Offshore Double Island. What a start to 2005

[krtazy]

reefmaster how far is the shelf from di

[Reefmaster]

Kratzy
The shelf is 60-65km from DI Point. In some areas the shelf drops away pretty slowly but in other spots its looks pretty impressive on the sounder.
Cheers Greg

[Maria]

Hey Greg,

First up Happy New Year to you and your family. Mate, if those are the lesser quality pics, I can't wait for the next issue of Bush n Beach to see the "good" photos. Those fish are simply unbelievable. Hard to fathom how the fishing can just be so good up there.

Anyone after a decky? ???

Good stuff mate.

Regards

Ben

[Reefmaster]

Ben
Happy New Year to you aswell mate
Dont me wrong mate the fishing can be slow at times but when you have have spent so much time in an area you tend to get alot of spots which gives you alot better chance at pulling nice fish consistantly. What i think is great about DI is the variety as you dont know what you could pull up next.

Cheers Greg

[krtazy]

thanks reefmaster i mainly gamefish but am keen to get down that way and try some red marks of my own. keep up the good reports mate they are always enjoyable to read.

adam

[dfox]

Im back, and ready to hit some serious reds greg! Great to see ya did so well, i dont like feeding the sharks on them to much mate. especially the big ones catch ya...foxy

[Anne-T-Dote]

Greg,

Mate, what can I say. I'm only new to this site but have been reading posts for some months. I've just written a reply to foxy's post along the same lines, but I reckon you and he probably each land more fish of good quality than everyone I know put together. Oh to be able to consistently perform like that.... [smiley=confused.gif]

Good on you mate. Keep the good stuff comin - makes for great reading

Macca

[Reefmaster]

Macca
Thanks for the kind words mate. Good fish is the rewards for alot of effort, time and abit of thinking. Anyone can do it and sometimes a change in thought is all thats needed to become a better fisherman. No matter where i fish i try my hardest to think and produce that qaulity fish and stay consistant. People think i dont get excited about catching fish no more but the truth is im like anybody and still love my fishing even if its catching bream/whiting to catching big reefies and pelagics. I hope i can continue bringing good reports and pics for many years to come although i appoligise to people who dont read BushnBeach as i dont write any info and show the dodger pics as i need that for the mag.

Cheers Greg

[dfox]

Welcome macca, just looking at your avta, there must be a good story about that giant mate!! catch ya foxy

[dingodean69]

hay reefmaster can we get a pic of the gps screen as well as the sounder
dean

[Anne-T-Dote]

Greg, I hear you big time on the issue of having to be always thinking about different techniques and trying something new - especially on those days when the bite is just not happening. I have a mate like that, he can just keep trying and trying, changing techniques, persisting to the death and won't give up until he reaches a point of success. Needless to say he does very well. But he mainly fishes estuaries, bays, and freshwater. He doesn't really venture offshore which is where my main interests lie at the moment.

I have certainly tried a bit of this offshore, but it just doesn't seem to work for me like it does for him. Mind you, I've only been venturing offshore for nearly 2 years now (other than on charters previously). All my fishing before that has been estuary, Moreton Bay etc. So I'm a bit "green behind the ears", but trust me, I'll keep on tryin.

Foxy, yeah - a bit of luck for me there mate (I had a good skipper), but I'm not complaining. It was while on a charter with the well reknown skipper of North Qld, Jim Dalling, on his old boat "ORCA" off Townsville near Davies Reef in 1998. As I understand he now operates out of Port Hinchenbrook (I think?? - I saw an episode of ESCAPE WITH ET and I'm pretty sure ET used him as his guide one trip up north). He is a legend... The best charter operater I've ever been out with.

Heading to Stanage Bay the week after next, so wish me luck... Hopefully will be able to post my first ever report after that trip.

Later,

Macca.

[Smithy]

Jim is now skippering "Reel Chase" for an owner whilst "Orca" was his. Jim is a real gentleman of the sport and a top fisherman to boot. You only have to look at the GFAA and ANSA record charts to see how many great fish he has been involved with and how many of the records are actually held by his wife Anne. Check out his website http://www.reelchase.com/ Jim was a Townsville boy and the boat might still be registered as a Townsville boat but Anne and him live at the Gold Coast when not on the boat. The boat does the whole season - Sep-November in Cairns, Dec-Feb at the Gold Coast, Feb-Mar at Pt Stephens and then the off season at the Gold Coast for maintenance and the Blue Marlin.

One of my best times in recent months was blowing into Cooktown, watching Chase tie up, striking up a conversation with Jim, Notso and Sappy and eventually going back to the boat that night and knocking back beers with Jim talking about fishing till it was just the two of us left and surrounded by famous boats and skippers like Alan Zavodny, Dean Beech and his "Mauna Kea" and Bill Billson and his "Viking II". Sounds like Billson is nearly the only one doing Cairns in a boat owned by the skipper. Damon Olsen might be another one. Most have owners these days.