queensland Seventeen Seventy Demark Week One Report Extremely Photo Heavy

[Drop Bear]

Well after so much anticipation I drove the 5+ hours to 1770 on Saturday where I was greeted by @demarc  @aussie123  and Brendan.

Whether the weather was wonderful or woeful was what we wanderers wondered.

I drove around Seventeen Seventy to have a look as it had been quite a few years since I had been there. It's such a beautiful town.

Bustard bay extends from Seventeen Seventy to Bustard head. It was named when the crew from Endeavour caught an Australian Bustard as they stopped by in the year 1770. Duh...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_bustard

They reported that it was  the best bird they’d eaten since leaving England.

There is some interesting history on the memorial here. here. 

https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_207595/s18378366_1928_2_4_159.pdf?Expires=1505075494&Signature=I7OEJRHjS~R7TmzA14K45-1Zi43zFAH8efo9b3UfyDpnh9KxFz6hvrEzK8048vlrqo9K-wAX~mtPY6urs6xv9c~Z8aWjGqSOtxaTAxOMYNeqcgxuXah7zFfkMRA56q6zuLkiEY6gqZXKnP6BRbjEhS2YuRF6xv3faFloJLck8McfW51YePvgZb6X7XgBbD0q5T2NjDrWu5WUDOoxOC0HGMn0Fdycq~-1DQEvOPTiutsM5PB6kNj5S9W8M0Eqec4zmVfleIbhTgf0keiIrMMfcYueZ1Z3gKv1Q9tiCV5xhzYektHDIDS-2qZhwukvT-Ppw2F42ZriP~BcRQrhw0RSfg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJKNBJ4MJBJNC6NLQ

 

Sunday looked great for wind but it was expected to blow up on Monday and Tuesday so we planned a day trip focusing on Mackerel (W@^&*r Fishing apparently)  

We headed out at first light. 

and caught 10 Schoolies and a Mack Tuna that we cut up for breakfast on the surgically clean bait board... 

@demarc caught a cracking Grassy, the biggest I have ever seen.  @aussie123 found a new wreck where we got, Whiptails, juvanile Red Emperer and grinners as well as Hussar that we had for dinner that night in a bit of a curry. 

The next few days were windy. We had some down time and a few beers and saw @Luvit and his mate Luke that I don't think is on AFO turn up.

As well as @straddiebrad and @tugger come up with Mrs Straddiebrad

We all agreed to head off on Wed. The time that we leave was the only problem.

Weather forecasts were all over the shop but we all ended up getting out at about 10.30 on Wed.

It was a bit lumpy but the following sea saw us all make good time to the reefs not too far from Heron Island. 

We took stock and went to a lump that the boys had a mark on and it produced straight away. RTE, Hussar and coral cod came straight in. @aussie123 caught 2 massive Spangled Emperors, a solid Coral Trout and a great Maori Cod. 

@demarc got a stunning Coronation Trout  aussie named it Lizzy and declared they are not a real Trout... I think mostly because he had a trout already. These are such beautiful fish. A cracking start and a good bag considering this was really just a travel day. 

We rafted up with the other boats, told a few lies and had a bite to eat. Fresh fish sandwiches with way too much butter were fantastic. 

The next day the weather was ok and we headed a bit deeper for a bit of an electric reel bash.

The snappers were thick and really good size.

We bagged out very quickly and moved to a new spot to try and get some Pearlys.

I caught my first Pearly and then caught a really nice sized one.

We caught more Snapper that we had to release as we had our bag.

Its quite emotional releasing large Snapper but for the best. 

I dropped a jig down in the deep water and had something smash it. I was on my 5000 Sustain with 30lb and the Cheater. It took ages to get it a bit close and then took off. The nearly locked up drag screamed off at a rate I have never known before. A few more screaming runs and we gaffed a nice Yellow Fin Tuna. SashimiI said... Bloody Toooona Fish @aussie123 said. 

This jig was going to prove itself many times over the next 2 days.

Other than a few pearlys it was nothing but snapper out this way so we had to leave them and we went back to the mount we had fished on the first day. A reef anchor didn't really want to hold in the sand but let us fish the back side of the bump. More RTE and Coral Cod and the ever present Hussar. These Hussar are a Lutjanidae and are delicious. They are only a small fish but quite quick to fillet so are a very welcome fish to the bag. I tried a bit of Fish Pigging. A technique where you put up to 6 hooks on (not in the Yellow zones as you are only aloud 1 hook per line) and drop down. The trick is to not pull in the fish until you have all hooks filled. It didn't work for me as I think it takes a bit of skill :). Strangely one of the Hassar that I cooked up from the first day was like rubber while the other 3 were superb. Poor @aussie123 was so looking forward to a whole baked fish but what he got was a rubber ball with bones.... Sorry not sorry . 

@aussie123hooked something that took him into the reef. it came out and as he reeled it in he saw something silver follow the now bare hooks up. Then I saw large shark hit the bare hooks right beside the engine. "Bloody shark" I said but aussie said nope It's not a shark! I was skeptical . It was a shark and Aussie was dreaming... He was really worried that the line had been damaged in the reef but didn't give it a quarter calling for the gimble belt after the rod but had stabbed him a few times. I offered to cut his line... the shark did a few huge run under very heavy drag before showing colour and heading off again. Not to bee seen for about another 10 mins. Again i offered to cut the line but aussie really wanted this shark, then it cam back up and rolled on its side... a striped sided shark? Nope it was a Cobia... and a thumping good en. It came close to the boat and I had a swing with the gaff, missed the fish and hooked the little bead on his line.... and stayed hooked to it... I had no idea what to do but luckily (although aussie claimed he jiggled it free.. sure he did ) the bead came off. I had another swing and  expertly sunk in the gaff and heaved it over the side. The first miss was intentional... it was to um... bring dramatic efect to the story... . The Cobia was massive... A real Hippo... I have caught little ones but this was a cracker. 

The whales were doing a show for us which was very kind. We didn't even ask. and they didn't breach onto the boat once! 

We all got a few more fish. I caught quite a few on the light line with the magic jig. So much fun, but soon it got late so we went back to the west side of the reef. Weather report was wrong so we had a bit of a bumpy night. I found out as we were having some more magnificent reef fish on bread (again with way too much butter) that pretty much everyone in the party had caught a better Cobia than aussie's and spent most of the night telling me how much better theirs was...  before we hit the sack. 

We all woke up very early and we headed out to see if we could find A Red Emperor. Although we had caught a few juvenile fish we had nothing that came close to the mark and were all keen to try and bag one. The wind was supposed to be variable to 10 knots... it was southerly at at least 20 but @demarc's boat is a cracker and handled the seas well. But although we fished some great shows on the sounder the Reds didn't like our offerings and we headed in to try and fish some more sheltered waters. This was not the best day for us. the spots we had fished well on previous days were shut down and all the marks were slow. We had caught 46 mixed reef fin fish already and were keen to bag out but could only scrape a few RTE, Tuskies and Hussars.

With ice lower than we would like we headed back towards 1770 and tried to grab some Trout on the way home but they weren't biting. We tried in closer and caught a few small fish and saw some working fish. I cast the magic jig at them and got smashed but dropped then smashed again and fought for a while and finally landed a Bludger Trevally. I love these and am going to smoke it. The others think I'm nuts bringing home a "$#!t fish". 

The southerly was tending East then NE as we aimed at Bustard Head. Then 1770. The fish were well iced over night and cleaned the next day. It took me us over 3 hours do do them all. I am thrilled to have so much fish. Mum and dad have some now and I have eaten Snapper for dinner and Cobia for breakfast and looking forward to many many meals. 

Thanks so much @demarc for letting me come. your boat is a cracker and you skipper it well and thanks too to @aussie123 for so much advice. I have learnt so much from this trip. 

PB's for me;

First Pearl Pearch then biggest Pearl pearch

First Longtail...netted...

Best yellowfin Tuna

First Sunset Snapper (unsure of name sorry)

First Bludger Trevally

First time east of Heron Island and to all the reefs out there. 

Is that all? Seems I forgot a few.

Species Caught but not necessarily kept in order of an old addled brain and just the ones I remember...;

School Mackerel

Spanish Mackerel

Mackerel Tuna

Long Tailed Tuna.... nearly

Yellow Fin Tuna

Hassar

Stripey

Sunset Snapper (not sure of name)

Striped Sea-perch 

Snapper

Grinner

Whiptail

Red Emporer

Maori Cod

Scorpion Cod

White-Dotted Cod

Coral Cod

Coral Trout

Corination trout

Tea leaf Trevally

Bludger trevally

Cobia

Spangled Emperor

Wire netted cod

Pearl Pearch

Remora

Moses Perch

Iodine Bream

frypan bream

Grassy Sweet lip

Venus Tusk-fish

2 different types of leather jacket/trigger fish

Some sort of Gudgeon

Red Throat Emperors RTE

I'm sure there are some I have forgotten. 

I can't wait to do it again. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Angry51]

Thank Drop Bear, One of the best reports I've read and plenty of good pic's.

Looks like you all had a cracker trip.

Enjoy all those fillets, Yum, yum.

 Cheers

  Gary

[Fishaman]

That's a cracking trip mate and a well written report. I see you got a nice coronation trout by the look of it. They are very nice indeed. I am heading up in the next couple of weeks for five days. I have a few acres up there. Can't wait. 

 

Thanks for sharing 

[demarc]

Great report bud. You're welcome on my boat any time. 

[Angus]

Looks awesome!

Cannot believe your first AFO event was 2016 Xmas party @Drop Bear

 

Angus

[Drop Bear]

20 hours ago, Angry51 said:

One of the best reports I've read and plenty of good pic's.

Thanks mate. I had such a great trip I wanted to spend a bit of time writing the report.

[Drop Bear]

10 hours ago, Fishaman said:

I see you got a nice coronation trout by the look of it

Yes @demarc got that one. They are stunningly beautiful. 

 

10 hours ago, Fishaman said:

I am heading up in the next couple of weeks for five days. I have a few acres up there.

Nice! Hang onto it mate im sure it will be a gold mine when 1770 looks more like noosa. I hope you have a cracking trip

[Drop Bear]

9 hours ago, demarc said:

Great report bud. You're welcome on my boat any time. 

Thanks again for taking me along. I hope the weather suits you this week and you get into it again. 

[Drop Bear]

18 minutes ago, Angus said:

Cannot believe your first AFO event was 2016 Xmas party

Yep. I'm sure there will be many more

 

[Luvit]

That's so good Robbie, , no one will post any more reports after setting the bar so high. 

[natang]

Amazing read sounds like a fabulous time was had by all! Great pics too DropBear! 

[Drop Bear]

4 hours ago, Luvit said:

That's so good Robbie, , no one will post any more reports after setting the bar so high.

haha not sure about that but it was a great trip. thanks for all the tips on the jigs. I wouldn't have gotten the Yellow fin and I wouldn't have used it as much as I did. Its a great technique and something im planning to do much much more of. 

[Drop Bear]

2 hours ago, natang said:

Amazing read sounds like a fabulous time was had by all! Great pics too DropBear! 

Thanks mate. It was a great trip. I will be back....

I have a serious case of boat envy... as well as jig envy... and rod envy... etc.

[Tybo]

Awesome report Robbie! So much fish, absolute cracker!

Looks like you're converted on micro jigs. Is that the same sustain you got the yellowfin in Baia on?

[Drop Bear]

2 hours ago, Tybo said:

Awesome report Robbie! So much fish, absolute cracker!

Looks like you're converted on micro jigs. Is that the same sustain you got the yellowfin in Baia on?

Thanks mate. It was a great trip. Same reel but no I got blown away on the sustain over there. The drag washers got squished out  from being locked up for a week casting to bass. The tightening bit on the drag touched the spool. It tightened itself and just stopped. I had to use pliers to undo the drag. The PNG yellow-fin are a different species I was told? Is that true? I thought they were a darker yellow or am I mistaken? 

Yep I really enjoyed using the micro jigs. It makes so much difference when you have confidence with something. 

How long till we can troll for spotties in the bay?

[aussie123]

Awesome report Robbie.

Thanks mate for such an enjoyable time with you for the past week and also thanks for being an amazing kitchen *****,lol

Every meal you cooked was just amazing.

Thanks heaps mate.

 

[Drop Bear]

On 9/10/2017 at 10:25 AM, Drop Bear said:

 

57 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

Thanks mate for such an enjoyable time with you for the past week and also thanks for being an amazing kitchen *****,lol

There are a few nice photos of you in there mate.

I had a great time and learnt so much

[Drop Bear]

Is this one a strawberry trout?

[Tybo]

21 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

Thanks mate. It was a great trip. Same reel but no I got blown away on the sustain over there. The drag washers got squished out  from being locked up for a week casting to bass. The tightening bit on the drag touched the spool. It tightened itself and just stopped. I had to use pliers to undo the drag. The PNG yellow-fin are a different species I was told? Is that true? I thought they were a darker yellow or am I mistaken? 

I'm not sure on the yellowfin, they could be a different species, I'm not sure. That Sustain has done you so well then!

21 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

How long till we can troll for spotties in the bay?

 Not exactly sure, I've "heard" reports of the odd one, but nothing solid yet. I've also "heard" of plenty of schoolies in the small ships passage, but most aren't legal fish. I was going to wait a month then go give it a try. The sandies will start in the next few weeks in the same area, so a day out lifting pots and trolling for mackerel might be on the cards. I'll let you know.

[Drop Bear]

28 minutes ago, Tybo said:

The sandies will start in the next few weeks in the same area, so a day out lifting pots and trolling for mackerel might be on the cards. I'll let you know.

now that sounds like fun.

[Drop Bear]

28 minutes ago, Tybo said:

I'm not sure on the yellowfin, they could be a different species, I'm not sure. That Sustain has done you so well then!

I should amend it to say best yellow fin tuna in australia

[Angus]

On 11/09/2017 at 3:59 PM, Drop Bear said:

Thanks mate. It was a great trip. Same reel but no I got blown away on the sustain over there. The drag washers got squished out  from being locked up for a week casting to bass. The tightening bit on the drag touched the spool. It tightened itself and just stopped. I had to use pliers to undo the drag. The PNG yellow-fin are a different species I was told? Is that true? I thought they were a darker yellow or am I mistaken? 

Yep I really enjoyed using the micro jigs. It makes so much difference when you have confidence with something. 

How long till we can troll for spotties in the bay?

Yeah they look like yft but I think are called big eye tuna...

[Drop Bear]

On 9/12/2017 at 1:31 PM, Tybo said:

That Sustain has done you so well then!

Yes it really has. I have caught a lot of solid fish on it now. 

[Luke Landrunner]

Great report Robbie.

Being your room mate for 10 minutes was the highlight for me ....

Quote

I do snore after I've had a few

A top bunch of blokes and some awesome fishing up there.

[straddiebrad]

great read mate mark will do a report on our trip got some great fish,and thanks for the roast dinner,we may have a trip in december if your keen

 

[aussie123]

I gave the boys a quick lesson on how to fish pig and Robbie mastered the art straight away @Drop Bear

Leslie, Brad and Mark enjoying a chat while we were all rafted up behind Sykes Reef

This screen shot is the 1770 Musgrave Charter boat that burnt down and sunk about 6 months ago.We sounded around and found the wreck after a while.

We had a few drops on it for some small Red Emporer and other reef fish as well as a couple of bust offs from bigger fish.

[tugger]

Back home now great to see you having a blast up there Rob you will get hooked on the place like the rest of us, terrific report i never took anywhere near the photos you did they look unreal start planning the next 1770 trip.

[tugger]

Robbie did you just use your phone for the photos or do you use a flash camera

[Drop Bear]

On 9/17/2017 at 1:30 PM, tugger said:

Robbie did you just use your phone for the photos or do you use a flash camera

No I'm too lazy to take the grown up camera. They are all just on the phone. 

[tugger]

2 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

No I'm too lazy to take the grown up camera. They are all just on the phone. 

I just need to take more shots but it is hard to resist dropping another bait down quickly

[Drop Bear]

On 9/15/2017 at 8:42 AM, Luke Landrunner said:

Great report Robbie.

Being your room mate for 10 minutes was the highlight for me ....

haha sorry mate. Also sorry for no connecting you to your AFO name. Duh. I got it now.

[Drop Bear]

21 hours ago, tugger said:

I just need to take more shots but it is hard to resist dropping another bait down quickly

In this digital age that is the trick. Lots of pickies and dump the bad ones.