Our final day on the reef: Swimming with the Sharks

Our final day on the reef starts with the same weather we have seen for the last couple days, wind and swell. We got up nice and early to get a start on the reef chasing the dream of catching a grander but the twins opted for a dive first thing. We had anchored by a balmy (Coral Head) and the water was maybe 30 feet with great visibility all around the head and on top was maybe four feet deep. As they got into the water myself and the deckies didn't feel adventurous so we declined the invitation for the morning dive.
I sat patiently watching the twins swim around the coral head looking at the abundant sea life and snapping pictures when Dave's head popped up and said there was a big shark to the side of them.
They grouped together and started to swim back at the boat when in their words the 6 foot Black tip shark charged them never getting more that 6 feet from them but very agitated.
After hanging with the twins for several years they are very daring and when they told me the entire story I believed it 100%. For me I will stay land based or on top of the water surfing.
After their thrilling swim we headed off to fish bait for a while than off to the grounds outside the reef. We got our baits out and put the laser down the middle for any additional by catch that might be available. Within an hour we saw the laser rig go off and Dave landed a nice forty pound Yellow fin tuna, this was followed by a nice Dorado, then another Yellow fin in the same size range.
We fish towards afternoon knowing we had to get into Cook town by 4:00 pm and as luck has it we had a nice one up and actually had him on for a short time before losing him. This was our last shot for Bill fish and the reef adventure was coming to an end.
We raced to get into Cook town to catch our 5:05 pm flight and made it in with time to waste. If you are talking going back in time, this place hasn't see the changes that today's society brings.
John Cook used this port to fix his boat after he ran aground on the reef. He was there several months before the boat was ready to sail. The airport and plane reminded me of the earlier days of flying to the Bahamas on the east coast. It was definitely a roller coaster ride with some unique Carney operators. Once we landed in Cairns it was like being back in the home lands and we were off for a good pizza and some rest for our 16 hour flight home.
We visited the local stores and saw a couple friends prior to hitting the hay.
Its been a great trip and the opportunity to travel with some friends sharing the same interests has been really enjoyable. I look forward to visiting Australia next year.
Till my next blog. Hope all your fish are feisty ones.

Ben

Day Three on Ribbon Reef Number Four

Day three saw another day of 4 to 6 foot seas and 25 knots of wind. After a quick dive behind the reef we got to catching bait behind the reef. Our daily usage of bait is around 4 scads and usually a couple scaly mackerel or a tuna. The bait is abundant behind the reef which is caught on Halco Laser lures (rapala like lure) on a 665 loaded with 65 lb braid on a fairly stiff rod. Why the such a big set up for smaller bait fish? We learned why on the third day with several as they call them "Long Tail Tuna" which to us is a blue fin tuna. These fish were between 20 to 50 pounds and would smoke us on a regular bait rod with 30 lb. We ended catching a few on morning three and we used them for skip baits for our big bait. The boys run two rods on the outriggers, one with the small scad that is rigged to swim down and looks like its very much alive. The other rod is rigged with a bigger bait usually a scaly mackerel of 10 to 15 pounds or a long tail tuna up to 25 pounds. The Blacks do not have a problem eating the bigger baits, even a small male will get in and give it a try.
After the bait fishing we headed straight out to the reef where we find fish right on the outside of the reef to the outside fathom curves. Laurie was fired up on the #4 ribbon reef with many stories on thousand pound fish caught here and it didn't take long before we saw a small male in the baits that ate a bait and spit it before we even got to the rod. This was the beginning of a frustrating day of bites with no fish hooked. We saw one more bite on the scad and then had a couple fish in the baits just checking things out but no action. Interesting fact with the Black marlin is they turn black when they get charged up to bite versus the neon colors the Stripe or Blue marlin turn when they are excited.
David also caught a fifty plus pound Wahoo on the laser rig down the middle we troll for tunas or other type of baits swimming in the action zone. It was a beautiful fish but they are let go normally because there are tastier fish to eat. After a full day of fishing we ended up camping behind number 4 reef and busted out the gentleman jack and bundy for a great ending to our day of fishing. We ate a great dinner and cap it off with a good cigar ready to give our best effort for the last day.
I will fill you in on that outcome tomorrow.

Ben

Day Two on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Dave, Doug, and I had a phenomenal first day on the Lyndon Bank to start our Great Barrier fishing adventure catching a fish each and seeing other boats near by catching fish in the 900 and over range. We set up camp behind the reef that night and had a fantastic Laurie Wright dinner of Coral trout caught jigging in the afternoon by "Mr. Jigger" Douglas Nilsen. After dinner we shared some fish stories, imagine that, and hit the hay knowing the hunt for big fish was on.
Day two saw a different face on the Lyndon Bank with solid 4 to 8 foot seas and 20 knots of wind. After several passes over the bank we started heading north towards the ribbon reefs fishing opal and number one seeing two fish all day that followed the baits for a long period of time, never lighting up or charging the baits. For me it was a dream come true, spending all day sitting next to Laurie who has had hero status in my eyes as well as some of the top skippers in the world.
He was very thorough with his electronics as he fished all the high spots, focusing a majority of the time fishing the deeper troughs leading to the shallow water. If he saw a fish or we got a bite he focused on the area and boxed it in to see if there was more than one fish.
We spoke a lot about tackle and he was a major proponent for circle hooks with the health of the fish in mind, but so far we are 3 for 3 but I am still not sold. The bait rigging was very interesting and I spent a lot of time watching Dingo and Davo rig the scads and scaly mackerels with final outcome being the most realistic swimming dead baits I have seen.
The highlight of the day for me was Laurie's stories about the beginning of his career on the reef and his exploits in Hawaii, Mexico, and Bimini. Laurie is a wealth of knowledge with a variety of species targeted and caught throughout the world. Laurie and Peter B Wright are the last of the old time skippers on the reef and I feel very honored to being able to say that I know them and have shared time on the water with them. It will be interesting to see the next generation of skippers who are presently sharpening their teeth on the reef learning the ins and outs of catching granders plus innovating new bait rigging techniques.
I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings for us on the reef.

Ben

Accurate's first Day at the Lyndon Bank in Australia

We started our day waking up to fresh coffee and toast compliments of the Wrights watching the sunrise over the hills at their beautiful farm up on the table lands above Cairns, Australia.
After little work on the computer we were off to the boat where Dingo and Davo were awaiting our arrival to start our adventure on the reef. Once on the boat all the big tackle was thoroughly checked by the crew with 130 lb mono and a 400 pound top shot on both the ATD 130 reels that were matched to a pair of 180 unlimited custom rods that Laurie had since he started fishing the reef. If those rods could only talk, imagine the stories they could tell. They have been re wrapped several times and still look good to go. The boys scaled the drags on the ATD 130's with strike being about 60 lbs of drag. Whats interesting is talking with Laurie he rarely used more than 60 lbs of drag even on the biggest fish which is contradictory to what most guys say they are using. Its all about the boat driving and the ability of the crew coupled with the angler's ability. I believe that the combination of the these factors and of course the fish increases your percentages to land a big fish. It's like the stars are in alignment and something good happens. Preparation is the key to success with these guys. They know what to do and when to do it.
After all the preparation with the tackle we spent some time going over the cockpit process with the crew upon a fish being hooked and what needs to be done as it is leadered. Most leader guys want the reel in free spool click to avoid any injuries in case they need to let go of the leader during the process.
Once everyone was on the same page it was Doug who got the first shot which didn't take that long. We knew we had a afternoon tidal window and Laurie had a pretty good idea of where the fish would be. It really helps to be with someone that has spent three decades doing this and over 25 granders to his credit. The bite started around 2:30 pm with Douglas getting a feisty little male that put on the aerial display of the trip. The fish was around 175 lbs and jumped throughout the battle thinking he was more bird then fish. After a perfect wiring job by Davo and tag shot by Dingo the fish was off to his next opponent. Watching two really good wire men in the pit together operating on a fish is like watching two really good dancers knowing all the moves, these guys are the best.
Next up on the rod was yours truly, I got up on my perch to watch the baits and it didn't take long before I was hooked up to a 300 lb + fish taking me through the ropes and making me work for the line I retrieved. This fish fought down and only jumped a couple times but gave me another lesson that chair fishing is an art of its own. We got the fish in about 10 minutes and the circle hook came out on the leader before we could tag him. As the afternoon was coming to a close Dave Nilsen was up in the chair and again it didn't take long before he was hooked up to a 400 lb + fish that pulled hard and at one point almost took Dave swimming. This fish was the best of both worlds fighting hard down than coming up with a full aerial routine. It took Dave about 15 minutes but the fish was successfully leadered and tagged. On average to catch a fish for every day on the reef is about average. We kick started the trip with three fish in one afternoon from 175 to 400+ pounds and to tell you the truth are stoked beyond belief hoping that the numbers keep up. The boat driving skills of Laurie coupled with the boys deck ability gives us an added advantage to our catch rate.
I will have more on our Australian adventure tomorrow.

Till then.

Ben

Australia