Reef Fishing Tribulations
September 12, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
Eight Spanish Mackerel in forty-five minutes, everybody was pumped and we decided to leave a hot bite, It was a tough call, I know, but everybody was impressed and Red Emperor were calling.
This was the start of a three day charter with Reefari onboard Mako, a big comfortable Steber 41 gameboat. Jason Kennedy from Southern Cross TV Show, “Fishin Trip”, as well as Steve Burns, and John Kavagnah were our Guests on this fishing adventure, all from Victoria.
We fished our way out to Steven’s Reef for the first night, with plans to target a secret Reddy spot at Charlie’s bommie, plus check out a few new marks on the way.
The weather was holding nicely, as we cruised over some new marks, and we dropped a few exploratory rigs down in the hope of some good fish, but unfortunately, nothing in return.
They can be hit and miss, and it pays to keep on trying, which we did, until we came across the Motherload, an unexpected bonanza which blew everyone away.
It was of course appropriately saved and the waypoint called the Motherload, what else, with five and six way hookups the norm, and all quality fish including Nannygai, Red Emperor, spangled Emperor, Cod and Trevally coming aboard thick and fast.
Even XOS Chinamen of 10 Kilo’s plus gave everyone a back breaking workout, with calls of big reds, resulting in huge disappointment, every reef fisherman knows the feeling with these fish having to be released.
They’re well known for ciguatera poisoning, and now protected.
Trolling the reef edges is also a popular option, and great fun, with more Spanish Mackerel, Shark Mackerel and Trevally falling to the lures. One Monster Shark Mackerel worth mentioning pushed the scales down to 10.5 kilo’s and was one of the biggest I’ve seen landed, caught by Kevin Boyle.
Red emperor came on steady and even landed several into the night, with a mixed bag of Red throat and Spangled emperor also landed for those who persevered.
Special mention must go to Sally Vennick, Reefari’s new skipper of Mako, and good to see her outfish the blokes with the biggest fish of the trip, a Huge cod of approx 25 kilo’s. Matty Sutton, the Decky and Sally went to great efforts, venting the fish, and towed before successfully being released which was great to see.
Everybody was blown away with some great fishing, with about a dozen red Emperor to 8 kilo’s, and a great mixed bag, It was decided to chase some of the Big Nannygai that Mackay is famous for, for the Camera, Going to some of our old favourites failed to find a big Nannygai, believe it or not, more Red emperor and a quality Coral trout.
That’s fishing and not a bad consolation prize, with the weather now picking up and running out of time, it was time to head for the Marina.
Make sure you checkout the above fishing video at www.youtube.com/reefari and the “fishing Trip” TV Show in early October, will be a Red Emperor Spectacular.
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2010 JG Marine & Mowers Spanish Mackerel Shoot-Out
September 12, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
The much anticipated 2010 JG Marine & Mowers Spanish Mackerel Shoot Out was contested over the weekend of 10th and 11th July 2010.
The 15-20 knot forecast reaching 20-25 knots at times meant for trying times as 58 registered anglers did their best to land the best fish they could find.
Credit must be given to the team on board “Somewhere”, skippered by Dennis Breadsell, who managed to get Mick Rethus and Craig Breadsell hooked up to some monster spanish mackerel..
The first 2 fish they put on the scales were impressive:- Craig’s first a commendable 17kg while Mick’s first fish at 21.6 kg put him in front of the best fish weighed in on the Saturday that was 18.65kg from Jason Jenkins.
However, when the second mackerel bag was opened up it was clear the competition was just between Craig and Mick. Craig’s 2nd fish was weighed in at 30.50 kg and when Mick’s 2nd fish was weighed at 30.00kg Craig had found himself the winner of the $1200 cash 1st prize in the 2010 JG Marine& Mowers Spanish Mackerel Shoot-out.
Mick Rethus ended up with 2nd and third prizes in the Mackerel section to also take home $750 cash. Some quality Spanish Mackerel caught on Wolf herring, top baits for these big fish.
The Spanish Mackerel mystery weight section saw Chris Ellis score a Reefari one Day Reef fishing trip with his 10.75kg Mackerel being the closest to the 13.5kg mystery mark.
Mitchell Bridson weighed in 2 Spanish Mackerel (16.1kg & 15.4kg) to take out the Junior Heaviest Spanish Mackerel and junior mystery weight Spanish mackerel division to end up with $350 cash.
The new reef fin fish sections also generated a lot of interest this year, however, the strong winds also made it difficult for most people to fish where they wanted, with Coral trout, Nannygai and Red Emperor up for Grabs. Greg Reynolds from Reefari, took out 1st & 2nd prize in the coral trout section and the 1st prize for the nannygai section to walk away with $1000 cash and a $250 rod and reel from Nashys compleat angler.
The biggest of Greg’s fish were a Coral trout weighing 5.00kg gilled & gutted and a Large Mouth Nannygai weighing 7.80kg gilled & gutted, both quality fish in such rough conditions from the Shipping Channel.
A crowd of well over 100 people attended the final weigh in and presentations held on Sunday 11th July at the Mackay Surf Club.
Once again this year the Fisheries research team attended the weigh in sessions and showed the public how they go about their research into determining fish length, age and sex and how the public can get involved in their research activities.
Great to see, and help in Spanish Mackerel research. The other crowd pleaser for the Sunday prize presentations was the lucky draw prizes that included a $400 Tackle World voucher won by Ian Meads, a Tackle World rod and reel won by Warren Meads & Sebastian Evans.
Once again the Mackay Game Fishing Club would like to thank all of the tournament sponsors JG Marine & Mowers, Reefari, Nashy’s Compleat Angler, Tackle World, Hitachi, Sharps Heavy Equipment Repairs, CQMS razor, Sea FM, Hot FM, Zinc FM and Bullivants for their contribution to the event and the people of Mackay that made the event the success that is has been.
Thanks must go to the Organiser of the 2010 JG Marine & Mowers Spanish Mackerel Shoot-Out Ian Meads, the president of the Mackay Game fishing club and the committee for the time and effort in putting such an event together. No doubt we will all be lining up in 2011 to do it all over again, and hope to see you next year.
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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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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.
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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Reefari Fishing Report January 2010
February 10, 2010 by Ron · Leave a Comment
G’day all, I hope everyone had a top Christmas and New Years. Fishing in the Mackay area has been somewhat restricted by the continuous 30+knot winds and the wet stuff falling from the sky. Those that have done well have made the most of every good day to be out there on the water.
On the offshore side of things, Reefari Charters has been making the most of the few windows in the weather to put punters onto some seriously trophy class Nannygai and metre-plus cod. Inshore, angler’s efforts have been hampered by almost constant wet season showers. Not only has this made fishing uncomfortable, but the fresh water runoff has discoloured the water a tannin colour and dispersed the bait schools that were prominent pre-Christmas.
Getting back to the bluewater front and it has been the Nannygai that have fired for the punters aboard Reefari’s long-range vessel Mako, with the skipper, Tony Kennedy reporting some massive specimens ranging up to one 15kg monster.
As an interesting note, Tony reports that the monster Nanny, and one just a little smaller, both had sizeable nicks out of their tails. This could either have been from a pursuing shark or interschool fighting amongst the dominant fish.
On the 34ft Cougar Cat, Raptor II, skipper Glen Montgomery has been able to report a bumper month for big cobia. These sleek, streamline pelagics are top eating and once hooked take off like a bandicoot in a bushfire.
Like most pelagics they stay close to the top of the water column, but are instinctive feeders, with the Reefari crew reporting many of theirs caught on intercepted dropper rigs meant for the bottom. Anglers should be aware that a circling cobia can look like a shark and many, many quality cobia have been cut free by overzealous fishos, so always double check before employing the knife!
Glen has been putting the punters onto some solid reds with a 10kg fish being the most noteworthy.
Reds are less prolific this time of year with most marks holding solitary fish, so for optimum results the boys have been keeping the boats moving to cover more country and are using only the freshest strip baits to give anglers a better chance. Tony reported that he is amazed at the toughness of these fish with almost all undersized models being easily returned to the depths.
He did mention one poor red which was looking a little tired, so being a responsible skipper, he did the right thing and swum the red beside the boat with a pair of lip-grippers.
Sure enough, the moment the red felt wet stuff it was away taking Tony’s lip-grippers with it! On ya Tony!
Worth looking out for in the months to come is the new boat in the Reefari fleet – Obsession, a 7.2m custom, plated alloy fishing machine that specializes in smaller group day trips running out to southern waters for more specialized charters, including snorkeling and spear fishing as well as intense pelagic action.
On the downside, Coral trout have unfortunately been more than a little quiet in the deeper water, but as the weather settles these to should come back on the chew. Speaking of settling weather the inshore anglers can’t wait, with the Pioneer River running with plenty of fresh and the local creeks having had a good flush.
On the upside, the rain has really brought on the prawns and crabs with good hauls being taken to the north around Seaforth and Saint Helens. Crabs will be starting to move around the mouths of the creeks so try stringing your pots along the mangrove headlands for best results.
The impoundment scene is still fishing strong, with local anglers consistently landing metre plus barra fishing Kinchant during the night. Slow rolled plastics, like Squidgy Slick Rigs, have on the whole, been the most lethal weapons.
Teemburra is uncharacteristically quiet with the usual numbers of smaller fish remaining conspicuous in their absence, though some excellent sooty grunter have been taken towards the tops of the main creeks.
Well, that about wraps it up, so here’s hoping for some good weather and a feed of prawns and crab.
Catch you next month, Reefari.
Reefari Hardline 2009
December 30, 2009 by Ron · 3 Comments
Reefari Hardline Boat Charter 2009
After heaps and heaps of Planning, our Hardline Reefari 2009 has finally come around again, and it was once again with another keen group of Anglers uniting from locally and all the southern cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Also Jason Kennedy and film crew from “Fishin trip” on behalf of Southern Cross TEN as well, we were off on another fishing adventure of a lifetime.
With Centurion as our 80 foot Mothership, a 33 foot Cougar cat “Raptor” and 21 foot Centre Console, and three 15 foot dories, we had all bases covered and then some. Expectations were high with vessel’s in tow, for 7 days and nights of awesome fishing and exploring the remote sections of the outer Great Barrier Reef, not for the faint hearted with distances of up to 200 kilometres offshore, and even on the edge of the continental shelf.
Fishing nirvana with Giant Trevally, Spanish Mackerel, reef fish, and heaps more on the agenda, the following is a brief account of this special trip.
Boats were fueled up, with enough diesel to keep a small country town powered, and OPEC very happy, it was an early afternoon start, with Raptor and centre console in tow, and we were off at a cruisy 8 knots, No speed records, but time and distance wins out with a cruise through the night to arrive at Bugatti Reef, nice and early.
GT heaven or is that fisherman’s heaven, probably both with a massive Coral lagoon with Kilometres and Kilometres of Reef, Bommies and great fishing.
The Weather was unbelievable with a week of light winds to 15 knots, with only one day with 20 knots winds at the end of the week, we were truly blessed, someone upstairs was smiling down on us. Tenders and gameboats were dispatched, loaded up with an armament of tackle and off in pursuit of Fish.
Raptor II was off to Sharon Shoal, The guys from Fishin Trip chasing GT’s and the Dories assaulting the reef trip.
What a life, Some horse Red Throats were coming in thick and fast on the reefs and out on the wider shoals, and the film crew were getting a crash course in GT Fishing, definitely not for the faint hearted. Losing more than they could land for the cameras, it was time to beef up the gear and tackle and swing things in there favour.
Life takes on another pace having a week out on the Great Barrier Reef with none of the stresses of the real world, Great food, Company and plenty of amber fluids, everybody quickly settled into the rythym of the trip. Over the next week, we fished Whitetip Reef, Lipper Lagoon, Big and Little Bugatti Reef and numerous other unnamed and uncharted reefs, real adventure stuff, especially when we’re talking 200 kilometres offshore!!
Raptor II had a great week, trolling lures for Spanish Mackerel and Sharky Mackerel, Casting Poppers for Giant Trevally and bottom bashing with good quality Red throat on Tap, and Multiple hooks up on some quality fish. One of the Highlights was a quality 4kg Barramundi Cod caught by yours Truly to make my day.
Decky Adam Shields, did the honours and in the diving gear, dived down and released the Barra Cod, as Baratrauma can be a real drama for these wonderful fish and successfully released.
Some real nice GT’s were caught by the film crew with some phemonemal footage and a great TV Show for Sure. Check out Fishin Trip on Southern Cross on Sun 6th Dec, and Sun 13th Dec for some Phenomenal fishing action. Numerous fish were caught and released with the best going 26kg’s.
Other Giant Trevally highlights were a couple of 32kg monsters, one caught from the back of the Mothership “Centurion” by Adam, on a floating pilchard of all things, a battle royal with 80lb braid and the centre console was called into assist, check out the video on reefari youtube as Adam took off into the darkness to eventually return triumphant for the enjoyment of all watching, a heap of happy snaps and the GT was released to fight another day.
Another Monster GT was caught by Murray, trolling from the dories along the reef edge, and of all things was caught on a Murray Cod lure after a 45 minute battle. Not bad for his first reef trip. This great fish also went 32kgs and was a great introduction to the Great Barrier Reef for his Murray’s first time.
Cyclone Hamish’s damage to the outer reef was still evident with the reef badly damaged with coral littered on the ocean floor, plate and staghorn coral suffered badly and coral trout catches were well down.
Redthroat numbers were still good with Double Bag limits reached for all 20 anglers.
The last night was spent cruising into Scawfell Island for a bit of R&R, hard to believe I know, but a great way to wind down from a week out on the reef. Bit of snorkelling and a nice afternoon cruise back to Mackay.
Bookings and expression of interest taken for next year and also putting together a 10 day charter to Princess Charlotte Bay, Bigger and Better, so make sure you get in early!! Contact Reefari for More Details here Charter Bookings
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Fishing Report October 2009
October 30, 2009 by Ron · 7 Comments
Reefari Mackay Fishing Charters Hardline Report – October 2009
There is a place about 200km offshore from central Queensland that you only have to whisper in the ear of any reef fisherman and you can literally watch his eyes light up as you speak of it.
Due to the remote location, the Hardline Reefs that border the edge of the continental shelf on the outer Great Barrier Reef rarely get fished by those other than the pro trout and reef fishermen are home to some of the biggest, meanest, hardest fighting piscatorial critters that one can imagine.
So what does one think of when they start talking about the ultimate fishing adventure around the patio table over a few beers. The hardline is obviously the destination but what about the experience itself. I mean if you are going to spend a week 200km offshore you want to be comfortable, right?
So how about we organize Centurion – an 80 foot long, luxuriously appointed mothership, air conditioned cabins for up to 20 guests, 3 beautifully cooked meals everyday and a bridge deck that you could almost play a gamed of cricket on, this is the ultimate in Mackay Fishing Charters.
Sound nice?
Hows about we then take two fully optioned custom charter fishing vessels in tow, 3 dories and you are starting to get the idea of how we like to experience the hardline.
And so it began. Fueled up, provisioned to the gunwales and armed to the teeth with something like $20000 worth of rods, reels and tackle, we started the long steam to the hardline. As you looked back in the wake, Raptor II and Brute Strength cruise nicely along in tow.
The sun starts to set and the anticipation is boiling amongst all on board as we all settle in for the first night of the trip.
We will steam all night and when we wake in the morning, the hardline awaits us, as does a forecast for 5 – 10 knot variables for the next 7 days. It was almost like being a little kid again trying to get to sleep on Christmas eve knowing full well what the morning would bring.
This trip was also to be one to go down in television history. On board with us for the duration of the trip we had Jason Kennedy from Southern Cross and the Show “Fishin Trip”, John Bell from Pure Fishing Australia and their film crew. The aim for them was to get enough footage to shoot 2 full TV shows. So the pressure was on, for me anyway as GT’s were the target species for one of the shows and brute strength was the boat we would be chasing them on.
Now when these guys go on a fishing trip, especially one as big as this one, they come prepared. Crates full of lures, boxes of soft plastic, kilos and kilos of jigheads and the latest and greatest in rods and reels including some test prototypes from Penn that I had been instructed to try and break.
The plan seemed fairly simple. Do what we normally do and put these guys on some fish while their cameraman films it all. For the rest of the guys on board, reef fishing was the plan for the week with trout and redthroat being square in the crosshairs.
Upon sunrise we arrived at our first destination. White tip reef is the marked entrance to Hydrographers passage and has some beautiful big lagoons for the mothership and some excellent pressure points and dropoffs for fishing. Raptor 2 set out for the blossom bank some 10 NM to the east of our location.
The dories headed out to the reef edge and we powered over to the weather face to throw some poppers for GTs. After about 5 minutes of casting Jason’s popper disappeared in an explosion of white water reminiscent of a depth charge going off. Camera camera camera he screamed as the beast peeled line from a seemingly impossible amount of drag pressure.
The fish ran away from the reef and headed for the deeper water and started its deep circles. The fish was slowly but surely coaxed to the surface where the lip grips were applied and the fish was bought aboard. At 25kg he was a great first fish and the film crew couldn’t be happier. We continued casting into the afternoon and boated a few more quality GTs before heading back to the mothership for dinner.
The “Fishin Trip” guys were blown away and heaps of footage, the GT Show was already shot!!.
Apparently the red throat had been fiercely on the bite with about a third of the boats bag limit being caught in the first day. A great start to a promising trip. Dinner was served, beer was drunk and good times were being had by all.
And so we moved on from white tip to a place known only as lipper lagoon. It was only something like 3NM across the channel to Bugatti reef, which is known for its large population of GTs. So with a forecast of 5-10 knots and glassout conditions, we planned to steam over and try for some Hot popper action.
On this particular reef there is a pressure point that seems to hold a lot of big trevally. In the past I have been there and seen fish over the 50kg mark and so it earned the name Bustoff bommie.
Upon hearing of this place the film crews eyes lit up and by 7am we were chucking poppers at it. What followed was one of the most aggressive pack attacks that I have ever seen. It was like these fish had never been fed. The poppers were worked back across the bommie and it was like a massive gunmetal grey bomb went off. The GTs were big and numerous.
At one stage there was about 10 big fish fighting over the popper. Eventually the fish became spooked and moved away but while they were on we had 8 massive surface strikes, 4 explosive hookups and 3 bust offs that just left you standing there with your jaw on the ground.
Out of all that we manage to land one decent fish of about 25kg. Apparently 80lb braid wasn’t quite up to the task – good thing the boys came prepared. After this session, our lures were destroyed. The poppers we had been using had very little paint left on them, bent hooks, wire eyelets ripped clean out of the lure body and upon closer inspection we even found a large GT tooth embedded in the timber lure. The footage we got was incredible. Nature at its best and most brutal. Battered and bruised we headed back to the mothership.
Now I don’t really have enough column space to write about every aspect of the trip for the whole 7 days so I will do my best to focus on the best bits. We experienced several more hot GT sessions during the course of the trip with the best one being 6 hookups and 4 fish landed in about half an hour. There were countless more bustoffs and strikes.
The biggest GT for the trip was actually caught off the back of the mothership at night. The massive fish arrived in the burly trail of lipper frames and couldn’t resist a floating pilly. A quick hookup resulted in a dogged fight for the next 20 min by Adam Shields and the end result was a Monster 32 kg fish.
The dories and Raptor II got stuck into the red throat during the week and the bag limit was achieved. Surprisingly the Spanish mackerel were marked in their absence with only 2 decent fish boated for the whole trip. Spanish were definitely on the film crews’ list of fish to catch but unfortunately they didn’t really play the game.
Guess you can’t always win on all fronts. Coral trout were also a little bit scarce with about 40 for the trip. Big tides are thought to be the reason for the lack of trout.
The trip home saw our last day anchored at Scawfell Island. Now I promised the fishin trip crew a mad hot plastics and bait fishing session to fill the content for their second show. We once again blasted away from the mothership at 7am and headed for one of my local day trip spots.
By this stage of the trip the tides had dropped off to a nice gentle run and allowed us to get the 1oz jigheads to the bottom in the 40 meters of water that we were fishing in. What followed changed my view on plastics forever. We were jigging the 7-inch Berkley gulps on one of my favorite rocks.
Now I have had customers bring these things out on charters before and never really done any good on them, but these guys live and breath plastic fishing and as we drifted over the shoal the result was instantaneous. The first drop was a 6-kilo nannygai and a 6-kilo fingermark. I couldn’t believe my eyes when that big golden hit the surface. Back we went for another drift and bang!! On again, the next drop seeing a 12-kilo cod and a 7 kilo fingermark. This was just too good to be true.
What an awesome TV show this one was going to be. I swear to god these fishing show blokes just bring the luck with them. We continued fishing in the glassed out conditions and 2 fishermen armed with light plastics gear managed to boat 12 nannies, 3 big cod, 2 fingermark and a partridge in a pear tree.
We thought we would then have another go at ticking the Spaniard box only to pick up another 2 impressive GTs. Terrible I know.
All in all the Hardline 2009 was a massive success. 2 full fishing shows shot, an impressive haul of reef fillet to take home, perfect weather for the entire 7 days and great company is enough to put a grin on the face of anybody who was lucky enough to experience it with us.
Look out for the program “fishin trip” with Jason Kennedy on Southern Cross Ten, with the GT Show on Sunday 6th December, and the bottom Bashing show Sunday 12th December, Mackay’s fishing at its best!! We are now taking bookings for next years Reefari Hardline adventure so get in early.
Once again everybody
Tight Lines
PS More great footage of the trip on our Youtube Reefari Channel
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