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Fitzroy Reef

daveylad

By daveylad
in Saltwater

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daveylad Newbie

daveylad

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Received a call from Dhess with a spare spot on his mates boat to go to Fitzroy reef out of 1770 for the weekend. They left about 8.30pm from Brisbane and picked me up at Cooroy about 10.30pm. Arrived at 1770 about 3am with no wind and a clear sky. There was no messing around and we were soon in the water in Jensens 6metre Bar Crusher which is really well set up for open water fishing. Before arriving at the reef jensen had some spots marked and we were soon pulling in some decent fish. I caught my first Coral Trout good legal size and then Jensen called a Red Emperor on his line and soon pulled in a fantastic fish, too busy to measure and take to many pics we kept at it. I hooked up to what I thought was a red and after a min it bit off my 30lb braid, bad luck but it gives a great insight to the strength of these beautiful fish.

Entry to the Fitzroy reef.

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Inside of the reef system which is huge.

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We moved on further East to another spot about 70kilometres from 1770, and caught some more fish with red Throat Emperor's and grassy seet lips all good sizes. later the day we saw a huge change in the forecasted weather with the wind whipping up to 15 to 20 knots and the odd shower. We headed back towards Fitzroy reef and it ws inreal the amount of shelter it gives from the open water it was like and backyard pond with beautiful azzure clear water. we then went to another reef about 10ks from Fitzroy and 2 of the ladds went snorkeling coming up with 2 nice Coral Trout, they were quick to get them into the boat as there weere 3 Black reef tip sharks hanging about them waiting for a feed. The weather was closing in again so we headed back to Fitzroy and calmer water we were cauught in a good chop with the winds getting up to 25 to 30knots making it a bumpy ride but well handled by the Bar Crusher. Just outside of the reef we had a good sounding and dropped again pulling in another red emperor and more grassies and parrot fish which there was plenty of.

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it was really safe in the reef system but the weather really turned crap with rain most of the night and the wind blowing a gale at times which we reckoned up to 30knots thanks to the protection of the reef we were safe in there.

Next morning after a crap night the rain held off and we ventured out into a bumpy seas about 15 to 20 knots and a choppy swell, we dropped several times on our heading back to 1770 bring up more good fish. This place is really a fantastic system there were shows of bommies and fish everywhere you just couldnt miss out. the trip back took us about 3hours due to the weather with some really big lumps and the wing changing from 10 to 15 knots to gusts og easily 25 to 30knots but Jensen skippered the Bar Crusher expertly it really is a good boat for these conditions and really stable at rest for fishing, he wouldnt swap me for my Whittley cruiser although its better for sleeping on it dosent come close as a fishing platform. We all ended up with a good load of fish and I wouldnt hesitate to return there again. Thanks Jensen, Tony and Dhess for a great trip. I had the Coral Trout for dinner that night it really is worthy of its reputation.

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daveylad Newbie

daveylad

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Yes it is, but its amazing how the reef protects you it was blowing up to 30knot winds in the area ( not what was forecasted) and in the reef we anchored up and it was like a 10knot or less with no swell. Best thing is that there are several reefs like that and easy to get to one if the weather changes, the normal trip is 2 to 2.5 hrs and we sat on about 40 kph on the way out and 20kph on the way back.

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kreel Newbie

kreel

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tBox and I were up there last year with Benno but couldn't get out to the outer reefs - still had a great time. It looks like you really made the most of it though mate well done.

We haven't seen much of you for a while I hope you're continuing to get more blood than champagne on the Whittley.

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dhess Newbie

dhess

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Good write up Dave.

The weather made the trip pretty memorable for the wrong reasons. i.e. Being woken up at about 9pm by rain that was that heavy that made visibility near zero that was driven by wind sostrong that it stung your skin. The front end of the boat was ankle deep in rain water. Was a pretty cold and miserable night that seemed to last for ever.

Still despite having a fairly quiet one not catching any stand out fish myself it was a fun trip with everyone going home with a few very good feeds. Stretched my arms on a few sharks cutting a 6 footer free boat side.

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daveylad Newbie

daveylad

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sounds like a great place, sounds like a fair distance for a 3hr return leg.
Eug when you see the sounder lighing up everywhere out there and the size of the fish its worth it, good weather is much quicker than 3hrs and theres plenty of protection on the reefs and also islands out there.
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daveylad Newbie

daveylad

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tBox and I were up there last year with Benno but couldn't get out to the outer reefs - still had a great time. It looks like you really made the most of it though mate well done.

We haven't seen much of you for a while I hope you're continuing to get more blood than champagne on the Whittley.

Hi baden, came back from a holiday in Vietnam and spent 2 months in bed with a mystery liver virus and parasites in the stomache lost 12 kilos worse of all no champers. all okay now ready for some good trips

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