550 lbs. Blue Marlin for Game Keeper

New Zealand – We were getting a few reports here and there from our Kiwi friends on an odd striped marlin or a blue marlin, until today. We started the day with an email of a 1,030 lbs. Black Marlin (which may have got our juices flowing), which turned about to be a Blue Marlin, but in the end, who really cares. We just love Granders period!

James Scott made it his mission to remind us how good the fishing can be and it seems Waihua Bay is the spot at the moment. Not only did we add the Grander Blue, but our February 500+ Club added 8 more Billfish. The best part about it was New Zealand added a Blue, Black and Sword. We haven’t had a 500+ Swordfish in months!

Turns out the 539 lbs. Swordfish was courtesy of a very well known Capt. John Gregory on the Primetime. It appears Capt. John likes to fish so much, he had a go at a solo day of Swordfishing. He may want to fish more days by himself as he released 3 Swordfish, including the 539 lbs. fish.

We would like to remind all of our readers, we absolutely wants your reports. If you had a good day fishing, please send us your reports either through Facebook or to hook@billfishreport.com and john@billfishreport.com. We are even known to respond to our Twitter Feeds (Billfish Report, Marlin Report, Sailfish Report, Swordfish Report).

Guatemala – Always in our Top 10 Billfisheries of the Year, Guatemala always seems to amaze. This year has been jammed with great sailfish report. One of the boats that brings us some of the best is Capt. Brad Philipps on Decisive.

Capt. Philipps raised 63 Sailfish and 1 Blue Marlin today. They were mixing it up between Fly Fishing and Conventional tackle, eventually releasing 10 on Fly and 22 on Conventional. There really is no better place on earth to catch a Sailfish on fly!

To get in touch with Capt. Brad, simply go to Guatemala Billfishing Adventures.

Ascension Island – With only one boat patrolling the waters, we often wonder how good it can really be. Capt. Olaf Grimkowski on the Harmattan fishes this remote island and always seems to find the big girls. Already this season Capt. Olaf has released two Grander Blue Marlin, a 1,093 and an 1,100+. To add to his collection, he has also released an 850, 750, 700 thus far. This is a patient fishery, where you will not get a lot of action on the small Blue Marlin, but if you put your time in, you will get a shot at a trophy fish for sure. To learn more about fishing in Ascension, go to Atlantic Fishing Charter.

Canavieiras, Brazil (Royal Charlotte Bank) Capt. Antonio Amaral on the Wahoo Released 3 of 4 Blue Marlin. 600, 500 and 300 lbs. Capt. Amaral is up to 52 Blue Marlin for the season now. We have reported on him a number of times, but wanted to share his great day and these pictures.

Port Stephens, Australia – We cover a lot of fisheries and we get a lot of reports, but someone forgot to tell us how good it can get in Port Stephens. We have received plenty of good reports, but the last week has been special to say the least. We had two reports that really got us fired up.

The first was Capt. Tim Dean on the Calypso (who you will remember him from all of our Great Barrier Reef reports) who released 13 Marlin in a day!

The second report that blew us away was from Capt. Scott Thorrington on the Flyingfisher I. He along with crew Jay Househam and Ben Bright out on a show over a 4-Day period going 29-31 on Marlin. Although the majority were Striped Marlin, the released Black Marlin and Striped Marlin as well. In fact the boys released TWO GRAND SLAMS both with  4 Striped Marlin, 1 Black Marlin and 1 Blue Marlin. To make it even better, they were back to back Grand Slams!

Capt. Scotty tells us the fish were all within the 100 to 300 lbs range and they were getting them on Live Bait, Skip Baits and Bait and Switch so the boys were working hard. The guys love to teach people how to fish for all species of Billfish and clearly they know what they are doing. You should reach out to Capt. Scotty at haven.charters@hotmail.com if you want to get into some of this action.

All the great pictures you see our from the Flyingfisher I.

Canavieiras, Brazil  - This has been one of the best seasons we can remember for the boats fishing the Royal Charlotte Bank. Long time Capt. Antonio “Tuba” Amaral has been leading that charge. Thus far this season, Tuba has released 2 Grander Blue Marlin as well as numerous fish over the 500 lbs mark.

Even though the season is supposed to be winding down, Capt. Amaral on the Wahoo went 2 – 4 on Blue Marlin, releasing a 500 and a 750 plus he added a Sailfish for good measure. To find out more about fishing with Capt. Amaral, check out Bahia Pesca.

BLUE MARLIN

Mauritius – Paille en Queue – 600 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 500 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 750 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 600 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 700 lbs.

Ascension Island – Harmattan – 850 lbs.

Kona, HI – Pacific Blue – 662 lbs.

Kona, HI – Night Runner – 600 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 800 lbs.

Kona, HI – Northern Lights  - 538 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 500 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 600 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 500 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 600 lbs.

Canavieiras, Brazil – Wahoo – 800 lbs.

Ascension Island – Harmattan – 1,100 lbs.

Watamu, Kenya – Clueless – 600 lbs.

Mauritius – Moana 2 – 701 lbs.

Port Stephens, Australia – Baja – 520 lbs.

Kona, HI – Linda Sue III – 1,030 lbs.

Panama – Paseana –  625 lbs.

Kona, HI – Monkey Biz II – 500 lbs.

Watamu, Kenya – Ol Jogi – 550 lbs.

New Zealand – Matilda – 1,030 lbs.

New Zealand – Matilda – 594 lbs.

New Zealand – Gladiator – 535 lbs.

New Zealand – Reel Passion – 554 lbs.

New Zealand – Rana’s Legacy – 762 lbs.

New Zealand – Game Keeper – 550 lbs.

Richards Bay, SA – Blackwatch – 800 lbs.

New Zealand – El Donna – 550 lbs.

Grenada – Surf N Turf – 500 lbs.

Ascension Island – Harmattan – 500 lbs.

Ascension Island – Harmattan – 600 lbs.

New Zealand – Ocean Monarch – 603 lbs.

BLACK MARLIN

Bazaruto, Mozambique – Vamizi – 500 lbs.

Panama – Tropic Star Lodge – 500 lbs.

Panama – Paseana –  700 lbs.

New Zealand – Western Break – 787 lbs.

Panama – Paradise Lodge – 700 lbs.

SWORDFISH

New Zealand – Primetime – 539 lbs.

*Featured Image is a Grander Blue Marlin for Harmattan in Ascension Island.

**We try our best to chronicle all 500+ lbs Billfish that are reported to us. This is by no means a complete list of all fish, but simply those Captains who were kind enough to forward on their reports to us.

For the last month The Billfish Report has been counting down its 2011 Billfisheries of the Year, and coming in at #1 is the Azores.

Criteria for our Top 10 list – taken from the daily billfish reports we receive from hundreds of captains around the world -  include the following: fish numbers, variety of billfish species, average size of fish and length of season.  These are then compiled, factoring in the number of boats regularly fishing that fishery, to derive a score.  The rankings of those scores yield this year’s Top 10 list.

An honorable mention pick in 2010, the Azores had just a stunning 2011.  With only about six boats fishing these waters, and the season only going about two months, the Azores killed it last year.  They didn’t kill many fish, mind you – they released all but the Habitat’s 1,188-pound blue – but the sheer numbers of large blue marlin were simply amazing. 

Beautiful blue the Xacara called 950+

Some highlights:

- the Habitat had nine fish over 800 pounds, including its grander

- Brasilia caught 30 fish over 500 pounds in the 60-day season – averaging a 500+ every two days!

- Xacara and Makaira both caught two they called 950 (and we know what that means!)

Blue being released behind the Brasilia

The Azores AVERAGED three blue marlin over 500 pounds every two days – meaning the large girls were thick in these waters, and stayed there the whole season.  To wonder how many could’ve been caught if there were more boats out there is only conjecture, but the numbers stand on their own: loads of huge fish in an extremely short season meant an action-packed bite every day. 

And winning the Billfish Report’s Top Billfishery of the Year.

The Billfish Report is counting down its Top 10 Billfisheries of the Year, and coming in at #2 is Cape Verde Islands.

Criteria for our Top 10 list – taken from the daily billfish reports we receive from hundreds of captains around the world -  include the following: fish numbers, variety of billfish species, average size of fish and length of season.  These are then compiled, factoring in the number of boats regularly fishing that fishery, to derive a score.  The rankings of those scores yield this year’s Top 10 list.

Excited blue behind the Smoker

A few highlights:

- Grander on the Dimeu that went 1,120

- The Amelia had a red-hot start to the year, going 157-256…more blues than any boat in Cape Verde

- The Amelia also picked up a 1,145-pound blue

- The Happy Hooker has been making a habit of catching granders the last few years – and this year was no different, with a 1,065

Stay tuned for our #1 Billfishery of the Year, coming soon…though it might be easily deduced by process of elimination!

Los Suenos & Quepos, Costa Rica – There has been a really steady bite going on down in the Central Costa Rica. Boats are consistently releasing 10+ Sails a day and seeing over 20. We are down here to confirm those rumors and while we didn’t release 10+ (we went 7-11) the amount of sailfish we saw free-jumping and tailing was just plain stupid. No marlin for us yet, but we heard of a few blues swimming around behind some boats.

Good luck to all the guys fishing the Los Suenos Tournament!