Dec 6 2011
Wayne and the boys joined us from Melbourne for a few days away from work. With things a bit slow on the Bank, we headed out wide looking for the tuna aggregation, but alas they were not where they were supposed to be and had been swallowed up by a big edge of green water, that was to be the curse for the rest of the season on the edge. We headed back to Opal for the night, and missed a black and then had a big crash tackle on the big bait. After a bit of a fight we had a nice mako shark around 300 lbs at the back of the boat which we let go. The next day we had a good day in the last of the good water, having 3 bites and tagging 2 fish, which gave all the boys a fish on their trip this year.
David and Chris joined us for their trip up to Cairns, David has fished with us almost every year, and brought his mate Chris for his first trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Fishing was a little slow, and the weather didnt allow us to get out to the seamount this week, so we perservered on the edge and had one really good day, seeing 5 fish, and tagging 3 fish up to 800 lbs, which was Chris’s second for the day, and his biggest fish ever !!! Well done Chris, a great effort. We all had a great week, with a nice relaxing time for us all, and a few big nights anchored up at Opal Reef, with the last night spent at Michealmas Cay, anchored behind the sand cay!!!
Our last trip of the season saw my good friend Mark join us for 5 days from the US. With the green water set in on the edge, we spent the first couple of days swimming and light tackle fishing in the mornings, with the afternoons spent a little bit wide of the edge, with a few small yellowfin tunas and wahoo bites. We were able to get out wide to the seamount and Holmes, but missed out on our bites on the way out, but managed to jig a nice dogtooth tuna down at Flora Reef as well as plenty of sharks off the big school of skipjack tunas we found out there. We did have a real lazy bite late in the day from a black marlin just out of Flora Reef, but didnt come tight on the lure. On the last morning of the trip we left super early, and were underway at 2am, arriving at the seamount about 5.30 am to flat calm weather and birds everywhere. We caught a few yellowfin tunas and missed a small black before heading back towards the edge. About 20 miles out of Jenny Louise we caught Mark a real lively blue marlin, which was his first marlin, and to say he was happy was an understatement!!! A great way to finish our season on a high note!!!
The season has wrapped up for us now, and a big season it was for us!!! With great clients, great crew in Steve and Carl, we ended up with some real nice big fish , and Lydies fish ended up being the biggest one of the season weighed for the whole fleet !!!! Well done Lydie, and looking forward to next year with the 50lb again !!!
I am finishing the motor rebuilds now and then flying home for Christmas with my family.
I have a couple of trips that you can join me for in January, first one starting Jan 10th leaving Cairns to Mackay, and then Mackay to the Gold Coast via Lady Musgrave, and wide off Fraser Island chasing the blue marlin back to the Gold Coast. I then have some days on the Gold Coast from around the 22nd into early February chasing some of the excellent blue marlin that have been around on the coast the last month or so, and into next year should continue to be excellent, and the little blacks should have shown up in some numbers by then too, lots of fun on light tackle. Let me know if you would like to join me for any of these trips, or day trips.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with your families and loved ones and hope to see you on Tradition in 2012!!!
Capt Tim
