poddy mullet
01-10-2009, 07:59 PM
A group of local sports fishing enthusiasts ventured to Darwin over the last week and used the scenic city as a base for six days of venturing out to various fishing locations to tangle with a variety of sought after game fish.
Hosted by Darwin Reef n Wrecks, Brendan Crowly, Mick O’Neil, Byron Hutchison, Matt Craft, Ray Wykes, Ted Mortimer, John Dewar, Brett Chandler, Mark Brown and the author boarded the 55 foot Jan Lee and steamed through the night to reach the top of the Tiwi Islands. Consisting of Bathurst and Melville Islands, the Tiwi’s are situated 80 kilometres to the north of Darwin and are acclaimed for their Aboriginal culture, warm hospitality, and of course, fishing!
After a hearty breakfast, it was lines down, and it wasn’t long before the action started. Our skipper Travis gave us a quick lesson in what to look for on the boats state of the art fish finder and depth sounder, in the hope of locating the plentiful holdings of big Jewfish that the area is increasingly famous for.
Fishing with 80 pound braided line, overhead reels and heavy mono leader, John Dewar set the standard early and had us all reaching for the camera as he was hooked up solidly to an unknown creature of the deep that headed for Timor as soon as it took the bait. After three blistering runs and some high paced power full lunges at the reef, John slid the rod back in the holder and posed for a photo with a 10 kg (22 pound) Jewfish that had everyone’s jaw on the deck and smiles all round. The next hour and a half saw around 13 Jewies come on board, which were well in excess of 1 metre in length and would have given the 30lb mark a nudge.
Brett Chandler didn’t know how he could have done any thing different to stop one massive fish that took him around, and then under the boat, before clean snapping the 80 pound braid. The disappointment didn’t last long at all, as Jason our deckie passed him another pre- rigged rod which Brett re baited and lobbed over the side. All of 20 seconds later he was into another solid fish, which he battled with for five to ten minuets before it surfaced. The result was yet another simply amazing10kg plus Jewie.
After all having our arms stretched a little, and filling our cameras with pictures usually only seen inside the glossy pro-reserved pages of salt water fishing magazines, we changed locations and our target species of Golden Snapper. Targeting steep cliff-like underwater walls, the Goldies were on the bite as well, and we managed 47 fish averaging around 3-4kg in a just over 40 minutes. It was a memorable session that won’t be forgotten for a long time by all on board!
To finish off the day, out came the big game gear, as we decided to try our luck with some of the biggest and hardest running fish in the ocean by trolling teasers, skip baits, poppers and skirted lures. With the warm glow of the sun setting, and a great feeling of a successful day’s fishing under our belts, we couldn’t believe our luck when the ‘shotgun’ rod located directly in the centre of the deck began kicking and bucking with line flying off the reel at an alarming rate of knots.
It was action stations for all on deck, as the five remaining trolling rods were wound in frantically to avoid a tangle, and the long string of teaser baits cranked in as fast as could be. Brendan Crowley had the rod in hand and began to try and win back some line, as the fish had taken almost 200 metres in its first run. With half of the group watching from the fly bridge, and the others down by the angler’s side, a gasp of disbelief came out from all on board as we saw what we had on the end of the line for the first time. A massive Sailfish emerged 200 metres behind the boat and took a magnificent leap in an attempt to throw the lure and escape. The constant to-ing and fro-ing of a typical big bill fish battle then began, as Brendan would win line, only to have it taken straight back off the reel just as quickly, as the sun dipped below the water line and darkness set in. With the angler fighting fatigue and cramping of his back muscles, an hour and a half later it was time to bring the sailfish on board. Our skipper Travis expertly positioned himself with our deckhand Jason, and wrapped the leader quickly around his gloved hand before whipping the Sailfish on board in one quick movement.
A cheer was let out by all and camera flashes lit up the night sky, as what we had just achieved sunk in! The running deck hose was placed in the sailie’s mouth to ensure its survival as we lifted it for some quick photos before placing it back in the water and putting the boat in gear to get the big fish swimming again. After a few moments the fish kicked hard and swam off as we all cheered, shook hands, and high fived all round! The Sailfish, estimated to be 70 kg plus (154 pounds) was the biggest our skipper had ever seen, as he had only seen them at around half that size in the surrounding waters until now.
Later that night we enjoyed a reef and beef dinner made up of some of the day’s catch, which capped off a fantastic day’s fishing that will be pretty hard to ever forget!
Thanks to the team at Darwin Reef n Wrecks for a memorable charter. For more information on how to book your DARWIN sports fishing experience call Matt Hansen on 0427 454 357.
Hosted by Darwin Reef n Wrecks, Brendan Crowly, Mick O’Neil, Byron Hutchison, Matt Craft, Ray Wykes, Ted Mortimer, John Dewar, Brett Chandler, Mark Brown and the author boarded the 55 foot Jan Lee and steamed through the night to reach the top of the Tiwi Islands. Consisting of Bathurst and Melville Islands, the Tiwi’s are situated 80 kilometres to the north of Darwin and are acclaimed for their Aboriginal culture, warm hospitality, and of course, fishing!
After a hearty breakfast, it was lines down, and it wasn’t long before the action started. Our skipper Travis gave us a quick lesson in what to look for on the boats state of the art fish finder and depth sounder, in the hope of locating the plentiful holdings of big Jewfish that the area is increasingly famous for.
Fishing with 80 pound braided line, overhead reels and heavy mono leader, John Dewar set the standard early and had us all reaching for the camera as he was hooked up solidly to an unknown creature of the deep that headed for Timor as soon as it took the bait. After three blistering runs and some high paced power full lunges at the reef, John slid the rod back in the holder and posed for a photo with a 10 kg (22 pound) Jewfish that had everyone’s jaw on the deck and smiles all round. The next hour and a half saw around 13 Jewies come on board, which were well in excess of 1 metre in length and would have given the 30lb mark a nudge.
Brett Chandler didn’t know how he could have done any thing different to stop one massive fish that took him around, and then under the boat, before clean snapping the 80 pound braid. The disappointment didn’t last long at all, as Jason our deckie passed him another pre- rigged rod which Brett re baited and lobbed over the side. All of 20 seconds later he was into another solid fish, which he battled with for five to ten minuets before it surfaced. The result was yet another simply amazing10kg plus Jewie.
After all having our arms stretched a little, and filling our cameras with pictures usually only seen inside the glossy pro-reserved pages of salt water fishing magazines, we changed locations and our target species of Golden Snapper. Targeting steep cliff-like underwater walls, the Goldies were on the bite as well, and we managed 47 fish averaging around 3-4kg in a just over 40 minutes. It was a memorable session that won’t be forgotten for a long time by all on board!
To finish off the day, out came the big game gear, as we decided to try our luck with some of the biggest and hardest running fish in the ocean by trolling teasers, skip baits, poppers and skirted lures. With the warm glow of the sun setting, and a great feeling of a successful day’s fishing under our belts, we couldn’t believe our luck when the ‘shotgun’ rod located directly in the centre of the deck began kicking and bucking with line flying off the reel at an alarming rate of knots.
It was action stations for all on deck, as the five remaining trolling rods were wound in frantically to avoid a tangle, and the long string of teaser baits cranked in as fast as could be. Brendan Crowley had the rod in hand and began to try and win back some line, as the fish had taken almost 200 metres in its first run. With half of the group watching from the fly bridge, and the others down by the angler’s side, a gasp of disbelief came out from all on board as we saw what we had on the end of the line for the first time. A massive Sailfish emerged 200 metres behind the boat and took a magnificent leap in an attempt to throw the lure and escape. The constant to-ing and fro-ing of a typical big bill fish battle then began, as Brendan would win line, only to have it taken straight back off the reel just as quickly, as the sun dipped below the water line and darkness set in. With the angler fighting fatigue and cramping of his back muscles, an hour and a half later it was time to bring the sailfish on board. Our skipper Travis expertly positioned himself with our deckhand Jason, and wrapped the leader quickly around his gloved hand before whipping the Sailfish on board in one quick movement.
A cheer was let out by all and camera flashes lit up the night sky, as what we had just achieved sunk in! The running deck hose was placed in the sailie’s mouth to ensure its survival as we lifted it for some quick photos before placing it back in the water and putting the boat in gear to get the big fish swimming again. After a few moments the fish kicked hard and swam off as we all cheered, shook hands, and high fived all round! The Sailfish, estimated to be 70 kg plus (154 pounds) was the biggest our skipper had ever seen, as he had only seen them at around half that size in the surrounding waters until now.
Later that night we enjoyed a reef and beef dinner made up of some of the day’s catch, which capped off a fantastic day’s fishing that will be pretty hard to ever forget!
Thanks to the team at Darwin Reef n Wrecks for a memorable charter. For more information on how to book your DARWIN sports fishing experience call Matt Hansen on 0427 454 357.