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Saumarez Reef
OCTOBER 2000
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Simon with a nice wahoo
A fresh
easterly wind forecast to strengthen dictated we change from our
usual plan. The Swains reefs would be our initial destination
until conditions improved. By first light on Sunday 22nd October
we had reached the shelter of the Swains where we enjoyed
breakfast prior to anchoring behind one of the many nameless
reefs that comprise this system. Fishing was a little slow by
Swains standards but the steady stream of coral trout, sweetlip
and red emperor coming aboard the mothership and dories ensured
we would all take home some quality table fish.
On Monday Bruce, our skipper, announced the news we had been
hoping for. Winds were easing, tonight we would sail for Saumarez
Reef. The plan was to leave at midnight which would have us
arrive at the western edge of Saumarez at first light.
As dawn broke an assortment of trolling lures and teasers were
fed into Kanimbla's wake, their splashings and wobblings watched
in anticipation by eager eyes. Right on cue, as the sounder
indicated the rise from 300m to 50m, rods bent and reels howled.
Multiple dogtooth..... we had arrived! Welcome to Saumarez!
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From left: Greg with sweetlip and red emperor, Cathy with a nice dogtooth, Richard's Saumarez cobia (click to enlarge)
Over the next four days the usual tales were told, broken rods,
broken gear, lures lost, huge fish lost. Sharks were again a
nuisance but provided entertainment each evening for those who
still had the strength to do battle.
Billfish were quieter than last year, I lost one good sailfish
shortly after hookup which was disappointing. I was much more
disappointed, however, to lose all but the head of a PB jobfish
of 12-13kg boatside to a BIG shark.
Despite the misfortunes many good fish were boated. Jobfish,
dogtooth and yellowfin featured strongly, together with a
sprinkling of wahoo and a few less regular species such as cobia
and various trevallies.
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From left: Angelo's Giant Trevally, Hayden and a nice doggie (click to enlarge)
Bottom fishing also provided heartache (and backache) as
'unstoppables' strained tackle before finding sanctuary among the
coral outcrops.
Many fine reef fish were landed though which kept the deckies
busy preparing and packing succulent fillets of coral trout,
white sweetlip and assorted others.
To take advantage of the increasingly fine weather we decided to
maximise our time at Saumarez and depart Friday morning for the
long run home. We weighed anchor for the last time at dawn on
Friday then travelled all of 200m before the first strike.
Jigging had become popular, many of us preferring to forego
trolling, instead waiting for the boat to stop following a hookup
then dropping chrome jigs to the bottom. It seems most Saumarez
species don't mind a bit of iron in their diet as quite a variety
of fish succumbed to this method. During one short stop no less
than eight species were dragged up on jigs.
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From left: George and Angelo with some nice trout and jobfish, Rohan's mystery fish (midnight snapper perhaps?!), Chris S with a beast of a red bass. Click to enlarge
Eventually we cleared Saumarez and settled back to enjoy a beer
and recount the weeks events. Once again the trip had been a big
success.
Good weather (eventually), a great boat and exceptional crew
together with an excellent bunch of enthusiastic fishos at one of
the hottest fishing locations in Australia.
Can't wait to get back there!
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From left: Geoff with the remains of a BIG jobfish, Chris H and a nice yellowfin tuna. Click to enlarge
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From left: Dave and a jigged coral trout. John putting 24kg spin gear through it's paces. The result, a black trevally .(click to enlarge)
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