queensland Reef Magic 2021

[tugger]

Shot up north for a couple of days fishing the bunker group at the bottom of the great barrier Reef. The weather was perfect as the forecast predicted and my little tinnie handled it well.

My friend Nathan and I started to catch coral trout as we pulled a few fish from each spot before moving so not to flog any one mark. As we moved further north we caught more fish with a good mixed bag filling the Esky. Red throat emperor, tusk fish, moari cod and even a surprise pearl perch joined the trout in our bag.

By lunch time we headed deeper in search of Red emperor and we both hooked some beauties only to be sharked. We kept moving trying to get away from the sharks now but the bite shut down after a few spots. We did boat many big spangled emperor on these grounds as the sharks didn't even want them and neither did we so they were all released.

We anchored up for the night 100km from where we left the boat ramp on the lee side of a big reef system. A few beers and a cook up for dinner and it was time for bed. In the morning we headed south again working our way back hitting new marks and bagging out on trout having to release half a dozen so as to get a bit more variety in the Esky.

We got our coral reef fin fish bag by 9am so pointed the boat for home as the weather turned it on for us again making the trip home a pleasure. Filleting all our catch Nathan and I split up our spoils and toasted our success now I'm due for fresh fish again for a while.

 

[Old Scaley]

Magic trip there Mark and what a delicious haul. You sure know how to pick those weather windows.

[tugger]

36 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

Magic trip there Mark and what a delicious haul. You sure know how to pick those weather windows.

You can't cross that much open water in average conditions if you like your bones and as you're aware Steve my bones are old.

[samsteele115]

Great trip by the looks of it Mark! 

[Ed.]

Excellent catch there! That will keep you going for a little while.

[Drop Bear]

BOOOMMM ! Another cracking trip mate. The fish sure are gonna celebrate when you hang up the rod for good  

Well done legend. 

[jon]

Nice work again mark. That top left red throat is a stonker would have gone bananas if you got him in the shallows? A solid bag indeed

Edited August 30, 2021 by jon

[kmcrosby78]

Another great trip and haul there @tugger, well done mate.  Nice solid pearlie, bet it made you happy . In the last photo, what is the trout looking fish in the top right (below the tuskies/parrot) - coral cod?  Always interesting looking at all variations in colour in the trout. Assuming the ones with the dark blotches on them just have the usual white flesh underneath?

[tugger]

58 minutes ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Another great trip and haul there @tugger, well done mate.  Nice solid pearlie, bet it made you happy . In the last photo, what is the trout looking fish in the top right (below the tuskies/parrot) - coral cod?  Always interesting looking at all variations in colour in the trout. Assuming the ones with the dark blotches on them just have the usual white flesh underneath?

Thanks Kelvin the fish is a tomato cod, and yes they have white flesh under that blotch I have had a few trout with that before

 

[kmcrosby78]

8 hours ago, tugger said:

Thanks Kelvin the fish is a tomato cod, and yes they have white flesh under that blotch I have had a few trout with that before

 

Ah yes, I do recall seeing them before .

[tugger]

18 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

BOOOMMM ! Another cracking trip mate. The fish sure are gonna celebrate when you hang up the rod for good  

Well done legend. 

I was just running out of fish at home it was a welcome stock up now back to my camping for a while.

[GregN70]

Looks like I might need to do a trip south soon.

Getting keen to catch some reef fish.

[tugger]

18 hours ago, jon said:

Nice work again mark. That top left red throat is a stonker would have gone bananas if you got him in the shallows? A solid bag indeed

Got the big RTE in about 40m

[tugger]

1 hour ago, GregN70 said:

Looks like I might need to do a trip south soon.

Getting keen to catch some reef fish.

Some great fishing around the bunker group but I must admit it was a good bite to that we don't always get. Sometimes you have to work harder for the fish this time we couldn't go wrong especially the coral trout. We were releasing trout over 60cm as we were already bagged out on trout.

[GregN70]

2 hours ago, tugger said:

we couldn't go wrong especially the coral trout. We were releasing trout over 60cm as we were already bagged out on trout.

Wow, that's excellent, Im really keen to get a Trout. Never actually got one yet. Tried heaps but no luck. 

[tugger]

2 hours ago, GregN70 said:

Wow, that's excellent, Im really keen to get a Trout. Never actually got one yet. Tried heaps but no luck. 

Plenty of good structure to hold trout at the bunker group I've even caught a few big trout at bustard head while fishing for mackerel there.

[Tuna are fish]

I don't like to be 'that guy' but i hope none of that fish went to waste, and it all got used not put in a freezer.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi tugger

Nice work! That's a great feed of reefies!

I hope that will keep you in stock for a while. By the way, do you vacuum seal the fish? Or is this not necessary?

Cheers Hamish

[Old Scaley]

37 minutes ago, Tuna are fish said:

I don't like to be 'that guy' but i hope none of that fish went to waste, and it all got used not put in a freezer.

I think you can rest easy. Nothing will go to waste in that household. No problem with stocking the freezer as long as you stay within the possession limits, which you can be very confident that Mark will.

[tugger]

1 hour ago, Tuna are fish said:

I don't like to be 'that guy' but i hope none of that fish went to waste, and it all got used not put in a freezer.

Most of it frozen some eaten fresh and this lot will last about 2 months before all of it is gone. Nothing like pulling Trout and Lipper out of the freezer to feed the family a couple times of week. We love fish at home and a bit goes to my extended family as well you got to look after mum and dad.

[tugger]

2 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Hi tugger

Nice work! That's a great feed of reefies!

I hope that will keep you in stock for a while. By the way, do you vacuum seal the fish? Or is this not necessary?

Cheers Hamish

No just ordinary freezer bags it never stays long in our freezer.

[jon]

23 hours ago, tugger said:

Got the big RTE in about 40m

Nice. How good are RTE flapping around the boat with trebles or snells lol. They punch above weight

[jon]

2 hours ago, tugger said:

Most of it frozen some eaten fresh and this lot will last about 2 months before all of it is gone. Nothing like pulling Trout and Lipper out of the freezer to feed the family a couple times of week. We love fish at home and a bit goes to my extended family as well you got to look after mum and dad.

Well said mark, love thawing out some reefies or mackerel when the weather dosnt let us get out offshore 

[tugger]

59 minutes ago, jon said:

Nice. How good are RTE flapping around the boat with trebles or snells lol. They punch above weight

Yeah you get the big fellas in the high 50cm size and you think it's a red emp to start with.

[tugger]

46 minutes ago, jon said:

Well said mark, love thawing out some reefies or mackerel when the weather dosnt let us get out offshore 

If looked after well I can't tell the difference from fresh or frozen fish once it's cooked up especially quality fish like these reefies. 

[Tuna are fish]

8 hours ago, tugger said:

Most of it frozen some eaten fresh and this lot will last about 2 months before all of it is gone. Nothing like pulling Trout and Lipper out of the freezer to feed the family a couple times of week. We love fish at home and a bit goes to my extended family as well you got to look after mum and dad.

Good to know it is not going to waste.

[tugger]

13 hours ago, Tuna are fish said:

Good to know it is not going to waste.

All good I do go to great lengths to look after the catch from ice slurries to washing the fillets in the salt water from the fishing grounds. I have done this method for over 35 years and I can't tell the difference from fresh or frozen afterwards. 

[Drop Bear]

On 01/09/2021 at 8:21 PM, Tuna are fish said:

Good to know it is not going to waste.

I can ensure you @tugger is one of the best at looking after his catch. 

[benno573]

@tugger if you had a choice, would you prefer Coro trout or coral trout on the table? 

In my personal opinion, I haven’t found anything that tops a coro for me but I also eat those funny yellow fish you despise.

[tugger]

41 minutes ago, benno573 said:

@tugger if you had a choice, would you prefer Coro trout or coral trout on the table? 

In my personal opinion, I haven’t found anything that tops a coro for me but I also eat those funny yellow fish you despise.

Coronation trout are pretty good in my opinion to I think they are on top we had one for lunch on the 1st day on the boat.

[GregOug]

42 minutes ago, tugger said:

Coronation trout are pretty good in my opinion to I think they are on top we had one for lunch on the 1st day on the boat.

The coronation trout or the coral for breakfast? Oh dear,  the first world problems some of us have to bear.

[tugger]

8 hours ago, GregOug said:

The coronation trout or the coral for breakfast? Oh dear,  the first world problems some of us have to bear.

Would have loved the Red emperor even better but the grey suits had them for breakfast instead lol.