1770 3-day reef trip

[Anne-T-Dote]

Howdy all.

I was lucky enough to snag a last minute invite on a 3-day trip with a bunch of guys from work and a few others out to the southern end of the Capricorn Bunker Group aboard the “James Cook” :D

We left 1770 around 2am Saturday and arrived out at the fishing grounds just on sunrise. The weather was just superb (and remained that way for the rest of the trip). Within minutes of pulling up on the Neil’s spot ‘X’ No. 1 we had the lines down and were all into some quality trout and spanglies. ;D

Up ‘till this point I had been feeling a bit guilty for being such a free-loader (not having played any role whatsoever in the organization of the trip and jumping onboard at the last minute :-[), but within those first few drops, seeing the quality of fish on offer, that feeling of guilt was soon replaced by a feeling of excitement and anticipation of what the trip would have in store for us over the next three days. 8-)

I won’t bore everyone with all the finer details – the pics do most of the talking as far as fishing goes, but I will just say that a fun time was had by all. Plenty of good laughs are what really turn a good trip into a great one, and there was certainly no shortage of those. The superb fishing and awesome weather were just a bonus in my books. :)

Thanks again to the owner/skipper Neil and deckie/cook Dave for such an awesome time and making us feel so welcome on board. Your hospitality and friendly, generous nature are second to none and the meals were top shelf to boot.

If anyone would like any more info on the “James Cook”, send me a PM and I’d be happy to pass on Neil’s contact details.

Apologies to Tony (Agnes Jack) for not stopping in and saying G’day – unfortunately we were travelling in a group which makes it difficult to visit people, plus we were not in town for long and when we were the time of day was not conducive to clear concise conversation. ;)

Cheers,

Macca

[Anne-T-Dote]

Andrew (aka A.V.) with a trout

[Anne-T-Dote]

Go Webby

[Anne-T-Dote]

I was happy with these coming over the side.

[Anne-T-Dote]

A keeper for Marty.

[Anne-T-Dote]

Chrisso with a nice trout - Chris and Jim in the background on the left organised the trip - good on ya guys...

[Anne-T-Dote]

Chrisso playing the ol' "Who looks more like Who"

[Anne-T-Dote]

Christian picked this one up on the troll.

[Anne-T-Dote]

One of the better fish of the trip

[Anne-T-Dote]

A nice Red - Well done skipper

[Anne-T-Dote]

A couple of bewties for AV:

[Anne-T-Dote]

Nice trout webby

[the_baker]

As you said the pics do the talking . very nice :) :) :)

[Anne-T-Dote]

I think we ended up with over a half dozen of these

[Anne-T-Dote]

Not bad for Grassies - well done Christian and A.V.

[Anne-T-Dote]

On the way home - some friendly dolphins who probably know the James Cook well

[Anne-T-Dote]

Last one (Chemmy - I hope you appreciate this)

The gang back on deck after three awesome days

Cheers all.

Macca

[Deelirious]

Macca,
Top trip old boy. I think Chrisso comes off second best in the looks stakes in comparison with the trout - nice teeth but not as pretty a smile.
Nothing wrong with a boat full of red fish I expect a couple of those on the BBQ this weekend with the custard tart that Anne promised as a follow up!!!!!!!!!!

Ed

[Bass43]

Great post Macca loved the pictures of the Trout I'm going to 1770 in May for a week I'm startin to twich already.
John

[Reefmaster]

Top stuff Rob
Looks like a good trip had by all. Great variety and good weather what more could you ask for. How many legal reds were caught overall? Love the colours on the trout. :D

Regards Greg

[Angla]

Looks like lots of quality fish in that group.

You take a good fish photo

Everyone was happy with the results i would guess.

Angla

[TIM-DONSELAAR]

good report and great pictures Macca #[smiley=thumbsup.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

cheers tim #:D

[Az]

the pics sure do the talking, weather looks fantastic you got lucky!!
Looks like a great feed and a lot of fun

[reef_king]

quality,quality,quality!!!! All those fish are beautiful specimans of what can be cuaght in more northern waters, love it. Sounds like eveyone had a ball, good pics and good report.

top stuff, ty

[isaac]

Onya Macca, some quality fish there, those trout look so delicious I could eat them raw ;D ben

[snappa]

:osh%%

a bigger and younger webby .... ;D ;D

[flickflack]

Top fish sounds like a great trip well done

[reeldreamer]

Some great fish there mate! Well done!

[Big_Ren]

All great quality fish there Macca. Ditto to what everyone else has said. Top effort.

Cheers
Paul :)

[Anne-T-Dote]

Thanks to everyone for your comments.

Ed - sounds like you know more about dinner at our place this weekend than I do - but whatever the plan is, I'm in... #;D #;D #;D - some trout on the barby sounds great.

I'll let Chrisso know you think he has nice teeth #;)

Good luck on your trip John - looking forward to your report. They were some NIIIICE fish you guys got out at the Banks last week - the hook in the finger certainly didn't look too good though - OUCH

Thanks Greg. We only got three legal Reds overall, but Geez there were literally dozens over 50cm and just shy of the mark. Luckily they decompress fairly well on the way up - they all went back in quite a healthy state.

The colours on the trout are thanks to a little trick the skipper had up his sleeve - something I never knew. He brain spiked them from inside the gill cavity and said "right, now watch it change colour". within about 10 seconds of being spiked it went from pale pink to bright red. Then he said "ok, NOW lets take ANOTHER photo" - We did - I'll post the before and after pics of the same fish...

Looking forward to your talk at the Tinnie and Tackle show on Sunday - I'll bring my father-in-law along too.

Ty, Have I met you before? Do your folks own an earthmoving company at Ormeau? Some awesome fish you guys got into out off DI.

Hey Ben, raw trout - now there's an idea # :P #:P #:P ... Ha ha - but thanks for the comments.

Pete, yeah the Webby certainly puts the weight behind the reel and puts the hurt on the fish #;D #;D #;D
I don't think he's any relation to Webby "blue bone" parrot master though.

Mitch - I see you'll be there on Sunday too - I'll keep my eyes out for you and say g'day.


Cheers,

Macca

[Anne-T-Dote]

A shot of one of the Trout before it was brain spiked

[Anne-T-Dote]

A shot of the same fish only 30 seconds or so later after it was brain spiked. I wonder whether this works with all species.

Greg, do you guys do this to your Reds?

[Wilson]

Great trip, interesting point on the brain spiking, in changing the colour of the fish do you reckon it also improve the quality of the fillets as well?

[Fixation]

Hey macca,

Great fish you got there. I've met neil (the skipper) a couple of times up there. He really knows the area back to front. Great fish. Everyone that goes out with them seems to do pretty well. Nice idea about the brain spiking. I'll have to give it a go sometime on some trout. Might catch you round the show on sunday. ;)

[agnes_jack]

Well done fellas!!
You picked some great weather there, best we've had for a while!!
Neil and Dave are top fella's and always seem to produce the goods.
Shame you didn't get to call in,maybe next time.

Way to go!!!!

Regards, Tony :D

[BeastMaster]

Well done Macca, I've booked a house at Agnes Waters for a week in Sept
I've never fished off 1770 before .Hopefully I'll get some decent weather too. I plan on getting out to Boult Reef together with a couple of other boats. Do I have to travel that far to get onto decent reefies - any advise on closer grounds / bait grounds would be most welcome.
Regards ,
Beast

[blownaway]

:)hello

[The_Bulge]

Beasty, no need to go 60/70 k's as there are plenty at the wides and Banana Banks. We cleaned up there last week when the weather wasn't blowing from #the north. We got trout up to 6 kilo on bait and mates got them to 10kilo on livies.

[agnes_jack]

Give me a yell when ya get in Beasty!!
I'll point you in the right direction ;)

Regards, Tony

[BeastMaster]

Hello Agnes Jack and Colonel Klink - thanks Guys I'll be in touch in September.

[jake_snapper_king]

nice ??????

wat bait u useing

[vanurose]

Amazing Macca
I am speechless after your report.
I have never seen a happier bunch of guys.
Also never seen a better bunch of quality fish
What else can I say, but AMAZING
Cheers
Rose

[adds31]

A good skipper and deckie combined with good weather and plenty of fish can make a trip a good one. Well done with some quality fish there.

Adds...