Damon:- Had Sandy, Andrew and Roland onboard today and they wanted to do some light tackle fishing for mackerel and all sorts of smaller fish. Things started off a bit slow, but we soon found a great little spot with some bludger trevally and shark mackerel to eat the small lures. These fish were great fun, being around 2-4kg. Sandy was well and truly demolished by a 10kg chinaman fish in 2m of water on his 114 sebile stick shadd and 40lb line. We then moved to another area with more bludger trevally, coral trout, chinaman fish, shark mackerel and long toms, and caught a big variety of species over the next few hours. We even managed a 10kg longtail tuna on a big stickbait from around a ball of fusiliers. That one was taken home for sashimi tonight, which I am about to go and eat!! Sandy also subdued a 35kg GT with his first cast of a heavy rod at 12:30, just before we headed in for lunch, that was an epic fight and the hellhound was again the lure - those things are really spectacularly good!! After lunch we trolled for some goldspot trevally and then had Roland hook onto a 25kg gt on a sebile 120 splasher and 40lb line. The fish ate the lure in 3m of water on the edge of the reef and we got lucky when it swam for deep water and we were able to follow it.
Roland was pretty knackered after a 20 minute fight, and we went back to the mothership for early drinks. Giles was catching 30kg GTs from the aft deck on poppers when we returned, and all hell broke loose with multiple hook-ups from the back deck of the mothership to end the day. Great company, excellent fishing and a great location made for a very enjoyable day all round.
Nick:- I told the guys that we were going to start the morning off with a few stretches as they were all looking and feeling a little beat up after the past few days. Doug has mean bruises all over his legs and stomach from fighting GTs. So the stretches this morning I had planned for the guys were casting into a very tasty piece of water only a few miles from Odyssey, as the first popper hit the water the slack was taken up and BANG our first customer, with such an early start no one was really ready for that one and he managed to spit breakfast out. This event actually scared Doug from casting for GTs so early so he retired the heavy gear and joined Brett with the light gear catching longtom and mackerel. The guys decided that they might give the heavy gear a rest for a while so we decided to chase some bottom dwellers. We managed to sneak over the reef in time and headed towards the moon crater in the anchorage where I saw some trout on my dive the previous day. We set up anchor for about 15mins or so with no luck so decided to make a move before lunch so we went trolling on the edge of a current line and managed to loose 3 deep diving minnows by some big Spannish Mackeral just destroying us, we also managed to land a big Gold Spot around 7kgs. After lunch we were on a mission to find some longtail - and did we ever! We had double hook ups regulary but didn't manage to get any to the boat. We also stumbled apon a huge school of shark mackeral but they knew what they were eating and it was our lures. On the way home we managed to get stuck into some nice mac tuna which was a good way to end the day.
Glanville:- I once again was on an all day mission and accompanied with a very entertaining bunch of anglers we went hunting for the beast that got away yesterday...the morning proved to be very difficult, we had a chilled out session and managed to tame a giant Gold Spot on the light gear, we voted for an early lunch so we could take full advantage of the run in tide which I thought has proved to be quite successful of late and a great decision it turned out to be, first up after lunch and the game was on... we got absolutely reamed by a beast of a Gt on the first drift, second drift and the Gts still treated us with no respect and again we got delivered properly in the reef...GTs-2, Anglers-Big Fat "BAGLE"...the spot continued to produce bites and before long we had a goliath Spanish Mackerel of around 25kg get full flight with the popper wedged tight between its jaws only meters from the edge of the boat, adrenalin at this stage was pumping but again a failed attempt to get the fish to the boat. The next spot we stopped at was on for young and old and Gts busting up on all the lures, "Keep popping, DOUBLE BENDING!!! thank the pope we might get one to the boat this time", my words were barely cold and both fish swam away holding their stomachs with laughter as the hooks pulled. The very next cast produced yet another air borne Spanish Mackerel but its razor teeth got the better of our leader and as the popper floated there stranded a Gt thought it would tease us further and decided to obliterate our dead floating popper...yeah that's what I said, very rude. Poor David at this stage was beside himself. The next spot we stopped at, the last for the day had shoal upon shoal if fusiliers but the fish seemed to be wise and we had 3 lookers that weren't quite convinced what we were offering was the real deal. Well Brett has got the BBQ going in full force on the top deck under the stars and the smell of fresh Coral Trout and whatever else he has prepared is beating my hunger at the moment so gota leave you guys with that...
