Reply With QuoteGood stuff dom. Some cracking fish there. Nothing beats a good week of fishing.
That is one hell of a green jobfish. I bet he took some stopping.
Pazz
Australiana - Skipper was Micko (What a champion)
Saturday 4th (20kt south-westerly)
After leaving Brisbane around 4am it was a great trip up to Gladstone doing the trip in 5 1/2 hours. We met up with the rest of the crew and did a final trip to the local tackle store. You seem to always need one more thing. Loaded the boat about 2pm and got stuck into the cans. We pushed off about 4:30pm and then the rum came out. Not the smartest idea, though first night fever got all of us again. The trip out was in great weather and a relatively comfortable trip out to the Swains.
Sunday 5th (5kts Variable)
We were woken about 6pm, with the skipper saying we are going to do a few drifts in some deep water for a red. Most blokes were up and had started rigging up, and within minutes of being out of bed I had my line in the water. A steady flow of fish came aboard that day, including good trout, lippers, longnose, coral cod & Spanish. There was no outstanding fish for the day other then some nice strawberry trout hitting the decks around 3-4 kg. Most of the day was filled with long drifts in 30 - 80m of water. I did buy a couple of Tyrnos' for the trip, and I can tell you they are not fun in deep water. The high gearing was just too tuff when you a hauling up fish all day. I ended up going back to the TLD 25 for the remainder of the trip because the lower gear ratio made life a little easier.
Monday 6th (5 - 10kts Variable)
This was a very similar day to the previous day, doing many drifts over some great reefs in 30 - 80m of water. Again it was a steady inflow of trout and lippers, and a few Spanish on bottom rigs and balloons. Sharks didn't give us much trouble, though did see a 14ft tiger hang around the boat for a good 10mins. Weather was smashing, and it was so good to be out there. We had about 130 fish boated in the first 2 days. Also caught some great redthroat lippers at night on handlines that kept the boys entertained.
Tuesday 7th (15kts southerly - increasing to 25kts at night)
Tuesday morning started with a few drifts around the weather face of a nice reef, and again the fish came in nice and steady. Micko knew that the weather was going to get much worse, and wanted to do as much fishing in the big boat before the dory's came out and target the shallows of the reef for the remainder of the trip. Fished some nice deep water and got some nice Green Jobbies, lippers and bloody Chinaman. Though the elusive red was hard to find. That afternoon Mick put 2 dory boats in (14tf tinnies with 15 hp Yammies). They were a little under powered, though great for skipping along the shallows of the reefs or pulling a lure. All the young blokes on the boat wanted to chase Spaniards on the troll, and did we get some fish. We got 6 good macks ranging from 10 - 18 kg and all taken on halco 190's 2m drivers. The wind had really started to pick up in the afternoon with a "big high in the bite" pushing the big S/E up into QLD.
Wednesday 8th (20 - 30kts S/E)
The wind had really picked up by Wednesday morning, though hadn't dinted the spirit of the fisherman. We put the raincoats on and headed out for a morning of trolling lures and catching trout in the shallows. We headed out and within minutes was drenched. We caught 2 nice macks and one was destined for the BBQ lunch. After about 2 hours of trolling we headed to the reef drop-offs where we would anchor on the edge and burly like made. You wouldn't stay a spot for long, and normally 2-4 trout per spot and you move on. We caught about 20 trout between the 3 dories fishing. The skipper liked the dories to fish 2 sessions either side of lunch, and you couldn't go back earlier as the others on the boat were drifting and fishing. After lunch we moved to another reef, though in hind-sight it would have been better to stay put. The next reef we went to was much shallower and the fishing was much slower. The fish count went right down and fishing the dories was very frustrating. Quite night after a very tuff day. One consolation price was a small red that was caught off the boat. was just legal.
Thursday 9th (30 - 35kts S/E)
The wind was howling and fishing was hard. The morning session in the dories only saw 2 trout and a parrot boated. The big boat got a mixed bag, though the overall fish count wasn't improving. After the morning session Micko took all the young blokes spearfishing which was unreal. He got 4 big Cray's and missed a few trout. It was very exciting seeing him stalk the trout. The strong current made things a little hard, thought was a great afternoon. Most were a little upset with the weather and fish numbers for the previous 2 days, though Mick promised better things to come.
Friday 10th (20 - 25kts S/E)
The winds slowed a little that morning when we woke up and spirits were a little low being the last days fishing. We had put all the dorys away the night before and were up earlier for some more drifting. We motored to another reef and fished were the weather face met the smooth water. It has a nice drop-off there where the water went from 15m to 60m in a short drift. Over the next 2 hours the fishing was red hot. We only had till 12pm before the boat had to begin the slog home, so time was limited. We put 15 nice parrot in the boat in pretty quick time before one of the boys hooked up to a monster. The early calls were made for a 'red', and when a nice red popped out from the deep the crew were all pumped. After a few photos and congratulations to the lucky fisherman, all rods were back in the water. I will have to be honest and say I was jealous, and I was wishing a red would hammer my bait. After I landing a few more parrot I felt a bit of wait on my rod. I went to sink the hooks and lift when my rod doubled over the drag started peeling off.... With the tell-tale signs of head thumping I knew I was on to my first decent red emperor. The decky hit him with the gaff and an 8kg red hit the deck. This time there was no celebrating because time was against us and only time 2 more drifts. On the next drift one of the other boys landed the red of the trip weighing in a 11kg and was a cracking fish. Mick moved the boat up for one last crack at the reds, and you could have cut the tension in the air with a knife. I held my bait out of the water for a few extra minutes hoping the drift would allow me to drop my bait on the best part of the rubbly bottom. Sure enough, my bait wasn't even in the water 20 second when I felt - bump bump - and 2 cranks of the TLD and a massive rip I was on again. Two of us ended up catching reds on the last drift and both around the 9 -10 kg mark. Within seconds the skipper had the boat running at full speed heading home for the 14 hour trip home.
All in all it was a great trip. I nailed the fish I wanted and have some great fillets to show for it. I have been to the Swains twice now and would recommend the MV Australiana skippered by Mick anytime.
Cheers
Dom
Good stuff dom. Some cracking fish there. Nothing beats a good week of fishing.
That is one hell of a green jobfish. I bet he took some stopping.
Pazz
great report mate cant wait to one day do a swains trip , congrates on the reds you will be hooked on reds for life now .
wayne
top report and beaut photos
cheers swano
Great report - thanks for the read!
Yep, the swains for a week is a great place to be
Great report. I can't wait to get back up there next year. Thanks for reminding me how good it is up there.
Ken
That was an awesome trip and a great report to keep as all on our seats thanks for the pics and great write up
JT
VHF CHANNEL 21
CALL SIGN : JT OR SC552(social club member)
There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot
I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges
Up here we Use Hussar as baits for real RED FISHS (SHSIIFDER)
Hi to all those mad keen fishermen who have fished the Swains and those who would like to, I am trying to arrange a trip on the Australiana leaving Gladstone on the 1st May2010 for a week and I need another 5 guys as mad keen as myself, I regually fish the Swains with Mick on the Australiana and I always have a great trip. so if anybody would like more info on the trip please contact me at regy@ausfish .com.au
Good one Dom and boys!
nice reds, sure beats working
fishfreak
Sounds like a fantastic trip
Well done
Tony
"Out Quoting"
Cheers for the read and pics, some top fish.
Wal
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