tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84838138108759212472024-03-13T12:45:22.518-07:00Booby Bird Charters - Gladstone, QueenslandWe run 7, 10 and 14 day charters from Gladstone, Queensland around the Great Barrier Reef sites of Swains Reef and the Capricorn Bunker Group. Join us onboard our comfortable, air-conditioned vessel for the trip of a lifetime.Booby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483813810875921247.post-85682355430766576582013-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:002013-09-01T21:16:06.198-07:00Ken Bourke’s 7 day trip to the Swains Reef - 24th July – 3rd August 2013<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
trip was fantastic as was the one we went on last year. The weather probably
not as good but the fishing just as good, which is why we are there after all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
must however compliment the crew on the boat. Greg, Kane, Josh and Swerve were
fantastic. Greg’s knowledge of the sea and of fishing is second to none in my
experience, Kane and Josh just couldn’t help each of us enough and Swerve’s
cooking and companionship was also great. No-one that was on our trip has said
anything negative about it but we have had plenty of good things said in the
post mortem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
particular, since I was the fool that injured myself by dropping a fish on my
leg (do you believe it), I must thank the crew for helping me out in that
circumstance. They simply dropped everything and made sure that the correct
action was taken and as a result I have had no problem at all with the leg
apart from leaving a few scars of course, which is not a bad thing because I
told everyone I was bitten by a shark and have got a fair bit of mileage out of
it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway,
thanks again for the trip. We intend to be in touch with you about another trip
next year so I will do some work on getting a team together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ken
Bourke</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Booby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483813810875921247.post-23928091231099405072013-09-01T21:12:00.000-07:002013-09-01T21:17:29.804-07:00Swains Reef - Awesome Time<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Kristy and the staff of the Booby
Bird,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just want to say what an awesome time
all 16 of us had on our trip from the 10th-17th August 2013 aboard the “Bird”
to Swains reef. Every one of us, aged between 19 through to 60+ said it was a
trip of a life time. From the moment we stepped on the boat we knew we were in
safe hands and that we were going to have some fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our living quarters were extremely
comfortable with good sized rooms and were all Air-conditioned, as us down south are
not as used to your beautiful winter weather (sunburn in august – not heard of
down here!!) To our crew Greg (the skipper), Swerve (the cook) and our two deckie’s
Kane and Josh we would all like to thank you so much.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You all went out of your way to make
our trip so memorable and enjoyable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greg always had us on the fish (whether
we were fishing or not!!) and the food Swerve served up was awesome (no one
complained of being hungry with whole trip). Our deckie’s Kane and Josh were
always willing to help with rigs and advice and were diligent in keeping the
boat clean and our fish filleted all with a laugh and a joke. Definitely our
crew mad our trip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So on behalf of all of us we thank you
all so much and will be telling all our mates that <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The bird is the word” Thankyou staff
of the Booby Bird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Oh p.s Swerve go the blues)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks Luke</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Booby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483813810875921247.post-76428814616103496082010-11-16T20:52:00.000-08:002010-11-16T21:29:43.709-08:00Spectacular CrewHi Guys,<br /><br />I thought I would send a quick note through to you, following my recent trip on MV BoobyBird.<br />This has been the forth long range trip I have done and this one was by far the best trip I have ever done.<br />It is a credit to the crew on MV BoobyBird.<br />The Skipper was great and while being sociable is not over-bearing, but does keep the motivation up. Something which stared to become lack-lustre toward the end of the trip.<br />He kept encouraging us and reminding us that the next week we would not be in that spectacular place.<br />All credit to him on the return trip too which was fairly hairy by all accounts.<br />The Dickie's were extraordinary, they were always smiling and joking. Nothing was to much for them especially when we returned with loads of fish, they were busy filleting and being bombarded with dozens of requests from returning divers and Spiro's.<br />The Dickie's were always accommodating and nothing was ever too much for them.<br />Last but by no means least the chief, he kept us well fed and there was little change of losing weight on our trip. The food was great and there was more than enough.<br /><br />Thank you for providing a great trip with a spectacular crew.<br /><br />Sent in by:<br />Mark KallmanBooby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483813810875921247.post-63074676815134965912010-07-07T17:31:00.000-07:002010-07-07T21:18:45.496-07:00A Trip To Remember 2010<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVNoHk-X1I/AAAAAAAAAE0/IYMLJinl9Fw/s1600/swains+2010+034.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491380672272424786" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVNoHk-X1I/AAAAAAAAAE0/IYMLJinl9Fw/s200/swains+2010+034.jpg" border="0" /></a>Saturday 12th June 2010,<br /><br /><div><div>At 10.00am, the word was out,''get to the boat,''</div><div>if we leave early we can arrive at the </div><div>good fishing grounds nice and early Sunday morning.</div><br /><div></div><div>The trip north was very smooth and with a couple of cold ones, </div><div>it made sleeping very easy.</div><br /><div>The few that were still asleep on arrival awoke to the sound of the anchor, </div><div>upon reaching the deck they found a couple of the guys had already </div><div>dropped a line over and were on straight away, </div><br /><div>Coral Trout the best flavour right off the bat!<br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDU0oZ02UVI/AAAAAAAAADc/nH9ughNuQjU/s1600/swains+2010+030.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491353189380149586" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDU0oZ02UVI/AAAAAAAAADc/nH9ughNuQjU/s200/swains+2010+030.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The skipper.''Dean'' had a knack of setting the anchor<br />right on top of the fish every time, knowing this, some </div><div>of the older guys didn't even leave the </div><div>Booby Bird(mother ship)all week.</div><br /><div>The night time fishing was well worth our while, <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVMAaQYZSI/AAAAAAAAAEs/O71ssi0_fMk/s1600/swains+2010+031.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491378890579928354" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVMAaQYZSI/AAAAAAAAAEs/O71ssi0_fMk/s200/swains+2010+031.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>some finding it hard to drag themselves off to bed.</div><br /><div>Friday 23rd June was glassed out,the real Queensland weather</div><div>''beautiful one day perfect the next'', </div><div>one more fishing session before we headed back to Gladstone.</div><div>We all knew we had to be back to the mother ship by 12 noon, </div><div>but it was extremely hard to leave the fish that were biting, </div><div>some guys could not stop!</div><br /><div>The most fish caught were Coral Trout and Spanish Mackerel .</div><div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVG3QTVKMI/AAAAAAAAAEc/fvfz6B1aOx4/s1600/swains+2010+038.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491373235730983106" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVG3QTVKMI/AAAAAAAAAEc/fvfz6B1aOx4/s200/swains+2010+038.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>The weeks winners were:<br /><br /></div><ul><li>Rod Curl with a 26.6kg Spanish Mackerel</li><br /><br /><li>Daniel Piercy with a 10.6kg Red Emperor & 1.8kg Parrot fish</li><br /><br /><li>Scott MC Kay with a 3.8kg Coral Trout</li><br /><br /><li>Tory Blay with a 2.9kg Sweet Lip</li><br /><br /><li>Rob Scrivener with a 2.88kg Spangled Emperor</li><br /><br /><li>Tim Blay with a 0.8kg Cod</li></ul><div>Steadfast Structures donated a,''Champion Anglers Jacket'' </div><div>which went to:</div><div>Tim Blay of Coff's Harbour with 156 points, </div><div>closely followed by Darren Piercy of Canberra with 144 points.</div><div>Young 12 year old Jacob Blay from Coff's Harbour came 6th with 110 points</div><div>(normally gives his dad Tim a good run for his money).</div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVErmS2P0I/AAAAAAAAAEU/7nH8xj6m8L8/s1600/swains+2010+043.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491370836452851522" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVErmS2P0I/AAAAAAAAAEU/7nH8xj6m8L8/s200/swains+2010+043.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Steadfast Structures also donated the,''Heaviest Fish Jacket'' won by:</div><div>Rod Curl for his Spanish Mackerel.</div><br /><div>The stand out fish for the week being Daniel Piercys </div><div>10.6kg Red Emperor and he got the,''Red Emperor perpetual Trophy''</div><div>donated by Bob & Sheryl Southwell.</div><br /><br /><div><br />We also had 3 speros,''Mick, Sav and Tory'' if they had entered their fish in our fun competition, it would have given the comp a good nudge, not to mention the feed of crayfish they supplied us with, that was cause for lots of thanks to the fella's!</div><div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVJdpUx9hI/AAAAAAAAAEk/6vRxSWLsp20/s1600/swains+2010+039.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491376094306235922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVJdpUx9hI/AAAAAAAAAEk/6vRxSWLsp20/s200/swains+2010+039.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>The trip on board the Booby Bird was one to remember, Stuart & Bunny must be very proud of their crew, Dean(Skipper), Fabian(Cook), Derick & Rohan(Dickie's). These four guys are a credit to the boat and the owners, they made our trip a memorable week of fishing, also hooking the new guys with thoughts for next year.</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVCyTHmXOI/AAAAAAAAAEE/delLvjoSybc/s1600/swains+2010+033.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491368752541228258" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/TDVCyTHmXOI/AAAAAAAAAEE/delLvjoSybc/s200/swains+2010+033.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thank you to the Booby Bird owners and Crew, your help and efforts were truly remarkable.</div><br /><div>Cheers for now,</div><br /><div>Written by: Mick Toovey</div><div></div><div>Photos by : Mick Toovey<br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Booby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483813810875921247.post-6101038454000513542010-01-18T18:08:00.000-08:002010-01-19T18:44:51.108-08:00Swains Trip 2009<span style="font-family:Courier New;">It was that time of the year again,</span> <span style="font-family:Courier New;">our annual pilgrimage north to Gladstone </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">to board the MV Booby Bird and embark on </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">an epic week long adventure to Swains Reef,<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-t6hjQ9I/AAAAAAAAACs/URTqKcS1BfU/s1600-h/P1000640.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428313884390015954" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-t6hjQ9I/AAAAAAAAACs/URTqKcS1BfU/s200/P1000640.JPG" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">260km North East from land!</span> <span style="font-family:Courier New;">The Swain Reef group has such a diversity </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">of different reef fishing environments that</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">is a huge learning curve on how, when and </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">where to fish at each stop off point. </span><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Each reef may fish differently to the next </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">and work at different ends or entrances at </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">certain stages of the tide. That is why it </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">is important to pick your skipper and deckhands </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">brains prior to setting off </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">each morning in you tinny.</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Try to follow the experienced angler in your </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">group who has been fishing the same area before. </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Fishing from the big boat is great, but dory </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">fishing </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">is so much more flexible. </span></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">The Booby Bird has six Sea Jay 4.2m tinnies</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">that are your best friend over the six days</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">of solid morning and afternoon fishingsessions. </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">You can anchor off the edge of </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">the reef or drift</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">fishdepending on the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">conditions and fish feeding activity.</span> <span style="font-family:Courier New;">This year we fished the NW edge of the Swains, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">spending themajority of the trip </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">at Herald's Prong Number2 reef which </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">ended upbeing great fishing as the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">reef is very exposed.</span></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">The first two days saw us </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">experiencing beautiful light winds, <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-uJzOZ9I/AAAAAAAAAC0/faLDiexnHwU/s1600-h/P1000641.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428313888490678226" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-uJzOZ9I/AAAAAAAAAC0/faLDiexnHwU/s200/P1000641.JPG" border="0" /></a></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">so we fished the deeper waters which hadn't </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">already been hammered by Coral trout Pros's.</span> <span style="font-family:Courier New;">Midway through the week the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">North Easterlies blew up to 20 plus knots, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">which when combined with the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Strong currents due to the changing tides, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">makes for uncomfortable fishing. </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Wind swells kicked up also when the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">current and the wind were heading in </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">opposite directions, meaning at times </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">you felt as though the boat was surfing </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">over hot fishing spots rather than drifting </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">slowly over the bite zone.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">My aim was to tick all the boxes and </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">win the trifecta of Coral Trout, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Mackerel and Red Emperor this year </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">and it would be even better to get </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">something really big! I also had to </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">do my best to out fish, outwit and </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">outlast the old man! The weather conditions </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">at times tested me, but I was more than </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">prepared for whatever the fish were </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">going to put me through.</span> <span style="font-family:Courier New;">Although there were a few quality </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">fish caught at anchor, Dad and I </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">preferred to drift around with a large </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">sea anchor out to slow us down. While </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">drifting we were able to cover much </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">more water and never knew what we could </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">stumble across. </span></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">We generally concentrated on the zones </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">where the water was flowing off the reef </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">as this same principle is used in </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">estuary and local reef fishing </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">to predict the best feeding areas.</span> <span style="font-family:Courier New;">I trolled lures between each drift </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">period which was a little repetitive </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">and slow to take off but eventually </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I pulled in a one meter plus Spanish </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Mackerel and several Sharky Mackerel. </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">The lure producing the best results <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-uh_fmsI/AAAAAAAAAC8/MKUi7UlR968/s1600-h/P1000653.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428313894984587970" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-uh_fmsI/AAAAAAAAAC8/MKUi7UlR968/s200/P1000653.JPG" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">ended up being the Citer Metal Bibbed </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Wooden Minnow!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">On the last day we decided to troll </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">along the edge of the reef using Fire </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">stick mungo baits and landed four </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">beautiful Coral Trout, a number </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">of Gold Spotted Trivially and I </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">lost a massive GT which almost </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">cost me my rod when it took off </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">like a steamtrain towards the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">shallower reef.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">By the time the final day had rolled </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">and we were dividing out the catch, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">realized I had actually won the </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Superfecta so to speak. If you pick </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">the four horses that win a race, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">you win a Superfecta and I managed </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">to do just that on this trip to </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">the Swains with my Coral Trout, Red Emperor, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Cobbia and Mackerel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Just as a final note, </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I observed some passengers this trip </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">take half a tackle shop on board with </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">them and it surely took them as long </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">to unpack as it took to drive hone from Gladstone.</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">So detailed below is my essential </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">tackle box and rod/reel combo </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">recommendation for a 2010 trip!</span><br /></div><br /><br /><ul><br /><li>60LB and 80 LB sure catch leader - 100m of each</li><li>No.2,3,4 and 5 barrel sinkers -25 of each</li><li>5/0 and 6/0 4200d mustad hooks -50 of each</li><li>Citer wooden minnows(metal bibbed)</li><li>Berkley fire stick mungo bait lures<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-tQxbDcI/AAAAAAAAACk/jc6M9G7Faj0/s1600-h/P1000615.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428313873182297538" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/S1U-tQxbDcI/AAAAAAAAACk/jc6M9G7Faj0/s200/P1000615.JPG" border="0" /></a>Slam bait 5 inch soft plastics in a variety of colours</li><li>Berkley 1/2 oz x 5/0 heavy duty jig heads</li><li>Wilson's silver texalium live fibre rod(6ft) in 10-15kg range coupled with an okuma MS45CS mag system reel and spooled with sure catch ecofibre 50LB PE braid in Hi Vis</li></ul><span style="font-family:courier new;">Other things to consider taking include:</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Boga grips to handle toothy fish</li><li>A multipurpose set of large pliers that can open and close hook eyes </li><li>A sharp knife</li><li>A pair of gloves to handle fish</li></ul><p><span style="font-family:courier new;">Hopefully this gives anybody who is </span><span style="font-family:courier new;">going to the Swains in the future a </span><span style="font-family:courier new;">rough idea of what kind of gear you should need before heading out. I've only been back home since Saturday afternoon and my wife is going to cringe when she finds out that I'm already looking forward to next years trip!</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Written by: Mark Planck - Swan Boat Hire, Maroochydore.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><a href="mailto:mark@swanboathire.com.au">mark@swanboathire.com.au</a></span></p>Booby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483813810875921247.post-46513018951738051222009-06-17T20:26:00.000-07:002009-06-17T21:56:04.570-07:00Bob's annual fishing tripJust a little note on our annual fishing trip to the Swains Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHVnkX80I/AAAAAAAAABk/imWQZdUcFOM/s1600-h/Picture+036.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348525206691902274" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHVnkX80I/AAAAAAAAABk/imWQZdUcFOM/s200/Picture+036.jpg" border="0" /></a>After travelling to the Port of Gladstone in Central Queensland, from the Sunshine Coast, We headed to sea on board the MV. Booby Bird, around 3pm Saturday afternoon the 1st of November. Our destination is a group of reefs on the outer edge of the GBR, 135 Nm. North-east of Gladstone, 21deg. 52’28,S. 152deg. 27’37.E. about 16 to 18 hours of over night steaming.<br /><br />On clearing the harbour heads and turning north-east, into the open waters of the SW Coral Sea, we knew that we were going to have a comfortable trip. The wind was about 5-8 knots of afternoon sea breeze and the ocean had around 2 foot of wind slop on it. The forecast for the following week was for more of the same. The prediction of perfect weather, for the week, came true. We had 15 knots one night and that dropped out from daylight on. That was our “Bad Weather” for the week. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHVEfRlDI/AAAAAAAAABU/x66kmUwNBYU/s1600-h/Picture+013.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348525197275272242" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHVEfRlDI/AAAAAAAAABU/x66kmUwNBYU/s200/Picture+013.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnELnBnFfI/AAAAAAAAAA0/eR4JXSN1ALc/s1600-h/Picture+013.jpg"></a><br />Daylight saw us entering the Swain Reefs and we keep travelling till around 9am. The skipper, Captain Dean Grose , decided that we should try a bit of deep water drift fishing, with the wind and swell being all most non-existent, the conditions were in our favour. We were hoping to find ourselves being stretched and getting braid burns of the thumb by a few big Red Emperor, Lutjanus Sebae or Coral Trout, Plectropomus Leopardus. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnDyhDwQVI/AAAAAAAAAAs/jIdCnET8_Rk/s1600-h/Picture+013.jpg"></a><br /><br />There is usually a bit of a competition between some of us, (Yeh, the ego’s don’t fade with age.) as to who lands the first and biggest Coral Trout for the trip. Mate, we had a ball. The big Reds were there, but the fish were too good for some of the boys. They found out all about their fishing gear in that first hour or two. The knots were not up to standard, that fishing reel, on special, was a heap of junk, it died on the first fish, and the excuses kept coming thick and fast. Some of the blokes hadn’t had a line in the water for many months and it takes a day or more to get tuned into the fishing on the Great Barrier Reef. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHVblU0rI/AAAAAAAAABc/HjBofqk4IpM/s1600-h/Picture+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348525203474666162" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHVblU0rI/AAAAAAAAABc/HjBofqk4IpM/s200/Picture+017.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnFuwIUQkI/AAAAAAAAAA8/uXwrcHJfx4o/s1600-h/Bob.jpg"></a><br /><br />On the trip out I handed out a few Pre-Venters, to the Skipper and Deckhands, and to the other fellows on the trip. ( A Pre-venter is a tool that safely deflates the inflated abdominal cavity, swim bladder, of reef fish. The Pre-Vent Tools were sent to me from Jeff Strane from Team Marine in Tampa, Florida USA.<br /><br />We went through the instructions and spoke about the benefits of venting fish prior to releasing the ones we did not want to add to the freezer. Some of us have been tagging and releasing fish for the last 20 odd years and can see the beliefs and theories to venting fish prior to releasing them. We have a boat policy on our trips that if you have to measure a fish, to see if it is of legal size, then it goes back. I like to see fish at least 50mm, longer than the minimum and I also like to release the larger of the species… These are the breeders, the future to our fishing enjoyment. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHU8pvH2I/AAAAAAAAABM/p74hLN0b5eU/s1600-h/Paul+Coral+Trout+Sw.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348525195171667810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 155px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHU8pvH2I/AAAAAAAAABM/p74hLN0b5eU/s200/Paul+Coral+Trout+Sw.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />By day three, the Pre-Venters had been used by all of us fishing in the tinnies/dories or on the back deck of the Bird, and the remarks about the Pre-Venting Tools were similar. “You could see the stomach deflate, and hear it. ““The fish didn’t labour in their swimming action getting back to the safety of the reef. “ “The safety in the design of the Venter made it easy to use. No need to worry about sticking the bloody needle in your fingers or hand.”“After using the venters and watching the way the fish get back to the reef, it makes sense.” <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHbxvv8wI/AAAAAAAAABs/dUp3u8AJJSI/s1600-h/Red+Emperor.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348525312503182082" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHbxvv8wI/AAAAAAAAABs/dUp3u8AJJSI/s200/Red+Emperor.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One of our deckies …“It would be good to see all fishoes getting into venting, should be one in every tackle box.” All of the crew agreed that Venting will be part of the routine on future trips before releasing the undersized or not wanted fish. The charter boat crews and operators have a very good understanding of the need to protect and help in the sustainability of fish stocks on the GBR.<br /><br />Out of the 3 models we used, no body had a preference as to which one that they wanted to use.My fishing mate, Bryan, and I did a few tests with a couple of the smaller Sweet-lip and other Reefies, that we caught at the same time. We vented only one, and then, let them both go together. The vented one was well on it’s way back to the reef, about 20 metres down, and it’s mate was still in mid water. With the visibility of the water, it was easy to watch the larger fish, we released, all the way to the bottom. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHU3xhPhI/AAAAAAAAABE/ewaKCysimww/s1600-h/Bob.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348525193862135314" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 155px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mP4OE58NByI/SjnHU3xhPhI/AAAAAAAAABE/ewaKCysimww/s200/Bob.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Well, the rest of the week went much the same, Good Weather, Good Fishing, Good Food, Good Crew, Good Laughs, Good Bunch of Blokes, Good Week… Where the Bloody Hell were U ??? Only one complaint for the trip, “ Bob, can’t you F*#~’n organize a couple of extra days in the week ? ” Guess there’s one whinger in every group, ah…<br /><br />Sea U Mate…<br /><br />Bob, Buderim, Sunshine CoastBooby Bird Chartershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15652312949121811246noreply@blogger.com0