Cooktown on Saturday

[nickstock]

We had friends coming up to stay over the long weekend who were keen to go for a fish out the reef as they mainly target Sooties in the fresh.

As per usual the weather gods were not playing the part to get outside in my 5 .1 meter boat. The decision was made to try and convince Andy from Cooktown reef Charters to take us out for a day on his 42 foot Randle.

With only our friends Justin and Alarna and Holly and I, Andy decided to make a trip. With 25 - 30 knot S/E forecast Andy had a chuckle. Whilst in the local tackle shop "The Lure Shop" paying for the booking, another chap, Macca, from the Gold Coast decided that he would also come for a run.

I woke up on Sunday morning to expect the Charter to be cancelled as the trees at home were at right angles lol.

The charter went ahead and the conditions were absolute crap. As per usual the photos don't really do it justice but I did not take photos of the worst of it when we were crossing '' The Paddock" as I was hanging on.

The plan was to fish the deeper waters chasing reds and Nannies but Macca had seen better days. He asked about hiring a helicopter to fly out and pick him up.

We ended up fishing the 16-20 meter mark as it was more protected from the elements.

First drop we started getting legal nannies and small reds. I have never caught them in water this shallow before but I wasn't complaining. The skipper jigged up a few fusie's for livies and I put 2 out under balloons. We were catching trout, lippers and various other reefies when Maca got snagged. The Deckie Trevor left his handline on the ground next to me and went to assist macca. For the next 30 seconds I could hear a noise but I could not put a finger on it Justin yelled out asking me if I was going to pick it up as he pointed to the ground. The strange noise was Trev's handline bouncing next to me.

After taking most of the spool on me I started the long pull back in. 5 mins later we had a small Whaler in the boat ready to be de-hooked. A quick pic and off he went.

As i dropped it back in the briney my old ABU 9000 spooled with 8 kg braid started screaming. After seeing the mono backing a few times I finally had a nice Spanish next to the boat.

I was well and truly shagged now after playing tug of war with the dirty shark then the big Spanish.

The rest of the day consisted of getting dusted by big bottom fish. After seeing all of the ''Red Reports'' on AusFish I had butterflied Hussar and Fusie's down. We got bricked more times then not on 80 pound braid, but it was good hanging on for about 15 seconds.

All in all it was a good day in crappy conditions. There was plenty of space with only four of us fishing on a 42 foot boat. We released a heap of fish (our friends don’t eat fish) and got smashed by even more.

If you are ever in Cooktown without a boat, give Andy from Cooktown Reef Charters a holler as he is a keen skipper that has just taken over the business and works hard to put you onto fish.

My baby whaler
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/bronzy.jpg

Holly with here first Red
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/Holredemp667x1000.jpg

Alarna with her baby reddy,
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/larnsredemp1000x667.jpg

Justins Chinaman
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/chinajutto1000x667.jpg

Justin about to get flogged
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/juttocoppingit.jpg

My Spanish
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/mac400x600.jpg

Justin and me (with macca jumping in on the left)
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/catch11000x667.jpg

This was the smoothest the ocean was all day as we were over 16 meters of water.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/swell.jpg

Another of Justin's big Chinaman
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/juttochina1000x667.jpg

Also a pic of the last trip I did of Adelaide reef. Flat seas, caught a swag of fish in about 2 hours.
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/AdelaideReef0011000x667.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/Trout11000x667.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff241/viridis1/Trout0151000x667.jpg

Cheers,

Nick

[Benno1]

nice one Nick...great pictures...love the one of the chinaman!!!...arent they a fantastic looking yet infuriating fish :P...good on you tho for getting out on the water...even if it was a bit snotty...love it when the junior reds put their party clothes on :D
The spanish...did you use the hussar to catch it???...how long did you fight it for???
Great trip Nick...thanks for the piccies and report :D

Mrs Benno1
Sunny

[nickstock]

Hi Sunny,

Yes, the Chinaman sure sure take some pulling. It was good to see baby reds out there in plauges.

The spaniard was caught on a 30cm live fusilier under a balloon. It took about 15 mins to get in as I had a light drag set. The braid is about 3 years old and has seen better days. After the first run down to my backing I though it was all over but all ended up well.

It would of been nice to land some of the bottom fish I hooked on the 80 lb gear but there is always next time. A good thing was that the reef we fished was only 8 miles out from the harbour.

Bring on some 10-15 knot days I say as I cant wait to get out there in my boat.

Nick

[Wahoo]

damn great report Nick, you know how to write them, nice fish and very nice spanish, shame about the weather thou, haha i would of said the same thing about the hand line thingy lol


Daz

[nickstock]

Ha ha Daz,

I don't like handlines at the best of times let alone a shark with a 50 meter head start.

When the weather plays fair you and the boys will have to come up for a fish, I am slowly getting a few general marks from a retired pro so weather permitting we can get a few fish.

We missed a heap of Spanish yesterday on livies but I have converted two more people to reef fishing lol.

Poor old Justin, after hooking up on 6-7 kg chinaman all day , a 500gram Sooty wont feel the same anymore!

Nick

[Wahoo]

yeh no worries Nick, i spoke to dogfight and Jimbo, and they are keen as to fish from that area, would have to be a long W/E thou, is there enough room for the boat there?

Daz

[jtpython]

That was a great report and the weather was ordinary well entruly huh.
Youse got a great feed thou Congrates
You had a ball by the looks and the photo's are great
JT

[nickstock]

Thanks JT,
The weather sure was crap. Even worse for maca ha ha ha ha .

Daz, there a place for the big Blue Water ready and waiting mate!

Nick

[scorpionNQ]

Hey Nick, great report mate;)

Quote
Not a bad start to targeting Trout Lee!!!!!!!!!!!!
Somehow I dont think that you will top that fish for many many years to come.

In regards to the tackle, getting 20 odd kilo of Trout turned off the bottom is a mean task even on a hand line

Thanks for the report mate,

Nick

I reckon there would be plenty of big trout up your way mate, just getting out to the reef in good to average conditions I know is difficult.

Cooktown is a favorite destination of ours, been up half a dozen times in the last 10 years. Never been out because of the wind, just fished/crabbed the Endeavour every time. Only taken 4.3m and 5.2m tinnies which didn't help. Planing a trip August/Sept and bringing the 7.3m longboat. We stay at the first caravan park on the right (bob and Marys) basic nature park. Will give you a hoy when it happens and see about havin a few beers.
Cheers
Lee

[nickstock]

Thanks for the comments guys,

Nick