Northern waters excursion......Finally got the vid

[ryanyoung]

G'day all,

For the past four months I have been up around Darwin and beyond on a bit of a work/holiday type of deal. The holiday side was present due to the fact that the majority of the time, I was working on boats, and given the blokes I was on the boats with (mostly all of them avid fishermen), it wasn't unusual to do a bit of trolling whilst on the job!!!

The trip started with a bit of training taking place in Darwin, and it wasn't long before I had all the hot gossip on favoured fishing spots around the base. I was quick to take advantage of this new-found knowledge, and soon had a regular routine in place to hit up coastline with the lemax.

[ryanyoung]

This cove saw most of the action from land for us fishos' deployed for the trip, and it provided a bit of variety in the form of Trevally, Spaniards and Queenies, as well as the odd Bream, Cod etc.

[ryanyoung]

I think nearly every time I hit up this cove, I came away without a donut, which was pretty damn awesome in my book. This is the first victim, he was taken on the lemax, using a gillies pilchard on fast retrieve.

Upon hearing this, fishing suddenly became pretty cool for a lot of people from the gang, and soon enough, we had quite a crowd heading down for an afternoon fish. Included in these, were a couple of total newcomers to the fishing scene (Kyla and Maddy), and they had a ball catching their first fish ever :woohoo: !!!

[ryanyoung]

Here is Kyla with her very first fish.....To be honest I don't really know what it is!!! However she had a great time, and the look on her face really did say it all.

[ryanyoung]

With this fish under her belt, Kyla became a regular for the fishing excursions, buying her own rod and trying her hand at lures and the whole shebang.

Maddy was another one who gave fishing a go for the very first time, and soon got off the board with this little fella

[ryanyoung]

Of course, along with thier new-found hobby of fishing, came an obligation to myself to teach them how to cast. I attempted this by removing the trebles and showing them how to cast on dry land. I wasn't really counting on hooking up to a palm tree, or that the lure would wrap itself seven ways to sundown around the fronds, by hey, life is imperfect :laugh: :blush: :silly:

[ryanyoung]

But eventually, we were all working off the same sheet of music, and it was time to hit up the cove again, with some okay results. I actually have some video of this and one other catch, however it has been too long since I was on here, and I have forgotten how to do it, so pictures will have to do for now

[ryanyoung]

This was my third or fourth Queenie for the trip, and he was active as, jumping all the way into the shore once hooked. He released very well, and after a brief assisted swim, took off to fight another day.

[ryanyoung]

There were numerous other hits as the sun went down, but before long, it was pitch black, and there was a very steep embankment to climb to head back to the barracks, so after a last couple of casts, we headed home.

We had numerous other trips out whilst staying in Darwin, however since I managed to break my camera on the very first outing, most of our efforts were unrecorded (Yeah I know.....Likely story lol!!!!)

[ryanyoung]

From the start of the trip, I had a wishlist of Queenie, Jew and Barra. So it was with some excitement that myself and a couple of mates headed up to Shady Camp in an effort to catch some barra. We went there with high expections and spirits, even though we were nursing hangovers from a night on it the previous evening. I was also nursing a dislocated shoulder from the nights shennanigans, which restricted my casting to a certain extent lol!!!! We were up there for most of the day, fishing from the bank. It was incredibly snaggy, and we went through four packets of slick-rigs.....All for nothing, as not one of us hooked up to a decent barra, and I walked away with my first donut of the trip !!! It was interesting, however, sharing a fishing spot with these......

[taib]

Hey Ryan! Its been a while mate, welcome back! Sounds like a bucket of fun where you were. Great report mate, nice pics. Looks like a really nice place.

Cheers

ty

[ryanyoung]

Apart from the odd land-based session between boat-trips, this was the end of our shore-based efforts. From there, I spent the next three months trolling lures behind patrol boats and getting the odd sp session when anchored or tied off to the buoy.

[ryanyoung]

It was on one such trip, that we passed over some reefs (coincidence of course lol ), and I managed to get onto my first decent sized Spaniard.

It was a bit of a wait before it happened, but finally I was on the board with something respectable.

[ryanyoung]

I wasn't the first or last to get on, and this particular reef gave out a variety of fish, including sharks, jobfish and a few more spaniards.

[Malcolm]

unreal mate keep it commin

[ryanyoung]

Amongst it all, we were witness to some of the best sunsets I have seen, and it provided an awesome backdrop to a nice relaxing fish off the quarterdeck of the boat.

[ryanyoung]

[ryanyoung]

One of a few of the previously mentioned noahs' encountered.

[ryanyoung]

[ryanyoung]

One of our illustrious brethren of the "Grey" showing his sensitive side

[ryanyoung]

And here is probably the best sunset photo I have seen!!! It really gave a great ending to a day, to see a sight like this.

[ryanyoung]

In between the times we were on the boats, there were plenty of pranks to be played (usually on unsuspecting heirarchy). This fancy dress was instigated after we were told we had to go to the museum and complete a questionaire on what we found there. It put us in such a school-time frame of mind, that over a beer (or many), we came up with this brainwave.....

It became a bit of a problem when we were actually mistaken for students at the museum, and people took a dim view of us punching durries like a chimney....Dirty looks go on ha ha ha!!!!!

[ryanyoung]

Recreational activities beyond fishing took place also, amongst them mini golf, which turned into a slug fest.

[Malcolm]

Have you got a pic of the whole boat ?

[ryanyoung]

On my last boat trip, which saw me spend about a month deployed out to Christmas Island, I had a total ball fishing for GT's off the back of the boat with sp's. I would estimate the fish caught at about the 8-10kg mark (from what I hear, small for GT's) hwever they were awesome fun on the lemax and 15lb line, and they hit the sp's HARD!!!! My apologies, however I have no photos of these, as I was the only one fishing at the time (it was a boat with not too many fishermen on it lol).

On our way back to Darwin from Christmas Island, we stopped in at King George Sound (between Broome and Darwin), and went ashore for a swim and a look around. I had the foresight to take my rod with me, so off we went. This turned out to be a spectacular trip scenery wise.

[ryanyoung]

This pool was about 50m deep, and I spied what I thought were Sooties about 3m down. The only drama was, I had on a slick-rig, as I was still searching for that first barra. This didn't matter to the sooties though, they came in quite a few times and hit the lure hard as, although they were canny enough to avoid the hook ha ha ha!!!!

[ryanyoung]

[ryanyoung]

This last trip was the end of the deployment for me, and soon enough I found myself back in Darwin, before coming home. It was a long and tedious job, and I have a great deal of respect for our Navy up there on the patrol boats. They are doing a fine job at a very monotonous and unrewarding job (sorry for the plug there, but they deserve a bit of recognition). It certainly wasn't all fun and games, however the fun and games are the things I will certainly remember, and that I have passed on to you.

Thanks for reading, sorry about the lack of fish photos, the photos I have come from other people due to my camera's nasty end lol!!!

Cheers and tight lines,

Ryan.

PS - Malcolm, I will try and find a full picture of the boats we were on.

[ryanyoung]

Malcolm wrote:

Have you got a pic of the whole boat ?

Here is a pic for you Malcolm

[Malcolm]

ryanyoung wrote:

Malcolm wrote:

Have you got a pic of the whole boat ?

Here is a pic for you Malcolm

oooo yeeeaaaah thanks mate

[ellicat]

Good read mate. Surprised to hear you giving the Navy guys a rap - you'll be disowned by the mangoes lol.

Definitely sounds like a work hard play hard trip and what a spaniard :woohoo: :woohoo:

...and oh yeah - you're a poser for climbing the palm tree :laugh:

[HookedOnTackle]

what a story! love the idea of trolling behind hmas sea patrol

real shame you bust your camera so early.

[Angus]

Nice work dude.

Thanks for the phone updates

Looking forward to catching up for a fish!

Angus

[Dinodadog]

well done mate sure is a nice place to visit,I had 8 weeks up there with the army which resulted in 3 long weekends at corroboree and plenty of barra.

Dino

[wesfish]

ryanyoung wrote:

In between the times we were on the boats, there were plenty of pranks to be played (usually on unsuspecting heirarchy). This fancy dress was instigated after we were told we had to go to the museum and complete a questionaire on what we found there. It put us in such a school-time frame of mind, that over a beer (or many), we came up with this brainwave.....

It became a bit of a problem when we were actually mistaken for students at the museum, and people took a dim view of us punching durries like a chimney....Dirty looks go on ha ha ha!!!!!

hahaha :laugh: how disgusting which teacher lets their students smoke !!!

:laugh: :laugh:

great report ryan and great shots, that waterfall looks mad as!!

[Davo_Dinkum]

no wonder the boat people get in all u guys are to busy fishing

only jokes

nice report,nice fish ,nice area all nice bet u had a ball.

[Scope]

Top report there Ryan. Hope to catch up soon when you get back mate.

[ryanyoung]

Scope wrote:

Top report there Ryan. Hope to catch up soon when you get back mate.

Yeah mate, that would be great. I am keen to catch up with all the crew!!!

[kreel]

Malcolm wrote:

ryanyoung wrote:

Malcolm wrote:

Have you got a pic of the whole boat ?

Here is a pic for you Malcolm

oooo yeeeaaaah thanks mate

So do they do charters on this boat?

I'm thinking - the entire membership of AFO for a week, shouldn't be too expensive surely?

[snapsnap]

hangover with crocs hahahah good mix