Hervey Bay, Australia – We have to be honest, we never thought that we would ever be talking about flats fishing for any Billfish, especially a Black Marlin. We have actually seen the rare lost Swordfish in shallow water in the Bahamas and South Florida and even a random Sailfish, but never a Marlin. We guess of all the Marlin species, the one to do it would be a Black Marlin given their feeding behaviors in shallower water, but not on a flat!

Capt. Mark Bargenquast of Hervey Bay Fraser Island Guided Fishing typically puts  his clients on longtail tuna, golden trevally, giant trevally, mackeral and queenfish but tells us that they do see some offshore species from October to January. Apparently there can be a really strong migration of these juvenile Black Marlin every 5-7 years and that is typically when they see them. There can be a random sailfish mixed in as well.

On this particular fish, he was using a Stickbait on 30lbs. tackle. The wind was coming offshore  at 15 knots, which probably helped push this fish onto the flats.

For an absolutely unforgettable day, check out Capt. Mark. Bargenquast over on Fraser Island and see if he can’t put you on one of these rare Black Marlin on the flats!