21st – 28th March 2014
Posted on March 29th, 2014
Regs crew from Coffs Harbour had a great time fishing the Swains- Week 1 of 3 charters Reg is hosting this year! see you again in June.
Here is Bruce Robson’s Trip report:
Kanimbla trip 21 to 28 March 2014
There was the usual buzz of excitement via emails and discussions in the months leading up to the next fishing trip. The week before the trip gave a wonderful weather forecast – initially! The forecast changed and the rain and wind followed – oh bugga!!
The trip out was in 20 to 25 knot SE winds and a few poor souls paid their heart felt respects to the ocean. On entering the Swain Reefs area the calmer seas were a welcome relief as we steamed towards Big Sandy Reef. There was some rain in our area however we remained dry. Catches ranged from 1 to 10 fish per dory for the morning session and consisted of mainly trout and lipper. Few fish were caught in the shallows and Ken came back from a snorkel to report only a few fish being seen with most being undersize. Night fishing provided barracuda, squid and sharks. Fish of the day [FOTD] was Grant’s 4.8kg coral trout.
Sunday saw similar weather conditions with a 15 knot SE breeze. We fished the shoals at 30 metres and got double the previous days catch with a total of 157 packs for the day. It was a situation that if you found a spot harbouring fish, you needed to go back over the area to get more. Reg’s dory got the best catch as well as Len catching a 4.9kg red emperor and he got FOTD.
Monday saw scattered cloud with 10 knots of SE wind. We stayed in the shoals with a similar total catch. Sharks took many of our fish. Some spots fired and others produced meagre catches. We went to another shoal in the afternoon for similar results. The wind reduced to 8 knots and Bob caught 2 red emperors with one being 4.2kg which gave him FOTD. Large bull sharks were in abundance as the fish frames were thrown overboard
Tuesday saw the return of the wind [15 to 20 kts] and rain. In Yepoon, some 200 km to the east, they got 500 mm of rain – yes that is half a metre of it. We got a lot less, but it was certainly wet. The dories went into the shallows at Pike Reef where we got moderate catches of lipper and trout. While there we got one squall of about 35 knots with heavy rain – it almost was a ‘white out’ for a while. Ken got a large painted crayfish. FOTD was a 20kg GT which John caught. That night James prepared an absolutely delicious seafood meal.
Wednesday saw us at Sanctuary Reef with 15 to 20 knots and scattered rain. Catches were generally poorer. Discussion with the deckies revealed that as the weather deteriorated during the previous week, the fish went off the chew. TJ caught FOTD, a 2.9kg lipper.
Thursday morning saw us still at Sanctuary Reef with rain in the area and wind now in the NE at 10 to 15kts. FOTD went to Bob for a 4.2kg spangled emperor. We then packed up for a smooth ride home with a following wind.
Reg gave out the prizes as we headed south east. Fish of the trip was awarded to Len for his red emperor, the little Pink Ugly Stick Challenge was awarded to Grant. Bob was awarded Fisherman of the Trip and Mick was awarded the Best Fish That Got Away. Reg was roundly applauded for another well organised and great week away.
Despite the conditions we managed to get a total of 638 packs [35 packs each] and 2 whole fish each.
Some of us wanted a copy of the recipe for James’ delicious peanut sauce:
Crunchy peanut butter -1 ladle
Coconut milk – 275 ml
Kecap Manis – 5 squirts
Sweet chilli sauce – 5 squirts
Curry powder – 1 tablespoon
Tumeric – 2 or 3 shakes
Simmer all in a saucepan
