Cairns, the principal city of North Queensland, is the primary gateway to experiencing the famed black marlin heavy tackle fishery of the Great Barrier Reef. There have been more “granders” caught here than any other single location in the world. Extending from Lady Elliott Island in the south to the Murray Islands in the north the “wonder down under” covers an area half the size of the state of Texas, includes over 2900 individual reefs and about 900 islands, and is home to over 1500 species of fish. The giant black marlin, our primary interest in these waters, is found primarily in the north and central portions of “the reef” between Cairns and Lizard Island with the most productive months being September through early December. Later in the summer and into the early fall one can catch numerous smaller blacks inside the reef on light tackle and fly gear somewhat further south.
I first went to Australia in 1990 and have had the pleasure of fishing “the reef” nearly every year since. During that stint I have caught black marlin from 200 to 950 pounds. We have also encountered Pacific sailfish, wahoo, mahi mahi, king mackerel, tanguige, and the odd blue marlin. Some of these have obviously made great table fare while we were living on the reef aboard a “live-aboard” sportfisher. That is the most efficient and affordable way to enjoy this spectacular adventure. It also makes it easy to experience all of the unique attributes of this marvelous environment. One can snorkel in the morning, have a leisurely breakfast, and still have time to catch bait before embarking upon the daily marlin expedition. This has historically been strictly a dead bait fishery. Traditionally one uses a fresh dead or preserved scaly mackerel or small tuna as a skip bait on the starboard side and a fresh scad rigged as a swimming bait off the port rigger. The sensational success these captains have experienced have caused them to shun more contemporary techniques, but the situation is beginning to change. This year the Lizard Island Tournament was won with a 950 pound black taken on a lure and during our trip to “the reef” this year (which can be found under “grander search part two” on the “Where’s Terry?” page) we caught a 700 pounder on a Moldcraft senior softhead