay
Gamefisher
CrazyRatWoman
T-Curve
JacktheYak
Weapon
Dougout
GrantAshwell
Duran
Flyrod
PeteyH
Blackant
SaysMe
Dean1

Thats 33. Did I miss anyone?


----------



## Dave73

simond11 said:


> Probably one of the better products is Bushmans Tropical strength. I use it quite a lot beach fishing in the evening and at night. Use copious amounts of it and make sure you keep applying it regularly as perspiration will tend to dilute it. Ensure you wash your hands before you touch any bait as the smell could taint it.
> Cheers
> 
> Simon
> Prowler 15


Yeah it's full on, but handle with care! That stuff is chemically hardcore, I think it is 70% DEET. I think it comes with a warning not to use if pregnant etc :shock: Essential in the tropics probably....well, better than mozzie diseases.

Can someone tell me what the wonder lure was exactly Paulo used? And it was foul hooked also in the flank, errr great...even more of an advantage to the Marlin during the fight.

Congratulations again to everyone involved. I wish I could have learnt even a portion of what knowledge was shared over the week.
8) 8)

Cheers Dave


----------



## Rstanek

Davey G said:


> I'm sure Paul would appreciate all members giving him a few days to collect his thoughts and let the dust settle for a bit before sending any photos or alerting the press.


Fair enough, that's understandable.  
Rowan.


----------



## Davey G

Dave73 said:


> Can someone tell me what the wonder lure was exactly Paulo used? And it was foul hooked also in the flank, errr great...even more of an advantage to the Marlin during the fight.


Dave. if you have alook closey in the pics of mine on page 8 of this thread you'll see Paulo holding it on the Marlin. It was a big-ass Squidgy Bluewater Livey. Pic below

It was about 12 inches long and made of hard but floppy rubber, hence the 'Sex Toy' nickname....

The crazy thing is that we'd all focused so much time catching livebaits and trolling them that it never occured to us that a big fish would take something like that..... but Paulo obviously knew better! (or maybe it was just that the Marlin was a female? :shock: :shock: :shock: )


----------



## Biggera Yakker

Did anyone have a beer to celebrate the catch?


----------



## Kevin

Ah ha! I finally caught up to the end of the thread - it has just kept growing at a rate faster than I could read it.

Fantastic reports/photos from many different people - and a great response/thankyou from Paulo - the mutual backslapping sounds like it is well deserved all around.


----------



## RedPhoenix

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWUwvWa4AACxfgAAQcOeAAiCyUAo////gMAD7bLETEJtU2mpmiZNqNB6gNqAintSb0lHqNBkNlGg0AHqDQQIanqYJpkNNNA00C2dilgp3YZ7PX5MVFRxNuuRrRAascyB4PiaumexbE0MscYny9gWruQTdtdUvhrIXPSbQxQb5Gd4QK2gObrxGI1UqDGf25KMrXX4Q3TvkE2hmPYgPR9BFsIeygIM1QmlDUdkF7+iyWJBCO8TC0wFAmgLormaO0WEBHdExOyy1GSppVXNKswwkeFQkU6JRrb3y+tnFVEqxUdIXZOBFxPOVoYasUT3kxw78sFSjsvEUTaq0l/llJpCZloPzoHVIVtWRK5qI6iUF8tVmSKRriXraB/F3JFOFCQTC9Zrg


----------



## Redfish

What an amazing trip and reports! Well done to the organisers, all that attended, all that posted and of course the superstar himself- Paul!

It's been fantastic reading all the lead up and follow on.

And Paul- I sort of know what it was like for you after hooking a 7m haines hunter a couple of nights ago off Ricketts pt! (not my fault either!!)


----------



## GOF

Nearly went this year - will definitely be going next.

Would be great spending a weekend with 30+ (how many next time round!!?) yak fishos.

Congratulations to Paul & crew & to the weekends organizers - the potential for this to become an absolutely huge annual event is truly there.


----------



## Duran

Well done to Paulo on a top catch it will been some time before anyone will tops that
And a big thanks to the guys that suggested and organised this trip otherwise I would have never found out about such a great fishing spot (already planning a trip back in about a month) 
And thanks to all the guy that turned up and made it such a great event 
Duran


----------



## andybear

Yes, I am really kicking myself now!

When I saw the event was South West Rocks, I must have been thinking really close to Sydney. I have just had a couple of weeks off work, and really could have gone along for the event.

As for the Marlin.... well.... words do actually fail me. I have been thinking what can I say? well for a start.... Jaw dropped on ground.....heart rate through the roof, muscles aching in sympathy.....and a thirst you could photograph.....Well done is such an understatement. Off all the stonkers we have seen since I have been watching this forum, ....you have to wonder, what the hell is next......does it stop at huge marlin? will someone catch a bit of great white flake? enough to feed Sellicks Beach for a year? or a Kin...

Nah, I cant say it!

Well done, Cheers Andybear


----------



## Dean1

Nice fish mate !!


----------



## JTC

andybear said:


> or a Kin...
> 
> Nah, I cant say it!


What is it Andybear?

Is it a Kinder suprise?,

a kinky mermaid?

a kindred soul?

No, I know it's a KING GEORGE WHITING! :shock:

BWAH HA HA HA HA

Cheers,

Jason


----------



## fisherdan

Some shots of the trip,
Ready to go!








Here is a sequence of Mango X's get-off, I'm not sure you could call it a wipeout..


----------



## fisherdan

Whoever limited posts to 5 shots is a geek!


----------



## fisherdan

And some of the kids surfin'!


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## crazyratwoman

You're such a classic Roberta!!!! Cant wait til forster to hit the water with u!


----------



## JTC

Lovin' your reports Roberta,

For those of us that weren't there, you are giving us a great insight into all of the goings on.

BTW, how good is that photo with the Dolphins? Surefire contender for the Feb photo comp, I think...

Cheers,

Jason


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## yankatthebay

Here is something that was interesting on the day - hand feeding kookaburras


----------



## keza

arpie said:


> Now I know why I always launch from the grass at Wallis Lake! It is a REALLY HARD SLOG dragging that yak up the beach, even with the wheels on!! I went back to camp & grabbed some rope, to rig a shoulder harness to assist me up the beach. Keza's wife assisted me up the sharp little hill at the top .... much to Paul's chagrin - he was right behind me & had to do it on his own! :? Many thanks for that assistance!


Hey Roberta, my wife wasn't there, please burn any pictures you have that made you think she was my wife :lol: 
great report.


----------



## hawk

You have added another GREAT report Roberta . Cant wait for the Forster trip . Tightlines Hawk


----------



## paulo

The Fish of a Lifetime
Stats
Yak: Hobie ST Turbo Revo.








Tackle
Weapon: Penn GT220 overhead and Penn 10-15kg Mariner rod ($79 BCF Combo)
Line: 300m Bionic braid 30lb
Leader: 100lb Black Magic Tough Trace crimped to 11\0 Gamakaktsu 
Leader to line knot: double uni
Leader to terminal tackle knot: Lure knot
Bait: Squidgy Blue Water Livey Jelly Baby
Attractant: AKFF-Factor (We have to bottle those rubs next trip)









Fish: Black Marlin
Official Weight: 78kg
Length: 2.5m
Approx Age: 2.5 - 3 years
Hooked: Sunday 24th Feb 2008, 11am
Landed: Sunday 24th Feb 2008, 2pm









Sunday
Last chance today. 
I have been out every day for 6+ hours with little reward but vermon and a few bungled strikes. Friday's black tip reef shark and yesterday's 85cm Mac Tuna (Hey Mods, does this one crack the HOF ratings as well?), was encouragement enough to believe I still had a chance of snaring a good cobia. 








Yak, knots and gear are holding and technique seems correct even if its only by-catch at the moment. No-one else is bagging out, strikes are hard fought through hours of trolling. Every day I have taken away a sign of improvement. I have the area fully mapped in my gps now and have dozens of waypoints where bait schools had been on previous days. Ive got the whole find the bait school, jig the slimeys, bridled and in the water before he croaks, rest in the bait tube thingy happening nicely now after five days of it.

I had tried the new downrigger at the start of the week, but due to almost all strikes being surface and the fact that my foot pedals hit the DR on every stroke, it had been retired to the bench on Wednesday. Must buy an extension for it. The big plastic had a cursory troll on Saturday but the conditions turned the worst of the week at 9:30 am, just when the Mac Tuna struck and the trip home was too rough to trawl. Wind slop waves during that first squall were washing over the front of the yak at half pedal height and the 750m journey to the safety of the headland and bay took over twenty minutes of stomping.

The colour of the water, the tide, swell and wind are the best they've been all week. Someone is going to hookup a good fish today.

Crushie and I launched at around 6:30am from the usual spot at the end on the road. What a luxury, No load and unload from the car, no hours drive to and from the nearest ocean launch. Just pick up your fully loaded yak and walk 200m to the beach at the end of the road, launch into a calm aqua coloured bay, framed by a rising sun, paddle 800m round the point break and your in some of the best game fishing waters in the country. What a place to be!!

The most yaks and trailer boats I have seen are close inshore off the jail today. Its great to see so many out. For a good part of the week it was just the two or three of us trolling and working the rocks and schools.

With the congestion at the rocks, we decide to head the kilometer or so out to the mark I had at Gaol Peak. We had only traveled 200m when we noticed fish feeding 10 m in front of us. Neither of us had anything to throw at it so we stopped and watched a while. The fish stopped feeding but the sound, of what I assume was the tidal flow meeting the ocean current, was still rumbling in our ears. We looked up to see the line running way out to sea, with a variety of yaks and tinnies trolling it. Though I had watched this line from the rocks all week, it was either, never present on previous day's outings due to the tide times in the morning, or the conditions were so bad it was more difficult to identify at water level, earlier in the week.

As we drifted across the line from dirty water to clean, the sounder screen filled with a bait school and larger predators. I hit the Mark button on the GPS and deployed the sabiki and quickly dispatched two livies into the bait tube and one onto a hook courtesy of a small cable tie. Set the GPS to navigate back to the mark, another jig and two more into the tube. I'm getting good at this, mojo levels up today, c'mon fish.

I'm not going to make the previous days mistakes and collect too many livies and not enough trolling. Up till now, two livies a day would have been enough, the strikes were so few and far between.
Crushie and I set off on the line, heading in the general direction of the point, encountering various bait schools and pausing to let the livey drift over the top. Damn those slimeys are tough critters. I let a few go still bridled during the week and they swam away quite happily. If anyone jigs one up still rigged that was me. There not coming pre-rigged just yet. Though Im sure one of the tackle companies will have them soon.
After two or three of these schools and no success, I stopped for a drink, bite to eat and decided to give the 'sex toy' a run. Not my nickname for it. I think Roberta has explained this one previously. Earlier in the week, when the downrigger wasn't an option, I trolled around a red and white Rapala X-Rap 20ft deep diver. I never got a hit on this so after a couple of days, I put it back in the shame box too. Funnily enough the Smiling Jacks Pillie, I got a good Yellowfin on in Dec 07, had the first run of the week and came up with a good bonito. For a cheap lure that thing has accounted for so many fish. Perhaps it's the way it wobbles at yak speed. I never caught a single thing on it in the 9.5 years prior to that. The tuna family seem to love it. If we ever see another mackerel in Qld, I am guessing they will too. Im not sure if I have the name of it right. I have had it for ten years or so and someone identified it in the YF post.

Anyways, about a half dozen of us were playing 'Mine's Bigger Than Yours' over a sundown beer and I trotted out the blue water livey. In spite of Physhopath's impressive collection of squid rigs, everyone was fascinated by it and when the girls finally put it down, an hour or so later, I rigged it up with hook, leader and crimp and tied it to the old Penn outfit. That's an indication of how well I thought it would go. However, with the downrigger retired and the XRap in shame, this was the best option for me to run one up and one down, for one last shot.

We just casually pedaled along the line, chatting to kayakers, and trailer boats, remarking how good the conditions were. No wind, very little current, no clouds, trying not to say the 'home' word. There are photos of many of you out on the big blue or depending on the day, the big brown. Will try and put them up over the coming week or so. We pulled a wide arc from the rocks, headed down towards the first headland and spotted a path to troll through, close to the rocks and away from other yakker's and boat's lines.








Its just before 11am and we are about half way along the rock wall heading back to the point, 250m offshore and just about to make another arc out to sea along the line. There are trailer boats 25m to our left and a couple of yakkers a little ways off. As I reached for my GPS to hit navigate, the Penn gave a short squeal, followed buy a short line run and then went quiet. I had only learned this week to listen for the nervous run of the slimey just before he's about to get nailed, A good queue to grab the rod ready for the strike.Hold on a minute, this is a plastic, something has given it a nudge. I reached for the rod. The very next second just 15m to our right, the water exploded and a huge marlin launched itself, flapping and twisting fully out of the water. I remember thinking at that instant&#8230; AWESOME, someone has one on, I hope it's a yakker.
Next split second, as the fish re-enterd the water, the rod in my hands buckled over, the line started to peel and the yak took off.
"HOLY CRAP, HOLY CRAP, HOLY CRAP&#8230;&#8230; Its meeeeeee!!!!!" I shouted to Crushie. Seconds passed and the yak slowed, the line went slack, I reeled in as fast I could, ecstatic I had achieved what I had come here to do, hook not land a marlin. Then 50m away the fish burst out of the top of the water column again, violently shaking its head, shimmering in the sunshine. The line buckled again, the line peeled and the poor old GT220 clicked and groaned under the pressure of the fish. "WooHoo!!!, I'm still on" I shouted and off shot the kayak again.

I just learnt something new, I thought. When the line goes slack after a peel and you haven't lost the fish, he's about to jump.

I have no idea what speed I was doing, Im not sure if I have ever pedaled that fast before. If I had another free hand, a photo of the looks on the faces of some of the charter boat punters I passed was priceless. I actually saw one guy scratching his head in disbelief.

I had my back to land and had only other boats and yaks out wide to get a bearing off. I afforded a quick glance over my shoulder, only to see Crushie and other yaks disappearing behind me. I turned forward again, line peeling, both hands on the rod, muscles starting to feel the strain. I remember thinking I hope the weather holds cos I could end up 10kms out.

The line went slack again, I reeled as fast as I could and sure enough up he came again. "WooHoo!!", I shouted, and then he jumped again. "WooHoo!!", I shouted again, rod buckled and off we went again.

I looked down at the reel thinking 'why this one? why this one?'. There's a brand new TLD25 with 50lb braid in the next holder. 'Why couldn't it have been that one???'. This combo caught two really big cobia and a YF last year. The braid is old and the rachet is shot. It even cluncks when you wind under load and is difficult to free spool. Next thing I noticed is how little line there was on the reel. It was probably only two thirds full to start with. 
Use the pedals!! I pumped as hard as I could, trying to make ground on the fish. I'm making a little line back as I wind and pedal but this fish is heading for NZ. I have to do something else. I'm not going to get spooled! I'm not letting go of this fish!!

'Think, think&#8230; What did he say?&#8230; What did he say?'. Side on&#8230; that's it&#8230; that's it. 
I reached for the Hobie rudder lever and turned a bit. Now I'm starting to skew out to the side of the fish, a bit like a water skier behind a boat. Kayak is slowing, line peel is slowing, "This is working", I shouted. Not sure whom too, as no-one was around at that stage. I crank the rudder a little more and really apply some pressure on my adversary. The yak slows a little more but now its starting to tip a little on its side. The fish gave another burst and it tipped a little more. The heart rate went up another few notches and I threw the one leg over the back of the yak and leaned back like a yachtsman on the trampoline of an 18 footer. That's working. I'm glad I didn't go full rudder straight up, I would have been in the drink for sure.

Now I've found a good yak angle against him, the boat has slowed. I looked around again and the support yaks were close now. A very rough guess is about 2kms offshore. It's still taking line slowly in little tugs but progress is mostly down now and not out. That's a relief I thought as I looked at the few lonely strands of pink braid left on the barrel of the GT220. I use the Hobie pedals again to get around to the side of the fish as he sounds. Water depth is around 60m now, he's heading for the bottom. As I circle around him I'm also decreasing the distance between us. At one stage he was well over 150m away from the yak and I had no way of decreasing that. I have half the reel back now, heart rate slowing. 
I turned to realize my livey rig is still trailing 60m out the back. Holding the rod with one hand and the butt jammed under my leg on the Hobie deck I reach back and begin to wind in the TLD. With the livey a few metres from the boat the fish gives a couple of head shakes and I grab the rod with both hands again waiting for the next run. I can't see him on the sounder but I know he is down deep but not too far away.

I notice a charter boat about 80 m in front of me just starting to pull up anchor. 'I hope they move', I'm thinking. Getting closer now, down to 40m and I can see their anchor coming up. Whew! They are moving, "c'mon, c'mon, faster" I'm muttering to myself. They start to move and I can see the punters on the decks winding up their lines. "I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it", I thought. What's that, "Shit" that's one of their lines I can see moving through the water at right angles to me up in front, and "Holy Shit" its across the top of mine. I dropped the rod to try and keep my line low in the water so it doesn't snag. I can see his lively getting close to my line. "Go over, Go over!", I'm willing it. I'm moving at such a speed my braid is now lifting out of the water the closer I get to the other line.
"Shit, Shit", just as the livey passed over my line, the braid rose and the other line did a little swing and now his livey is wrapped around once and hanging off my taught braid, dancing there, taunting me, I'm done, the line is about to go. I'm waiting for that [email protected]*$ing PING sound!!

It hasn't happened!! I free-spooled and turned to the charter boat now as his line was starting to pull my braid with them as they motored off in the other direction. "Free Spool, FreeSpool", I shouted at them. I pumped the pedals hard and got to the livey around the line. I have no idea if the fish is still on at this stage and for some reason I tried to unravel the lines instead of just cutting their leader.
I'm shaking now, trying to untangle the lines without breaking them. WTF, I just cut the leader. The line fell away but the livey and hook are wrapped around my line still. I had a closer look. "Oh No, Oh No, Oh No", I screamed. Somehow my line has got into the eye of their hook. "Aaaarghhhh!!!", how could that happen? I let the livey go to the water and Red came over to see what he could do. Thankfully he chose to leave it, but I seem to recollect the livey disappearing before I watched the hook slide down my line into the water. That's going to be a problem later if it lasts that long, I thought.

I cranked the handle on that old reel as fast as I could. He is still there and motoring now. Im down to the last few strands of line again. Time to hit the pedals. Legs pumping, I'm winding to take the slack as I make up ground again and get back out the side of him. Ok, I'm back in a position to fight again. I look behind me to see my TLD completely despooled. There is 600m of braid and mono behind me. How it wasn't run over by a power boat, Ill never know. I must have put the rod in free spool instead of strikedrag when I wound in the livey earlier. I called to the support yaks and Chrushie maneuvered in beside me and took the rod and retrieved the line without incident. Alone that would have become a real problem later on. There is no way I could have wound in 600m of line and fought the fish at the same time.

The line has gone slack again, "He's going to jump", I shouted and cranked the handle as fast as I could and waited &#8230;. Nothing. Red calls out he is on the surface. I'm fumbling for the gaf now. No matter how many times I visualized this, I seem to have left that part out. My gaff, though it has a heavy duty hook, is a short handled one. I saw that thing jump. There is no way I am going to be able to hold the gaf if this fish decides to take off.
Its well over the hour mark now and my arms are aching. I've had one leg across the yak for what seems like forever. "Why is it on the surface", it cant be buggered yet. I have hardly been applying any drag on the reel for fear the old braid will snap. I can see its tail and pec fins flapping about 15m away. Its mine.
Funnily enough I didnt pedal over to it, I realize now I was just as buggered as it and a little confused about what to do next. The fish was beaten but so was I. I didn't have the strength to pedal over and finish the hunt. For the last ten minutes or so the muscles in my forearms have been cramping. When one gets too bad I would let go with the rod till it stopped and then the other would go. I'm also aware of a dull pain in the groin region where I have been slamming the rod butt when under each arm became too painful. My head hurts too. Water! I reached for the bottle and poured a half litre down my throat. My bottle was empty and I was still parched. I called and water appeared on the back of my boat.

I'm close now and I can see him starting to recover and thrash around. He descends to about 6 ft as I pedal over the top of him, just in time to see the line unravel from around his tail. Was he tail wrapped and he came to the surface to try and dislodge it? I cant be sure it was so hard to see.

Next minute a tinnie appears with two guys wielding a gaf. One of the other yakkers had sent them over. Three kms offshore and heading out further, if I can get the fish to the surface I might have a chance. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to raise the fish the tinny moved off and left me to the fight.

Fully recovered now, the fish sounds and takes off again. I hit the pedals and have now decided to try and get enough of an angle to turn his head and get him to swim back to shore. If I don't turn the fish then we have a very long paddle home indeed. The first attempt I didn't get wide enough and was only successful to a point. The fish recovered and started to head to sea again. This time I got right out in front of him and gradually steered him back towards shore.
I tried unsuccessfully for the next forty minutes to bring the fish to the surface but everytime I got it to within six foot of the surface he sounded to 20m. I pumped the pedal to get on an angle and try to bring him up.

When next I looked up we were only a few hundred meters off the rocks at the first point past the bins below the goal. It was then and there I decided to try and tow him back into the bay. In only 15m of water now the fish can sense something and starts a series of violent headshakes and pulls back hard every few metres I manage to claim with the pedals. The force with which the rod shakes as the fish does, is phenomenal.

I have no idea how long it took to work the fish along the wall but it seemed like forever. As I finally neared the point a paddler came around the heads at a rate of knots. It was Grant. An overwhelming sense of success crept over me. Somehow this is the boost I need to get home. Every fibre straining against the fish, every neuron working overtime thinking about the knot, the leader, why haven't they broken? Why has such a large fish allowed me to tow it over a km when it appears to be strong enough to fight?

As we rounded the heads I was pleased to see there were no waves. The fish is still allowing me to tow it but as the water depth lessened it started to run. I'm only 250m off the beach now. Every fibre straining, water at 2m, legs pumping and the fish decides to make a run for the point and freedom. I couldn't see what was happening behind me. The rod buckled over I have my thumb hard on the reel, Im not letting this one go at the last hurdle.

I look up to see a wave of AKFFers wading through the waves. I turned to see Grant fly out of his kayak trying to gaff the fish. The gaf broke!! He dived and came up with both arms wrapped around the fish. Next thing two more AKFFers grabbed the fish and subdued it. "I made it!!!", I just wanted to get to the shoe now. I jumped off my kayak 25m out and someone took it and the rod, I grabbed the bill of the fish and dragged it to the beach.

People cheering, my head pounding, the waves and the crowd are deafening, throat dry, muscles aching and now starting to cramp, I fell to my hands and knees beside the fish and dry wretched for what seemed forever. Like I dream, I seem to be floating above my body at that moment rather than in it.

A drink of water helped and as the lactic acid build up took its toll and I posed for photos, the sudden realization that I had done what I came to do. All the reading, asking, questions, thousands of dollars of gear and no sleep for a month before getting there had paid off. Before I left, I told people I was going to catch a marlin from my kayak at SWR so I could see the reaction on their faces. I haven't left the house much since getting home, too buggered. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I show them I actually did.

Later I laughed and I cried. I had no control over my body for a few hours, nor did it seem my emotions. Never in my life before, have my body and mind been put to such a test, over such a long period. I have a new found appreciation for triathletes and other endurance sports people. They are often in this state after a race.

As you've seen and heard the fish was foul hooked. Why didn't the old braid, my knot or leader break? Why did a fish that size allow me to tow him so far. Why didn't the 100lb leader lassoed around his bill get rubbed away? I grabbed the bill and still have no skin left on one hand. When we put the fish in the back of my ute, I forgot to wrap the bill in a towel. The vibration of the bill against the car over the short trip to the weigh in, caused the paint work on my 2 year old car to be rubbed back to bare metal!!! Off to the panelbeaters today. How the hell did the leader survive 3 hours around his bill?? He was so lightly hooked behind the pec fin it couldn't have applied any pressure. I have heard it suggested the hook may have been in a nerve a bit like the pressure points we have on our body. Why didn't the line break when their rig and livey wrapped around mine? When I look at some of the photos the angle on my rod alone should have been enough for the line to break. The fish should have been free on so many occasions.

To be honest, from the time I rounded the heads until I came back with the car to collect the fish is all pretty hazy. As are pretty much all of the events throughout the fight. It has taken me a few days to piece things together and the plot from my GPS and all the descriptions and photos have helped. Everything I have written I honestly believe happened even if the sequence in which they occurred is not quite right.

It was truly a memorable experience for me. One I will take to my grave. Hopefully, for all those that participated or witnessed, it will be too.


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## Astro

well written mate it was a joy to read.....


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## rawprawn

I rarely read trip reports end to end these days, I just look at the photos. That report had me on the edge of my seat. It's the best fishing report I have read.

Again well done.


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## Davey G

Paulo - your are a fair dinkum wordsmith mate. Champion effort all round and a great report.

ps, hows the bruises??


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## keza

Well done on the recount Paulo you really had us with you, the only bit you shortened was the number of expletives that came out of your mouth when that guys line crossed yours, at first i thought the braid had cut your leg off.  
Such a once in a life time experience, i think the fact that crushie was there with is was just magic, what a great event to share.
excellent stuff, what now ?


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## bombora

Jeeeez I just got goosebumps reading your report Paulo!!!!! Awesome account of an awesome capture!! mate I've PM'ed you can you say yah or nay to what I've asked? cheers Bombie


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## JTC

I like everyone else, have been hanging out for this one and it has been well and truly worth the wait. I was hanging on every word.

I loved the fact that you included all the little dramas and indecision that you had to deal with through out the battle. Sometimes when you hear about such incredible feats, you assume that the people involved were highly experienced professionals and that everything was totally under control the whole time. It's comforting to know that even though you put in the hard yards prior to, and during the trip and it was your intention to at least hook a Marlin, that you still had to endure the same dramas and even a little of the self doubt that we all feel when out there (albeit duelling with considerably smaller adversaries).

Great report and very humble... Loved it!

Cheers,

Jason.


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## weapon

Hi,
I just got back home after going to Nambucca Heads after South West Rocks. I really enjoyed the South West Rocks kayak fishing trip and meeting other AKFF members. Amazing to see so many rigged kayaks in a camping ground. I'm sure other campers loved the commotion around 6am each morning for the morning fishing. The Friday night introductory BBQ was beaut. I am new to kayak fishing and really learnt heaps on this trip. Besides having a shark fin cruise again just in front of my kayak there was little fish excitment for me personally, as the bites were rare. However I will always remember this trip for Paulo's capture of his marlin. To see in real life this hooked marlin jumping was quite incredible and it was a once in a lifetime chance to witness a great fishing moment. I have never been this far offshore on a kayak whilst observing Paulo's epic fight. He was straining all the time to hold the marlin, this marlin was a truly a great capture by Paulo. Count me in for next year's South West Rocks trip and I recommend it for new kayak fisho's.
Cheers,
Weapon.


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## Davey G

As others have said - despite South West Rocks having the 'big fish' reputation, most of us found the fishing incredibly tough.

Sure, there were zillions of baitfish but catching anything of size was not easy.

Apart from the Marlin I think all up, during the week between 35 fishos there were only a couple of Mack tuna, Blue and Yellowfin tuna caught by various guys plus one Cobia hooked (and lost boatside) and one decent Mackeral bitten off (sharked) boatside. I think someone hooked a small shark??? and a turtle was also caught and released. The estuary fishos caught a few bream and flatties but most of us got diddly-squat.

My grand total from the yak (apart from baitfish and tiny flathead) was 2 small whiting and a few Bonito (with the biggest around 40cm) and that's it... I know of others that got nuthin'. Not exactly a great result from 3 solid days fishing in a supposed 'hot spot' but hell it was still good fun!


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## varp

Paulo you write as well as you fish.

That was one of the most engaging and emotional reads on fishing I have ever experienced. An outstanding, generous and first rate account of a truly momentous event.

Just brilliant!!!

.....when's the movie coming out?


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## paulo

Some statistical stuff for those of you that like that sort of thing.
I just measured the drag setting on the Penn GT220. The crude Shimano scale set I use to set my drag, shows what drag I fought the fish with throughout. 2.8kg Funnily enough I used the tried and true 'wrap it round your hand and give it a reef' method that morning.








With that setting I must have bored the poor bugger to death.

This photo shows every kilometre I pedaled from Monday to Sunday. Except for the big loop on the right of course. That was where I got a free ride. 









This photo shows my car where the paint was rubbed away by its bill on the trip into the weigh in.


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## Robbo

Paulo, That was a great read of a great fight and you had my muscles flinching all the way...imagining I was in your kayak battling against those overwhelming odds. All those reasons you listed of why that marlin shouldn't have remained on the line just highlights what an epic adventure you had. What an unforgettable experience! I can see me taking the wrong option every time it came to the crunch...for example: turning the rudder slightly instead of completely is something I wouldn't have thought of and no doubt would have been pulled into the drink before the fight even begun! You're a natural!


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## stonecold

My friend thats a phenominal effort. 
I have been waiting for your own words on the subject, and it was worth every second.
Even though I didnt go or for that matter know any of the guys and gals that were there. I feel a tad emotional. Congratulations to you and all involved.

Now I gotta track down Breambo cause I rekon were in with a show off Lennox! Maybe not 78kg.....


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## Breambo

Great report Paul. Ive got the 230 combo. Yours must be ok if you can get a 78kg marlin. What an add for Penn, they might sponno you a new combo :lol:


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## saysme

Great report Paulo,
Really inspired to take that leap into the deep blue, maybe I'll start with *****'s or small kings (maybe a fiesty ocean bream). But shows time, effort and a lot of tenacity will reap rewards. The report was so well written it could go straight to press, loved the read.


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## DiveYak

Sensational fish.......congrats. The others have said eveything. :shock:


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## Hoffy

As a newly registered yakker with AKFF I just wanted to let you all know that I had a great time at SWR and enjoyed the company and camaraderie immensly. A little concerned on arrival that I had landed amongst an 'extreme sports cell' I was made to feel very welcome. I drove in knowing only BrianJ and drove out with only one fish but a bag of new yak 'knacks', great experiences, impressions and memories. Thanks. One question - how did PaulO get the marlin into shore?

Hoffy


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## keza

Sorry if this is a bit long winded but you can always skip to the pics and the summary at the bottom.

Dan and I set out from Sydney on Wednesday arvo/evening. I met him at the camper higher place and we loaded into his car., looking at the inside I wondered if the weekend could turn into a scene from the odd couple. After me agonising over the fact I had to put my yak on his roof right way up and watch the hull get squished (I always put it on upside down so it sits on the rails) we eventually hit the road at about 6.30 pm.
The drive up was pretty uneventful so it gave me plenty of time to worry about the new dents in the bottom of my yak, Dan assured me they would come out.
Dan did keep sending me over the back to get him another beer and as I didn't know him that well I couldn't help but wonder whether he really wanted a beer or was he just checking out my arse ???
Anyway after the usual petrol stop and a burger stop (a must for all vegetarians), we arrived at the camp at one something am, to find some b#stard camped on our site. We made a lot of noise but their tent was being guarded by several large roos so we set up across the road from them knowing it meant a morning yak would be out of the question.

6 am and we are outside their tent grumbling again and a girl (solo uk traveller) comes out to see what is going on. Dan is in there and soon discovers we aren't booked to the next night, "I wondered about that he says" but that didn't stop him asking if she wanted a hand to pack up the tent, She said she wanted the tent to dry first, we looked for a towel be settled for dragging her gear on the next site, welcome to Oz.

As it was the wind and sea was pretty bad on Thursday so we spent most of it unpacking and rigging and basically building a nice nest.
Red and Davey G arrived next door so the beers came out and the equip prep continued.

Friday was a big day with over 20 kms paddled. At this point I hadn't realised about the line where the dirty water hit the blue water and we paddled along the coast heading south rather than heading straight out. We were going into the wind so I was looking forward to a relaxing paddle back with the wind behind us, this was not to be the case as we found when we turned that not only had the wind stopped but we were paddling back into about a 3 knot current. (note to self, consider current as well as wind when heading out). At one point we had joined several other yaks heading in the same direction and we were 6 abreast all towing one or to line, it looked like a commercial setup.

I arrived back exhausted and thinking that the 160 kms I had done on the bike over the last week was a bad idea.
As a fish eating vegetarian my space on tonights bar b was looking a little empty so Dan and I decided to give it another go just before the sun went down.
This time we new the blue water was straight out and that's where we headed, it felt so fishy out there and I have never seen so many flying fish, a school (or flock) went past me from behind and one bounced off the front of the yak, this has to be a sign I thought.
But oh no the only sign was that it was getting dark and if we hooked a big fish now it would be dark so back in we went and it was lental burgers for me.

Saturday I was keen to do loops that kept the distance back to base down and I was glad I did as the wind came up and the paddle back was hard. The start was promising with a bonnie on the way out, I gave that to Dan for a livie and went back to get myself one. I pulled him around for a couple of hours but didn't get a sniff so I retired him to the cooler for dinner. The wind came up with a vengeance I hid near the cliffs for a while still hoping today was the day for a fish.
Dan came over and joined me and when we finally poked our heads out from behind the cliffs I was shocked at how hard it was to paddle back, it was like paddling in concrete. When we got to the surf I thought thank god a ride in but the wind was so strong you couldn't catch a wave.

Sunday you pretty much know all about but for me it was the most frustrating of starts, I think I spent 3 hours trying to get a livie and managed to lose the first one as the hook came out from the cable tie.
Red pulled up six in one go next to me at on point and I graciously accepted his donation.
My big mistake for the day was to look at a bait ball being hammered by something and cast my bait jig at it rather than going for what was attacking them. Dohhh

All up I had a fantastic time, what a great bunch of people. I just wish I had more time to get to know every one.
Around camp was always exciting with someone spotting a school of fish just out front or people dropping by for a chat.

If I look at the fishing alone it was crap so it just shows how good the rest was.
Great location. Great company.
Thanks to Dan for sorting out the site and camper and letting me tag along.

*In brief*
Fantastic trip made by the location and the people.
The fishing was crap when I think about it but at the time I didn't notice.
Trolled over 50 kms for a few small bonito and at one point it took me 3hrs to get a livie.

*Lessons Learnt*
Get better at collected live bait, make sure I have some burley, carry a small hand line with hooks if the jig isn't working.
Why do I carry so many lures and jig options? I hardly ever change.
A radio is essential, I had one and wished everyone did.
Look at the current as well as the wind before heading off for a long paddle.
Check that the inside of the camera housing hasn't steamed up before taking some classic photos.(call yourself a professional ha)
How to do a bimini &#8230;.yeh..
Although you are after large fish, presentation is just as important as small one, they're big not blind, use the lightest line and smallest hook you think you can get away with. (it is better to have hooked and lost than never to have hooked at all).
Pair up with someone and stick with them.


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## keza

a few more pics


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## keza

a few more


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## crazyratwoman

holy moly goosebumps just didn't cut it! i got teary eyes!!!! that was fantastic and i felt like i was there every step of the way!


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## Blackant

Fantastic report Paulo. My hearty congratulations to you. Like everyone has said, they felt like they were there. I don't think that will be beaten in my life time. To do what you did that day will stay with me for a very long time. I went to SWR not wanting to fish outside but do do the quiter river spots. Put names and faces together. All in all a great weekend. Bring on Forster and SWR next year.
Greg


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## DaveJ

Sound's like you People had quite a productive outing :lol: Seriously though what a fantastic effort to all involved. Sounds like a real team effort which is what makes this story so great 8) 8) 8) . Chalk another one up for the Yak Fisho's Boys & Girls :wink:


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## Chop

Just one word really, nah make it two! "TRUELY AWESOME"

Chop


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## granpop

AWESOME!!!!! The whole 14 pages make a wonderful read.

Paulo - a BIG congrats on the fish of a lifetime. I have caught a couple from a game boat, and that was hard work even with a team in the boat with you - from a 'yak it is a fantastic effort.

Everyones' photos were magnificent - it was a great outing - even for those who did not get there.

Cheers

Dave


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## T-curve

Awesome report Paulo and a huge effort,i reckon i would have died :lol: ..thought i was peddling a hobie there for a sec :shock: See those beers we had friday night paid off :lol: . Was a top weekend and a great oppurtunity to meet some more members which gave me that extra nudge to get out on the big blue wobbly for the first time. Felt a bit ceedy, but didnt follow through as Arpie did :lol: and even caught my self 4 bonnies with 3 of them at the one time on one of my river outfits using a bait jig and felt like i had something huge...lol Anyway palmed a couple of to Paul (weapon) to use as livies and so i slapped one on the TLD and trolled around for a while thinking if something grabs this bonnie it aint gonna be small :shock: but unfortunately no heart starters for me !! So it was then time for me to do my first re-entry and met up with Wal on the way in and thought cool..ill follow wal and do what he's doin...bugga that!! He headed straight round the tip of the wall and into the action zone and thought hes as mad as a cut snake :shock: but of course it was my first time so i didnt know what to expect , so i took a wider approach. Pffft...wrong move buddy, before i knew it i had waves riding up the rear and i was way to committed so it was on for young and old :shock: So the first wave come and off course i hesitated and just sat there like a turtle on a rock and it picked me up and i started to do the sidewider thing..lol At this stage the yak was angling towards the wave itself and the water began to rush in  Gees i thought i was gonskies at this stage but made a last minute decison to dig the the paddle in on the right side and push hard forwards and wouldnt you know it..i straightened up and was back on track. I thought hell yer..that was scary but at the same time fun :lol: then the second wave come..it was actually bigger. Hmmm..gotta do it..so i paddle for this one and nearly ended up in the same predictament but i manage to get her inline again. Well this was great fun even if the butterflies were a flappin..lol. so the third wave came but much smaller which just gave me push to the beach and i was back on dry land. After all that i nearly was going to ditch all the gear and go out for a bit of fun :lol: . Either way it has certainly changed my frame of mind and will be definately giving it another shot


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## Chrushie

Well I'm finally getting to my trip report. It's long so enjoy,

Paul and I set out to SWR on the Saturday with the plan to split the trip up on the way down. Our plan was to stay at station creek and hopefully get out in the ocean or river. On arriving, there were 75,000 mozzies, 250 scouts and we would have had to carry our yaks down 3 flights of stairs to the creek so we decided to keep moving and ended up in red rock.

Red rock is a great little town, Right on the Corinda River, a beautiful spot. We headed out for a fish up the river on Saturday night then went out again on the Sunday morning. Paul caught 2, I got some nibbles but nothing.

We packed up on Monday and made our way down the SWR. We arrived in the afternoon to a camp site that was a bit underwater from the weeks of rain, but lucky we could change it to a much drier one. We set up camp, Went for a walk to check out the place and then headed into town to the pub for dinner.

Tuesday, 
We headed out at about 6.30 and went over as far as the river opening. We were both trolling but I didn't get any hookups. Paul caught a bonito on his trusty lure, which is actually not much smaller than the bonito so he didn't realize he had hooked up at all. 
There wasn't much on the sounder so after a couple of hours we decided to head back. In the distance we could see a rain coming, I commented on how small it looked, but that was because it was so far away. We were half way home when it hit us. It rained hard, and we peddled just as hard (My next purchase is turbo fins, just cant keep up with Paul anymore.) We made it back to shore and surprisingly we were out there for about 4 hours.










Wednesday, 
Paul headed out and I stayed in as the water looked a little rough for me. I pottered around on the rocks watching everyone out on the water with the binoculars hoping to spot some hookups but didn't really see much. Then it rained, Got hot and was time for a swim.










Thursday

I headed to the Back River with Estuary Girl and Arpi. It was so nice, had lots of trees and roots in the water where my lure- which I now call "hooky" enjoyed snagging on everything. Arpie gave me a popper to try which was great, it stayed on top of the water so got rid of my snagging problem. Although I didn't catch any fish, my casting getting better.










Friday
I joined EG, Arpie and Dougout at the main river, yet again not catches, a couple of nibbles but nothing. Arpie got a nice brim and dougout got something small.










Saturday. 
It was back to the ocean on Saturday. The girls were coming out as well so I told arpie that we would be on the water at 6am. But I meant 7am (forgot Daylight savings) and slept in a little. Aprie was already out by the time Paul, EG and I made our way out though the waves. The swell had dropped a lot and it was really nice around the headland but by 9.30 the wind was up so EG and I headed back in

Sunday. 
I decided that the weather was great and the seas were calm so Paul and I headed out at about 6.30, Went around the head land and then started looking for livies. We didn't have much luck finding any so Paul suggested a place further out so we headed out about a k. He hooked some up and put them in the bait tube. Then we saw all the fish on the surface in front of us so we stopped to watch and noticed that we were at the line where the river meets the ocean. Whilst Paul got his livie ready there were 3 dolphins bobbing around us. It was just great. Once he a was ready to go we turned and headed back to the jail along the line.

We got about 200mtrs of the jail and there were other yaks about. Stopped to say hello and then we had planed to turn around and head back out. 
Paul then turned to me and said "I'm on " just as we heard his reel go off. He reached around, Grabbed the rod ready to fight the fish and in front of us the marlin jumped. It would have to be the most amazing thing I've ever seen. 
For the next 4 hours I followed Paul around as he fought the marlin. Assisting him when ever he needed it. It was great to have the other kayakers with us as well. I knew I was in it for the long haul but is as so great to have others there to share it with me. Paul has told the storey so I wont say much more, but I will say is that I was happy when he decided to turn the fish around and head back to shore - I feared we would head to NZ, I was happy to see us making it back to shore, I was happy to see Grant heading out to help Paul bring in the marlin, and I was happy, that the when it tried for the last run to the rocks that it didn't make it. But most of all im happy that I got to witness Pauls dream come true. I know he has been dreaming about catching one from the day he told me we were going to SWR. Dreams do come true.










Monday. 
 We had to pack up and go home.

Id like to thank the organizers, SWR is one of the best places I've been to in Australia and it will always be one of my fondest memories. Not only because of the marlin but because I had a great time, I met you all and I felt welcome even thought this fishing thing is so new to me. Learnt some tips, made some good friends, had some laughs and most of all realized that although I'm a little scare of what is on the end of my line I know it will never be as big as the marlin so its not really scary at all.


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## Chrushie

Some more photos


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## enyaw

That report by Paulo is unreal, what a fish from a yak. Absolutly blown away, well done.

Wayne


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## fisherdan

StevenM said:


> just been thinking, what do ya do with the left overs after carven it up?
> 
> Did they have a scap bin?


Not to worry Emm, the 3kg I brought home has been consumed happily by 4 families, It was pretty well shared out on the day and I doubt much made it to a bin.. Most of the frame which we left a bit on was tossed directly near a bait school, so it is by now straight back into the food chain.


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## Sunhobie

You are the king Paul!
Great report also by you and Lynette. 
Gees the BassBash is gonna be a bit lame this year after you tell your tale at pre-fish drinks :lol:


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## jacktheyak

What a fantastic report Paulo, I enjoyed every minute of it and cant wait to show it to a few of my gamefishing mates who thought that I was out of my mind saying that there was no reason a properly equipped and skilled kayak fisherman could not land a marlin!!! Your skill was there, don't know about the equipment!!! Thanks also for distributing parts of your fish, we have been eating marlin an all sorts of guises for days!

What a great weekend all up, the first gathering of AKFF that I have attended. Enjoyed every minute of it!! Have quite a few photos but as my wife and I are still away it is a bit difficult to get them organised. Soon as I return home at the end of next week I will post the lot.

My own personal triumph was catching a very unlucky yellowfin tuna which Davey G helped me to boat. Not anticipating catching anything larger than a Salmon, I did not bring my gaff and did not know that you could hold a tuna by the tail!!

Many thanks also to Wal from Woolgoolga who loaded my fish onto his yak and took it back to the camp for me as well as taking a couple of photos whilst out on the water.

What a great group of people. Everyone that I met was just so friendly and helpful, I came away with all sorts of ideas. Some people commented on my flag and I will post full details of it on the "Do it yourself" section as soon as we get home. Unfortunately, I did not arrive for the Friday night get together so did not meet a lot of people until Sunday night but really enjoyed myself anyway!! Have booked in for Foster already so that I don't miss a minute of it!!

Some things that I learnt were:

Use much larger lures for outside fishing. I had only caught a few small bonito and tailor until I used the 8cm Halco that caught my tuna.

Wipe or blow on the lens of my digital camera before taking shots on the water. Spray on the lens has strange effects!

I must practice returning through waves, had a couple of big frights!!

Buy a couple of UHF radios, it is nice to know what is going on around you.

Check the sounder batteries before leaving shore!!

Thanks everyone for a great couple of days. See you in Foster


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## Davey G

jacktheyak said:


> My own personal triumph was catching a very unlucky yellowfin tuna which Davey G helped me to boat.


Crikeys my memory' must be getting bad. I can't remember that!

I think you have me mixed up with Pauly (On the Edge). I'm happy to help out next time though!!


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## keza

Davey G said:


> jacktheyak said:
> 
> 
> 
> My own personal triumph was catching a very unlucky yellowfin tuna which Davey G helped me to boat.
> 
> 
> 
> Crikeys my memory' must be getting bad. I can't remember that!
> 
> I think you have me mixed up with Pauly (On the Edge). I'm happy to help out next time though!!
Click to expand...

hey at least yours was only helping out with a fish, i was pinned with having a wife there :shock: unless they meant Dan :lol:


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## Davey G

keza said:


> hey at least yours was only helping out with a fish, i was pinned with having a wife there :shock: unless they meant Dan :lol:


Well I can understand how Jack would get Pauly and myself confused. We're both supremely fit, toned, muscular and incredibly good looking guys in our early 20's.... :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol:

But how anyone could confuse Dan as your wife baffles me. Unless your wife is incredibly hairy and loves beer :shock: :shock:  .


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## keza

i see the confusion. it's his T shirt


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## Davey G

touche....very good.

keza, you'll want to hope that Mrs Keza isn't seeing this... :shock: :shock:

(Keza reaches for the 'delete' button) :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## keza

Davey G said:


> touche....very good.
> 
> keza, you'll want to hope that Mrs Keza isn't seeing this... :shock: :shock:
> 
> (Keza reaches for the 'delete' button) :lol: :lol: :lol:


she would never go on a forum in fear of being violated be a pervert etc etc etc 
she's more the book club type.

now definitely delete


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## jacktheyak

Sorry about the confusion, the bloke who helped me had a light on the front hatch of his Yak! That morning was the first time I had any contact with most of the attendees. Anyway,, the tuna tasted great!


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## simond11

Hey Paulo
I bet Steve Starling and 'Kaj' Bushy would love to hear that one of their Squidgies was involved in the capture of a Marlin. Worth a thought!
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## fisherdan

Davey G said:


> But how anyone could confuse Dan as your wife baffles me. Unless your wife is incredibly hairy and loves beer :shock:


You b*astrds!! Having fun at my expense while I'm down at Ikea buying up big with two in tow :shock: :shock: :shock: Got a couple of looks like :shock: :shock: that..

That shot is of me checking my knuckles after sorting out the last geek that manipulated an image of me!! Oh and Kezz, just remember who was on the top bunk!!!

Paulo just salt the tail and beak, heaps of salt on the cut sections and leave it somewhere warm and dry and it should dry out nicely, I'm still eating Marlin steaks thanks mate!


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## keza

hey Dan, i held back, i was going to give you some fluffy slippers.
good luck with the move tomorrow.


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## chris58

wow , reads as if it was a trip not to miss


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## chris58

I think you blokes should write into the fishing monthly mag i think they would pay to have news like that.. well done


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## paulo

fisherdan said:


> Paulo just salt the tail and beak, heaps of salt on the cut sections and leave it somewhere warm and dry and it should dry out nicely, I'm still eating Marlin steaks thanks mate!


Dan, You are most welcome. And thanks for cutting it up on the day too.

Salt eh? I will try that this arvo. They are starting to pong pretty bad and Im just waiting for the neighbours to whinge. It was full of maggots the other day which people told me was OK. I wasnt so sure so I gave it a good blast of Mortien. It didnt seem to kill the maggots but it sure as hell made me feel a little ordinary.
Salt sounds much better. Thanks.


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## grant ashwell

"A legend in his own kayak" was how Paul was described by the ABC announcer this morning on the fishing section. Talked for a while about the event and what they didn't know, seemed to make up. Was good..


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## Biggles

Congrats Paulo, holy moly thats a nice feed. Well Done.

Regards

Al (Biggles)


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## spottymac

That's an amazing account of the fight with a awesome fish, it felt like I was there and could see it all unfolding the way you told your story. 
Awesome effort


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## Duran

Hi just wondering did anyone take a gps mark for the bait reef or any other spots that they willing to share


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## Breambo

Hey Duran, where is your report on getting bronzed on a spanish, or have I missed it, this thread is getting big !!


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## Game fisher

I enjoyed everyone's company at the 2008 SWR trip. It was grate that everyone shared their fishing secrets, and all the talks at camp.

Thanks Grant for showing us the finer secrets in big game fishing. I enjoyed your company and encouragement.

Paulo, as I said on the beach, WELL DONE. This memory is imbedded in your head, and when you are 100, the memory will be as clear as if it was yesterday. You did the hard yards every day, and landed your prize. WELL DONE.


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## Dean1

For those of you interested and not jaded by the marlin post ( great catch ) saysme's big Flathead was landed on 3lb bream gear and is a capture in itself, 10 mins on the line ( sorry its not 2.5 Meters and 80 odd kilos) but as i see it, a great capture in itself. As we fished 2 1/2 days of the week and landed over 200 fish, thats a fair average for 2 fishermen on SPs, HBs and bait. A bit of local knowlage and planning went into taking this fish and saysme, steve, could not have been happier with the capture and release of such a magestic animal. All i see on this forum at the moment is BID FISH FEVOUR, Thers alot of hard yards put into a trip like this and any big fish capture is worthy of atleast a small pat on the back.
Between steve and i, my estimated value of lures, rods, miscelanious gear E.T.C was running into the $1000s ($4-5000) not including the Yaks and for him to score a great fish, especiall a fish he was targeting, on the first day, also a PB, is a great feat.
Several other fish were lost over the weekend including several bream 40 plus cms lost at yak side due to them swollowing 50mm poppers and teeth wearing through the leaders, and several benching 6lb braid straight into the oysters, and mangroves.
Other memerable catches were:
Mangrove Jack,
Big estuary Cod,
And Fingermark, ( all tropical ( Cross over ) species i have caught on and off over the years )
Heres to you steve,
Not a marlin, 
but,
Hands in the air and clapping anyway.
Bloody nice fish MATE.......

NB: SWR fishes its poorest leading up to and on the full moon phase ( estuary speaking )

Deano


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## PoddyMullet

Geez Louise! Onya Paulo, first class!


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## paulo

Well done Dean and Steve on some top fishing in the creeks, requiring real finesse. I was focused on the outside so much, I never made it to the rivers and missed some top fishing. Ill be having a crack next time. The Go-Go girls (EG and Arpie) kept the campground up to date on the river action every evening. If you missed it there are some pics of Steve's big lizard and a massive hookup (on his net?) from Red on Pg4 of this thread.
Top YFs too Gamefisher. They were in the pot before I got a chance to see them on the day. I will be contacting you for the dimensions I saw you take on Grant's bait tube mods. I need to rethink my arrangement there too.


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## Zed

Now I see what all the hubub is about.
That trip looks like such a fun time! Nice mix of fish.

Nice job! Huge benchmark accomplishment! A lot of stock is put into paddling from shore vs mothershipping for such a feat. You get full points for sure! Hurt much?

Z


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## keza

Deano,
i guess we stuck with what we know, i would have loved to fish the river but didn't even know where it was let alone where to go on it.
If i was camped next to someone who new i probably would have tagged along but i had fished the coast before and that's what everyone around me was doing.

Looks like you guys got into some great fish, well done.

ps.
Paulo, if you still have some marlin in the freezer i can recommend tandoori - ing some of it, yum.


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## Game fisher

"The toughest person on the trip"

Who do you think is the toughest person on the trip?
I think it might be Paulo on fighting a fishy, more like tug and war, No. The other side of the coin belongs to Duran.

Saturday morning, I go racing past a few kayakers to the brake-wall point. I start load up my rods, just to see Duran approaching&#8230;.He asked me if I had a side cutters?? For what, I asked and explained that I have a pair for emergency operations&#8230;"to cut-off and take out any logged hooks" &#8230;...That's indeed what I have, explained Duran??? What?? He explains that he was playing with his fishing rod on the beach, got hooked on the beach, saw the everyone launch, new someone would have pliers to take out the hook, ?? So he rowed 600m with the hook in his finger to where I was??

I comment:, he is tougher than most people I know, and I would-of wetted my pants in pain&#8230;.and said some funny words in-between&#8230;

Duran just took the pliers, forced the hook through, cut the bob off, pulled the hook back, all in 5 seconds, gave me back my pliers and said lets drop the lines, lets catch a fish or two? What? I was shocked and dazed.

That's my safety tip for the week.


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## crazyratwoman

yer it was pretty tough seeing everyone out on the water when i couldn't...


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## Dean1

Hooks in humans are never a nice sight.
A freind stepped on a big 8/0 and goy him in the webbing between the toes, only prob, still had a fish on the other dropper,
kicking around the floor of the boat.
That was a hospital trip for stitches.
i just had to laugh and tell him to stick an earring in it.


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## wopfish

Ive just got back from a trip OS and have read this report with great excitement from there.. couldnt really reply or post but I can know

WELL BLOODY DONE TO ALL OF YOU !!!!

One thing that shone through all of the postings has been what a great lot you / we yak fishers are - the camaradarie, the team work and mateship has all shown itself in that one trip and I cant wait to join up on the next one...

Regards

Woppie


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## wopfish

Occy whats a Callop ??? and does it need lancing ??? :lol:


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## DougOut

still out on the road myself.....had a ball at SWR.....great to put a few more faces to names 
will be back home....on-line again in a couple of weeks
cheers to all for now


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