,A couple of years back I took a transfer from Kiama to Coffs Harbour in NSW. There is some great bluewater spearfishing to be had on the north coast and I was keen to get into it. While at a boat ramp one morning not long after my arrival in Coffs, I bumped into a keen spearo by the name of Gavin Smithers. He kindly invited me to go for a dive with him and we soon found that we shared a similar passion for bluewater hunting.

It was mid March, 2002 and we’d already seen a bit of marlin action whilst chasing a few dolphin fish amongst some trap floats about 15 kms east of Coffs Harbour. As we pulled up in the boat near a trap float we saw a striped marlin of about 200kgs attempting to wolf down a feed of dolphin fish right before our eyes. But, of course, Murphys Law dictates all and by the time we geared up and hit the water, the beakie was long gone. This was compensated by the presence of some big bull dolphin fish which gave us some excitement and a bloody good feed to boot.

“The float is absolutely unique and closely resembles a cooked chicken!…”

The sighting of that first marlin of the season really got our blood going and Gavin and I decided that we would try and maximise our opportunities on trying to take a marlin this season by calling on every trick in the book. This included leaping in amongst surface bait action whenever we were lucky enough to come across it. We also decided to trial a flasher that had proven successful on marlin over in South Africa. The Rob Allen flasher set up is different to most others that I have encountered or used. The float is absolutely unique and closely resembles a cooked chicken! Despite its weird appearance the it is actually quite functional as its bouyancy jigs the three horizontal flasher bars and weighted lure up and down constantly. It works not just visually but audibly and a regular whirring noise can be detected whilst swimming in close proximity to the flasher.

This combination of sight and sound really stimulates the curiosity of a number of different fish species and the first few trials of the flasher in reef areas produced some interesting results with many fish coming up off the bottom to investigate. Pelagic species in particular showed an attraction to the Rob Allen flasher and we were looking forward to trialling it in some of the deeper offshore waters.

After only having had the flasher for a few days a spell of good weather allowed Gavin, my wife Lisa and I to take a small tinny out to the trap floats. We were fortunate that the current wasn’t boiling as it often does this far out and the visibility although not perfect was still reasonable at 15 metres. The water was alive with numerous schools of small dolphin fish and a conversation with friends who had fished the area earlier that day indicated that a number of bill fish had been hooked and lost in the vicinity. We deployed the ‘chicken’!

“I spat my snorkel out and screamed out to Gavin ‘MARLIN !’ ”

I managed to get into the water a couple of minutes before Gavin and as I leveled out at about 10 metres amongst a school of small dolphin fish on my second dive I turned back to check the flasher. Apart from the dolphin fish there was nothing in sight other than the light show produced by the Rob Allen flasher. As I began my ascent a movement caught my eye off to my right and I saw an amazing sight. A black marlin of about 50 kgs simply cruised in to check the flasher, the first marlin I’d ever encountered face to face underwater. My heart beat out of my chest with excitement but I was not in a position to have a go at the fish. I was already well above the fish’s position and I was too far from the flasher and too short of breath to get back down for a shot. From the surface I watched the fish do a pass just under the flasher and then cruise back off into the blue. I spat my snorkel out and screamed out to Gavin “MARLIN !” .

By this time Gavin was in the water 10 metres behind me and obviously keyed up and ready for action. We took turns at hovering between the 10 and 15 metre mark below the dolphin fish and in close proximity to the flasher. There was a fair bit of surface chop and the ‘chicken’ was really doing its thing with an audible whirr every few seconds. About 5 minutes after my first marlin encounter I was about to level out beside Gavin as he began his ascent. As I watched him I saw him focus his attention back toward the flasher and his interest was confirmed as I saw his gun brought to bear in that direction. I watched as he finned closer to the flasher and as I scanned beyond it I saw a marlin appear. Once again the fish was checking out the flasher seemingly oblivious to Gavin’s presence as he rapidly closed the distance. At about 3 ½ metres Gavin let fly and I saw the shaft pass through the marlin and pull up just short of stringing it.

“Gavin was being towed toward New Zealand by a healthy marlin…”

The fish at first didn’t react much at all other than steadily continuing to swim in an easterly direction. It was only when Gavin started to put some pressure on the rig line that the fish realised it was in trouble and started to accelerate. It was very lucky that I was able to witness the shot and knew that Gavin was being towed toward New Zealand by a healthy young marlin. I waved out to Lisa and she brought the boat over to me. I threw myself aboard and charged off in pursuit. By this time Gavin and his friend were about 500 metres away from my location and he was vigorously waving his orange Ronstan float over his head while travelling at about 3 knots. I’m sure he was relieved to see me!

For safety’s sake Gavin decided to put a second shot into the fish as the spear appeared to be working its way back through the marlin’s soft flesh. I handed over a second gun which he promptly loaded. While hanging on to the rig rope with one hand and the gun in the other Gavin made an eardrum busting descent and placed a second shot through the fish from above. By this time both he and the fish were knackered and I reckon they were probably both happy to be hauled aboard the boat!

A damn fine effort I reckon and as far as I’ve been able to ascertain this is the first marlin to be landed by a spear fisher off the Coffs Harbour coastline, but not the last! Only a small Black marlin at about 30 kgs but it was a great capture and made fine eating. flashers