Large Black Marlin migrate through Fiji waters and are found close in to the Great Astrolabe barrier reef . They range is size from 50 to 500kg.
Little is known about these blacks but it is speculated that they migrate past Kadavu island on their journey to and from the breeding grounds off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Bite Me holds the M-60 Fiji National Record with a fish of 220lbs but much larger fish have been seen by the resort’s divers and a probable grander was briefly hooked by anglers aboard our old vessel Offensive Tackle before throwing the hook. She was estimated to have been over 16 feet in length as she swam under the boat.
The best times for black marlin seem to support the Cairns/Lizard Island migration theory with blacks usually seen August to October and January to March however some fish have been seen outside these times so there may be a resident population.
When anglers ask us to target Black marlin, as with Australia, the bite seems to be in the afternoons and we follow the traditional Cairns methods.
We spend the morning inside the barrier reef catching and rigging bait, move outside the reef at lunch time with large lures and then switch to running two circle hook rigged baits for the afternoon bite.
Black marlin are extraordinary fish that jump like sails but fight like enraged bulls. They always put on a show for the cameras and will astound you as they charge across the ocean in a repeated series of spectaculor jumps.
