THE southern bluefin tuna season is shaping up to be the best in a decade.

 Huge tuna weighing more than 160kg are being caught in local waters, cementing Portland’s reputation as one of the best sports fishing destinations in Australia.

A 165kg whopper was caught this week off Cape Nelson.

A remarkably strong Bonney Upwelling this season is providing a moveable feast for the large ‘barrel’ tuna, as well as huge pods of dolphins, seals, little penguins, seabirds, and pygmy blue whales.

The annual upwelling brings cold nutrient-rich waters from deep water to the surface.

 Braden Fisher, owner of Compleat Angler in Bentinck Street, says he’s never been so busy.

“It’s good. Tiring! But good. I’d say this could be one of our best seasons in years, probably in 10 years,” he said.

“The big fish are there because the little fish are there. It always come down to what the bait is and what it is doing, how much there is.

“Last year we didn’t get much of an early season run for big fish. But this year so far, it started really strong. For the past month, we’re getting the barrel tuna, fish over 100kg.

“We’ve had really good average large sizes – last year saw a lot more 60-95kg fish, it was a bit of an abnormal year for sizes last year, not so many 100-110kg fish compared to previous years.

“But so far this year a lot of fish we’re weighing are 95 to 125kg, and we’ve had quite a few into 150kg already.

“And just this week a 165kg behemoth of pure barrel was caught on a charter with Matthew Hunt out of Portland.

“It’s not a Portland record but it’s getting up there. It was caught on Tuesday afternoon off Cape Nelson, at a depth just shy of 50 metres.

“The barrel tuna is what people are after. School tuna – from 5kg upwards - have become available nearly all the way up the coast. It used to start around the Portland area and everybody used to travel a lot just to catch them, now you can get them out of Melbourne.

“Barrel tuna started appearing here about a month ago. This can carry right through winter. Sometimes there can be a lull through winter as they move up the coast, then back again later in the season, towards the end of August. It looks pretty positive for the coming months.

“Pretty much it’s the super strong Bonney Upwelling this year that is holding that bait. Dolphin numbers and seal numbers have been massive too.

“The biomass of tuna is really growing and into more areas than we’ve ever had. It’s such a healthy ecosystem.”

Mr Fisher – yes, that is his real name – said the season for the barrel tuna is from March until August, and school tuna nearly all year round.

“What changes is where you fish for them,” he said.

“Previous tuna ‘seasons’ were probably dictated by the boats and equipment of the time.

“Now you’ve got trailer boats that can take heavier seas and conditions and can go out more times of the year. Normally winter would just blow you out, that would be the end of your season. And also fish moved too far offshore for the boats,” he said.

“Most fishers used to go all the way out to the shelf, up to 50km offshore, but we’re actually finding at certain times of the year the fish coming in a lot closer to water off the north shore, chasing bait in shallower water. A couple of times of year they’re even getting caught off the breakwater, generally in our warmer months.

“Coming into winter a lot of that happens behind Lawrence Rocks, Cape Nelson, Cape Bridgewater – the distance and depth will vary depending on the bait and weather. Big blows can push them in closer to shore or further out, depending what the current is doing and what the bait is doing.”

Mr Fisher said 95% of the recreational catch off Portland was southern bluefin tuna.

Victorian Fisheries Authority says Portland is the sports fishing capital of Australia with tuna fishing all year round, plus yellowtail, kingfish and other species.

Mr Fisher says Portland is well and truly acknowledged for its southern bluefin tuna on a global level.

“A lot of people come here from around Australia and a few from overseas. People from Sydney or Queensland will come down for a one or two-day trip. Last week I had guys drive down from Newcastle, fished for three days and drove home again,” he said.

“The fishing charters will also will tee up for people to fly down for a day’s fishing and fly them back.”

Portland has three local fishing charters including Matthew Hunt Fishing Charters, Game On Charters and newcomer Kraken Fishing Charters, plus a few more that come from Melbourne during the barrel season.

Matthew Hunt runs charters for tuna, shark and kingfish from January to October, and for snapper, whiting and squid from October to January.

Mr Hunt said the tuna fishing season was marginally better than normal so far.

“They’re catching them closer to the harbour, 6km from the breakwater, and either side of Lawrence Rocks,” he said.

The largest tuna caught so far on one of his charters this year weighed 125kg. Mr Hunt himself landed a 151kg barrel out of Lawrence Rocks a few seasons ago.

Apart from the tuna, dolphins, penguins, gannets and seals are gorging themselves on the bounteous local waters.

“Because of the Bonney Upwelling, there are massive schools of pilchards. It’s a great spectacle watching the gannets diving for the sardines, the penguins, and the tuna feeding both sides of the school and up and down,” Mr Hunt said.

“And we had a super pod of dolphins, thousands of dolphins, covering 2-3 square kilometres. That’s pretty rare.”

Tuna Champions ambassador Scott Gray said the Bonney Upwelling is highly productive and supports a complex ecosystem, driven by prevailing southeasterly winds and currents over the summer months.

“We’re pretty lucky to live in a unique part of the world,” the Port Fairy-based aquatic scientist and recreational angler said.

“We get these amazing bait balls, which attract the southern bluefin tuna from late March to November within easy reach of a regular trailer boat. It’s only 5km from Portland harbour to game fishing waters.

“Not only do we have world-class fishing, but also very good facilities at the port. There’s probably no other place like Portland in Australia for game fishing.”