Oct 5 2010

I have been slack, and not updated here for a couple of weeks, as we have been super busy with our wonderful clients.

We started with Sean and Jay for 3 days out at Linden Bank, and saw a fish each day, but they didnt stay on long enough for us to get the leader, but the boys enjoyed their first trip on the Reef and had a blast throwing poppers, catching big wahoos and snorkelling. Sean is already organising his trip for next year!!!

John and Krissy joined us for their first trip as well, they have fished pretty much every where around the world and finally made it to Australia!!! John is heavily involved in conservation, and is chairman of www.conservationforce.org

Fishing was slow for their time here, but we did manage to get some good bites and had a blast light tackle fishing in the mornings and enjoying being on the Great Barrier Reef.

Sept 28 found TRADITION in Cooktown for the start of our main season, and we now fish everyday till mid Nov at the moment.

Lester and Liz joined us from NY for a couple of days fishing up to Lizard Island where they will spend a few days relaxing from their busy schedules.

We ran out from Cooktown and fished No 7 and 8 Ribbons, with a great afternoon bite. We raised 4 fish, had bites from all of them, and tagged a 750 for Lester and then a fun 300 for Liz. A great start to our main season!!! Anchored in the calm behind No 9 and enjoyed a great meal of fresh seafood for dinner.

Our second day saw us enjoy a great snorkel behind the reef and then we fished down No 10 Ribbon. At 4.30 the bite started and we had 3 bites over the next hour, and tagged a 300 lb fish. Into Lizard for the night, and dropped Lester and Liz off at the resort for their break.

Peter and Lydie join us again for their 5th year on TRADITION, and are enjoying their ‘honeymoon’ with us after getting engaged on their trip here last season !!!! Congratulations to them both on their wedding in France.

Lydie loves calm weather, but she can put up with alot!!! Which is a good thing as the wind has been honking at 20-30 knots now for a week or so.

Our first day greeted us with solid SE wind and we angled up to #8 Ribbon out of Cooktown. We only fished for a few hours after a late swim and lunch behind the reef of fresh mackeral. I had just got to where we caught Lesters big fish a few days before, and got a nice bite on the big bait and tagged an angry 400 lb fish on 50lb tackle for Lydie. We fished downsea to the opening, raised a good fish that didn’t eat, and had a great night behind # 9 with Snow crabs, and garlic and ginger Moreton Bay bugs for dinner, yum!!!

Day 2 saw a nice lazy morning spent snorkelling and eating, we fished down # 10 and had a slow day untill we got up to 2nd corner when at 4.30, the tuna just disappeared from sight. I backed up while Lydie got set in the chair, and the boys cleared the other rod. We kept going in reverse for about a minute when a nice big fish erupted from the water about 100 feet behind the boat, well and truly big enough for what we need on 50lb for the womens world record. It didnt last long, she hit the afterburners and just ripped line off downsea doing giant long low greyhound jumps. I looked down at the spool and it wasnt turning anymore, but the fish was still going hard, guess we are not attached anymore!!!.

Put the baits back out and in 10 minutes we had another bite and tagged a hot little 250 lb fish, and then jumped off a 300 at the back of the boat. A great day on the water, followed by a nice run into LI for the calm anchorage.

Day 3 we had a great bait fishing session, and fished the top of Day Reef for a few hours in the afternoon. Peter and Lydie love their snorkelling, and we went to a great spot on Hicks Reef where the coral is awesome. Lunch of fresh coral trout and fresh baked bread rolls made a great start to our afternoon.

I ran to the opening, we put the baits in and after an hour or so had a great bite on the big bait, and after a quick fight we tagged a nice 500 lb fish on 50lb for Lydie. What was amazing was the other 200lb fish that stayed with her the whole time, and even swam all the way to the transom. Got some great footage from the tower cam.
Back out today, for a look up the top end.

The rest of the fleet has had patchy fishing, one day seeing 2-4 fish, the next only 1, but there has been a big fish encountered nearly every day, with a few BIG ones let go already, signs of an awesome season are there, good clean water, lots of bait and good wind.

Don’t forget you can always follow our season on Facebook, either at Tradition Charters, or Tim Richardson.

I am fully booked until mid Nov, where I have an opening, as well as early December, which will give us that nice calm weather Nov is famous for, as well as big fish. With the full moon comes the tuna aggregation out wide, so looking forward to getting out there as well for some big eye and yellowfins up to 200lb, and some big black marlin that are feeding in these schools as well. Let me know if you want a chance to see some of this.

Capt Tim Richardson
www.traditioncharters.com