Saturday, June 27, 2009
GREAT START TO THE WINTER LIGHT TACKLE FISHING
Excellent weather conditions with light winds and ideal water temperatures have provided great fishing days over the past couple of weeks with good numbers of sizeable Spanish mackerel, sailfish and juvenile black marlin now here.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
AN OFF SEASON UPDATE
FEB – APRIL 2009
February through to April is usually fairly quiet off Cairns, though moreso this year with the effect of the economic downturn – so nothing much to report locally over these months with a few days of light tackle fishing here and there. Always a great opportunity to head off on extended barramundi fishing trips in the Gulf!! Donna and I had a great camping/ barra trip with Laurie & Julie Wright, Darren Haydon & Laurie Woodbridge mid May.
I fished in Port Stephens, February/March for the Interclub Tournament on a private boat, the Diversion. Although the fishing wasn’t red hot, we still managed to catch a few and then I travelled over to Exmouth, WA to fish in the Gamex Tournament ……. my first experience fishing there with great expectations though unfortunately with several boat problems for the charter operator an experience easily forgotten. A great fishing destination nonetheless with many boats getting amongst them.
Looking forward to the winter fishing through June, July & August and am currently on an overnight light tackle charter directly off Cairns with anglers from Sydney.
February through to April is usually fairly quiet off Cairns, though moreso this year with the effect of the economic downturn – so nothing much to report locally over these months with a few days of light tackle fishing here and there. Always a great opportunity to head off on extended barramundi fishing trips in the Gulf!! Donna and I had a great camping/ barra trip with Laurie & Julie Wright, Darren Haydon & Laurie Woodbridge mid May.
I fished in Port Stephens, February/March for the Interclub Tournament on a private boat, the Diversion. Although the fishing wasn’t red hot, we still managed to catch a few and then I travelled over to Exmouth, WA to fish in the Gamex Tournament ……. my first experience fishing there with great expectations though unfortunately with several boat problems for the charter operator an experience easily forgotten. A great fishing destination nonetheless with many boats getting amongst them.
Looking forward to the winter fishing through June, July & August and am currently on an overnight light tackle charter directly off Cairns with anglers from Sydney.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
JANUARY ROUND UP
The blue marlin fishing has been consistent and has proved again why I think January is an excellent month for targeting them from Cairns. Fishing between 2 & 7 miles wide of the shelf in 500 to 1000 fathoms, we have been getting 1 to 2 bites a day from blue marlin between 100 & 300lbs. There has been alot of bait, huge schools of flying fish being chased by skip jacks, wahoo, dolphin fish and yellowfin tuna, followed closely by the blue marlin. A week ago we lost a 300lber after a short but entertaining fight and caught a juvenile the trip before estimated 100lbs. I have encountered blues to 700lbs at this time of year in the same areas so am hopeful of making some more trips out and getting a bite out of one of these bigger models.
I fished from Cooktown with some regular Japanese clients that just love popper fishing in the 2nd week of January. The fishing was awesome - lots of GT's, dogtooth tuna, redbass and coral trout, though the weather cut the trip short with very strong north westers and torrential rain.
February will find us fishing light to medium tackle for Spanish mackerel, dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna and sailfish and I will head to Port Stepehens mid month for a couple of weeks of striped marlin fishing.
I fished from Cooktown with some regular Japanese clients that just love popper fishing in the 2nd week of January. The fishing was awesome - lots of GT's, dogtooth tuna, redbass and coral trout, though the weather cut the trip short with very strong north westers and torrential rain.
February will find us fishing light to medium tackle for Spanish mackerel, dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna and sailfish and I will head to Port Stepehens mid month for a couple of weeks of striped marlin fishing.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
DECEMBER FISHING CONTINUES
The fishing is still going well from Cairns as it always does at this time of year. We had a trip out amongst the Tuna aggregation and caught 4 marlin from 10 bites over the 3 days, 3 blacks(700, 600, 250) 1 Blue(300) and lost a few others. More tunas than you can poke a stick at, all caught jigging with Bigeyes,1 over 100lbs, 1 over 90lbs and yellowfin,1 @ 80lbs. There were numerous schools 200 meters deep under the boat for as long as you wanted to catch them, with the kind of action which is hard to describe here. Awesome stuff!!!
Have also been doing some light tackle days catching mackerel, dolphin fish, bottom fish etc.
Am out marlin fishing on Monday, so hopefully some good reports to come.
Have also been doing some light tackle days catching mackerel, dolphin fish, bottom fish etc.
Am out marlin fishing on Monday, so hopefully some good reports to come.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
2008 SEASON WRAP UP
Another marlin season has come and gone with many highlights for the Top Shot.
I have just completed my final extended marlin charter for the season, with a few day trips ahead to take us through to Christmas.
It was a good season though had hard periods. It certainly wasn't the slowest I've ever seen. A similar season to last year but a year where there was no El Nino or La Nina which according to Dr Julian Pepperell's records, produce the exceptional fishing that have seen us catch 100 in a season.
One thing this year did provide was some exceptionally big fish for just about every boat that fished every month - Sept to Dec. Everyone has a tale of the monsters they saw, fought or caught and released.
Even on a quiet year, no place in the world comes close to Cairns. I think everyone expects us to have 100 fish seasons every year......
September and October fished well with consistent results for all charters with some really big fish caught.
Highlights for me were 2 great fish, one caught by Andrew Verner's group in September and one caught by Tim Roache during early October. These one's were of the XXL variety for first time anglers and a first marlin ever for Tim. Not sure how you follow on with starts like that.
Simon Atkinson's trip in the middle of October was a great time for us all with big fish encountered almost every day. At number 5 Ribbon Reef, we raised one, that in my mind was one of the biggest fish I've ever seen.... though we failed to get a bite out of it.
Overall, November was a tough month across the fleet. The first week looked promising where we satellite tagged a nice 800lber on Linden Bank. After this though the fishing became "challenging". It was a tough trip for Neil Riddel, Porky and Rick Pollock - though it was a pleasure to have guys onboard with such patience and a good understanding of the fishing.
There was good fishing to be had though 35 - 50 miles off the edge of the reef, weather permitting around the tuna aggregations - offshore in the Coral Sea.
I spent the last part of November fishing this area. Long 13 hour fishing days where you'd drift or hang on the parachute at night and start fishing from dawn till dusk.
We caught some great fish and lost a big one, with new ways to lose them .... getting tangled in long lines. We also caught small blue marlin, jigged some nice yellowfin tuna and boated a very large mako shark which was a hell off a battle in itself.
Early December trips saw us fishing offshore as well as on the edge around Linden Bank. We marked good fish consistently on the sounder though getting them to bite was a harder task. We satellite tagged another nice fish with the last charter of the season for Yogi and Hugo from Germany, estimated around 850lbs.
Both satellite tagged fish were in excellent condition, caught on circle hooks, short ten minute fights with excellent releases seeing the fish darting off strongly. It will be interesting to see the results and fingers crossed they retain the tags for the allotted times.
Overall we caught similar numbers to last year - 57 at this stage, with hopefully more to come before the New Year.
The Top Shot proved itself again to be an excellent game boat to fish from . Thanks to my crew (Brad & Pete) for all their hard work and to my clients (most of whom are regulars) for the great times and good laughs. It was another enjoyable season and I am already looking forward to next year.
I have just completed my final extended marlin charter for the season, with a few day trips ahead to take us through to Christmas.
It was a good season though had hard periods. It certainly wasn't the slowest I've ever seen. A similar season to last year but a year where there was no El Nino or La Nina which according to Dr Julian Pepperell's records, produce the exceptional fishing that have seen us catch 100 in a season.
One thing this year did provide was some exceptionally big fish for just about every boat that fished every month - Sept to Dec. Everyone has a tale of the monsters they saw, fought or caught and released.
Even on a quiet year, no place in the world comes close to Cairns. I think everyone expects us to have 100 fish seasons every year......
September and October fished well with consistent results for all charters with some really big fish caught.
Highlights for me were 2 great fish, one caught by Andrew Verner's group in September and one caught by Tim Roache during early October. These one's were of the XXL variety for first time anglers and a first marlin ever for Tim. Not sure how you follow on with starts like that.
Simon Atkinson's trip in the middle of October was a great time for us all with big fish encountered almost every day. At number 5 Ribbon Reef, we raised one, that in my mind was one of the biggest fish I've ever seen.... though we failed to get a bite out of it.
Overall, November was a tough month across the fleet. The first week looked promising where we satellite tagged a nice 800lber on Linden Bank. After this though the fishing became "challenging". It was a tough trip for Neil Riddel, Porky and Rick Pollock - though it was a pleasure to have guys onboard with such patience and a good understanding of the fishing.
There was good fishing to be had though 35 - 50 miles off the edge of the reef, weather permitting around the tuna aggregations - offshore in the Coral Sea.
I spent the last part of November fishing this area. Long 13 hour fishing days where you'd drift or hang on the parachute at night and start fishing from dawn till dusk.
We caught some great fish and lost a big one, with new ways to lose them .... getting tangled in long lines. We also caught small blue marlin, jigged some nice yellowfin tuna and boated a very large mako shark which was a hell off a battle in itself.
Early December trips saw us fishing offshore as well as on the edge around Linden Bank. We marked good fish consistently on the sounder though getting them to bite was a harder task. We satellite tagged another nice fish with the last charter of the season for Yogi and Hugo from Germany, estimated around 850lbs.
Both satellite tagged fish were in excellent condition, caught on circle hooks, short ten minute fights with excellent releases seeing the fish darting off strongly. It will be interesting to see the results and fingers crossed they retain the tags for the allotted times.
Overall we caught similar numbers to last year - 57 at this stage, with hopefully more to come before the New Year.
The Top Shot proved itself again to be an excellent game boat to fish from . Thanks to my crew (Brad & Pete) for all their hard work and to my clients (most of whom are regulars) for the great times and good laughs. It was another enjoyable season and I am already looking forward to next year.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON NOV 08
Another good trip had with John Boocock and the kiwis though it wasn't without it's frustrating times, where we were raising and seeing plenty of fish though struggling to get as many bites. We caught 3 for the 5 day trip with the highlight being an est 900lber caught at the final death as we were pulling in baits to head home on the last day of the charter. Currently fishing off Cairns at Lindenbank with local anglers Paul Campbell, Johnny Piccone and mates. Yesterday we satellite tagged an 800lber so look forward to seeing the results of that in the future.
Monday, October 27, 2008
LATEST FISHING - MARLIN SEASON OCT 08
Had a great trip with Simon, Steve, Sue and Howard. We caught 10 fish over the 10 days with 2 big fish - 1 est 850lb+ & 1 est 950-1050lbs. Saw a monster fish that we were unable to get to bite and over the past few days raised many smaller fish that weren't all interested in feeding too much - catching a few amongst them . Had some great action and got excellent footage. Heading out this morning with John Bookcock and fellow Kiwis, Justin and Murray. Looking to fish Escape Reef today and then South to Lindenbank off Cairns.
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