Malta Fishing Forum

Hi guys
I thought l'd share a report and some photos of my recent trip up north. I knew it was going to be a good day once l saw the sunrise over Tullamarine Airport, and knowing that we were about to encounter some awesome conditions as we made our way up to Lizard Island for the 25th Black Marlin Classic


I was greeted by my good friend Talina at the other end at Cairns Airport, and we made our way to the 'Cock and Bull' For some lunch and refreshments. The heat hit me hard and l just had to stay hydrated

As per usual we left the Cairns Marina in persuit of some fresh marlin baits that we collected over the next couple of days, as we made our way north to Lizard Island, and also some other tastey speciments that made their way on the dinner table. I just love eating fish caught that day, especially when its Job fish,Spanish Mackeral, or Coral Trout




As l mentioned, we encountered some great weather, and enjoyed the run up north, with stop overs on the inside of the reef for some overnight bottom sessions, and a swim and a snorkle before we headed off again



This 'Blufin Trevelly' Is one of the prettiest trevelly's in my opinion.






I had a ball using handlines on this trip, as you can really feel connected....and l have a few line burns on my hands to show for it.

We arrived on Lizard Island in time for me to watch the AFL Grand Final, which l though l might miss this year for the first time in many years, though the big black marlin hanging along side the big screen was a real distraction especially in the last quarter when things were not looking so good for my magpies.


The marlin bar was all set up ready for that night's briefing for the tournament, and catch up with good friends on the other boats.

Andrei from Russia was our angler once again, and it wasn't too long before he was in his favorite chair doing battle with some big marlin.



Also this year 4 satelite tags were donated, and we were given one to deploy over the duration of the tournament. They cost around $4000 each, and once the marlin is tagged with it, and it reaches a depth of ten metres, its self activates. The transmitter fitted with a small pin which corrodes, pops to the surface after approx' 120 days and sends information like water temp', water depth the fish travelled to and location etc. We managed to deploy it on the 3rd day of the tournament in a Black Marlin that Dan estimated at 900lbs


During the tournament Andrei caught 5 marlin over the 800lb mark one being around 950lb, a couple at around 300lb and a smaller model of about 150lb, all released in good condition, which what makes Cairns the best black marlin fishery anywhere in the world. One of those fish mentioned we self disqualified as it took 2 baits, and another we caught after 'stop fishing'.


Some by catches during heavy tackle fishing included a couple of 50lb Wahoo (would have LOVED to catch it on a 15lb outfit), and also plenty of Yellow Fin Tuna, which we hung around looking for what was feeding on them.


My good friends Lydie and Peter from France were fishing on 'Tradition' with Capt' Tim Richards this year.

On the last day on the island l did the hike back up to Cook's Lookout to enjoy the spectacular views.




Capt' Dan's fiance joined us to do the run back to Cooktown, and enjoyed her first trip on Moana, and enjoyed takeing part in some light tackle fishing




Back in Cooktown and with a few day off the heavy tackle scene, we rang Shane from 'Cooktown Barra Charters' (07) 4069 5346 mob: 0408 036 887
http://www.facebook.com/people/Cookt...00001554300279

A real top bloke with lots of experieance and loves his fishing, and was a good choice to enjoy some fishing on the Endeavour River. We did both live baiting, and lure fishing with lots of misses, but we did manage a few fingermarks.


My last stop was Townsville where l caught up with my good mate Todd, and wife Kelly, and the kids. Todd's been hitting the barra hard in a river south of Townsville, and just had to take up the invitation to do a full days session with him.

We trolled most of the time, and l also got to see how good his Lawrence depth sounder with side scanning was. On a few occations he called the fish before the hit. Amazing stuff.

It was great spending time in North Queensland. The weather was good, the fishing great, and the company even better. I can't wait to get back up there again real soon.

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wow twoutes as always very nice catches and places you visit....must admit I envy you :) ::)

10x for sharing with us!

Awesome trip and fantastic catches!! ;)

Joe - What a write up and visuals to compliment it.  Simply amazing!

Fabulous writeup Twoutes!! Thanks for sharing.

you make us dream again :,-) very well done

Thanks for Sharing with us Twoutes. You bring us hope that there's still something to catch in our planet :). Can't understand why we're on the empty side :-\

must be the heavy tax!!! fishfinder...............Thanks twoutes fantastic as usual.

Amazing twoutes....your a lucky man! :)

Thanks for the positve feedback guys. Makes me want to go and do more trips to share with you all  ;)

Fantastic write-up & amazing pics. Many thanks for sharing! :)

Thanks for a fantastic write-up and awesome photos. Much appreciated. Keep it up. What we can't catch here at least we can dream :)

I do not write much in the forums but how could I not post a word about this....

This is what i call a real dreamers fisherman's experience and wow those fish look amazing. Especially that Marlin. Very well done King, Hats down and thumbs up!!

Regards

Simply amazing....
No words could describe the feeling unless we try it......
Thanks for sharing with us, and for the patience in writing this writeup.

Thanks again for the comments guys. I'm glad to be able share some of my experiences with you all. Feel free to ask any questions about the destinations, fish, or fishing methods, and l'll do my best to answer them for you.

Cheers.

Joe

Excluding the flight from here to Aussie and back.... how much would a trip like that cost you?

Quote from: robby017 on October 23, 2011, 14:34:30 CET
Excluding the flight from here to Aussie and back.... how much would a trip like that cost you?

There are many charter operators that operate out of Cairns during the 'Heavy Tackle' season which runs from the end of September through till late November.

And also a few different options on boat sizes depending on what tye of charter you want to do. Day trip charters can cost anywhere from $1000 to $2000 per day, but only gives you a small window of time to do actual heavy tackle fishing, as its a couple of hours run out to the fishing grounds from the marina, and usually the 'hot bite' time is towards the end of the day, and you're already making the run back home.

What l reccommend is doing the 'Live on Board' Charter which means you spend the nights anchored in behind the protection of one of the massive reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. Not only do you get to experieance quality night time fishing, but also have time in the mornings for some sports fishing, spearfishing or just a snorkle on the reef, and then its a few minutes run to the outside of the reef where the marlin congregate, and fish till dark or sometimes through the night if you're hooked up on a beast.

A suitable boat to do this type of charter is equiped with state rooms, well equiped galleys, freezers, washing machine,  water desaltinaters etc etc etc meaning that your doing it in comfort. These type of boats are skippered and usually also include  two crew and start from around $3000 per day. If you are interested l would highly recommend doing it with 3 other good friends and each pay for one day each, making a four day charter a good time frame to enjoy the full experienace.

The first time l did this with my friends we thought it was going to be a once off experiance, and more that 10 years later l'm still finding myself up there, though nowadays l'm invited to join the crew, and help with looking after the clients catching fish, recording their experianaces and maknig more good friends.

If any on here is seriously considering doing any type of fishing here in Australia, just let me know and l'll be more than happy to hook you with the right people.




Cheers.

Joe

Just a very short clip of some of the highlights from my recent trip.
I'm off again in a few weeks and hope to get some more great footage and photos to share with you all.

Fantastic experience :-) well done

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH my god....
What an experiance.....
You made me remember of my Liveabord diving trip to the Red Sea......

What an experiance guys....
I would take twoutes advice.... Never go on such a trip for a day fishing/diving etc....
Always opt for a Liveabord......
You reach places you would never in a day, diminish most of the hassle, and enjoy the best times in divin/fishing in the right spots. Besides the experiance of sipping a shot of whiskey beside a beautiful reef, in the middle of nowhere.....
wowow

thanks joe......... better start saving up, hehe

What an experience   :)  Thanks for sharing .

Thanks again for the comments guys.

Here is part 2 which l just finished editing.




......I'm off again on the 18th of November for another go...YIPPEE!!!

..............WOW!

Amazing....
I can say no more....

Simply fantastic. Great footage once again. Thanks for sharing.

I have just arrived back home to sunny Melbourne (NOT!) from a seven day charter for Ichoro Takahashi from Japan.
We left Cairns Marina and headed straight out to Linden Bank, with the usual spell of bait fishing along the way.


Bait wasn't as plentyfull as it was on the last trip, but Ichiro still enjoyed seeing variouse other species comming into the boat. One of the highlights while trolling up bait was a huge Wahoo of about 40lb, caught on a TLD20, that got eaten by sharks at the back of the boat....Darn!


We continued further up as far as Escape Reef trolling baits, but also swam some of Dan's favorite Bluedog Lures along the way. One lure called 'the bomb' went of within a couple minutes of me putting it on the peg, resulting in a 250lb Black Marlin which we bought into the boat for some quick snaps, and then released after a short spell swimming it at the boat.
Earlier that day we caught a 900lb Black which put on a great show for us as it leaped in a huge semi cirlce.....video clip still to come.

Apart from Marlin fishing, Ichiro also enjoys catching sharks, and it wasn't very hard at all to entice some on a striped tuna bait which were plentyfull



Once again spear fishing sessions provided some nice coral trout for dinner before the closure a few day before the end of the trip. We hooked up, and dropped a few more marlin along Opal Ridge and Spur Reef, and spent our last day back at Linden Bank, where we watched Dammo on Saltaire chasing down a 900lb Black Marlin with his son Jake, only 16 on the leader with his first Big Fish!

We also caught a Marlin at Linden Bank on a Rainbow Runner we rigged up as a swim bait. This fish went crazy on the leader, and spat the hook while in flight, and all captured on video.
Buy the looks of things its been a great season this year with many many boats tagging and releasing huge marlin, and once again lots over the magical 1000lb mark.
I'm physically back in Melbourne, but my mind is still back up in Cairns......at least l've got a box full of fish to enjoy over ther next week or so.

:)

*drool* :-p very nice joe

Thank you :)
I've just finished downloading another short clip from that trip.




Its a great way to quickly send clients footage of their fishing trips.

I've still got to put a longer version, burn it on DVD, and post it out. Takes a lot of time, but l love it :)

Very nice videos .. thanks for sharing your adventures :D

very nice spectacular jumps of the marlin