Hi all
some mates and I and looking to book a trip to the swains, and the question about going to the coral sea instead has come up.
What would the benefits be of the coral sea over the swains?
are there any draw backs?
has anyone been to both?
where would you go and why?
thanks
rob
The Coral Sea? Now that is one huge stretch of water essentially south from NG to 30S and the Australian east coast out to New Caledonia, which part of the Coral Sea are you referring? In fact the Swains is in the Coral Sea but classified a little differently relative to the Coral Sea islands
Hi satnav.Originally Posted by SatNav
Happy to to take advice on any part.
Which parts have you fished.
The bottom end. Swains is close and gets a flogging these days but the place for things you can eat, reef fish mackerel etc. If you are more into things with teeth then you should go east, even beyond Saumarez to Frederick, Wreck, Cato etc. Depends on what you want to chase I suppose and for how long, Swains is an easy relaxing trip, the rest is a long way.
I visited Frederick with nomad in 2014, they haven't gone back since.(may do down the track) that is one remote place,500kms due east of mackay and not sure how else to get out there. There is a operation runs a boat out of Burnett Heads "Big Cat Reality" to places like wreck, saumarez, cato etc. bit closer than Frederick, looking to go with them later this year. Can book whole boat if enough nos. and customize your own trip, even to extent of taking your own boat on mother ship roof, limited to a size of course, or you can skipper there boats. Also did Lizard island to Bligh reef trip with Nomad last sept. Hard to pick one, depends a lot on what you want to catch and or keep, nothing comes back from Nomad but you can still target big reefies like trout, emperors etc on plastics not that id eat the trout we caught, some were up to 15kgs and probably full of cig. Then there is the big G.T. doggies and spanos and the rest. More options heading to swains as far as charter operations go, but agree with satnav east or even far northen coral sea is the place for big sport fish and big reefies too!!! Problem with east and north is cost start at min $1000 per day and go up from there and that doesn't include transfers if they depart from Cairns, Port Douglas or the like. For me I can fish 1770 or out side fraser within a couple hours travel and get a feed, so the remoteness and thrill getting there is the go for me. Maybe quite a few meetings with your mates at the local to decide are in order. GOOD LUCK!!
Been to the Coral Sea half a dozen times ( Marion, Wreck and Suamarez ) and the Swains about 15 or so on a number of boats ( Kanimbla, Big Cat Reality, Night Crossing and a few others that I can't remember ). We were fishing and spearing.
Nice clean water in the Coral Sea and lots of big fish.. Doggies, Wahoo, Jobbies and big trout but not so many that I would eat.
The Swains is more protected, cheaper to get to and you will come home with way more fish.
If you want trophies go to the Coral Sea but if you want a feed and a nice relaxed week then I would stick to the Swains.
Badone is on the money. Open ocean reefs like Marion etc are awesome to experience but very weather dependant. Swains more accessible and affordable. 60metres visibility and purple water crawling with all sorts of critters is pretty cool though! Just don't eat the big trout. Dogtooth sashimi though!....that's another thing entirely😋
I would definitely do the coral trip. I did a spearing trip to Holmes and Flora for a week, big fish but not many. It took us about 2 days to find the wahoo and doggies look for pressure points, current lines, ect to find fish. The biggest dogtooth we saw was about 60kg but very shy. Lost a few wahoo to sharks, millions of sharks. We didn't get many fish, but it was worth it. The coral sea reefs get a bit of fishing pressure these days. You will catch more fish fishing the swains and probably more fun and come home with a good feed, so many small reefs to fish. You can fish the swains any time. A Coral sea trip is a must, even if you one trip.
" I have come to understand that I really do enjoy learning things the hard way "
I haven't been to the Swains, but have done 2 trips to Flinders Reef in the Coral Sea. Flinders is without a doubt the most beautiful piece of water I've ever seen! The water is like air.
Hmm but the fishing... As mentioned above, definitely BIG fish, but they can be hard to track down and figure out. Both trips to Flinders we struggled to find much current at all and obviously that is the key. Flinders is like a huge lagoon with an outside hard edge. That outer line looks fishy as hell, but eventually we discovered the scattered bombies on the inside had the most action.
So, if you're a hard core sportfisho, go the coral sea, but if you just want a great trip, bringing home some nice fillets, sounds like Swains.
fruit salad is the new Bacon
Thanks alot everyone.
I have been to the swains before, and had a ball. Defiantly my kind of trip.
The lure of big doggies out at samurez and wreck ect certainly is there, but by the sounds of it the reef fishing lacks in comparison.
Thus would probably sway me back to the swains.
Have I taken the advice the right way?
cheers
Rob
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