Species Article: Black Marlin
An angler’s first sight of a black marlin is an unforgettable experience: it is a magnificent fish weighing up to several hundred kilograms, and its size is matched by great power, speed and agility. It’s therefore no surprise that the black marlin is much sought after by anglers from around the world who wish to take up the challenge of this spectacular fish with its renowned fighting qualities.
The Black marlin is at home in the tropical and sub-tropical waters of our Indian and Pacific oceans. They mostly swim in the surface layer of the sea, near land masses and in the vicinity of coral atolls. In Australia black marlin are distributed throughout the coastal areas of all states, with the most popular recreational fishing grounds being off Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. Black marlin can be caught almost all year round somewhere in Australia: on the east coast, for example, they are plentiful in north Queensland waters between July and November, off southern Queensland from November to March, off northern New South Wales from December to April and off southern New South Wales between January and May.
Although some tackle has been specifically designed for big game fishing, expensive and sophisticated equipment is not essential if you’re targeting juvenile marlin rather than really big ones. A lever drag game reel is ideal Such as A Shimano TLD 50 Two speed fishing reel stocked by our Online Fishing Tackle Shop would be a good choice and you’ll need at least 640 metres of line with break strength of 24kg to suit. A game style rod is ideal, such as the Shimano T-Curve 24kg Stand Up fishing rods for game fishing from a boat or if you are into land based game fishing then you could consider the Live Fibre RLF14 Land based game fishing rod.
The major food of black marlin is other fast-swimming fish species such as tuna, trevally and mackerel and a range of other bait fish. As opportunistic feeders, the black marlin consumes a lot of bait fish, and anglers take advantage of this feeding pattern when seeking out their targets. Some signs that bait is around include hovering birds and objects floating on the surface.
Trolling baits and lures, or a combination of these, are the most usual methods used by anglers to catch black marlin, with lures now being used increasingly in preference to live bait. Our Online Fishing Tackle Shop stocks a variety of marlin lures including the ever popular Pakula Lures range of trolling skirts with an enticing head shaking action. Lures are most effective when several are trolled in a pattern or otherwise known as a spread, but one or two lures can still work well.
The excitement when you hook a marlin is very special. If you win the battle with a marlin, the decision whether to capture or release the fish is yours. Whatever you decide, you will have had a thrilling tussle with a very worthy opponent.
Check out some useful information on Pakula lure choice: