Receive the Fishing Report by email 

Guaranteed - NO SPAM!

Simply email us and we will add you to the mailing list.

Welcome to the Winter weather pattern. To date it has been variable from very good to not so good. But the good news is that the fish are biting their heads off out wide. The water temperature is still a fairly warm 23.0 deg C out at the hardline. Coral Trout, Red Throat and Red Emperor are all biting hard and the Spanish Mackerel are on fire!

The big wet early in the year is beginning to show results out wide. Inshore fish are feeding on the prawns and other bait that were spawned and flushed out of the estuaries during the floods. The domino effect is starting to show up out on the reef with reef fish going crazy and a fantastic mackerel season now in full swing.

 Mackerel Massacre!

Ray Balks (r) has the biggest smile and the biggest Spaniard followed by Luca Maggiolo second from left.  Ray & Luca landed four nice Spanish Mackerel each in a crazy 30 mins of hot action at Parker Reef. Photographer Lee Brake and deckie Rory Hopkinson, accounted for the rest.

Imagine . . . two quad hook-ups and two triples on nice sized Spanish Mackerel. Looks like we are in for a fantastic season. We had three clients on board and four rods bent right over with a hot bite at Parker Reef last weekend. With bad weather threatening, we decided to get in close to home and were greeted with some fantastic sport.

In the end we had to walk away from the Spanish Mackerel after reaching our bag limit. The clients were not disappointed as we were knee deep in mackerel on the back deck. Deckie Rory (Scooter) Hopkinson was filleting well into the night after we anchored up in Refuge Bay at Scawfell Island for some R & R.

Trout are about!

Water temps still in the 23 deg C range are producing a good bite on the outer reefs.

Ripper Red Throat!

Red Throat Emperor are biting well and fat as hell.

"Redneck Riviera" raging again!

Spanish Mackerel season kicks into full swing. Recent highlights included 14 Spaniards in 30 minutes at Parker Reef and the massive 73 pounder taken last weekend at White Tip Reef.

2008 Season in full swing!

Red Throat Emperor are on the bite. The size of the Red Throat is from big ones to whoppers. The secret is night fishing the big lagoons with plenty of berley. We have continued to bag out on both Trout and Red Throat on alternate trips depending on moon phase etc.

Big trout are biting on the bigger tides. Be prepared to fish light and there are some monsters lurking at most spots so it pays not to go to sleep with a line in your hand - so to speak.

The Red Throat Emperor are beginning to roe up. Size is XXL and they are as fat as hell - in prime condition for spawning as you would expect. The Orica crew last weekend caught 37 Red Throat plus 6 big Spangled Emperor before dinner at (where else) Lipper Lagoon.

Spanish Mackerel going off! With some fantastic catches. None better than Clive Leeds' 33.25 kg monster. We managed to catch at least one Spanish Mackerel each for the Orica crew last week with some of the anglers scoring doubles and triples.

Fresh baits are the go! Trolling fresh gar have proved successful. We managed to come by a years supply of gaint gar a couple of weeks back and have vacuum packed most of them for safe keeping.  And these are the baits that have been drawing the Spaniards in.

We are still catching some good Wahoo. These speedsters are one of the most spectacular of all catches with blistering speed and beautiful colors. They are also excellent eating both raw and cooked.

We have also been averaging at least a handful of Red Emperor each trip with the biggest last week going 68 cm.

Mackerel Recipe

Wahoo, Spanish and Salmon Mackerel go well on the BBQ. Try some butterfly cutlets on the BBQ after dusting with the following mix:

Mix following in a bowl: 1/2 cup Rice Flour, 1/2 cup Plain Flour plus contents of 1 packet McCormick's White Sauce (Mornay Style) and 1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes.

Then put the above mix in a plastic bag and shake. Add the cutlets and shake to cover with the seasoned flour mix. Fry gently on the BBQ and squeeze some fresh lime juice over the cutlets just before serving.

Picture Gallery

Catch of the Week Year!

Clive Leeds with a super Spaniard that went 33.25 kg (73 lbs)

This monster mackerel was landed on 15 kg tackle. It put up an incredible fight and took Clive around 25 minutes to get it alongside.

Clive put in a flawless performance to get the best of this monster. It took patience and good technique to beat such a large and determined fish on light tackle.  Deckie Rory "Scooter" Hopkinson got a great gaff shot but needed help to get the big fish over the side. 

How to catch monster Mackerel - here's your checklist!

With monster fish like this it is nice to know that there are no weak links in the chain between angler and fish - that is our job!

When that big fish hits, you can be sure that the tackle aboard Black Samurai is both top quality and kept in top condition with regular overhauls. Also, our terminal tackle (including our own hand-made wind-on leaders) is the best available; and checked regularly.

We re-spool our reels at least once a year to ensure that we have a full reel to back up the terminal gear and ensure that line is fresh and not degraded by UV. Likewise the mono topshots on dacron line are replaced at the beginning of each season.

Our mackerel baits are the freshest Garfish (Five Spot or 3 x 2) in XL size. We hand pick, vacuum pack and snap freeze them ourselves. This way the skin retains its natural shine and there are no broken tails etc.

As an IGFA Certified Captain, Darryl will guarantee, as far as possible, that Black Samurai's equipment is up to the task.  Drags are checked with scales usually on a weekly basis. 

Here is just part of our gear checklist: 

     Reels - Shimano or Penn International

     Rods -  exactly matched to reel and line class

     Mono line - IGFA rated Platypus or Momoi pre-test

     IGFA rated dacron line on heavy tackle

     Orange Spot dacron line has 100 metre mono topshot

     Snap swivels - 100% ball bearing type

      Leaders 200 - 600 lb hand made wind-on

Red Throat are fat!

Steve McCall caught this hooter Red Throat at Stevens Reef.

This is the average size of Red Throat Emperor we have been seeing recently - real hooters! 

Black Samurai's new RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) gets a workout - it has a top speed of 20 knots with the new 10 HP Tohatsu motor.

We spent four days last week with the engineers checking the foundations and light pilons at Creal, Bugatti, Little Bugatti and White Tip Reefs. The rubber duck did a fantastic job.

Hooters!

Lisa Pullos showing how its done with heavy tackle in the chair; while young deckie Rory "Scooter" Hopkinson (back) wired the big billfish like a veteran.

Queenfish Quest

For something different we went chasing Queenies at Scawfell a couple of weeks ago and managed to catch some really nice ones. A big one was released by Bob Whalan.  The other one, pictured here, was not able to be released due to injury.

Rowan McGrath of Mackay with a lovely Queenfish that put on a spectacular jumping display.

A spectacular action shot of a nice Queenfish in full flight with the Lazer Pro lure firmly in its mouth. This is the time of year when Queenies are thick - if you know where to look.

(Report cont. next column>>>>)

If you cant laugh at this you need to get outa here!

L to R Paddy Kearney, Clive Leeds and Trevor Byers with a big Spanish Mackerel taken by Trevor at Little Bugatti Reef on the Orica Mining Services Tour of Duty.

Monster  Mackerel!

Johannes Schoeman caught this nice 20 kg Spaniard at White Tip Reef on light tackle.

Reef fish on the bite!

Ned Pegg with an unusual catch for the Mackay region - a beautiful Blue Maori - more commonly found from Cairns north.

This fish was taken at Boulton Reef last weekend with the A.C. Whalan Queensland crew. Reef fish have been hot the past few weeks and we are predicting great fishing for the rest of the season.

Ray Balks, aided by Rory Hopkinson, struggles to hoist this 100 lb GT for a quick photo before release.

Ray fought this monster GT for more than half an hour at Lipper Lagoon. It took a fillet of Stripey Bass loaded with a circle hook on 15 kg line. Ray was completely exhausted at the end of the fight.

We can't say enough about our Shimano TLD 25's that carry most of the load during these extended fights in the big lagoons. They are kept in good nick with regular overhauls.