August 2006
Well its been a big month, finished my MED 2 ticket in Cairns (Marine Engine Driver grade 2) which now means that I can legally do exactly the same things on my boat I have been doing forever!!!
But did learn a lot about things that I have not had much exposure too. Learned how to weld and cut, but probably not a good idea to try it on a foam boat!!!
Fished some light tackle trips out of Cairns the end of August catching a couple a day, whilst in Townsville Capt Jim on REEL CHASE tagged 125 in about 10 days!!! he had all of his bosses clients on board, I tried to find some anglers but everyone was busy. Average days were 10 fish!!! high was 17 and 19 in one day.
Glen and I came down scad fishing from Cairns and then fished Cape Bowling Green with Jim on Wednesday, Brett and Andy from Tassie tagged 3 from 5 , whilst Jim got 2. The moon was making and really affecting the fish.
Just finished the Townsville Light Tackle (12lb line) fished 4 days as the first was blown out. TRADITION was a corporate boat for the main sponsor Gilbert Group who are big in mining hydaulics and equipment. We had a boat load of guys each day, and fishing IGFA rules with circle hooks was very frustrating, we raise a ton of fish and managed to loose enough that we would have been in the running. Did end up with 3 and 2 the next day, and yesterday had 2 bites , and raised 7 that would not eat a pitched livie!!! very frustrating.
Jim won with 17 fish for 4 days, with his same team as every year.
If anyone wants to charter us for next year, please let me know!! I know we see as many as the best , but dont have the anglers that will listen to the boys who did a great job as usual. Did manage to get a tag out of a fish, and wating to hear whose it was.
Heading up to Cardwell/Hinchinbrook for a 3 day tournament starting Saturday.
Fiji, Gold Coast to Cairns
Hi everyone, been a busy time, with the trip to Fiji on Megumi with Capt Greg Edwards and Jack, here are a few more pics:
Did the trip up the coast from the Gold Coast to Cairns, spending about 5 days onthe Swains Reefs catching sail, coral trout, and plenty of scaley mackeral for the Cairns season (baits) more big spanish mackeral than you can handle. Most were 30-40 lb fish with a couple up over 60lbs. My poor anglers got no rest, except for the quiet periods between reefs. About 30 minutes of rest and solid hookups all over again.
Ran into the Whitsundays for a few days and then up to Cape Bowling Green for a session on the little blacks. I traded in the 20 and 30 lb outfits and put out a spread of 12lb TLD’s and 4 little lures. I fished the afternoon for about 3 hours and tagged 3 from 5 30-50lb blacks , with the other 2 breaking line on doubles and tripples. With only 1 angler and 25 knots, was a bit hard to reall capitalise on our bites.
Stayed the night at Cape Bowling Green, and with the wind increasing , only fished for a couple of hours, catching a ton of BIG bonitos on 12 lb. Ran into Townsville for the night and headed up to Hinchinbrook Island for a nice couple of days putting in the lee of this World Heritage listed island. From Hinchinbrook Island we bottom fished and speared in beautiful conditions for 2 days and then ran into Cairns.
The last 3 weeks I have been doing my MED 1 ticket (Marine Engine Driver) to satisfy the powers that be. One more week to go , and then back to some day trips and light tackle.
I have some time open before and after the Townsville Tournament, and fishing has not let off in the last few weeks. 4-8 fish per boat per day. Come on up and fish 12lb, fly, what ever you like!!! The trip after Townsville is not yet confirmed, so I can either fish little blacks , or take you out to Flinders Reef (as in the latest Bluewater Magazine) We spent a week there last year and had incredible fishing.
August 19-31 – Cairns or Townsville Light Tackle
Sept 8-15 – Townsville to Innisfail area, even out to Flinders Reef Light tackle
Sept 18-23 – Innisfail to Cairns Heavy Tackle
Nov 10-15 – start and finish Cooktown Heavy Tackle
Nov 23 onwards – Start Cooktown Heavy Tackle
