Offshore Fishing

Before you embark on your much anticipated offshore fishing trip, it’s always a good idea to decide on your target species. Usually one or two species is ample, then organise your boat, fishing gear, rigs and bait for your chosen targets. Good anglers know that fishing requires patience. It doesn’t matter whether you’re dropping a line at anchor or trolling a lure behind a boat - patience is the key. If the conditions are right, fish will eventually come, and it may take an hour or more before a bite encourages your hope. If nothing is happening after one or two hours; move to another patch of fishing ground, try another style of fishing, or target another species of fish. It’s all up to you!

There are a number of methods or techniques of offshore fishing and they are: bottom fishing, drift fishing, spinning, trolling, and floating baits.

When reading the inshore waters, it’s much easier to recognise the spots where fish may congregate because you can visually see features like surf gutters, shallow reefs and sandbars. However; reading the open and often deep offshore waters can be a lot harder!! You need a combination of intuition and guesswork, and an adequate knowledge of the sea, weather and atmospheric conditions. Without touching on boating safety reasons, these conditions can all have an influence on fish presence and behavior.

It’s usually a good sequence of events that creates superb offshore fishing. Similar to the butterfly effect which metaphors the ‘turbulence from a butterfly’, leading to a chain of events that alters the course of a cyclone; certain conditions can come together to create top fishing. There are many conditions to consider too; such as light conditions, wind and barometric pressure, and water conditions such as clarity, turbulence, temperature and oxygen content. A slight to moderate degree of wind and wave action can be beneficial for offshore fishing because the water turbulence will help dislodge food from any bottom dwelling reefs and rock ledges. This food, which is often made up of small bait fish and juvenile crustaceans, are influenced by the wind and currents into dense concentrations. Surface feeding schools such as striped tuna and frigate mackerel are encouraged by this fresh smorgasbord on offer, which then encourages bigger predatory fish such as yellowfin tuna, marlin and shark to show.

The associated whitewater and wind chop that comes hand in hand with these conditions allow fish to move freely with a reduced risk from predators. These conditions also encourage higher than normal levels of oxygen to be absorbed from the atmosphere. Many surface feeding fish (pelagic) such as mackerel, yellowtail kingfish and marlin are constantly on the move, therefore needing oxygen rich water to keep up with their high energy levels and metabolic rate. Some fish such as snapper and mulloway have a slower metabolic rate and often browse, rest or drift with the moving water - quite often close to cover, and where they feel most comfortable.

The water colour can determine the temperature of the water, where warm waters are indicated by a rich blue colour and colder waters revealing a greenish tinge. Most fish species tend to feed under the cover of darkness and even half light. Some species can be attracted by the half light of dawn and dusk where they will move from the dark deep into shallower waters. Pelagic fish on the other hand such as tuna and marlin do not seem affected by the light and can be targeted in the bright light of day.

Game fishing is becoming increasingly popular, where around thirty years ago, the sport was mainly conducted from large professional charter boats. These days, more and more people are keen to try their hand at catching the ‘big one’, if it be from a charter boat or private craft. There are many popular locations around Australia where game fishing is known to be good. Some of these include the waters off: Rottnest and Exmouth in Western Australia, Cairns in Queensland, Bermagui and Port Stephens in New South Wales, Port Fairy in Victoria, St. Helens in Tasmania, and Port MacDonnell in South Australia.

A lot of people may think offshore fishing involves heading way out in the deep blue targeting big game fish such as marlin or sailfish. Now this is not always the case. There are plenty of offshore fishing opportunities over inshore and offshore reefs, including headland and island areas. Generally speaking, targeting fish in these areas:

• cost less to catch


• need less sophisticated equipment


• can be pursued with smaller offshore boats


• provide great fishing enjoyment


• provide quality food for the table

Some of the fish species that can be targeted include snapper, emperor, yellowtail kingfish, cobia, tailor, mackerel, and mulloway. When targeting bottom dwelling species around offshore reefs, there’s still opportunities to pursue the occasional tuna, queenfish, trevally, snook and barracouta that room these parts.

Using a baitcasting reel (also known as an overcast, game fishing or trolling reel) is definitely not a first-timers reel nor is it for the faint hearted. Baitcaster reels take some considerable time to get used to, especially since they are quite hard to cast with. These reels are designed for ocean fishing, where; strength, huge line capacity, heavy-duty braking, and an efficient heat dissipating drag system is pivotal. There are smaller models available for light-weight use; however these reels are often used with heavy tackle - targeting big game fish such as marlin.

Baitcaster reels offer pinpoint accuracy because you control the cast by placing your thumb on the line. The thumb is also needed to control the speed of the line during casting. It takes practise to master how much thumb pressure to place, because if you don’t use enough (or forget altogether), the reel spins faster than the line moves through the guides, and thus - creating a mess of the line.

Game fishing rods, also known as baitcaster or sportfishing rods, are designed to handle maximum stress and to apply maximum leverage for powerful game fish. They are typically fast tapered, with a fairly stiff tip, and powerful thick butts. They incorporate good quality guides or rollers with some having a combination of both. Game fishing rods often accommodate overhead reels as this is usually the reel of choice. These rods can be classified according to their suitable line class as outlined below:

• Light game rods using a 6 to 15kg line class are generally suited for small to medium game and sport fishing species such as mackerel and yellowtail kingfish.


• Medium game rods using 15 to 24kg line class are designed to handle many of the large offshore species such as marlin, tuna and sharks.


• Heavy game rods using 36kgs plus line class are often used from a special game chair. Anglers using these chairs are able to utilise leg strength to handle and control huge powerful fish.

It is ideal to choose a line that is extremely durable, quite fine in core diameter and has low stretch. Elasticity can be a problem for offshore anglers - especially when there is a lot of line out, and a big fish is on the end of it. Braided fishing lines are predominantly the line of choice for game anglers. The advantage of using braided line as opposed to monofilament is twofold. Braided line has very little elasticity so you are able to feel every bite and striking your rod has an instant effect. Braided line also has a smaller cross sectional area from roughly a third to half that of mono - allowing you to spool more line onto your reel. With reduced elasticity, fish such as marlin can be subdued much quicker - which is very important if the fish is to be released. Braided polyethylene gel-spun fishing lines are much stronger than comparable diameter lines. They offer low stretch and high sensitivity which makes them ideal when bottom fishing in deep water. Some even change line colour every 10 metres which assists the angler reach a designated depth.

When deciding on bait - make sure you select the freshest quality bait possible. You hand select baits individually or purchase them in vaccum sealed bags. Since there are countless types of bait available, choosing the right types for your specified target is a must. During certain occasions, a particular fish species will favour one bait type above all others. During other times, the same fish species will favour another bait type. It is therefore important to be prepared to present different baits at different times of the day.

Fish are able to swallow foods that are quite large in relation to their own size. Studies have revealed that when a bait of a certain size is presented to a school of fish of the same species but with varying sizes, the fish that often takes the bait, is the one that can swallow it whole. This leads to the simple conclusion - if you want to hunt bigger fish - use bigger baits! For comparison, heavy tackle game charters may use tuna or queenfish baits weighing up to 8kg to target a large 500kg marlin. Smaller fish baits of up to 2kgs such as mullet, garfish, wolf herring and hairtail can be used to target fish such as mahi mahi, Spanish mackerel and sailfish.

There are two main types that are commonly trolled behind a boat and they include: skirted trolling lures and minnow lures. Skirted trolling lures often have a hard head made from plastic, resin or metal and typically two skirts which are attached to the head. Skirts come in a multitude of colours and look similar to an octopus or squid. However, when the skirted trolling lure is in action, the water pressure closes the skirts in - making it look like the sides of a fish. Skirted trolling lures can be used when targeting medium sport fish like mackerel to large game fish such as marlin. Minnow lures are very effective for a wide variety of fish species. Minnows come in many sizes and types including: sinking divers, floating divers, floating deep divers, neutral buoyancy, and bibless minnows. To be effective, it is very important that a minnow lure swims correctly and in a straight line. Minnow lures can be used when targeting fish such as bonito, tuna, yellowtail kingfish, wahoo, and mackerel.

Depth sounders (also known as fish finders and echo sounders) are electronic units that are used to determine the water depth and bottom conditions, and the location of fish schools and individual fish targets. They have come a long way from the days when they were primarily used to determine depth by printing on graphing paper. Today, the one unit can incorporate colour LCD screens, GPS with maps and chart plotting capability, dual frequencies (200/50 kHz), high wattage output, and even fish radar and electronic compass.

Offshore Boating safety is the most important aspect to consider and a number of articles could be dedicated to this subject alone. You will most likely learn about offshore boating safety when you go for your recreational boating licence. There are many boating safety courses available that provide theoretical and practical offshore safety skills. Information can also be sought from government websites, and the boating and safety equipment industry.