Spot82
05-03-2009, 07:46 PM
Got invited on a charter out of Tin Can Bay on "Fish N Cruise" Charters on the weekend just gone. We were supposed to leave Tin Can on Friday Night at 8pm but due to poor weather the trip was delayed and we left Saturday night at the same time, returning 3pm Monday arvo. I was still not confident that the weather would be on our side and if the wind was light it was still going to be NW to NE which typically isn't good to catch fish.
Left Tin Can and steamed until 1am when we achored at the first spot for the night. Fishing was slow as it was blowing NW around 10 knots, and we all know how much the fish love to bite in a NW'er :'( I managed to get about 10 nice pencil squid which were thick around the back of the boat under the lights. We got a few moses, squire and hussar and one yellow tail king about 13kg before everyone decided to hit the sack for a few hours sleep.
The morning bite was again slow with only a few fish being caught, it was decided we would head further north towards Indian Head and tried 3-4 more spots along the way with only a few more fish being added to the esky. At lunchtime the wind swung around to the north and the current off indian head was running about 3knots making it hard to hold bottom while drifting. The skipper battled on and we moved out wider to try some more grounds. At about 2pm we finally started to put some fish in the esky although the majority were just good size hussar, moses and parrot. Finally i hooked onto something with a bit more size which I got stuck into on the deck winch, up came a nice Coronation Trout about 2.5kg-3kg, this was more like it! But that was the only decent fish that was boated.
We moved back south to a patch of ground the skipper had found last trip but had not fished. We pulled up and there was lots of life on the sounder, everyone dropped down and got double hook ups on big hussar, my eyes lit up knowing that if the hussar were here than more than likely the red emperor would be hanging around somewhere. Next drop I get a little red about 40cm, by this time it is about 4.30, just coming up to prime time for reds to bite. I decided to butterfly a pinky and droped it down on the next drift. I get to the bottom and begin getting little picks, knowing very well what it was i started feeding out slack line, before i feel it pull up tight and i set the hooks and start winding on the deck winch, meanwhile one of the boys 3 spots up from me is into a good fish. He gets his fish to the boat, a nice red but has my line and 2 others tangled around it, i grab my line and start hand lining it in sure that i also had a good fish, i retieve the slack and then feel the weight again, up comes another nice red slightly smaller than the other, after the skipper missed twice with the gaff the fish was finally in the boat, I was stoked, the fish went 7kg. Next drift i butterfly a hussar about 30cm and drop down, soon as it hits the bottom the picks start and once again i feed out the slack line before the fish picks it up and I set the hooks, instantly I could tell it was a more serious fish than the last one and a red, i tell the skipper to get the gaff and that he better not miss this one. I get the fish to the boat, a big red, and he gaffs it first go, lifts the fish in the boat to my joy and as he laid it on the floor of the boat the hooks fall out!!! How lucky!! I was stoked, the fish went 11kg a new PB for me. Next drift the sun falls behind fraser island and the fish shut down completely.
We then head off for some spots down Double Island Point way where we spend the night. On arrival it is blowing a good 20knot NE'er. I had a quick fish before heading to bed. Fishing was again slow with not much being landed. Monday morning turned out to be a pearler but nothing really biting again. we boated about 4 Cobia under 10kg and a few other reefies before we headed home.
We ended up with probably 200kg + of fish for the boat. I personally got about 25-30 fish and although most were just pan size reefies I did get some good fish, and taking into considerations I was very happy with what i caught.
All in all this was one of the best charters I have been on, The skipper was great, worked very hard to get us a good amount of fish in testing conditions. Food was the best I have had on a charter with full meals for breakky, lunch and dinner and mornng and afternoon tea as well. The boat was comfy and well set up and 8 people fished easily with plenty of room. Probably the only thing which could be considered a slight negative is that top speed was about 10 knots so moving between spots did take some time but having said this most of the long distance travelling was done at night while we slept and if it was during daylight hours you could troll for pelagics anyways.
Left Tin Can and steamed until 1am when we achored at the first spot for the night. Fishing was slow as it was blowing NW around 10 knots, and we all know how much the fish love to bite in a NW'er :'( I managed to get about 10 nice pencil squid which were thick around the back of the boat under the lights. We got a few moses, squire and hussar and one yellow tail king about 13kg before everyone decided to hit the sack for a few hours sleep.
The morning bite was again slow with only a few fish being caught, it was decided we would head further north towards Indian Head and tried 3-4 more spots along the way with only a few more fish being added to the esky. At lunchtime the wind swung around to the north and the current off indian head was running about 3knots making it hard to hold bottom while drifting. The skipper battled on and we moved out wider to try some more grounds. At about 2pm we finally started to put some fish in the esky although the majority were just good size hussar, moses and parrot. Finally i hooked onto something with a bit more size which I got stuck into on the deck winch, up came a nice Coronation Trout about 2.5kg-3kg, this was more like it! But that was the only decent fish that was boated.
We moved back south to a patch of ground the skipper had found last trip but had not fished. We pulled up and there was lots of life on the sounder, everyone dropped down and got double hook ups on big hussar, my eyes lit up knowing that if the hussar were here than more than likely the red emperor would be hanging around somewhere. Next drop I get a little red about 40cm, by this time it is about 4.30, just coming up to prime time for reds to bite. I decided to butterfly a pinky and droped it down on the next drift. I get to the bottom and begin getting little picks, knowing very well what it was i started feeding out slack line, before i feel it pull up tight and i set the hooks and start winding on the deck winch, meanwhile one of the boys 3 spots up from me is into a good fish. He gets his fish to the boat, a nice red but has my line and 2 others tangled around it, i grab my line and start hand lining it in sure that i also had a good fish, i retieve the slack and then feel the weight again, up comes another nice red slightly smaller than the other, after the skipper missed twice with the gaff the fish was finally in the boat, I was stoked, the fish went 7kg. Next drift i butterfly a hussar about 30cm and drop down, soon as it hits the bottom the picks start and once again i feed out the slack line before the fish picks it up and I set the hooks, instantly I could tell it was a more serious fish than the last one and a red, i tell the skipper to get the gaff and that he better not miss this one. I get the fish to the boat, a big red, and he gaffs it first go, lifts the fish in the boat to my joy and as he laid it on the floor of the boat the hooks fall out!!! How lucky!! I was stoked, the fish went 11kg a new PB for me. Next drift the sun falls behind fraser island and the fish shut down completely.
We then head off for some spots down Double Island Point way where we spend the night. On arrival it is blowing a good 20knot NE'er. I had a quick fish before heading to bed. Fishing was again slow with not much being landed. Monday morning turned out to be a pearler but nothing really biting again. we boated about 4 Cobia under 10kg and a few other reefies before we headed home.
We ended up with probably 200kg + of fish for the boat. I personally got about 25-30 fish and although most were just pan size reefies I did get some good fish, and taking into considerations I was very happy with what i caught.
All in all this was one of the best charters I have been on, The skipper was great, worked very hard to get us a good amount of fish in testing conditions. Food was the best I have had on a charter with full meals for breakky, lunch and dinner and mornng and afternoon tea as well. The boat was comfy and well set up and 8 people fished easily with plenty of room. Probably the only thing which could be considered a slight negative is that top speed was about 10 knots so moving between spots did take some time but having said this most of the long distance travelling was done at night while we slept and if it was during daylight hours you could troll for pelagics anyways.