Careel
06-08-2006, 08:05 PM
The week that was,
Saturday 29th.
Ventured out on a half day charter with beautiful conditions, With a full crew of 12 anglers we set off out the seaway to one of our spots in approx 50 metres, as we were travelling I could hear the talk as the customers anticipated what they might catch. Some customers were from the USA, some were locals and some had never been on a boat before. The first few minutes were bitter sweet for Deckie Jason and Myself with 2 big fish lost but the way they fought indicated there might be a few cobia around, to our delight we caught 4 cobia between 8-20 kg and a few mack tuna and a lot of tailor with a couple of trag to go. Also fished on and afternoon charter with mainly trag and tailor being caught with 1 mack tuna.
Sunday 30th
Another beautiful day with perfect conditions and nothing left of the big swell that gave the fish a spell for a few days the previous week.
Full day charter, Some regulars on board along with some new customers.
Fished a few spots with a mixed bag of snapper, amberjack, kingies a few pearlies, piggies etc. Along with a very ugly snapper 1 of 13, 2 at 7.5kg. As discussed on the General chat board.
We taught some of our customers how to float line for snapper, Most are a little sceptical and impatient until their first thumb burning run.
Monday 31st
Again a full day charter this time with a group that had bummed a day off work for no other reason than to go fishing with some mates. (No other reason needed right!)
Forecast 5-10knts. Blew 15-20kts NW with a fast drift wind and current, Made for slightly hard fishing on the wider grounds though with a little coaching the boys fished like seasoned pros considering the conditions. They managed a few amberjack and kingies along with a couple of Rosie jobfish, snapper and pearlies. We finished the day on the closer grounds with quite a few quality tailor and a couple of trag.
Not the busiest days fishing but with the amount of beer the guys bought along I’m not sure fishing was there main priority.
Tuesday 1st
Full Day again, this time a mixed group from far and wide, You know being a charter operator isn’t always stress free, We need to perform day in day out, unfortunately the fish haven't been told that yet. Many mornings are spent in deep discussion with deckie Jas deciding where to go, to get livies or not? Start wide or start close? What’s the weather going to do? Etc
Fortunately the weather and the fish came to the party this time with the first couple of hours seeing some great fishing, Kingies, amberjack, Samson, snapper and pearlies all on the chew with many other species making up a good catch for the Fish hungry customers.(Top bunch of people again)
Wednesday 2nd
Another Day in paradise!
Half day charter, mainly tourists and holiday makers on board today with a few locals, Yep they’ve come to see just what the fishing’s like off the Gold Coast.
Away we go, another beautiful day and the Cougar Cat is purring along at 22knots effortlessly in almost glassy conditions, After discussions with Jason we decided to have a go for a few yellowfin tuna, We started with a seemingly endless supply of tailor coming off the bottom bashers, so much so that Jason and Myself were having trouble getting the 3 lines set for the Yellowfin.
Eventually we got the lines set though with no immediate action, However with a heap of burley we eventually got a run and a hook up on a yellowfin, Fishing with the 10kg gear meant the customers had a fair fight and most were surprised how hard some of these little fellas can go, Average weight is only about 4-5kgs.
Ended up with 4 yellowfin onboard and a couple more lost to propellers, Although everybody else caught at least 1 mack tuna, each around 6 kg.
Thursday 3rd
Full Day Group Booking.
Somewhere on a building site in the middle of Brisbane there’s a project manager trying to work out what mysterious illness has made 11 of his workers sick, so much so they haven’t arrived on site, This illness is apparently very contagious. So with mobile phones switched off and a couple of cartons on board these 11 fellas set out with fish the deep to try a find a cure.
We headed wide, again with perfect conditions though the westerlies were trying to hang in there at about 15kts.
The early bite was bitter sweet with some reasonable kingfish, amberjack and sambos. A run of undersize kingies were plaguing us, but the guys were having a ball anyway.
Then it happened, A deckies worst nightmare (other than a blocked toilet) The old Elvis Presley fish – Leatherjackets, These little guys have a strict diet of 6/0 hooks (not sure how they digest them). So with Jas and myself going flat stick rigging wire droppers, conditions glassed out we proceeded to fill the box with a lot of jackets as well as some quality rosies. Snapper, Pearlies, Tuskies, Gold Spot wrasse, Morwong, piggies and others species that I can’t remember. Sorry Guys. PS Thanks for the few Crown Lagers left for us to enjoy after our 2hr clean up at home.
Friday 4th
The last of the good weather, the weekend must be close.
Full day group again.
This time it’s Beaudesert suffering from a staff shortage.
Loaded up on live bait, we knew we might only have the morning of good conditions before conditions deteriorate, The first drift was slow, no fish yet, great shows though, so with a slight adjustment to the drift we nailed a few, First fish on was a reasonable cod about 5-6kg and then a couple of Ambers and pearlies. We were keen to try for a few snapper, though conditions were tough to float line. We saw a couple of reasonable fish come up on the bottom bashers so Jas decided to persist on the float line which pay dividends with his first snapper weighing 6.5kg he got another couple of nice 3kg fish for the customers. Some of the other boys had a crack at floatlining though struggled in the conditions, yours truly caught 1 on a float line about 3kg though the rod was in the holder so I can’t count that one.
With a change of fishing spots the afternoon produced some more pearlies and rosies and the weather eased and all on board were happy with the days haul.
Sorry about the long winded report, took forever to write, I knew I should have listened in grade 9 typing class.
Some photos to follow in no order though, Didn't take photos of all catches, wouldn't get any work done. If your hungry for fish photos you can check out our website www.fishthedeep.com.au It needs updating I know.
Thanks
Matt Johnson
Saturday 29th.
Ventured out on a half day charter with beautiful conditions, With a full crew of 12 anglers we set off out the seaway to one of our spots in approx 50 metres, as we were travelling I could hear the talk as the customers anticipated what they might catch. Some customers were from the USA, some were locals and some had never been on a boat before. The first few minutes were bitter sweet for Deckie Jason and Myself with 2 big fish lost but the way they fought indicated there might be a few cobia around, to our delight we caught 4 cobia between 8-20 kg and a few mack tuna and a lot of tailor with a couple of trag to go. Also fished on and afternoon charter with mainly trag and tailor being caught with 1 mack tuna.
Sunday 30th
Another beautiful day with perfect conditions and nothing left of the big swell that gave the fish a spell for a few days the previous week.
Full day charter, Some regulars on board along with some new customers.
Fished a few spots with a mixed bag of snapper, amberjack, kingies a few pearlies, piggies etc. Along with a very ugly snapper 1 of 13, 2 at 7.5kg. As discussed on the General chat board.
We taught some of our customers how to float line for snapper, Most are a little sceptical and impatient until their first thumb burning run.
Monday 31st
Again a full day charter this time with a group that had bummed a day off work for no other reason than to go fishing with some mates. (No other reason needed right!)
Forecast 5-10knts. Blew 15-20kts NW with a fast drift wind and current, Made for slightly hard fishing on the wider grounds though with a little coaching the boys fished like seasoned pros considering the conditions. They managed a few amberjack and kingies along with a couple of Rosie jobfish, snapper and pearlies. We finished the day on the closer grounds with quite a few quality tailor and a couple of trag.
Not the busiest days fishing but with the amount of beer the guys bought along I’m not sure fishing was there main priority.
Tuesday 1st
Full Day again, this time a mixed group from far and wide, You know being a charter operator isn’t always stress free, We need to perform day in day out, unfortunately the fish haven't been told that yet. Many mornings are spent in deep discussion with deckie Jas deciding where to go, to get livies or not? Start wide or start close? What’s the weather going to do? Etc
Fortunately the weather and the fish came to the party this time with the first couple of hours seeing some great fishing, Kingies, amberjack, Samson, snapper and pearlies all on the chew with many other species making up a good catch for the Fish hungry customers.(Top bunch of people again)
Wednesday 2nd
Another Day in paradise!
Half day charter, mainly tourists and holiday makers on board today with a few locals, Yep they’ve come to see just what the fishing’s like off the Gold Coast.
Away we go, another beautiful day and the Cougar Cat is purring along at 22knots effortlessly in almost glassy conditions, After discussions with Jason we decided to have a go for a few yellowfin tuna, We started with a seemingly endless supply of tailor coming off the bottom bashers, so much so that Jason and Myself were having trouble getting the 3 lines set for the Yellowfin.
Eventually we got the lines set though with no immediate action, However with a heap of burley we eventually got a run and a hook up on a yellowfin, Fishing with the 10kg gear meant the customers had a fair fight and most were surprised how hard some of these little fellas can go, Average weight is only about 4-5kgs.
Ended up with 4 yellowfin onboard and a couple more lost to propellers, Although everybody else caught at least 1 mack tuna, each around 6 kg.
Thursday 3rd
Full Day Group Booking.
Somewhere on a building site in the middle of Brisbane there’s a project manager trying to work out what mysterious illness has made 11 of his workers sick, so much so they haven’t arrived on site, This illness is apparently very contagious. So with mobile phones switched off and a couple of cartons on board these 11 fellas set out with fish the deep to try a find a cure.
We headed wide, again with perfect conditions though the westerlies were trying to hang in there at about 15kts.
The early bite was bitter sweet with some reasonable kingfish, amberjack and sambos. A run of undersize kingies were plaguing us, but the guys were having a ball anyway.
Then it happened, A deckies worst nightmare (other than a blocked toilet) The old Elvis Presley fish – Leatherjackets, These little guys have a strict diet of 6/0 hooks (not sure how they digest them). So with Jas and myself going flat stick rigging wire droppers, conditions glassed out we proceeded to fill the box with a lot of jackets as well as some quality rosies. Snapper, Pearlies, Tuskies, Gold Spot wrasse, Morwong, piggies and others species that I can’t remember. Sorry Guys. PS Thanks for the few Crown Lagers left for us to enjoy after our 2hr clean up at home.
Friday 4th
The last of the good weather, the weekend must be close.
Full day group again.
This time it’s Beaudesert suffering from a staff shortage.
Loaded up on live bait, we knew we might only have the morning of good conditions before conditions deteriorate, The first drift was slow, no fish yet, great shows though, so with a slight adjustment to the drift we nailed a few, First fish on was a reasonable cod about 5-6kg and then a couple of Ambers and pearlies. We were keen to try for a few snapper, though conditions were tough to float line. We saw a couple of reasonable fish come up on the bottom bashers so Jas decided to persist on the float line which pay dividends with his first snapper weighing 6.5kg he got another couple of nice 3kg fish for the customers. Some of the other boys had a crack at floatlining though struggled in the conditions, yours truly caught 1 on a float line about 3kg though the rod was in the holder so I can’t count that one.
With a change of fishing spots the afternoon produced some more pearlies and rosies and the weather eased and all on board were happy with the days haul.
Sorry about the long winded report, took forever to write, I knew I should have listened in grade 9 typing class.
Some photos to follow in no order though, Didn't take photos of all catches, wouldn't get any work done. If your hungry for fish photos you can check out our website www.fishthedeep.com.au It needs updating I know.
Thanks
Matt Johnson