With the Billfish Bonanza just around the corner, there have been more boats out in the gulf getting in some practice and chasing the sailfish. There is plenty of bait on the grounds with gulf mulies and yellowtail. There have been some good signs of plenty of fish coming up to the back of the boats with the odd small marlin amongst them. The birds are a good indicator for where the fish are feeding. Make sure you watch out for the diving white terns, mixed in with mutton birds walking across the surface poking their heads in to the water looking for sailfish feeding and hoping to pick up a feed themselves.

Locals, Smithy and Mumsy tagged a small black marlin while out in the gulf on the weekend, while others on the same day reported pods of sailfish being raised on the teasers. If you missed the rigging session then get down to Bluewater Tackle World for some tips on what rigs have been working and what teasers and hooks, bait jigs etc to use.

Schools of tuna have been spotted out in the gulf feeding on the bait schools with mackerel and cobia feeding as well. Natalia from Brumby's caught her first sailfish and a 12kg longtail in the same day. Other anglers have been chasing these speedsters on fly.

Pictured this week is one of the tuna that spat out the bait it was feeding on. As you can see the fly used looks almost identical to the bait, which is probably why that angler was so successful.

Queenfish and trevally have been caught from old Bundegi with some of the fish around the 5-8kg. Small Halco Twisties and medium sized soft plastics have been working well on these species both from the shore and a boat at the back of the reef. Don't forget to take a squid jig with you on these outings, as the squid seem to always turn up when you aren't prepared.