READERS: Scroll Down To See ABM #217 December

BOAT
Australian
READERS: Scroll Down To
See ABM #218
January 2015 PREVIEWS
P-16
CONTENTS January 2015 Volume 2 Issue 218 $11.95**
The Very Cool Black Rhino 4800 Kapala
There has never been a better time to buy a new side
console platey - check this gem ..................................26
Tinny World: Stacer’s Upgraded 449 OUTLAW
Famous name by our biggest boat builder, with a ripper
side console ....................................................................16
P-20
Regular Columns or Sections
Comment / Peter Webster
Mixed Bag......................................................Starts 4-13
Letters / Your Say .................................................... 14
Cruising with Capt John Sullivan ..............................H/O
January East Coast Marina ....................................60
January Outboard Database (new)..........................62
P-56
P-26
Buying Secondhand: It’s Your Move!
This is a vital issue for thousands of boatowners, and
Editor PW doesn’t hold back ..........................................32
Cover: Aaron has
produced a very
informative report
on 6 of his
favourite surface
lures; we have
boats including
the 449 Stacer
Outlaw, an
awesome 4800
Noosacat that is
to die for - and a
Retro designed to
hearten and
inspire pre-loved
cat buyers.
BOAT
Australia’s Only Outboard Prices & Specs Database
Australian
ISSN 2200 - 0623
MAG
For Tinnies, Platies, GRP,
Imports, New, Pre-Loved,
Retro, Monos, Cats & Tris!
MAG
Aaron Picks Out His Fave Surface
Lures For This Summer’s Fishing
ABM January 2015 #215 $11.95
Buying (& Selling!)
Secondhand Boats
P-3 Trailerboat Exploring The
Great Barrier Reef
. . . Plus We Check A ‘Dreamtime’ Noosacat
& The New Stacer 449 Outlaw
RETRO: The
7.0m Dominator Canyon Runner
MESSAGE STICKS . . . .
P-32
Go Fishing: Aaron Logs His Favorite Lures We’ve been
waiting for Aaron Concord to get back to health for a long
time, but it was sure worth the wait ..............................20
Exploring the Great Barrier Reef, Part 3 of 3
The third leg of a stunning new series by Don Gilchrest,
explaining how to get the family out to the GBR ............52
P-52
RETRO: Y-2003 Dominator 7.0m Canyon Runner
Looking back 12 years to an awesome cat no longer in
production, but readily available s/hand ......................68
4WDs, Trailers & Towing
Semi Trailer, new Landrover ..............................80
Noosacat’s Exceptional 4800 Flybridge
This report will create queues at the Lotto offices around
OZ - One man’s reality, achieving his dream ..................46
P-74
Australian Boat Mag
ABM’s Web Site www.australianboatmags.com.au
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Sub-Editor & Proof Reading: Mary
Ebb & Flow / with Neil Dunstan.
Neil shows off the biggest ‘Bluey’ he’s ever seen, and
describes how it capped a top day off Sarina ..............84
Regular ABM Contributors:
Neil Dunstan Aaron Concord Andy Myers
Gary Fooks Andrew Hestelow Mark Bowdidge, MRINA
Don Gilchrist Di Ross & John Batty (SA)
Marina News/ PR / ABM Team (A new section)......H/O
** The $11.95 Cover Price and the $29 6x or $55 12x subscription rate
will vary marginally in different countries around the world from time to
time according to currency fluctuations and the vendor involved.
ABM
2
As we are such a small team, we are often tied up on the
‘phone, or on the water - but please don’t waste the
opportunity to communicate. Send us an email, and we’ll get
back to you ASAP - usually within 24hrs.
Australian Boat Mag
3
Tinny
ny
ABM’s
World
orld
Gunning For The
Upgraded Stacer
Outlaw!
Stacer 449 Outlaw: The Perfect Fishing Partner
Stacer’s Outlaw Range, the ultimate fishing
companion, is in high demand, with 449 on the
top of the most wanted list.
The Outlaw Range includes a 429, 449, 469, 489
and 529 models in a variety of configurations
including tiller steer, centre console and side console.
The 449 Outlaw, available as tiller steer, side and
centre console, is built with tough 3mm plate-look
sides and packed with all your fishing essentials, this
boat means business.
Designed for serious no-fuss, fishing, the 449
Outlaw features a large front casting platform with
incorporated storage space and large side pockets.
Proving itself as a true fishing machine the 449
Outlaw also comes standard with a Rear Casting
Platform complete with live bait tank and tackle box
tray storage.
National Stacer Account Manager Drew Jackson
said the Outlaw Range was already proving to be a
popular model even though it was only just released
to the public.
‘The Outlaw Range is a very competitive offering
in the aluminium fishing boat market as it offers
customers a straight to the point, no-fuss fishing
boat.’
‘The 449 includes a 50L underfloor fuel tank and is
Specification Stacer 449 Outlaw S.Console
Length Bow - Transom ..................................4.73m
Length Overall ................................................4.85m
Beam................................................................2.12m
Depth ...............................................................1.05m
Bottom Sheet...............................................2.00mm
Topsides.......................................................3.00mm
Rec hp ..................................................40hp (30Kw)
Max hp ..................................................60hp (45Kw)
Max Main Motor Weight ................................120 kg
16 Australian Boat Mag
Transom Material.........................................3.00mm
Weight (boat only) ..........................................370kg
Transom Shaft Length .......................................L/S
Number of People (LEVEL) ................................n/a
Max Load (LEVEL) ..............................................n/a
Max Load (BASIC) ..........................................570kg
Number of People ................................... (BASIC) 5
Height on trailer .............................................1.70m
Length on trailer ............................................5.65m
rated to 60hp, meaning there is useful power behind
the boat and the Evo Advance Hull gives it a very
stable ride,’ Drew said.
The 449 Outlaw is available as a Stacer Ready 2
Go package complete with a Stacer trailer, Evinrude
E-TEC Engine and a 3 year limited factory warranty.
For more information on the 449 Outlaw and the
entire Stacer range, head to www.stacer.com.au
Australian Boat Mag 17
Go Fishing
With Aaron Concord
Looking at Some Of
My Favorite Surface
Lures
T
his month, I’ve picked a few of lures that I’ve
found to be excellent over the last 12 months.
Most are surface lures, as that tends to be the
most common way that I fish for all species of fish.
There is nothing better than a surface bite, whether
it is a bass or longtail tuna!
Here are a few that I believe to be stand-outs in
value, build quality and excellent fish producers.
Lively Lures 120 and 160 Skippers.
Alan Dolan started Lively Lures in 1987 in
Brisbane’s Slacks Creek. He’s since moved his
operation to the Sunshine Coast and it has been up
there since the 1990s. Al has made lures for a
massive range of lure makers, but it is his own range
of lures that I keep coming back to.
The catalogue is extensive and all are excellent fish
catchers.
Alan added some skipping and blooping poppers to
his range in 2012, though it was 2013 and 2014 that I
really got a chance to use his new skipping poppers;
the 120 and 160 Skipper.
Alan has used their length and their designated
design as the name.
As noted in the Editorial last month, it is with great
pleasure we welcome Aaron back, as he re-joins the
team after an enforced absence that was way too long.
But that’s all history now, and we’re just stoked Aaron is
getting back on his feet, getting back out into the field,
and doing what he does best: catching fish, and
showing we ordinary folk how to make a better fist of it!
20 Australian Boat Mag
At 120mm and 160mm long, they skip across the
surface, much like a longtom, garfish or flying fish
would while evading predators.
The 120 slowly sinks at rest and weighs in at about
47 grams on my digital scales. The 160’s are about 60
grams on my scales and the couple I have fished with
standard hooks and rings, have floated at rest. This
may change if you upgrade the hooks and split rings
to something more substantial.
They cast bloody brilliantly. They are meant to! I
have gotten over 80m on my little SMITH/Daiwa
outfit - which is a helluva long way!
The Skippers can be retrieved at slow to fast pace.
At slow speeds, more rod tip action will see them
wave their head about more. At a fast pace, it is only
necessary to keep the rod tip at about 45 degrees to
the horizon so that they skitter and jump along the
water’s surface, leaving a bubble trail from whence
they came. With a bit of wave action/chop, they
zigzag and wave their heads like a panicked baitfish
that has the speed wobbles.
I have used them as a searching lure around
headlands in the N.T for brassy trevally and
queenfish. In Hervey Bay, when the longtail tuna
were hunting longtoms, these things were dynamite.
Casting them to the leading edge and fringes of the
longtail schools, the bites were explosive. Another
place I need to try these is in the surf for tailor. Tailor
love skipping poppers and I reckon these will be #1
on the rod next winter.
With 6 different colours and a build quality that is
damn tough, I rate these lures very highly, along with
the Mad Mullet series, Micro Mullet series, Blue
Pilly series and Mack Bait series that I own, too.
You can purchase Alan’s creations through his
website: http://www.livelyluresonline.com.au/ and go
to the Australian online store. RRP is $15.00 for the
120 Skipper and $16.00 for the 160 which is
excellent value. (Prices correct at time of writing,
January 2015).
A group shot of this month’s
lures. At the rear are 2 Adhek
Baby Penipen. Middle left is a
Lively Lures 160 Skipper,
middle right is a Lively Lures
120 Skipper. At front are 2
Hitter Jump Frogs.
A Longtail that ate a Lively
Lures 120 Skipper.
Foolish Boot’s Hitter Jump Frogs.
Let me start by saying that if you have never heard
of a Jump Frog before, or seen one, you soon will!
These things are a revolutionary piece of equipment
for those who love to target bass, barra, saratoga;
heck any of our natives that live in areas where
normal lures could not be used.
I reckon the reach could be extended to saltwater
environs too, though I have only targeted barra and
saratoga thus far with these lures.
So what the heck is a Jump Frog?
It’s a lure designed for snakehead (Channa Striata in Thailand, where Mr Boot is from.)
Foolish Boot is a Thai lure designer who fishes for
all manner of species, though at this stage, I have
Australian Boat Mag 21
Black Rhino
4800 Kapala SC
Back in February 2014, in ABM #207, we introduced Black Rhino boats, a new range of production plate alloy
boats being built on the Gold Coast by one of the most experienced building teams in Oz. Working with designs
from Kiwi nav-arch Scott Robson, this new range promised a great deal. We featured their first boat, the 660
Walkaround, June/14 issue; then the 760 Hardtop in July, and the 610 in August/14 . . . As promised, we’re
going to stay with this range as it grows, this month with the 4800 Side Console Kapala.
O
kay, here’s the deal. First off, it was raining.
Secondly, the Gold Coast Broadwater, despite
the inclement weather, was on this first week of
the New Year, absolutely chocker block full of
boats, tourists, jet skis and a zillion other fast
moving targets.
Thirdly, it was a private owner’s Black Rhino 4800
Kapala we were about to trial, and as everybody
knows, it’s not good form to let professional boat
testers loose in private boats – it’s that funny thing
called ‘responsibility’ and ‘care’ that one has to allow
the owner.
In this case, he had very generously made the boat
available because the Black Rhino team had just
upgraded the Yamaha from 70hp to a new 100hp
4-stroke engine, and it was in town primarily for that
job, plus prop trials, and a run to see if everything
was working by the book.
However getting any Black Rhinos to trial is a
challenge at the best of times, because they tend not
to be around very long, and rarely is the factory able
to set up demo rigs complete with $30,000 engines
that may not be the optimum choice of the would-be
purchaser.
26 Australian Boat Mag
It’s a dilemma aluminium boat builders (and GRP
boat builders, for that matter) have been facing ever
since the GFC killed off any largesse that used to
exist with the outboard companies.
There was a time, not so long ago, when outboard
companies would be queued up outside the boat
builders’ sheds in an effort to push their products into
the boat test frame. Not anymore. These days, unless
the boat builder is prepared to mortgage his house
and/or put out thousands of dollars in precious
working capital on an engine choice that may not be
ideal, ‘loan’ engines are just a memory of the more
pragmatic times gone by. Worse, every boatbuilder
(or dealer) will tell you if they buy a Mercury 250hp
4-stroke for the sea trials and demonstrations, the
next customer who walks in the door, will insist on a
Yamaha of the same horsepower, whereas the third
guy who walks in, will only buy the package if it has
a Suzuki on it.
This is the dilemma that won’t go away, as the
consumer is so totally right to insist on the engine of
his choice in boats costing anywhere from $40K$120K - and moreso, when the customer has a close
relationship with his local Brand X dealer.
Australian Boat Mag 27
The recent combination of a strong Aussie dollar, a weak US greenback and a tired local boat
building scene, opened the flood gates for the importation of both new and secondhand
boats from various parts of the world. Boats arrived in all shapes and sizes, pushing the
market down to a historically ‘soft’ level, sending the price of new and secondhand boats
tumbling even further. Put simply, there are many more people trying to sell boats, than there
are people who want to buy one. Now the Aussie dollar is dropping back to ‘normal’ and
heading lower still, the market is changing all over again.
In this report, originally published just a couple of years ago, Editor Peter Webster re-casts a
very experienced and a necessarily cynical eye across today’s marketplace to help readers
develop the best buying and selling strategies in the latest scheme of things.
Buying Secondhand:
In the perennial quest for real bargains, the
Number One Rule is to hunt around for the
top brands. Boats like this SeaRay 275 AJ
(above) and the big CruiseCraft 685 (below)
are prized because even buyer #5 knows
they have been very well built, will perform
extremely well (if set-up and maintained
correctly) and will retain top resale if looked
after. An unsung advantage of buying ‘preloved’ craft like these is that they are
invariably well ‘trained’, properly fitted out,
and set up for immediate action. Better still,
the savings WILL run into many thousands
of dollars compared to their replacement
cost.
32 Australian Boat Mag
It’s Your Move
O
lder hands in the boating world learned
long ago that “all that glitters in boating is
not stainless steel” and the old truism that
“anything cheap in boating is sure to be worth a
lot less than the price asked” has never been so
apt.
The trouble is, for people coming into boating for
the first time, it’s incredibly difficult to sort the wheat
from the chaff, especially when you’ve got a dozen or
more very convincing salespeople all believing that
their product is simply “miles better” than their
competitor’s boat 150 metres down the road.
Each sales person believes with a maniacal fervour
that you will embrace financial ruin by purchasing
anywhere else except “in this yard, from me, today!”
We’ve all seen it, we’ve all heard it. It goes on
every day of the week. And the poor first time buyer,
often out of sheer frustration and weariness, all too
often ends up succumbing to the more subtle of the
salespeople who can recognise that the buyer has
been “softened up” and is ready for the “kill”.
If this sounds a tad cynical, so be it – and if the cap
fits, wear it.
Let’s go back to square one. How does a consumer
work his or her way through the mire? How do they
learn to recognise what is good, or not so good value,
in a very short space of time?
Over the following pages, we’re going to examine
some of the broad-based issues.
We’d like to share with you some of our
experiences that we’ve had, and whilst this is an
enormous subject that has been the subject of many
excellent publications (including my son Jeff
Webster’s series of publications - “Secondhand
Secrets” et al ) what we’ll try and do here is draw out
the salient points that will help guide you down the
road.
Work Out a Budget
First off, you need a budget – yes, that’s bleedin’
obvious, but what I’m talking about is a real budget –
not a pretend one, or a bluff budget, I’m talking about
a real, fair dinkum, how-much-money-can-you-reallyspend-on-the-boat sort of budget that you’ll share
with your wife and family when the crunch comes to
buy something.
You can’t afford to waste time looking at boats
either up or down from your budget, because there
are literally thousands to look at; you just won’t have
enough time in the rest of your life to study the
market that carefully.
I kid you not, we’re talking here about hundreds
and hundreds of boats for sale in every classification,
so before you begin to do anything, the first issue is
to establish what you can actually afford to spend on
the new package.
Yep, “package” – that means the whole damn kit
and caboodle. The boat, the trailer, the engine, any
repairs that are necessary, the insurance cost,
brokerage fees, valuations, marina lift-out fees, a
survey, etc. All of the costs must come from that
budget figure and you’ve got to be fair dinkum with
Australian Boat Mag 33
Noosacat 4800 Flybridge
They reckon we should all have a
dream; something that will get us out of
bed in the morning, and keep us
working, saving, planning. For one very
savvy owner, the dream of owning a
Noosacat 4800 Flybridge has become a
reality - and there are few fishing and
boating enthusiasts who would
disagree that the dream doesn’t get any
better than this. Check it out.
46 Australian Boat Mag
Australian Boat Mag 47
PART THREE OF THREE PARTS
EXPLORING THE
GREAT BARRIER REEF
Photo from Tourism & Events Queensland
- A Perspective From Yorkeys Knob, Part 3 of 3
© Copyright by Don Gilchrist 2014. All rights reserved.
Navigational Fit Out
that we can plug in if needs be.
N
Plotters.
I say plural because we always have 2. The main
one for the helmsman and another, usually showing
depth, which the observer can quickly change over to
plotter function if they can’t quite make sense of their
perspective.
Navigation has always been a joint enterprise
between me and Robyn. I am a bit more cavalier but
we both have to be in our comfort zone to enjoy
ourselves.
So we talk about it a lot as we progress, passing
observations between us constantly to make sure that
we are both on the same page. I do the helming for
the long high speed bits and Robyn does all the close
quarters stuff when fishing or anchoring.
B4 electronics was a bit of a mixture so we had an
old B&W plotter for the observer, a separate sounder
and a new colour plotter for the helmsman. B5 came
fully fitted and it worked very well. When an upgrade
came around we decided on Lowrance again: all the
wiring was easy because the plugs are all the same,
also the menu protocols are fairly consistent from one
model to the next.
ow lets deal in more detail with some of the
equipment your boat should have in order to
be able to deal with the geography and distances.
The electronics that are essential are:
VHF
Cairns Met Office do regular weather bulletins.
Announcing on VHF 16 then shifting to the area
repeater channel 81. After the bulletin they will
usually stand by on 81 for a few minutes and you can
get a radio check and if you mention where you are
they will probably log it. The local volunteers are
VMR 409 and they use 16, 73 and 81. The last
couple of times we were out there VMR seemed
more active than Cairns Met Office.
Sounder.
This is essential. The water can be very clear and
eyeballing it can be very tricky. If you are fishing you
will want to get an idea of the underwater topography
and if anchoring you should prowl about looking for
moorings, bommies and other boats and an idea of
what depth you will be dropping in once you have
picked your general area. We have 2 transducers: one
in-hull wet-box installation which is the main one we
use as it gives us a more reliable sounding at speed
and in rough conditions. The other is a stern mount
52 Australian Boat Mags
Great fishing . . and then laying to safe anchor at Michelmas Cay in your Bertie 25, does it get any
better than this? It’s hard to believe sometimes, but there are hundreds of miles of the GBR to explore,
fish, dive, rest . . . a resource that is the envy of boatowners all over the world and one that most
Australian boatowners have never even seen, much less experienced first hand.
Training and Commonsense.
I mention this because there is no electronic
substitute for either. The sea is an uncharitable
Australian Boat Mags 53
Fisherman & Boatowner Category One Field Test
Dominator 7000
‘Canyon Runner’
The big Dominator 7000 has a great stance in the seaway - there’s no
‘nose droop’ and the bows have excellent lift. Owners of the old 560
Sharkcat won’t believe how good this boat is until they try it - and
admire the way it holds up the big 4-strokes, AND the crew working
right down on the tuck. A fabulous fishing platform, it will handle
anything, anywhere, right up to 37kg IGFA class tackle systems.
ABM
RETRO
BOAT TEST:
Unchanged, as
first published,
written and
photographed
by Peter
Webster in
January,
It’s been quite a while since we had the opportunity of testing one of the three big
Dominator Canyon Runners, a range that includes the 5600, 6200 and this 7000 model.
Having received many requests from readers across Australia for more information about
this spectacular craft, we jumped at the chance to work the boat inshore and offshore in the
break following its display at the Brisbane Boat Show. In this special report, Editor Peter
Webster looks at the state of play in the world of powered catamarans.
2003
A
lot of water has certainly passed between industrial location in Port Macquarie, a move that
the tunnels of many thousands of
has been very successful for the Port Macquarie
Markham Whalers and Dominator Cats
community ever since.
since those heady days back in June-July 1977
We have tested virtually all of the various
when a much younger Mark Hookham and a
Markham Whalers and the later derivation, the
slimmer and decidedly younger editor drove
Markham Dominators over the years, and watched
madly up and down Pittwater, NSW, day after
as the product has slowly changed and evolved
day, testing the first composite plywood/glass
into the infinitely more sophisticated, world class
Markham Whaler.
product that it has become today.
The original boat was a 4.3m long runabout, and
One of Australia’s fast disappearing breed of
we played swapsies with three different Chrysler
formally trained boat builders and designers,
outboards – a pair of 35’s and a single 50 for days, Hookham is something of a rarity now, as few
trying to get the best possible combination for the
other manufacturers have his design skills or
remarkable little boat.
knowledge of high performance powered
Getting the little boat ‘right’ was an
catamaran design and boat building.
extraordinary achievement, and without any doubt,
Not without his critics over his decision to stick
it went on to become one of the most profoundly
with asymmetric hulls, Hookham none the less has
important small craft ever designed and
always retained an enviable reputation as a boat
subsequently built in volume in
builder, and the quality of his
Editor
Peter
Webster
has had a 30
Australia.
construction, the integrity of
year
association
with
powered
cats
of
Hundreds and hundreds of
his design and the technology
almost
every
type
ever
made
and
has
Markham Whalers were
he has used, has always been in
owned
and
operated
5.0m,
5.6m,
6.7m,
subsequently sold in the
the forefront of world boat
and
7.3m
SharkCats,
288
and
328
original 4.3m, then 4.9m, back
building practice.
Powercats,
a
Dominator
6200,
a
Cairns
to the 4.0m Bass Boat, before
This is not just a grandiose
Custom
Craft
5.7m
Alloy
Cat
as
well
Mark Hookham launched the
‘motherhood’ statement. The
as
testing
just
about
every
other
major
first big 5.8m “Canyon
writer is aware of several tours
cat model manufactured in Australia in Mark Hookham made of the
Runner” at the end of the
the
last
30
years
or
so.
1970’s.
UK and the United States in
F&B magazine is about to take
With the assistance of the
the 70’s and 80’s, and from
delivery
of
a
new
alloy
6.5m
Cairns
NSW Government, Mark
these fact finding missions,
Hookham subsequently moved Custom Craft Cat specially fitted out
Hookham was able to bring
for marine photography and
his wife Pat and small tribe of
back to Australia a number of
equipment research.
six kids to a decentralised
boat building practices which
68 Australian Boat Mag’s Retro Test Circa 2003
Specifications
Hull length ............................. 7.0m
Beam ..................................... 2.5m
Draft ................................... 400mm
Freeboard ...............................1.0m
Cockpit depth .................... 800mm
Horsepower ...............2 x 115hp to
2 x 200hp 2-stroke, and 2 x
115hp to 2 x 150hp, 4-stroke
Weight* dry (hull only) ....... 1650kg
Cockpit area ..................2.8 x 2.3m
Towing weight* .................3,000 kg
Fuel capacity .................. 2 x 220L
*Approximate only, includes
hardtop, excludes fuel and
accessories
Australian Boat Mag’s Retro Test Circa 2003 69
A BM’s
Ebb &
Flow
With
Neil
Dunstan
What A Bluey!
It takes a very special fish to get Neil
excited, but he was over the moon with this
huge ‘bluey’ - otherwise known as a
Bluebone Tuskfish - and superb eating.
A
week or so ago the owner of the charter boat
“Obsession” asked me if I wanted to make up
a crew to go out on a private fishing trip with his
other normal crew of Chris Shepperd from the
Caltex port terminal, plus a friend of the owner
from Victoria, Graham.
As I hadn’t been out for a while due to the extended
period of bad weather, my supply of quality fish was
getting a bit low so I said okay.
Usually these long duration trips which start at
around four thirty in the morning, travel up to fifty
nautical miles out to sea and finish late in the evening,
take about fourteen hours. As we fish in one hundred
and thirty feet of water in an area which has very
strong current flow we normally fish with eighty
pound braid and a sinker of more than eight ounces.
For me this is quite hard work when retrieving the rig
many many times per day to retrieve a fish or to rebait
and I am getting a bit old for too much punishment but I still like to give it a go, occasionally.
On this Friday trip, the weather was forecast to be
ten to fifteen knots from the North/east which is
getting a bit marginal, but it was the best we had seen
for some time, so we bumped our way out to the wide
grounds.
We wanted to try some marks which had not fished
all that well for the past couple of months so we
thought we would give them a try and also look
around for some more marks which we could add to
our list. This area has mostly just a sand bottom, but
every so often we come across patches of rock
sticking up from the bottom, sometimes just a couple
of metres high and maybe twenty metres across, but
these are the spots where the fish congregate and
sometimes we find large schools of nannygai and red
emperor around them.
The trick is to have as many marks like this as we
can find and check each one of them out with the
sounder till we find where the fish are, so it helps if
we have lots of marks in an area of interest.
The first couple of marks we tried showed quite a
bit of promise, so over went the lines after we had
spent half an hour working out the drift and then
anchoring up current so that once the anchor hooked
up we were right over the spot. The fishing was a bit
slow for a while and we only caught small mixed reef
fish, but amongst them were a couple of reasonable
sized nannygai. About this time of the tide, we started
catching a number of various sized snapper which is
an unusual catch at this time of the year. Up our way
we normally only catch snapper in the depths of
winter (the dry season) and the traditional time is on
the show day public holiday in June.
They only come as far north as a bit north of
Mackay and they appear to be at the end of their
breeding run as most fish are quite large and often in
big schools. The fish we caught were from quite
small individuals of about half a kilo to some good
size fish to about a kilo and a half, and we wondered
if these fish really do leave the area and travel back
down south (the general consensus of opinion) or
maybe they go out wide to the deeper water and stay
there.? Also amongst these fish we caught a number
of long spined snapper which are quite rare and not
often caught anywhere.
About this time we decided to have a look at some
other marks, and we ran the sounder over a number
of other spots till we spotted a rock with some good
looking fish marking up on the Furuno, so with a bit
more trying we were able to come up on the anchor
in just the right spot.
Over went the lines, baited mostly with whole
squid - and we immediately started catching fish.
Most of these were undersized nannygai but a
number were quite good specimens so the ice box
was starting to look a lot better. I was sitting on the
ice box with my line out of the way of the others
when I got a fairly small bite as the fish would not
have a decent go at it. So I waited patiently for it to
take the bait properly.
Because we use braid line with fluoro carbon
leaders, I could feel everything the fish was doing
and eventually it got a good hold of the bait and I
struck as the fish was dragging the bait away but
because I was using circle hooks I only had to give it
a little nudge and I was on.
Straight away I knew that this was a decent fish,
and as soon as I got it up off the bottom, it tried
desperately to get back to the bottom to cut me off on
the rock. I locked up on the drag as I reckoned that if
it made it to the bottom it would be all over, so it was
a major power struggle to make headway but I finally
turned it and started on the long haul to the surface.
When I got it near the top I was just about
buggered, but then I spotted the fish which was the
biggest black spot ‘bluey’ I had ever seen, and I
MARCEL MAUJEAN t/a
MARCEL BOAT DESIGN
ACCREDITED MARINE SURVEYOR, with
35 years Experience In The Boating Industry
Specialist In boat
designs from 4.0m - 35.0m
Commercial and
private surveys, and
condition reports
Boat valuations.
127 Russell St Cairns, Qld 4870
PO Box 53, Edge Hill QLD 4870
ABN 662 75017823
Phone 0438 352966
Email: [email protected]
84 Australian Boat Mag
Australian Boat Mag 85

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