IRELAND: Shark and skate

Shark season is now ended in the north part of Irland and it is starting the skate (big ray) season. 

For more info contac Capt. Hamish: info@predatorireland.com

CANADA: End season report from Wollasto Lake Lodge

"Gone Fishing" ...just the thought of putting that sign on your door before leaving on another Wollaston adventure, the anticipation of spending your time at your favorite remote luxury fishing lodge, seems to put the world in the right perspective. So here we are, already beginning to look ahead to whatever adventures 2012 will bring.

We continue to hear, year after year, that there is nothing quite like the "Wollaston Experience". We still take pride in making it a unique and personal adventure for each and every guest, and that's the way we think it should be.

 The summer of 2011 made for some great memories. Here are just a few of the highlights; with close to 50,000 fish caught this season, the action was definitely there. On the trophy side of things, we had one day alone where sixty-four Northern Pike 40 inches or better were caught. There were three Northern Pike over 50 inches landed this season - truly a fish of a lifetime! How's that for great fishing opportunity? Not uncommon, some of our biggest Northern Pike fishing came in August on Wollaston Lake itself. The Wollaston Grand Slam, made up of Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Walleye and Arctic Grayling, saw more guests adding their names to that elite club. With highlights like this, it's no wonder guests feel they can come back year after year for action and trophy fishing opportunities!

  

If you're hungry to see some fishing action from this past summer, stay tuned for future newsletters, and watch for for Babe Winkelman's winter TV schedule. As a guest at the lodge in 2011, he took home some great memories too. YouTube fans can tune in to our Wollaston Lake Lodge channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/WollastonLodge for some hot action.

  

www.wollastonlakelodge.com

IGFA: hot news of september 2011

In the past month the IGFA’s Records Department has received some impressive and unique potential freshwater records from the far corners of the globe, as well as some quality saltwater fly and Junior records. Here’s the latest from Bolivia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Mexico, Angola, and the U.S. states of Alaska, Colorado and New York

Targeting All-Tackle Length records on a recent trip to Bolivia, angler Michael Sadar of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA landed this very toothy payara (Hydrolycus spp.) while casting a custom tied fly in the San Simon River on July 29, 2011. Sadar needed 23 minutes to subdue his potential All-Tackle Length record fish, which was released after being photographed and measured at 88 cm on the Official IGFA Measuring Device. The current IGFA record is vacant.

Fishing Angola’s Kwanza River on July 10, 2011, London native Robert Lewis landed this potential men’s 10 kg (20 lb) line class record African red snapper (Lutjanus agennes). Lewis’s fish weighed in at a hefty 7.4 kg (16 lb 5 oz) and took the angler five minutes to land after the toothy snapper crushed his Tyger soft plastic jig. With the current IGFA record at 2.8 kg (6 lb 2 oz), Lewis’s snapper would best the existing record by more than 4.5 kg (10 lb) – nice catch, Robert!

In September of 2009, Wesley Davis, age 10 at the time, became the youngest angler in IGFA history to accomplish the coveted Billfish Royal Slam – a feat that requires catching nine billfish from around the world. The young Davis is making history again; having recently completed his second Billfish Royal Slam with the capture of an Atlantic blue marlin off St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on August 15, 2011 and a broadbill swordfish taken off Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA, just three days later. While eventually traveling to Venezuela, Panama, both coasts of the USA, and the U.S.V.I., Wesley started his quest towards a second slam with a Pacific sailfish caught off Zihuatanejo, Mexico on January 16, 2008. And with the young angler receiving release certificates for the majority of his billfish catches, Wesley’s dedication to the conservation of our sport is equally as admirable as his highly matured angling skills.

On August 14, 2011, angler Alexander Kesseler of New York, New York, USA, was fishing the Hudson Canyon with his father, Howard Kesseler, Jr. when this 84.82 kg (187 lb 0 oz) Atlantic bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) hit the clone lure they were trolling. Having gone 25 hours without a bite, the young angler quickly grabbed the rod and settled in for the 1 hr 20 minute battle that ensued. With his experienced father at the helm and gaff man at the ready, the team was able to land the fish and in doing so, qualified Alexander for the potential male Junior record. The current IGFA record is vacant.

Angler Margaret Angier Shaughnessy of Medford, Oregon, USA recently traveled to Bahia de los Sueños, Mexico with hope to add to her current record count for roosterfish, where she already holds records in the women’s 4 kg (8 lb), 6 kg (12 lb) and 8 kg (16 lb) tippet classes. Guided by Marco Antonio Green Lucero, Shaughnesssy landed a spectacular roosterfish (Nematistius pectoralis) on May 29, 2011 while casting her kinky muddler fly from the shore. Weighing in at 9.53 kg (21 lb 0 oz), Shaughnessy qualifies for the women’s 10 kg (20 lb) tippet class record. And to make the potential record catch even sweeter, the fish was released alive after being weighed, measured and photographed. The current IGFA record is 8.55 kg (18 lb 13 oz).

Angler Bob Gaines of Irvine, California, USA, recently took a trip north to take advantage of the fantastic late summer salmon run found in Alaska’s Kenai River. Armed with his fly rod and Official IGFA Measuring Device, Gaines hit the river on August 20, 2011 and caught a gorgeous sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that he landed in five minutes after the fish took his red comet fly. Having been released alive after measuring a whopping 74 cm, Gaines’ salmon qualifies for a new All-Tackle Length record for the sockeye species. The current IGFA record is vacant.

IGFA Lifetime Achiever Martin Arostegui of Coral Gables, FL, USA has compiled more world records than anyone else in IGFA history – often times submitting 30+records in a single year. However, Arostegui recently submitted a record that has taken him years to achieve. Fly fishing Lake Livingston, Texas, USA on August 22, 2011 with Captain Kirk Kirkland, Arostegui finally hooked up to the fish he describes as “the fish of 10,000 casts” – a 28.35 kg (62 lb 8 oz) alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) that qualifies him for the 08 kg (16 lb) tippet class record. Thirty minutes after the fish struck his custom fly, Arostegui was able to land, weigh and release the fish alive. The current IGFA record is 11.25 kg (24 lb)

Endemic only to the island nation of Papua New Guinea, the Papuan black snapper (Lutjanus goldei) is a brutal adversary to anglers brave enough to target them. Strangely enough, these fish are not found in saltwater, but rather in the freshwater lakes and rivers of Papua New Guinea. Ian Middleton currently holds five line class records for this species and during a recent trip from his hometown of Cairns, Australia, Middleton landed this massive 32 lb fish that could possibly replace his current 3 kg (6 lb) line class record. Fishing for barramundi on Lake Murray with guide Trevor Green on July 6, 2011, Middleton needed 42 minutes to land this toothy critter after it crushed the Sebile diving plug he was casting. Middleton’s current 3 kg (6 lb) record is 9.07 kg (20 lb 0 oz).

Fishing with guide Moho Fauzi Mustaffa in Kota Bharu, Malaysia on July 23, 2011, native Malaysian angler Mohd Ali Ismail landed this beautiful butterfly peacock (Cichla ocellaris) while casting a Yozuri lure. Measuring a respectable 52 cm on his official measuring device, Ismail’s catch qualifies for a potential new All-Tackle Length record. As with every All-Tackle Length record, the fish was released after the two minute fight, and the necessary information was documented. The current IGFA record is 49 cm.

 

www.IGFA.org 

THAILAND: report from the deep jungle

From Jean Franocis Helias in the middle of the deep Thailand Jungle:

"July and August are the two best months of the year to fish Cheow Lan reservoir. It is rainy season there. All snakehead species such as giant snakehead, emperor snakehead, splendid snakehead and striped snakehead, as well as jungle perch, Thai Mahseer and Stracheyi Mahseer are to be found mainly in the rivers feeding the reservoir, and are in the best mood to strike at lures. 

I have personally never fished at that period though I've heard for a long time lots of exciting stories about it from locals. The fishing then is awesome. For years I wanted to go but there were always bookings of clients at that period that did not let me do what I wanted. This year, I feel the need deep inside of me to get there and get my share of jungle adventures. 

I was at Cheow Lan last year in April 2010 to shoot a film for the French TV. Though it was dry season with a too low water level, we had a ball. We caught every single specie of snakehead inhabiting the waters (for the anecdote, a lovely Splendid Snakehead I caught was 100 grams short to tie the IGFA world record), and lots of good size jungle perch (biggest one close to 3.00 kg). We even took on deep diving lures yellow mystus (pla kot). And some of the most exciting jungle fishing by trekking along small rivers brought us lovely Mahseer species. 

More recently, at the beginning of April 2011, I was back there with my good Malaysian friends Shah, Ali and Wai Hin. Again, the water conditions were extremely low but we all did pretty good with lots of catches. The highlight of the trip to me was the catch on lure of a 4.30 kg Thai Mahseer (Tor tambroides). A fight I'll never forget. Mahseer truly kick ass when at the other end of the angler's line."

For more information visit the web site: http://www.anglingthailand.com/ 

MOZAMBIQUE: marlin season stat in Bazaruto Is.

Here a shor report from Barazuro Island where Captain Duarte Rato is ready to start the annual back marlin season:

Even tough most boats will only start the heavy tackle Marlin Season at the beginning of October, a relative good number of Black´s are being caught by the few boats fishing since late August. Most of this are in the small side between 2-300 that are hooked on baits intended for sailfish on light tackle. However fish up to 500 lbs have been released and an 800 lbs lost over the last few days.
The sailfish numbers have also been quiet good with boats finding big pods on the northern lighthouse area and the Magaruque canyon down south. School yellowfin have also been heavily present with most fish ranging from 5 to 25 kilos - but fish in excess of 50 kilos were caught out deep further south.
Furthermore the number of big wahoo has been staggering with lots of fish around the 25 kilo mark being caught. In the photographs Capt. Duarte Rato from the charter boat Vamizi with a monster speedester of 31 kg and Leight Blakeway with a nice fish of 22 kg.

For more information about fishing in Mozambique Bazaruto Island dudas7mares@gmail.com

USA: possible IGFA record for black grouper

This 105-pound black grouper, caught by Matt Snyder in the Gulf of Mexico, might be the new world record for the species caught on 50-pound-test line.
He's not edging anybody out, he'd be smashing the existing record, which is just 18 pounds. The IGFA posted this photo on their Facebook wall.
Snyder caught the fish on September 16 and is submitting it to the IGFA to achieve his record status. He was drifting a live grunt when he hooked this fish off Florida's Southwest coast, and it took him just 12 minutes to land it. We'll let you know when it becomes official

USA: 455 lb Daytime Swordfish caught out of Bud n' Mary's

We had John and Pam aboard the BNM for a Florida Keys Fishing Trip on 9-24-11. Pam insisted they were lucky and we were going to catch a swordfish guranteed. I told both of them we had a good shot, but there had been quite a few small fish around which can be very frustrating when trying to hook them in the daytime. Well it wasn't long until their luck kicked in, on the way out at 15 knots our high speed lure starts screaming and 10 minutes later John catches his first wahoo, a nice 28 lber. I was thinking at least we didn't get skunked today. We continued out to the swordfish grounds and a few miles inside we found a nice weed line with some mahi on it. We hit one school and caught 15 nice schoolies and a couple small gaffers. Both John and Pam were all smiles and I though maybe they wouldn't even notice if we didn't catch a swordfish. An hour later we were on the bottom in 1500' drifting for a broadbill. After 30 minutes we hooked up, the fish seemed small, and after 10 minutes he threw the hook. We make another drift in the same area, but after an hour with no bite, we wind up. I run a few miles south and drop again. After 45 minutes without a bite, we get ready to wind up, and there she is. We're hooked up to a daytime sword. John gets in the chair and goes to work. After an hour I see the fish, I know she's big, but not quite how big. The fish dives all the way back to the bottom and John goes back to work. At 2 hours he has her near the boat again, I see the swivel behind her tail and realize the fish is foul hooked in the belly somewhere. After a couple quick loops the fish goes back to the bottom. Now we're 3 hours into the fight, and John gets the fish within 50' of the boat again, we get a quick glimpse, but down shes goes. At 4 hours into the fight, and everybody exhausted, John gets the fish 10 feet away! We get a harpoon shot, but it pulls out after a few seconds. The fish looks like it's getting tired though, but still dives back to the bottom. We've drifted 11 miles now and John has been on the fish 4 and 1/2 hours! It looks like the fish is dying, since we've been trying to pull her backwards, but she still keeps swimming. The fish makes one last dive, down to 700', luckily not the bottom again, and then races back up. I look at the clock and realize we've been on the fish 5 hours. Before I know it the fish is at the back of the boat, I run back, throw the harpoon in her, hit her with a straight gaff, Pam hands both Matt and John the other gaffs, and we get all of them in the fish. But she isn't done yet. For 5 minutes she kicks and throws water everywhere next to the boat. Finally the fish is subdued and we bring her through the door. It was the hardest fight I've ever seen on a swordfish. The fish was hooked in the anal fin, but John and Pam had good luck and somehow it stayed in the hole time. We steam for home, everybody exhausted and make the call to fire up the forklift. We hit the dock and the fish weighs in at 455 lbs! This is on the biggest swordfish ever caught on rod and reel in the Florida Keys! We also fished the day before and went 2 for 3 on swordfish, keeping a 65 lber and releasing another. This is the place for Daytime Swordfishing!

Capt. Nick Stanczyk
305-481-0366bnmcharters@gmail.com
http://www.budnmarys.com

LITHUANIA: an huge pike caught

 

It's fish like this that keep us contemplating a hop across the big pond. From Lithuania, an angler named Laurynas sent this image of a 42-inch northern pike caught on the fly in Polar Ural

USA: Monster, 50-inch Muskie in Washington

Chris Gades didn't win the tiger muskie tournament he was fishing on Washington's Curlew Lake this past week, but we doubt he's disappointed.

This 50-inch fish measured 25 inches around and it wouldn't even open its jaws when they applied a jaw-spreader to get their lure back. They had to wait until the beast let go.

Chris borrowed his father Chuck's 10-inch swimbait, as a desperation move after a long, cold and wet day of unproductive fishing, and it turned out to be a good decision, according to Northwest Sportsman. He had to revive the fish, which he reports as being bigger than his 5-year-old son, for 15 minutes.

Chris ended up coming in second place, thanks to someone landing two 40-plus inchers.

www.gofishn.com 

Oregon's Rogue River, a 52-Pound Chinook Salmon

 

Darren Beadle of Henderson, Nev. caught this monster chinook salmon this past week. He pulled it from Washington's Rogue River by trolling a an anchovy, according to Northwest Sportsman Magazine's website.

He weighed in the enormous fish at Jot's Resort in Gold Beach, Ore, which came in at 52 pounds.

www.gofishn.com 

ALASKA:Soldotna angler lands a 319.6-pound halibut

 Less than a week before the Seward Halibut Tournament's final day, Soldotna angler Tim Berg wrestled a herculean halibut from the Gulf of Alaska on Tuesday morning that could be worth $10,000.

 Fishing with lifelong friend Terry Gonsalves aboard the Grande Alaska to celebrate his retirement from the Napa Police Department in California, it was Berg's 319.6-pound humdinger, landed on a king salmon rod rigged with 40-pound-test line, that truly got the party started.

 "It was just lucky, lucky, lucky," Berg said by cell phone from Soldotna. "This was an experience of a lifetime."

 Luck? Maybe. But reeling in a monster flatfish on 40-pound test in about 45 minutes required Berg to show off some special fishing skills too. The 7-foot-4, 319.6-pound halibut is taller but slightly lighter than NBA star Shaquille O'Neal (7-1, 325).

 "It was pretty epic," said captain Mike Schmahl by cell phone from Seward. "Forty-pound test on a Kenai River salmon rod? I still don't believe it."

 Berg's been an Alaska fishing guide for 31 years, and he's caught plenty of big fish, Schmahl said.

 But more often than not, the daily grind of Berg's charter business -- Tim Berg's Alaskan Fishing Adventures -- cuts into his personal fishing time.

 "But (Tuesday) was my time to go fishing," Berg said. "That's exactly what we did."

 The day started at 6 a.m. with overcast skies on the Seward small-boat harbor. Schmahl told Berg, Gonsalves and a group of Maryland clients that decent-size fish were only a 2 1/2-hour trip away.

 So Gonsalves purchased a $10 derby ticket for Berg and himself.

 Berg "never buys a derby ticket," Schmahl said. "Maybe it's to avoid controversy. But he didn't have a choice."

 Berg said Gonsalves must have felt the good karma. Just a couple days before the trip, Berg landed a 127-pound halibut three miles off the island with his king rod, a 10 1/2-foot pole that has yet to battle a salmon this season.

 After catching the halibut, Berg figured, "I guess this is kind of my lucky rod."

 He didn't think he'd latch onto another big halibut with it, but roughly 15 minutes after Schmahl anchored the twin-engine diesel-powered boat in 160 feet of water, he did.

 Berg lowered his bait, trying to target a king salmon. But what took the chunk of herring before it even bounced off the sea floor was anything but a king.

 "It was like a vacuum cleaner sucked the end of my line," Berg said. "Maybe I was snagged to a submarine?"

 Schmahl wasn't convinced Berg had a king, halibut or a submerged watercraft. He figured Berg had lodged the hook between some rocks on the floor of the Gulf of Alaska.

 Everybody on the boat just laughed at the 53-year-old.

 "Oh yeah! I got a big halibut," Berg told everyone. "I'm not kidding ya!"

 But Berg had no proof. Though his rod tip sank quickly, it never yanked or twitched, a sure sign that a head-shaker is hooked to the end.

 But Berg kept believing and "hung on for dear life." Finally, his rod tip moved.

 Luckily for Berg, the tide had just slacked, which gave him the upper hand in the battle between his 40-pound-test line and a fish that felt more like a Volkswagen.

 "I had so much pressure on the line that I didn't give him an inch (of slack)," Berg said. "I was certain that something was going to give."

 But the Alaska transplant from Sacramento braced himself against the railing of the 37-foot boat. Berg worked his way into the rhythm of the battle, pulling up on the rod, then lowering the tip and cranking the reel in fast bursts.

 For a moment, his forearms burned so much he wanted to cut the line. But he had a derby ticket and maybe a fish worth ten grand.

 After nearly 40 minutes of pumping and reeling, the fish surfaced and Berg confirmed it was a halibut. The fish was so large, Gonsalves shot it with a shotgun, Schmahl gaffed it and Brian Erickson harpooned it.

 The halibut measured 88 inches long across its specked back. The tail alone was 28 inches wide.

 "I've seen thousands of fish come out of the Gulf and this had to be the most unique," Berg said. "It had golden fins."

 And if nobody lands a heavier halibut by Monday, Berg's payout will have the worth of more than 11 ounces of gold.

 If he wins, Berg plan to distribute half of the winnings to each angler on the boat. After all, if it wasn't for his childhood friend, he wouldn't be in this position.

 The other half will go to the American Cancer Society, specifically to research prostate cancer.

 Berg was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago and had intensive surgery and radiation treatment. Tuesday morning's battle with a barn-door halibut, he said, was nothing compared to surviving cancer.

 "Landing the fish was a lot easier," he said.

Here is the article that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News

BELIZE'S EL PESCADOR HOSTING B.T.T. TAGGING TOURAMENT

Belize's El Pescador Lodge will be hosting the 1st Annual Invitational Tagging Tournament to benefit the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. The event will be held Martin Luther King weekend, Thursday, Jan 12th – Monday, Jan 16th, 2012. This three-day tournament will raise money for BTT, whose mission is to support research to enhance healthy bonefish, tarpon, and permit populations. The lodge is offering a 4 night / 3 day fishing package (based on shared room and shared guide) for $2,110.00 per person. El Pescador will donate $250.00 for every paying angler to BTT, and the total sum raised will be donated in the tournament grand champion’s name to BTT. The grand champion will also receive a spot (with the entry fee waived) to compete in the 2013 March Merkin invitational permit tournament in the Florida Keys. Information about tagging as well as scientific and conservation issues affecting bonefish, tarpon and permit around the world can be found at http://www.tarbone.org/.

Ireland: salmon news at Blackwater Lodge

On September 20th., twenty-two fish to 16.3lb were landed. Seven were double figure fish & five were 13lb. or more.Two upper beats recorded 6 fish each, including a couple of 10 pounders. All but one were released.
Local rod Mick Kennedy landed six fish to over 16lb.
On the lower river where clarity was better at ~4 feet, seven fish to 8lb. were caught.
One rod had 3 on fly, and another one had one on spinner & landed another & lost 2 all on fly as well.

www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net

AUSTRALIA: Nomad Sportfishing at Bugatti reef

We started off this block of charters with glorious conditions apart from a little moisture which isn't the end of the world and on the first afternoon the guys got straight into it, there is nothing more exciting than being stuck on Odyssey waiting for the second seaplane flight of guys to arrive and hear the chats going on the radio of the carnage that was unfolding....when the new bunch of guys arrived we set out for it and I think we had only 1 hour to fish that afternoon after the guys assembled their battle gear, but that was all we needed the fish were on fire and we managed to get stuck into some quality bites and in the short while we managed to boat 5 quality GTs and a few other odds and ends, we returned back to the mothership that afternoon all fired up and ready to go for the days to come.

 The weather wasn't too bad and we decided to fish an area which we don't fish very often, the calm weather meant that the fish there should be fairly stupid, the game was on and it seemed that everyone was getting stuck into the fish left right and centre, I had a boat full of 'new to the game' GT anglers and it didn't take them long to break that statement by the end of the day. One of the guys managed to put two 40kg fish into the boat, the first two GTs he had ever caught!!... That's what you call luck.

 There were stages during the week where the fish just got lock jaw no matter what we tried they just weren't going to play the game, as soon as the weather started to calm down the game was on and we had a couple of really good days in before we got chased away to the comfort of the hardline for the poor conditions and it didn't take the guys long to get stuck into a few of the blue holes where we immediately started to see some bigger fish. There is nothing like casting big lures into water that is only 1m deep at some stages and seeing a behemoth of a creature come and mow down the lure absolutely exciting stuff! One of the guys fishing with Pete managed to get hooked up a fish of a lifetime in one of these blue holes and after a struggle the fish ended up doing him over Pete said it was the biggest GT he had ever seen and believed it to be around the 60kg mark.

 The second week for me however had to be a highlight. We welcomed the new guests onto the boat and got straight to it and again there were stories of joy, Damon spotted a piece of reef as they flew over that just spelled FISH and he wasted no time in getting there, it was on fire and they were seeing fish all over the place. They managed to put 12 GTs in the boat during the afternoon and that doesn't even include the biggest Spaniard that Damon has ever seen which he stated was nothing short of 40kg, after looking at the pictures we were just blown away, this thing was a creature, it just makes you think, how big do they actually get out there on the reef...??

 The Forecast that night was quite a disappointing one as we had just been told that the wind was going to blow 25-35knts for the next few days, not ideal....that didn't trouble us too much and we woke up in the morning to howling winds which was accompanied by rain, but it didn't stop the fish biting which was extremely unbelievable, we had possibly the worst conditions available 30knts and just about zero current which made things a little harder but the guys still managed to find a few quality fish, we started our day off with a bang and the first blue hole we stopped in we were greeted by a quality fish of around 35kg which never hooked up but 10 mins later we had 2 fish in the boat both around the 25kg mark, the day continued on the same form and after a short bumpy drive we pulled up to the next point which wasn't exactly calm but the guys sent there lures out and instantly the explosions behind the lures indicated to us that it's game time, and we had 2 rods folded over, 1 x beast bust off in the reef and another in the boat...it didn't end there every spot we pulled up to was carnage and the little session after lunch proved to be the deadliest, we were fishing in conditions that you could barely stand but the fish were still on the chew, we somehow in those rough conditions traumatised by rain and wind managed to put 15 GTs in the boat.

 The next morning waking up to wind howling through the stay wires on the roof was somewhat demoralising and getting out of bed and looking out to the mess was enough make you really want to climb straight back in bed and take a sicky...no time for that and we soldiered on deciding that we would fish our way down wind and get the mothership to relocate to a new anchor to try and make the day as comfortable as possible it payed off and it seemed the new area had plenty of fish to go around for everyone, we stuck around this area for a while as it the most centrally located area for this weather giving everyone a wide variety of options, the weather just seemed to get worse and the fish just started to bite even more, I found this little point which was going off every single drift produced fish, I have no idea where all the fish were coming from, it was a tiny little point and would have been satisfied pulling one fish off it but by 11am we managed to pull 12Gts off this single point, which is just un heard of usually you stop on a point will have a few fish come up then second drift there it's like a ghost town...we would have drifted this point over 20 times and had fish come up on every occasion, the rest of the day seemed to pan out the same and was lucky enough to stumble on a similar looking shoal and once again there was carnage, it got that rough at times that you lures would disappear behind swells and you would see the takes, only feel the rod nearly get snatched from your hands, we ended up calling it quits early and decided to go back to the mothership on the way back the count took us to 21 GTs by far my best day fishing in those sort of conditions.

 The next day was the same and I managed to get a half a chance to speak to Damon on the radio and it sounded like he had his work cut out for him. His score at the end of the day turned out at 26 and we were both a little blown away at the way the fish were feeding in these conditions, during the day I managed to get a wind reading from the mothership and at the timed it topped off at a little over 38knts and we were out on the reef system in 18ft dories not only catching fish but slaying them, there is not many places around the world that you can go fish in these sort of conditions and we seemed to be having a ball, the weather finally calmed down and the GTs just got angrier we had to make a fairly long run the following day to move for the seaplane and on the way we stopped and fished for no longer than 20mins and the carnage that was going on between the four boats was surreal, after being flogged for the whole week we were left fishing in glass out conditions smashing the fish and I tell you what it was not easy to drive away from fish that were doing everything they could to jump into the boat...the new lot of guest had no idea what they were in for.

www.nomadsportfishing.com.au