queensland Fishing the Deep Offshore Reefs

[aussie123]

Sunday morning we decided the weather was ok to go and do an over nighter on the continental shelf chasing Bar Cod.

We set off for the South Passage Bar knowing it would be an ugly crossing with 2-3m Easterly swell at the waverider buoy off Point Lookout and when we arrived at the bar there was some huge rollers breaking on the outer banks at Amity so we headed up to the middle channel for a look.

This was 10 times worse as the pressure waves before the banks were huge as well and coming from every direction.

We decided to push into it and see how we go before we hit the outer banks plus we wanted a closer look at what was happening out there.

Eventually we got across the bar after putting numerous waves over the roof of the 27 ft cat and a few into the boat over the sides.

From the point where we entered the bar from the bay side to where we got out across the outer banks was nearly a mile North.

To say we copped a flogging getting out was an understatement but it was fun and it sure made you feel alive.

We got near Flat Rock and the current line running through there was incredible with the ocean literally standing up and the waves were rolling and breaking just like on a bar.

We ended up going North to get around it as we were not game to try and drive through it.

We hit the shelf East of the bar about 10am and set the gear up and had the first 20kg bar cod in the ice box by about 10.30.

We fished the shelf to about 4.30 when we decided to go have a drop on my mates Bass Groper spot which he said was tough fishing as most of the bassies there were around the 50kg mark and with the 3 knots of tide running I knew we would not stop them let alone get one up.

We only did a small number of drops but we got blown away every time.

One fish bricked my mates gear so bad the 200lb braid broke at the rod costing him 700m of baid.

After that we decided to leave them alone and come back another day with better traces and no current.

We headed into 50 fathom and picked up for the night and re rig everything for another hit on the Bar Cod the next day

.While at anchor we had a Tiger shark about 10 ft long sitting behind the boat just starring at us for ages.

He sat their about 2 ft behind the motor just motionless waiting for anything to fall in the water.

Next morning we headed back out but the current was running at 4 knots now and after some gear mods we were able to fish it but it was hard.

Fish numbers were down but we were still catching to all was good.

We seen a piece of bamboo floating vertical in the water so we go over to look for a dolphin fish and there was a nice school of 12 to 20kg dollies swimming around it.

There was also a lot of wahoo cruising around as well.

We got stuck into the dollies for a little while to break the boredom of dropping 5 pound sinkers down into 250 meters of water and to also have a quick feed before an arvo assault on the cod again.

We got some nice dollies and lost plenty but the hoo wouldnt take a cut bait.

I did manage to get one to take a bait but he swallowed it and the second he turned his head he sliced through the 80lb mono.

We had a few more drops on the cod but the wind changed to the NE at about 15 knots and with 4 knots of tide it quickly became un-fishable so we headed home.

We got back to the bar to see huge rolling breakers the entire length of the passage.

We decided to go the middle channel again which was the messiest crossing of the two but we knew we had 3m of water at low tide just to be safe.

Last thing we needed was to hit the bottom in the middle of a raging bar on a run out tide.

We picked our lull and headed in but it got worse the further we went.

We were committed now and just had to battle it all the way while working our way south through a very angry bar.

One wave picked us up and put the boat upright on our side but she came down ok in the end.

It was blowing 20 knots from the Noreast by now and we punched it back to the ramp at 22 knots.

Overall it was a good trip with some lovely fish in the ice box.

I can't wait for the next trip out as I have some ideas for some new ground out there that we are going to go look for plus we will be concentrating on Bass Groper and Blue Eye for a couple of days.

I was a bit lazy and I took a whole 2 pics for the entire trip.

[crazywalrus]

would not see me out in that. I get sick on 1.5m swell

[aussie123]

The weather itself was great Ted, especially Monday morning after a gentle nor wester blew all night but the swell was up a bit.

The swell was actually much bigger inside 80 fathoms and wasn't too bad on the shelf itself.

It was good at night,it rocked us to sleep,lol

[Angus]

Yum!

Dedication mate nice work!

Angus

[fifis101]

Looks like you won't run out of ice in a hurry mate!

Nice couple of fish there mate.

[Tybo]

That shows some serious experience and dedication to manage all of that, I was sweating just reading the story. Sounds like you were well rewarded for your efforts though. I think I'd sleep for a week after all of that.

[Keen-as-fisho]

When you do an overnighter in that depth of water or any depth offshore, how do you go about staying put. Obviously you wouldn't carry 500++ meters of rope and a huge reef pick, just something I've often thought about.

[aussie123]

Hey Denis

Because the currents were running at 3 knots we came into about 120m and anchored for the night.

Had we stayed out on the shelf and just drifted for the night we would had of gone about 25 nm down the coast so that was a bit too much this time.

When there is not much current it is good to drift all night because the next morning you steam back up to your fishing grounds but sounding out new ground all the way.

I have anchored many times over the years in 100 fathoms when there is bugger all tide running but you need good strong nav lights as you are in the shipping lanes when out that wide.

[dunk]

Just curious, what time did you head out. I crossed at 6am, and thought the actual middle channel was ok (some waves just starting to break on the outer banks). The pressure waves leading up to it though, were not good. My boat is a fairly light aluminium longboat, so perhaps it just floats on top a little easier.

I only went out to the sevens (had it to myself), caught a few tuna, started to feel queezy, and came back in by 9am. The pressure waves were still there, but no breakers.

[dunk]

Just had another thought, did you actually go through the middle channel (8m deep till the outer banks, then down to 3-4m)? The waves in the channel were less than the pressure waves before it. Either side of the channel looked horrendous (my boat wouldn't have lasted 5 seconds in that).

[morty85]

Phew, sounds like a right mission!

Although on the flip side sounds like there's some big boys waiting for you out there off the shelf next time. Be really looking forward to reading about the second installment of that and hopefully the sight of a few whoppers!

[grantbudd74]

wow that sounds like a badly planned trip to me? Going out in that kind of swell? I didint read everything but man id be drinking the quells down :-)

[CaptainAwesome]

Hey,

Been a member for a while, but a first time poster. I can confess to being the other half of this trip and some of the points raised are very valid and its only fair to elaborate on some for everybodys benefit. The actual route we took through the bar was not the middle channel as most would know it, I cross the bar regularly and have many crossing points, however they change constantly so I do tend to keep my options open. The area we crossed was not ideal in some ways, but I knew we had plenty of water and that was what was important to me. I have a very seaworthy boat (2700 Noosa Cat) and I consider myself capable after quite a few years as a commercial skipper and not hitting the bottom was more pertinent to me than copping a steep one as the swell was not that powerful when we were heading out. I have hit bottom in the middle channel in the past, and as such I am wary of it.

As far as being badly planned, in retrospect you are very right Grant. We knew the weather wasn't ideal and we knew we would cop a bit of a flogging but I had a feeling the current would be down and the fish would be on (as it turned out I was wrong on both predictions lol), but I had a very capable decky in Lance so I took the punt and ran with it. We were tossing up whether to go or not until the final hour but after putting $1000 of fuel on and knowing the conditions were fishable we chose to go.

Now the fishing..... Well it was a tad disappointing. We were not blessed with good luck this trip, lost a lot of gear and lights to snags, popped off an anchor and as Lance said I managed to do a good length of 200lb braid when I mucked around too long with a big bassy, instead of getting him moving off the bottom. But thats life and I know he will be waiting next time for Round 3.

Big thanks to Lance for coming on the trip, he's always good company and a top notch fisherman, and his coffee addiction ensures one is not without a warm caffeine hit in the mornings.

Til next time.....