Q: I'm in the Andamans now, and will start fishing soon. I was just wondering what the best depth is for targeting blacks? And would lures do the trick or is a dead bait much better?  Where do think that they would congregate the most?

Jason Pipe,
Canary Islands
 
A: Good question. Blacks are more of a continental shelf species than the blue marlin you are used to in the Canary Islands, more like sailfish as far as water depths are concerned.  I catch most of my blacks in 100 fathoms or less. I-ve caught heaps of big blacks in water under 50 fathoms and even hooked a bunch in 30 to 35 fathoms.  That being said, this year in Cairns was slow along the shelf but pretty decent out wide (10-50 miles) in 1,000 to 3,000 fathoms around big tuna concentrations.

In Cairns we use natural baits more than lures, mostly dead baits. We do use live tuna maybe 10 -15 percent of the time, if we know exactly where the fish are concentrated and the weather's calm.

Any shelf that sticks out from an island and holds small tuna in a given spot is prime live-bait country for blacks or blues. If you have to roam and cover ground to locate the fish, use the same lures you use on blue marlin and/or big yellowfin tuna. A lot of big marlin have been caught on metal jet heads by commercial tuna fishermen.

Blacks are very different from blues - more like sailfish only bigger and stronger. I've had one up behind a dead bait for over 30 minutes and still got a bite. That would never happen on a blue! And remember, no marlin cares how pretty or expensive your lures are - cheap and ugly lures work just as well.