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View Full Version : Airlie Beach Charter - 2 Hour Bag Out !!!



Goldfinch
15-06-2009, 03:56 PM
Went for a trip up to Airlie Beach on the June long weekend with a mate from Perth who builds the Ocean Whaler boats (great boats by the way). We towed one of his boats up from Brisbane for the boat show on the weekend. Went out for a fish off the east side of hook island on the Thursday and caught some trout and got smashed by some monsters. Dropped a livie down around some bommies and caught a 4ft Bronzy. Then lost my Rapala CD18 to what was probably a BIG Spaniard trolling between Hook and Whitsunday Islands. Wasn't too concerned as the scenery was magic and the conditions awesome.

Anyway....I decided to book onto a fishing charter for the Sunday as the weather looked perfect (5 knots, seas under 1m). Booked on the "Jillian2" charter as it came highly recommended by the reception bloke at Summit Apartments (great apartments). Was a bit skeptical at first knowing that there would be 12 people on board but I had no choice and I couldn't use my mates boat as he was showing it at the boat show. Got picked up by Mark the skipper on Sunday morning and once all on board headed across the bay to Daydream Island and then east of Whitsunday. Mark found a good spot on the sounder and after 2nd attempt anchored where he wanted to fish and said "get em down boys". Well....I've been on some charters over the years and let me tell you, I have never seen so many quality fish caught on one spot in 2 hours. Nannigui after Nannigui came on board, then Trevs galore, then the Spaniards went nuts. It was arm busting stuff. Most the fellas on board were Vics who had only fished in rivers. They couldn't believe it. Well.....every tub and esky on the boat was filled in less than 2 hours and we were all stuffed. We all agreed to pull the pin, cruise home whilst eating lunch and scoffing down beers in celebration of such an awesome haul.

As I said, I have been on many charters and highly rate these guys. Mark didn't guarentee any fish and said it had been slow over the past week. Mick the deckie worked fast and made sure everyone was baited up, unhooked and untangled. Great service and attitude which really impressed all on board. We all went home with a freezer full each and a gut full of beer!!!

Here's a couple of photo's, didn't get time too take many. Can't wait to take the Haines up there in a couple of months for some more action.

Cheers
Dave

geeb
16-06-2009, 02:52 PM
Great report - thanks for posting that - it is good to hear of excellent charters as they are hard to come by - and those Nannies are fabulous eating.....cheers....Geeb

bondy99
19-06-2009, 11:02 PM
What's the name of the Charter operator, I was thinking of coming up and when is the best time to go fishing up there.

Peter

Goldfinch
20-06-2009, 02:05 PM
The operator is called the Jillian2 Fishing Charters. Call Matthew the skipper on 0407 482 015 or 07 4946 7982. Best time is when the weather is 5 to 10knots. We may have had a pretty lucky day but nice guys regardless. Take your own rod and reel if you don't want to use handlines. You'll need at least 50lb braid and they will supply leader, hooks and sinkers.

bondy99
20-06-2009, 02:42 PM
The operator is called the Jillian2 Fishing Charters. Call Matthew the skipper on 0407 482 015 or 07 4946 7982. Best time is when the weather is 5 to 10knots. We may have had a pretty lucky day but nice guys regardless. Take your own rod and reel if you don't want to use handlines. You'll need at least 50lb braid and they will supply leader, hooks and sinkers.


Thanks for the info Goldfinch. I have a livefibre rod with Penn GTI 345 OH Reel loaded with 100lb braid. Handlines are bit too painful for me.

Happy fishing everyone.

Cheers, Peter

madman1
21-06-2009, 04:01 PM
Good report.

What sort of boat is it and what sort of $$$$ are we looking at?

Cheers


Mark

Legend82
21-06-2009, 04:31 PM
i think they must have changed hands or something because it was the worst charter i had ever been on, the deckies just fished , didnt bait us up, didnt get fish off, (not that we caught anything legal) didnt seem to know much about the fish species etc, but its good to see they have got their act together now
great report mate
cheers legend

skipalong
21-06-2009, 05:14 PM
thats some serious fishing mate top work

cheers justin

Wahoo
21-06-2009, 07:48 PM
great report Dave, good to see you bagged out in 2hrs, thumbs up to the charter

Legend82.. sometimes when the fish are not biting, the deckies will start fishing so the paying guys do go home with a feed, do you really need someone to bait up a hook for you?? i dont mind doing it on a charter and have done before, not having a go at you


Daz

whatscracken
21-06-2009, 08:18 PM
Jillian does have a bad rep in Airlie Wahoo, they survive on tourists who don't know any different. Its a shame cause it could be so much better.

JB
22-06-2009, 11:52 AM
Yeah must be better than the charter i went on up there, think it was just the old timber boat mv jillian.. Hopefully this new crew is more professional.

Goldfinch
22-06-2009, 03:03 PM
The boat was a 12m Cougar Catamaram with a good deck. Even with 12 guys fishing and all bringing in fish there were minimal tangles and plenty of space. There was one deckie and he was workin hard making sure everyone had bait and was catchin fish. Every time my bait hit the bottom I got a hook-up on either a Nanny, Trev or Spanish. My arm was buggered in a couple of hours. It cost $190 per person inc lunch and hotel pickup, drop off. I believe the boat used to belong to the skippers father. He was very knowledgeable about the local fishing and had been fishing the area for years.

It may just have been a lucky day.....who knows. I'll be taking my own boat up next time, that's for sure.

Legend82
22-06-2009, 08:50 PM
i have been on a few charters, and no i dont need someone to bait me up, i actually prefer to do it my self, but the bait was crap, sloppy pillies that sat in a bucket in the sun the whole day and small pieces of squid that stunk (yes i know what squid normally smell like). i was just dissapointed as a whole, they didnt seem to work hard to find us fish, all the riggs on the handlines were crap, also dissapointed that we used handlines, first charter we have had to do this, if we had known we would have brang our own gear, but hey now they seem to be good so hopefully they can get back some of the bad reputation that was left behind
cherers legend

Black_Rat
18-07-2009, 05:25 PM
I'm heading out with these guys tommorow, i'm pumped ! ;D

Damo.

crabby 1
18-07-2009, 08:26 PM
Hey guys these blokes must have improved over the last six years as me and my new wife did a charter with them and between the twelve people on the boat we caught six keepers all day very lame i thought for the money we paid.

Black_Rat
18-07-2009, 09:44 PM
Hey guys these blokes must have improved over the last six years as me and my new wife did a charter with them and between the twelve people on the boat we caught six keepers all day very lame i thought for the money we paid.

They haven't seen the likes of me fishing HARD ! :P

Pent up frustration will be unleashed Sunday 8-)

Coral Trout baked in lemon grass, butter, garlic and chillie is on the menu Sunday night! ;D

Damo.

Jurkyjj
24-07-2009, 09:09 PM
Great feed of Nannies there Dave.
Well Done!!
Jason.

whatscracken
25-07-2009, 09:39 PM
How'd you end up going Black Rat?, I'm tipping you didn't fluke them like Dave!

Black_Rat
25-07-2009, 10:25 PM
How'd you end up going Black Rat?, I'm tipping you didn't fluke them like Dave!

With light winds early and 10-15knts forecast we headed North.

First spot not long after leaving produced a few under sized species, by the time we hit the second spot it was blowin 20-25knts and made fishing hell.

Third spot trying to get out of the wind produced little. Almost had a mishapp with the boat at the third spot due to wind and waves. Anchor slipped sending the boat towards a bommie in 20 Knts+ :o

Skipper pulled the pin early and was back in port by about 2pm.

To his credit he offered everyone a full refund on trip due to calling it early, poor fishing and wind. Worst days fishing in a long time he reckons he's had.

I would go again as the bloke was pretty genuine :)

Damo.

jaredluke
26-07-2009, 06:15 PM
That was pretty good how he offered you a full refund.