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
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