Swains Reef on board the M.V. Norval

[murf]

An adventure and experience that I will never forget, thanks ronmurphy and family for the opportunity to do this trip

a bit long winded and sorry to those downloading on phones

I arrived at the Gladstone wharf at 11.30am on Saturday morning with caravan in tow after saying my goodbyes to jtpython and family in Yeppoon (thanks again JT for the top hospitality) The good old M.V. Norval was busy being readied for the afternoons departure whilst I introduced myself to Cassie and Tracy the daughter and son in-law of Ron (yes a Murph but no relation) I had a couple of things to grab before setting off and Tracy very generously threw me the keys of his ute so I didn’t have to drag the van around town :)

With all my stuff sorted and back at the Norval we loaded all the gear of the punters plus the bait and ice for the trip before we had a briefing from the skipper Laurie about the 30 plus knot winds expected for the week :( we had one day of good weather forecast then it turned to shit for the rest of the week.

The M.V. Norval is a 60ft Carvel built timber hull with an inline Gardner 8 cylinder diesel that pushes her along at a steady 8/9knots and was built back in 1973 by Millkraft in Brisbane. She was built as a private boat for traveling around Australia. I must say I really enjoyed the character of the old girl loving anything built from timber and the way she handled herself in ordinary conditions was exceptional.
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At 4pm we were pushing our way out around Facing Island and heading North into a 20 knot Northerly wind that soon had a few trying to get their sea legs whilst talking to some bloke named Herb over the hand rail. We had a couple of big platters of Eat Fresh Subway for the evening meal before hitting the bunks. It wasn’t too far into the night when Simon came squealing out of the front V berths all wet, he thought his mate above him had an accident but was only that the hatch was not secured properly and the green back wave we pushed through got in

We all woke to a great morning way out wide off Stanage bay as the wind had died off although the seas were still up, Murph the #1 deckie/cook/all rounder had cooked a breakfast fit for a King, we had Lamb chops, snags, tomatoes, scrambled eggs with celery/mushrooms/toms/capsicum and who knows what else cooked in all with a healthy helping of toast and juice.

We soon discovered how the Norval would rock and roll doing a side on drift to the swells but it was the only way we could fish and every one fished hard before the oncoming bad weather. It was good to see a steady stream of Tuskfish, Large Mouth and Small Mouth Nannigai, Trout, Rosy Jobfish, Grassy's and Cod coming aboard and putting some colour in the ice box and the Skip put the only Red in for the trip to top off the box ;D
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/SwainstroutOct2011173.jpg
my first ever Large Mouth
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Mike with a nice Rosy
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Mark all the way from California
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/307272_10150890899680282_735445281_21454865_100522 8919_n.jpg

Murph cooked up a pile of Spag Bol that we chomped into on the way to another drift area.

Russ helping Simon with a double hookup of undersized reds
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011076-1.jpg

The fishing became hard as the day progressed due to wind and tide working against us so a few tangles were the norm before we headed into the sheltered waters of Island Head for the night where the Laurie put on a feast of roast Pork for the evening meal

cheers Murf

[murf]

So by now you have worked out that our Swains Reef trip has been diverted as the Skipper made the wise decision not to steam out to the outer reefs and after reading horror stories of wild winds and rough seas I believe it was the correct decision

Monday Morning 6.30am and we are steaming out around the close by Islands seeking some sheltered fishing areas and a bit of trolling for not a lot of fish. the scenery is spectacular and I was very happy just cruising around. We made our way into Port Clinton and anchored up on a hole where a few fish were caught including Jew, Moses, GT, Large Mouth Nanni, Slatey, Spotted Mackerel and the crab pots were deployed up the nearby creek
Mike and his 7kg GT
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Mike got up at midnight to fish the change of tide for this Slatey and a shark
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/312166_10150894395970282_735445281_21477133_149799 9288_n.jpg

Mark, Hanzel and Mike jumped in for a spear fish with Glen looking after the boat in the rapidly deteriorating water quality for a few Cod and a couple of Crays
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the boys kept themselves entertained in the evening catching live bait (herring) and pencil squid

listening to the weather report in the morning the winds were gusting to 45knots overnight and I was very happy to be nestled in the creek even if all I wanted was to be out at the Swains Reef group

Murph and a couple of the boys picked up the crab pots for 6 nice bucks and then we moved further up the creek near where the army has a boat ramp (all the area around here is army land and used for live firing so keeping up to date with whats happening in the area is a must)

old Frank managed to tie up a crab without too much blood spilt
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the weather was lousy and Simon wanted to hit the creeks in a dory and no one wanted to go so I jumped in with a borrowed rod and lure as I didn't pack to go creek fishing
the efforts of our morning was a green toad haha
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011499.jpg

Hanzel being a chef by trade moved into the kitchen with his special Sashimi knife and prepared a treat for the eyes and pallet
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011176.jpg
fresh Lobster, Coral Trout and tusky Sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011189.jpg

Murph jumped in one of the dory's with the punters to fish the afternoon tide on a likely looking bit of ground for a meter Barra but came back with a black bream :P

the boys had fun running around in the dory's in the mangroves for a few species including a massive buck crab caught in the bait net
I am sure Russ caught this but I am never shy on getting a pic with someone else's catch
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011509.jpg

Wednesday morning we upped pick after retrieving the crab pots and headed for Pearl Bay, it was a wild old ride and I was glad the tide and direction of travel was in our favour with the seas on the ugly side.

Murph cooked up a big feed of mud crab for lunch, got to be quick to get a QLD lollipop
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011545.jpg

Thursday we did a run around the Islands trolling and a bit of bottom bashing in very uncomfortable overcast conditions, there were some troopers on board making use of every available fishing opportunity, me I just sat back and enjoyed the company and the scenery. we dropped the pick back in the shelter Pearl Bay and Murph, Mark and myself went for a walk along the beach for a couple of hours whilst the others went fishing around from the dory's

It was funny that night when the shark line went for a nice long steady run, Mark grabbed the rod got the gimbal belt on then decided to hook up the back brace as well before hooking the fish, everything looked realy serious until the three foot shark was pulled in ;D

cheers Murf

[murf]

Friday morning we headed for Perforated (Peak) Island where Simon caught a small Spanish followed by Russ who hooked a larger specimen but dropped him. Russ then said next hit on his gear was for Mark to grab and it wasn't long before Mark was feeling what a better Spanish can do
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a 17kg Spanish
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011270.jpg

we then headed for Flat Island trolling around for zip, this is where we got three small Spanish the week before in Wags' boat

set sail back for Gladstone and the rough seas once again had some funny coloured looking blokes which meant there were more than enough Bugs and Prawns to go around for the evening feed
notice that nothing is standing up on the table
http://i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo64/murfgq/BundyYeppoonSwainsOct2011561.jpg
I even managed to lie down on the back deck when my feet came off the deck, lucky for me Simon was lying down and I landed on top of him :)

the Skippers little Red
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Murph's fish



????????????



Glen's fish
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Sorry but I missed getting a pic of Gavin, Sean and Tony with a fish :(

arrived back in port at 12.30am Sat morn and everyone was packed up fish sorted and gone by 3am

Murph said I was not to comment about his card playing abilities so I won't :o :P

the Norval went through a bit over 2000ltrs of diesel for the week

I enjoyed the trip with the blokes on board making the most of the very poor conditions. With there being 3 different groups on board it all worked very good

The bed although a bit cramped was like heaven, the pillows soft, the blanket just right, the air conditioning in the room was cool, I didn't hear Murph snore once

water and soft drinks supplied hit the spot

I would take extra nibblies next time in case the fishing is a bit slow or if you want munchies in the dory's

I didn't take any lighter gear with me which proved to be a bummer, I would definitively take my 30lb snapper soft plastic rig as well as a light rod for catching live bait

be warned if its rough traveling overnight the forward V bunks are hard to stay in bed so I am told, any of the charters running would be the same though, just keep it in mind if you get a choice of bunks

I would take a foam pad seat cushion that does not soak up water for the dory's as well as just sitting around on the back deck

take plenty of towel for fish rags, even a clip to keep it on your belt, as there are no clothes washing facilities and when you use your clothes as I do for a rag you get messy pretty quickly

take a knife and pointy pliers and again with sheaths so you can keep them on your belt

would I do it again? shit yeah at the drop of a hat :)

cheers murf

[trymyluck]

Bummer about the weather Murf, but sounds like you had a great week anyway. Laurie and Murf certainly are a great crew, nothings ever a bother with them. How did the back handle it?


Mark

[murf]

Bummer about the weather Murf, but sounds like you had a great week anyway. Laurie and Murf certainly are a great crew, nothings ever a bother with them. How did the back handle it?


Mark

good Mark but I am still trying to get my land legs, I am still giddy but I think I am doing too much around the farm trying to catch up, was fine on the boat though

cheers Murf

[No Fear]

Hey Murph,
Thats a great report. There would many people on this site that would give an arm and a leg to do a trip like that.I know I would!!!
I only ever see the reports of people catching big reds and pelagics out there. After having a look at the chart on my navionics, I had no idea of the multiple fishing options the swains provide. I, like you, would have never thought to take the lighter gear. Although I cannot find the specific locations you have mentioned, (I am sure a google search or a more knowledgeable person on here will help), I now understand that there are many islands and creeks/lagoons. Being only a couple of hundred kms from Rocky (assuming I am looking in the right spot), it may be an option with my next boat purchase.
Once again, great report. Pity about the weather but if that cant put you off, the fishing and scenery must be pretty awesome.
Thanks once again.

[Apollo]

Top report Murph. Good crew and boat that one. I must admit that some of the best fun we had out there was on the light silly stick trying to stop big RTEs & Spangles in the lagoon at night and early morn. Buckle load of fun and when you land them , you know you had a great challenge.

Steve

[thelump]

Great report and pics Murph. That sure is a big Muddy you are holding

[murf]

No Fear 22°24'38.59"S 150°46'0.83"E google earth that and you will see the area we were in

a lot of Green zones and military exercise area to be careful of up there

the scenery is awesome and that's on a blowy dirty rainy day, it must be something else when calm and clear :)

Apollo yes great crew and I will be putting my hand up again ;) maybe next year get to see the Swains, most of the punters have re booked again for next year

the lump yes a couple of very decent crabs and they were all full and sweet as :)

cheers Murf

[Jarrah Jack]

I don't know how you manage it all Murf. Trips here and there, this boat, that boat, more fish and more fish. You're just a boat whore and I'm jealous.

[murf]

I don't know how you manage it all Murf. Trips here and there, this boat, that boat, more fish and more fish. You're just a boat whore and I'm jealous.

haha yep yep been called a boat whore on more than one occasion :)

the kids a whinging the pool is not clean the missus has a list of to do's that I don't want to even go past the first page of but I am busting to get back out in my boat now :)

cheers Murf

[Horse]

I really like that part of the world. The Percy's and Island Head Creek are spots that really stuck in my mind. unfortunatly my visits have been enroute and I did not get the chance to explore

[Jarrah Jack]

the kids a whinging the pool is not clean the missus has a list of to do's that I don't want to even go past the first page :)

cheers Murf

Here are a few suggestions about lists.
.http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?178994-The-Dreaded-Four-Letter-Word

[No Fear]

Thanks Murph, I will need to convert them to put them into my navionics but I can find out how to do that.
I hope to get out there next year, preferably in my completed boat but we will see what happens. Need the weather to be reasonable for 4 or 5 days so winter would be the go.

Thanks for your help.

[Boat Hog]

Nice report Murf. For a moment there I thought you were going to have special sushimi green toad.:o

It certainly is a great part of the country and you were, in a way, lucky to see it instead of the Swains.

[murf]

Nice report Murf. For a moment there I thought you were going to have special sushimi green toad.:o

It certainly is a great part of the country and you were, in a way, lucky to see it instead of the Swains.

the green toad was mentioned for slicing :o

It was planned to go to the same area earlier in the year with JT for a boat based week long camp but JT got crook and it was canceled so was great to get a look see for a trip there next year ;)

cheers Murf

[robersl]

Great report Murp good to hear thay young murph's card playing has got no better they are a good crew and you get well fed and looked after on the trip i will be going again when the funds allow, those frony bunks are good in 2-3 m swells you go up feets first then come down with a roll to the righ lol;D

shane

[David Ambler]

Great stuff. Very interesting and excellent pics. Swains next time...