Last week, I did a trip out of Airlie Beach that had been in the pipeline for months. The plan was to take my boat (580 Haines Centre Cab) and a mates 40' Obrien gameboat to Bugatti Reef and also outside the reef to the jigging grounds. We fished the same region in September last year for great results and were keen for another round.
The trip got off to a rocky start, with a solid 20kt SE breeze whipping up a nasty chop. The 60nm run out to our first stop took nearly 5 hours! Ouch! Over the course of the 5 days out, we had a mix of crap weather to sensational, though more of the latter and less of the former
in the windy overcast conditions, it was tricky for us in the little Haines, not having the elevation to see the reef, but we got by and scored some decent fish on topwater gear. We got out twice to the jigging grounds and had different results each day. The first day, we hardly landed a fish! There was some serious toothy critters on the prowl and we got bitten off or buried in the reef time after time! My mate lost 13 jigs that day and I was probably the same. We did troll up a 15kg Spaniard that hardly fought. Weird.
The next day jigging was more successful with some nice trout, red throats and a solid GT coming aboard before we got smashed by a big squall.
The final day made the whole trip worthwhile though, with glamour weather and some great fishing. I scored 2 nice GTs in 2 casts at one point, and we had an awesome light tackle session in the shallows. We just drifted over the top of the reef for about 2 hours, casting small stickbaits. Red throats, trout, stripes, long toms, unidentifiable reefies etc etc were lining up for some action! Very cool, even though we did lose a few lures!
Overall, despite the challenging conditions at times, it was a Brilliant experience. While we did rely on the big boat for a few comforts and some guidance, we fished seperate ground and it was very satisfying to self guide some great fish. Well done me! Lol
i did some rough maths on the charts and reckon we travelled about 300nm in the 5 days plus fishing (going back for drifts, trolling ground etc). Total fuel burned was about 360-380l
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Originally Posted by scottar
