Mackay Game Fishing Club
July 7, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
SCAWFELL ISLAND WEEKEND
The Mackay Game fishing club had a social weekend planned for an overnight fishing trip to Scawfell Island, which is one of the best and most scenic anchorages on the East Coast.
Scawfell island is located about 25 nautical miles to the North east from the Mackay Marina, an easy hour or so run. Scawfell is a large island with a large horseshoe shaped bay, appropriately named Refuge bay, and protected from our Prevailing SE Winds, with beautiful beaches and coral line bay, it’s hard to beat, plus of course some great fishing.
Reefari and Co, planned to fish the shipping channel, for the day, and come back to Scawfell for a bit of R & R, and spend the night, with a leisurely Sunday before heading home.
The weather gods must have known it was a Mackay Game fishing club event and the usually 15 – 20 knots forecast was standard, which of course makes things generally uncomfortable and the fishing difficult. So in Marginal Conditions we set off In Raptor II, for some of our wide fishing marks.
Yohan can attest to that, being rather Green about the Gills, he still held his own and courageously fished on, although he did let quite a few go, and got plenty of ribbing for his efforts. The tides were good, with not too much run, and the start of the build up to the full moon.
The fishing started slowly, getting some nice pan sized Nannygai, small and large, grassy sweetlip and the odd Coral Trout.
Luckily, things kept on getting better, moving to some wider marks and everybody getting their sea legs, some quality 5 & 6 kilo Nannygai now regularly were coming on board and everybody was enjoying the fishing, with the lumpy trip, now worthwhile. We of course were the only ones silly enough to be out there.
The fish kept coming nice and steady, with a 8 Kilo Nannygai to the Skipper, Greg Reynolds a great highlight for the morning to take the fish of the day. Jason Horton Landed a beaut 60 cm Grassy Sweetlip which pushed Reefari’s record of 63 cm, and everyone will agree is a quality fish at this size.
Yohan did finally manage to land a nice coral trout of about 3 kilo’s which was his first and was mightily impressed.
There was Plenty of Red emperor on the chew, but being of the smaller variety around the 40 – 45 cm, they all went back for another day.
The fishing was excellent working a few new marks with one spot erupting into a 5 way hookup and Kaos, ducking and weaving rods, to end up with a mixed bag of five quality fish, 3 Largemouth Nannygai, Large Grassy sweetlip and Coral trout coming to the boat.
A top way to end a hot bite, with us deciding to move on and we left them biting, the Spanish mackerel esky was 3/4 ‘s full and a good feed for everybody.
We checked out a few new marks and then worked our way back to Scawfell island for the night with seas on our Quarter. With calm seas, and a sheltered anchorage, the ice cold beers were very appreciated.
Definitely great fishing, great company and it doesn’t get any better.
The Mackay Game Fishing club’s next big event is the Spanish Shootout to be held over the Weekend of the 9th and 10th of July with heaps of Great prizes on offer, and not just Spanish Mackerel, with Reef fin fish species also now eligible, including Red Emperor, Nannygai and Coral Trout.
Make sure you get involved with everybody welcome, bring the kids and have a great fishing weekend. Reefari is proud to be sponsor this event with some great mystery weight prizes up for grab.
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Fishing Report June 2010
July 7, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
Monster Fish, Monster Month!!
June has been somewhat of an interesting month for offshore and inshore anglers respectively, with a cold snap ushering in a host of new piscatorial opportunities.
On a social run with members of the Mackay Game fishing Club the Reefari crew were able to locate some truly awesome fishing despite a buffeting from 15-20 knot winds. The plan was to use Refuge Bay at Scawfell Island as a base to venture out to the surrounding rubble patches and rocky reefs.
Despite our initial efforts yielding fairly humble results, things began to pick up immensely. While a few of the crew were looking a little like Kermit the Frog in the complexion department, the fishing soon proved to be well worth it. 5- 6kg nannygai started coming over the side regularly, with an 8kg model falling to yours truly and a trophy 60cm grassy lipper being landed by Jason Horton.
Other highlights for the day included several solid coral trout and a chaotic five-way hookup that saw the boys ducking, diving and weaving across the deck, with some quality fish landed.
In other news there have been impressive, if isolated, catches of big knobby-headed snapper coming from the inshore patches. A few of the boys bagged out on these seasonal fish mid-month and added a few decent cobia to the haul. Fresh squid was the bait of choice, but all accounts point to a good season for those willing to persist with soft plastics.
Another cool water species, the blisteringly fast spanish mackerel, has started to appear in numbers as well, with Tony Kennedy reporting a few coming over the Mako’s gunnels. On that subject, make sure you sign up for The Mackay Game Fishing Club’s next big event, the Spanish Shootout to be held over the Weekend of the 9th and 10th of July.
There will be heaps of great prizes on offer, and not just for spanish mackerel, with Reef fin fish species also now eligible. Make sure you get involved with everybody welcome. Bring the kids and have a great fishing weekend. Reefari is proud to be sponsoring this event with some great mystery weight prizes up for grabs.
Also worth mentioning is an amazing capture by keen young angler, George Fitter who in a herculean effort, landed a 10kg red emperor while on one of our charters. His catch made an impressive addition to a day’s haul that also included a 10kg nannygai.
Inshore, there have been some standout catches of bream, flathead and whiting. According to the Zac Lucas-Hunt from Complete Angler, a few of the younger anglers have been really getting into using ultra-light gear and slightly unorthodox techniques like poppering and twitching small blades to attract these inshore species for exciting results.
On top of the bread and butter species, there have been some thrilling sessions on queenfish and trevally around the Pioneer River Mouth and under the bridges to be had. Anglers are finding that the first of the run-in tide is bringing schools of bait in and the predators are following. Try working small poppers, metal slugs and if that still doesn’t work, try feather headed jigs.
Well, that just about sums up the month. Next month will see some big changes in the Reefari fleet with the Raptor II out of the water to have 600hp placed on its rear and there will also be some new faces amongst the crew – more on this next month.
Till then though, fingers crossed for calm seas and big reds.
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May Fishing Report 2010
July 7, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
Signs are all Good for a Bumper Winter on the Water
Hello again. Well May has been and gone and while there were a few drops in the weather, all in all the wind and rain haven’t showed any signs of disappearing.
A cold snap is here though and that will bring big winter whiting, bream and flathead as well as more offshore species like mackerel, tuna and even those nobly-headed thumpers of the deep – snapper in the next few weeks.
Tony Kennedy, skipper of the Reefari Game boat Mako, revealed that the cold snap has brought larger numbers of the already prevalent reds and nannygai.
“We found that the nannygai have been of a better class since the cold snap and the trout have picked up too,” he reported. “The trout have been coming over the side quite regularly and range from three to four kilograms.”
As for the more winter orientated species, Tony revealed that the Spanish mackerel haven’t quite come through yet. The odd report of the odd fish coming in down south off Hay point, so they shouldn’t be far away.
“We think that the water clarity is getting better, which would explain the trout being on the chew, but it needs to clean up a little more yet for the mackerel,” Tony revealed.
Tony has had a few small snapper (squire) starting to show up around the inshore shoals, which bodes well for the coming cold season and shows the first signs of what has the potential to be a cracker snapper year.
In other news, the recent 2010 World Sooty Championships at Eungella Dam was a great success with record numbers of fish being caught. Daniel Grech won the competition for a record second time, but was faced with stiff competition from David Creffield who caught an equal 2519mm of Sooty, but came second in a count back decider.
“We used the Rapala Clackin’Rap in shallower water where their slower sinking rate allowed us to use a more constant retrieve and then switched to heavier vibes for the deeper water where we pulled our bigger fish, including a 46cm fish that pulled like a bulldog!”
The other major local competition which is rapidly approaching in time for mackerel season is the Mackay Game Fishing Club’s inaugural Spanish Mackerel Shoot-out on the 10th and 11th of July.
This is an extremely popular event that continues to grow every year. In 2010, for the first time there will be prize categories for reef fin fish species which should prove interesting and over $7000 in prizes.
Reefari is proud to sponsor this event and it would be great to see as many of you there as possible as it is set to be a top couple of day’s fishing. Tickets will available from June 1 from your local tackle stores, so get in early to ensure your place.
Well that wraps things up, so here’s hoping for a bumper winter on the fishing front and some calm, clear days.
Kind Regards,
Greg
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How To Skin A Fish
May 15, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
So you’ve had a top day out fishing on the reef, and you’ve got a good feed of fresh reef fish.
The crew will have kept them iced them down nicely for you and nothing better than impressing the misses with a good feed. Hopefully you’ve checked out our How to fillet fish page, and the next stage is skinning your fillet.
There’s nothing worse than having a fillet with bones or skin on, and with a little bit of practice is quite easy to ensure you’ve got a great fillet ready to eat.
Make sure you watch the video on Skinning fish Below, It’s too easy
Ensure you leave the Scales on the fish, saves all that mess, time, and no need to gut or gill the fish. Make sure you have some good quality knives, and extra sharp as well. I have a good selection, just for filleting fish, with a good variety of lengths and flexibility to suit any size fish.
I like a good long skinny knife, and did I Mention sharp, pays to have a good knife sharpener or Steel, and worth just touching up the blade after several fish. Believe me, makes filleting fish a lot easier and I’m all for that.
Have a good flat bench, nylon cutting board to work on with the fillet laid flat. A good Teflon/Kevla ?? glove can also be handy and save the hand from any slips. Cut a little tab at the tail end, and use this to grab the fillet’s skin with your free hand.
Just a matter of sliding, see sawing the blade along the skin, between the flesh away from the tale. The idea being to remove the skin with no flesh. Angle the blade so it cuts along the skin, but not through it, Once again a little bit of practice and it does get easier.
Check out our video with Matt, Watch closely and one of the best techniques I’ve seen. Matt’s filleted thousands of fish, and definitely great to see in action.
Now you’ve got a great fillet, just have to cut out the rib and pin bones. Feel the flesh carefully and just run the knife along cutting out these small bones. Rib bones should have been cut out during filleting, but if any left, just slice underneath and remove.
Too easy and you’ve got a great fillet with no bones to impress the Misses. Cook it for her and who knows she might let you go fishing again.
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Reefari Charters Wins Mackay Tourism Award 2010
May 15, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
The Annual Mackay tourism awards were held at the New MECC (Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre) with over 120 people attending from Mackay’s tourism industry and community leaders on Thurs 25th March 2010.
With several tourism categories up for grabs, Reefari was awarded the winner of the Transport, tours and Cruises section. An excellent award and recognises the hard work that has gone into the last few years, establishing Reefari in a competitive industry, plus not to mention some truly awesome fishing and trophy quality fish.
Reefari Pty Ltd is a proactive Fishing charter business operating from Mackay Marina offering a quality experience, fishing and cruising the islands and reefs off Mackay.
All efforts are made to ensure the highest quality service and assistance/instruction is given to our guests, with fishing equipment, and handling of their catch and enjoyment of their fishing charter.
All efforts are made to ensure vessels are of the highest standards with regard to presentation, maintenance and cleanliness. All fishing equipment and tackle is serviced regularly and in excellent condition.
Reefari follows all Fishing and GBRMPA regulations, and promotes sports fishing and the release of unwanted fish. We also participate in a fisheries research project collating data on the Spanish Mackerel, with relation to length, location of capture and fish frames kept for further research.
Reefari restricts the vessel’s catch and has imposed stricter fish bag limits to help preserve our fishing resource. Reefari promotes release of all Giant Trevally caught, and careful handling practices to ensure the safe release of all caught fish.
Regular meetings and training trips are undertaken to further enhance our skipper and crews skills. Reefari charters is actively pursuing the sports fishing market for Giant Trevally, with further research, training and gaining valuable experience in catching these prized trophy fish, and developing a new fishery for the Mackay day market to the local islands and extended overnight charters.
Regular review of crew’s performance to ensure high standards are met and if any improvements can made and implemented.
Reefari actively promotes fishing in the region and sponsors and assists the Mackay Game Fishing Club’s Spanish Shootout, and Barra Pro Barra Classic fishing events and other charitable events, such as the upcoming Dig Deep for Cancer for Breast Cancer.
Reefari has gone through significant growth with management of four vessels, offering a wide array of services and charters catered to all guest’s particular needs from a small group for a half day charter through to an extended Mothershipping charter for a large group up to 7 days or more.
Reefari has formed business arrangements with local Accommodation and has experienced strong growth in the travelling market specifically for our extended charters of more than two days from the southern Cities. Future growth is being planned for our overnight charters, mothershipping charters and Giant Trevally sportsfishing.
Reefari strives for the highest service and standards possible and to improve further, with a high customer satisfaction level achieved from most charters and good repeat business.
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Reefari Fishing Report April 2010
Hello May, goodbye April.
It has been a hard time of the year for anglers and boaties with the wind and rain being less than kind. Offshore, the windows of opportunity have been few and far between, but the fishing has been red hot.
Inshore, the rivers are still running with a degree of fresh water and in the impoundments, the barra are becoming a little more difficult to chase, but at least the sooty grunter are firing.
On that positive note, Reefari Charters is proud to announce that at the annual Mackay Tourism Awards, held on the 25th of March at the MECC, the team was awarded the winner of the Transport, Tours and Cruises section.
It’s always great to get positive feedback and this is an excellent award that recognises the hard work which has gone into the last few years, establishing Reefari in a competitive industry, not to mention some truly awesome fishing and trophy quality fish.
Back on the fishing, getting the bigger boats out has been difficult at best, due to the rough conditions, but we did have one cracker weekend that saw the Reefari Cat, Raptor II blast out for some blistering piscatorial action.
The Raptor’s charter boat skipper, Glen Montgomery was all smiles when he returned from several trips and reported that the coral trout and sweetlip are back on the chew around the islands.
“We got a real mixed bag fishing the inshore spots,” he revealed. “On the first bait, of the first drift one of the clients hooked and landed a 120cm estuary cod and things just got better from there.”
“Further offshore, we hit schools of nannygai and some quality lipper.
The weather was phenomenal, but there was a slight westerly component to the wind and any old angler will tell you that that slows the bites down for some reason. Otherwise, I think we’d have done even better.”
Mark Kelly and a very young crew were aboard for one trip and were absolutely stoked with the weather and an esky full of fish, with Mark declaring the fishing amongst the best he’s seen.
The boys were all keen anglers and really got stuck into the red fish!
On that topic, the red emperor have been biting, but our skippers aren’t seeing the giants that characterised last year’s trips, nevertheless with legal reds being regularly landed, no one is complaining.
The best inland option at the moment might be to make the pilgrimage up to Eungella Dam for the up and coming sooty grunter championship held there on the May Day long weekend.
For those who haven’t chased these dark coloured pocket rockets before, try a mix of spinner baits, small poppers and bib-less vibes.
Just don’t underestimate the sooty, whatever you do, or it’ll have you bricked in the nearest snag before you can blink!
Next month is looking promising and the weather is even showing signs of dropping out.
With some luck, the rivers will continue to clean up through May and the whiting, bream and flathead should start coming through as the water starts to cool.
Fingers crossed.
Greg and the Reefari Crew.
Reefari Fishing Report March 2010
April 28, 2010 by Ron · 2 Comments
Fingermark Fever
Hello Again,
Hopefully as you read this, Cyclone Ului will have been and gone and left your roof in place.
As a charter boat operator, I can’t wait to see the back of it, but in the mean time, let’s look back at the month that’s been.
The recent Barra Pro Fishing Competition held at Teemburra Dam proved incredibly popular with anglers. Tony Ballingal, from Yehah Boat and Trailer Hire took out the biggest barra of the competition, an impressive 1015mm fish that ate a trolled lure.
The overall winner was young Andrew Dixon, and Nicholas Moore was lucky enough to win the door prize, a Reefari Charters Day Trip. Overall, 140 competitors registered 45 barra and 50 sooties, with the continuous rain and cool water being the most likely cause of the higher sooty count.
Earlier in the month, the bigger boats in the Reefari fleet managed to make the most of some small windows in the weather and enjoyed some awesome fishing as a result.
The Tony Kennedy skippered Game Boat Mako had a corker of a start to the month with surprising, and very welcome, catches of fingermark (golden snapper). Tony said that the fingermark were all good fish ranging form about 3kg up to 5kg.
“We got most of them in the morning from patches of rubble in around 40m-45m of water,” he explained. “We’ve been really lucky to have consistent catches of reef fish like trout and grassy lipper and some good black kings too (cobia). The days that we’ve been able to get out have all been great.”
On the Glen Montgomery skippered Raptor II reports have also been phenomenal with clients enjoying nannygai by the esky-load and some above average lipper and trout.
Like Tony, Glen was surprised and pleased with the number of cobia being caught and revealed that his charters have been regularly picking up decent specimens. Most fish have been coming on fresh bait, but Glen has also been singing the praises of soft plastics and reported several reds and nannygai taken on them.
On the weird side, it’s not often that a fish comes over the side that our experience crew can’t name, but Glen had a strange one early in the month. I hadn’t seen one before so I posted a picture online and initial feedback has come back as ‘reticulated emperor’.
Check out the photo and feel free to drop me an email at www.reefari.com if you have any suggestions.
Inshore, there have been a few barra caught in the Pioneer River, around the bridges and up towards the brackish upper reaches. Try brightly coloured lures with flashes of pink to increase your chances amongst the dirty water.
The crabs are still on the march, and with the wind as it is, your best bet might be to head up the creeks, drop some pots and head home for a warm cuppa.
All in all, it has been a good month for flying a kite, taping windows and stocking up on emergency gear. Here’s hoping for a sunny April with many 5-10 knot days and a joyful Easter for you and your family.
Cheers, Greg Reynolds
Fishing Kaos
March 12, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
With a slight breeze blowing, calm seas and the confidence through the roof a good day was on the cards, Paul Rochford and crew from South Walker Creek Mine, Nebo.
We arrived at our first spot in the shipping channel around 8 o’clock, the hooks were baited and on their way quickly to the bottom. The first two not even making it that far before they were engulfed and line started peeling off the reels.
This was the start of one action packed day, within 20 minutes everyone had caught at least two keepers and were sitting down for a breather and a hard earned drink.
All except one keen angler who stuck to his guns stating he wasn’t sitting down until he’d caught his first Reddy.
On one such drift it was non stop for about an hour as the skipper and I wondered why we hadn’t drifted off the mark.
I finally got a spare second I noticed we’d hardly moved at all the wind and the tide were fighting against each other making us do circles over and over our mark.
The Hot Steamy weather had certainly fired up the fishing and produced on hot session which no one will forget in a hurry.
With the esky starting to fill up, a change of spot was decided in the hope it might slow the boys down, Tuff I know.
This however was not the case with it being all systems go at the next spot with some good Grassy lipper and the first reddy being boated it was time for another breather and a bit of lunch.
I took this as an opportunity to put one in the esky for myself, so I swiftly dropped a squidgy to the bottom only for it to get smashed within the first minute, with another nannygai in the esky.
It was back to work with some of the boys soon reaching bag limits on the large mouth nannygai and healthy ones being released, with an hour left and the persistent kiwi yet to take a break from finding that elusive reddy.
I jokingly commented it was a a monster reddy on it’s way up only to my surprise when it did surface and was a quality 5kg model.
With the rest of the boys reaching their bag limits and a nice coral trout to top it all off.
It was soon decided the beer was running too low to stay out any longer, the lines came in and we headed for home for some hard earned tales of the ones that didn’t get away and a few happy snaps.
A day that will never be forgotten by all on board that fateful day.
Regards,
Brent Stephenson
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Mackay Fishing Charters Report – February 2010
March 8, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
Hello Again, and welcome to our Mackay Fishing Charters Report for February 2010
What a great month February has been out on the water!
The afternoon storms and wet season downpours have made inshore fishing a very hot and cold affair, but offshore, small tides and low winds have meant that the bigger boats are reaping the rewards.
It has been the month for drift fishing with boats that know the right ground to fish having plenty of time in the strike zone with refreshingly little lead. This was exactly the technique employed lately by Glen Montgomery, skipper of Reefari Cat Raptor II.
Glen was absolutely blown away when I managed to catch up with him and proudly reported that on one of his recent trips the crew not only filled the esky, but did so by 9.30am.
Now that’s red hot fishing! Glen said that their normal marks were just alive with quality fish, with Nannygai over 5kg coming thick and fast. Amazingly, the quality of the fish was so high that the crew had to cut up legal Sweetlip for bait.
Don’t worry though, the fresh strip bait was transformed into even higher quality fish with a dozen big reds and some trophy sized trout finding the strip baits irresistible. The customers were ecstatic and adamantly declared the fishing the best they’d ever seen.
Earlier in the month, Reefari regular and fishing writer, Lee Brake was able to join a charter and proved that soft plastic lures have a real place in any deep water angler’s tackle box.
Lee not only found the 7″ biodegradable plastics to be prime nannygai attracters, but hard pulling Golden Trevally also seemed to climb all over them.
Lee said that the highlight for him was the repeated double hook-ups that broke out amongst the customers as teams of anglers fought reds, trevally, nannygai and trout. One such ‘double’ actually saw Lee and another angler hook the same fish only to have this greedy specimen grabbed by one of the reef’s gigantean cod, or groper.
Astoundingly, the cod busted off the other angler to leave Lee with one very chewed on nannygai, complete with two hooks in its mouth!
As for pelagics, the Tony Kennedy skippered, Reefari game boat, Mako has been getting amongst some rather unseasonal Spanish mackerel by trolling fast swimming minnows around the offshore islands.
Tony let slip that the pilchard-coloured and Qantas-coloured Halcos were his weapons of choice.
He also revealed that while bottom bashing the odd cobia is still being caught, even amongst the more regular catches of coral trout, sweetlip and nannygai.
On the freshwater side of things, the dams are enjoying the influx of rain and are not only full but fishing with renewed vigour due to the running water. Teemburra has bounced back after a long quiet spell and is now once more producing numbers of barra that test even the best angler’s skills amongst the timber.
Sooty Grunter however, are the real showstoppers with anglers finding rapids and waterfalls of fresh runoff, and then casting poppers, spinnerbaits and small minnows into any noticeable backwaters to snare these exceptionally hard hitters.
While on the subject of Teemburra, anglers should be readying themselves for the up-and-coming Barra Pro Teemburra Fishing Competition which with loads of prizes, including a Reefari charter, is sure to be a hit.
For anglers planning to hit the creeks, I recommend packing the cast net and crab pots as the fresh water seems to make these tasty crustaceans very active. A tip for crabbers though -- work the mouths and flats at the front of creeks as the fresh tends to push crabs out and onto these more stable areas.
Failing that, try deep holes as saltwater tends to sit low under the fresh.
That about wraps things up again for our Mackay Fishing Charters Report for this month, so here’s wishing you a top month’s fishing.
Cheers,
Greg Reynolds
Reefari Boat Charters
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Not Your Usual Double Hook Up
February 11, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
You Need To Be Prepared For Just About Anything Reef Fishing In Mackay
Raptor II, a 33ft Cougar Cat owned and operated by Reefari Charters was able to make the most of a break in the turbulent weather to head offshore and target a host of tasty reef species along some deep-water shoals off Mackay.
With a crew of eight punters aboard, including national fishing writer and photographer Lee Brake, the Reefari crew were able to locate some top table fish for the clients including a school of hard fighting Golden Trevally, some trophy Nannygai, a quality red emperor and some thumping great coral trout.
Lee Brake Had This To Say About The Charter…
According to Lee Brake the highlight of the day was when he and one of the other anglers literally caught the same Nannygai only to become engage in a game of tug-O-war with one of the deep’s giant predators.
The Double Hook Up
“I was testing out some soft plastic lures called Gulp Jerkshads when I had a solid hook-up. It seemed like a quality fish, but after just a few strong runs my line suddenly went slack,” said Lee.
“Just as my line went slack, I noticed Bill Smith suddenly bend over like he’d been punched in the stomach with his rod bucking and bending to ungodly angles.
There wasn’t much we could do except watch and take photos because whatever had his line didn’t even look like stopping!”
Luckily (or unluckily) for Bill, the line broke under the pressure leaving him to rub his aching arms. The action however, didn’t finish there.
“I finished taking photos of poor Bill’s herculean battle only to return to my own rod and wind up the slack to reveal some weight,” reported Lee.
“The weight didn’t move much at first, but about half way up there was a small kick, so at least I knew it was a fish.
What I didn’t expect though was to pull in a very sizeable nannygai that was absolutely smashed! The poor thing had been in the mouth of a giant, probably a huge cod, as it had visible teeth marks around the neck, but had also been sucked clean of scales.”
Even The Deckhand Brent Was Amazed At What He Saw!
The Raptor’s deck hand, Brent Stephenson was then completely gobsmacked because as he went to remove Lee’s lure from the fish’s mouth he found Bill’s hook and line still in place and protruding from the Nannygai’s mouth.
“I’d never seen anything like it. The fish must have hit Lee’s lure then taken Bill’s bait as well, only Bill was winding faster than Lee; meaning Lee’s line went slack and he thought he’d lost the fish,” said Bill Smith.
When The Cod Attacks!!!!
After that, the massive cod must have smashed the poor thing which would explain why Bill was worked over so hard.
Once he was busted off though, the cod released its prize leaving Lee to wind up one very sore and sorry nanny!”
The other highlights for the day included a pair of double hook-ups one involving a pair of speedy golden trevally that made anglers hurt during a prolonged battle.
The other involved a very nice red emperor which came over the side first only to be followed by another golden trevally, proving that these bottom dwelling pelagics were well and truly on the chew.
Nannygai were a constant catch and ranged from just over legal to some serious specimens pushing the 7kg mark. A pair of coral trout was also taken by Tony Block who was stoked with such top quality table fish.
Most fish were taken on fresh strip baits and squid; however Lee did take an early lead by using Gulp soft plastics jigged on a four ounce jighead. His lead was quickly reeled in though, as a patch of sharks cleaned him out of jigheads and left him to man the camera.
Everyone onboard agreed that it was a very successful charter. It’s always a great day if you have top folk, good weather and the fish are biting, but add when the weather has been as harsh as it has been, everyone, crew included really relishes the chance to get offshore.
Everyone on board Reefari agreed that it was a real eye-opener and it became a top talking point for what was a very successful boat charter. It’s always a great day if you have top folk, good weather and the fish are biting, but add something special like that and you have a truly memorable Mackay fishing charter.
Check out all the great fishing charters we have available Boat Charter Rates.
Article written by Lee Brake
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