Oceania Darwin

[Makaira]

Hi Guys,

Just back from a week of fishing in Darwin. Amazing bottom bashing despite the bad weather. 20-30 knot winds where we were fishing -- seas around Melville Island & Croker Island. Thought I died & went to Ungah heaven!!! Had a few good mian her (Jewfish) as well. We were fishing in no more than 20m water most of the time & the bulk of the ungahs were caught in 10m or less. Couldn't be bothered to go for barramundis in the creeks. Sandflies attacked in plague proportions!

Best regards,
Makaira

[DaFrogman]

Mak,

That is just sick man.... those pics are evvviillllll when I can't even think about fishing due to the nutty weather, work etc etc.....

Was it easy to get a decent charter out of Darwin?.... A great job as always from the Master......

Regards,

Saimee

[Makaira]

Hi Saimee.

Really no big deal ....... don't need to be any fishing master or guru to catch such fishes. I am simply very fortunate to have the opportunity to occasionally fish at locations where most of the fish die of old age rather than get fished out!

The guide was arranged by my buddy & this guy is a hardcore commercial fisherman crossed with crocodile dundee kind of bloke; rather than some esoteric more-talk-than-action so-called "expert guide."

Here's a pic of another Jewie, more snappers & a pic of the guide's boat. It is a no nonsense functional aluminium boat.

Best regards.
Makaira

[DaFrogman]

Hi Saimee.

I am simply very fortunate to have the opportunity to occasionally fish at locations where most of the fish die of old age rather than get fished out!

The guide was arranged by my buddy & this guy is a hardcore commercial fisherman crossed with crocodile dundee kind of bloke; rather than some esoteric more-talk-than-action so-called "expert guide."

Here's a pic of another Jewie, more snappers & a pic of the guide's boat. It is a no nonsense functional aluminium boat.

Dude,

It may not seem that much to you dude, but when your land locked.... it looks like the "promised coolbox"...

Hehehehehe.... and I like functional aluminium boats...

Thanks for keeping my mind wetted on fish.... the drive to fish has been waning a bit lately...

Saimee

[Makaira]

Dude,

It may not seem that much to you dude, but when your land locked.... it looks like the "promised coolbox"...

Yo Saimee,

My apologies if I came across as non-chalant ....... but the point I was trying to make was that basically. it was "idiot proof" fishing when fishing in such fish-rich waters -- literally one drop one fish. The challenge was not how many fish we can catch, but how many fishes we can catch on the same piece of bait My personal record was 5. We only re-baited when the hook was bare!

When the fish stopped biting or when the sharks moved in, we simply upped the anchor, moved around to look for structure, re-anchored and within minutes, it was one drop one fish again!!! Actually, we released most of what we caught as we had to adhere to bag limits.

Hope the weather at your end clears up soon. More importantly, your schedule clears up so you can go wet some lines!!!!

Best regards,
Makaira

[Makaira]

Friend just sent me this photo of the Jewie taken with his camera from another angle. What a beauty!!! One of those catches that is burned into my memory forever.

[MarkR]

Awesome bottom bashing as usual

[edylie]

very nice

I am going to start fishing again ... anyone is organizing any trip?

Edy

[eeyore]

Friend just sent me this photo of the Jewie taken with his camera from another angle. What a beauty!!! One of those catches that is burned into my memory forever.

what a giant jewfish you got there .....NICE

this fish is almost extinct in malaysia water

[Makaira]

Hi eeyore,

According to our guide, weighed in at 15kg, this fish was decent, but not that "big" by their local standards. 20kg & above fish were quite common. The largest he had personally weighed was a whopping 32kg! Pity we did not run into the real biggies on our trip.

Best regards,
Makaira

[DaFrogman]

Hey Mak...

Now worries man.... whahaahhhahahaha... I love that bit on how many fish per bait... you should have tried a hard bodied lure on a ranggong with a 200lb handline.... that would have made the Ozzies wince...

Great fish dude and a 15kg Jewie is "BIG" in my book any day of the week...

Regards,

Saimee

[Makaira]

Hey Mak...

Now worries man.... whahaahhhahahaha... I love that bit on how many fish per bait... you should have tried a hard bodied lure on a ranggong with a 200lb handline.... that would have made the Ozzies wince...

Great fish dude and a 15kg Jewie is "BIG" in my book any day of the week...

Regards,

Saimee

Dude .... nothing would make them wince ... at least not the guide we were fishing with His modus operandi is an Alvey-type winch with a turning handle on each side, just like the winches on sail boats to hoist the sail. The entire contraption mounted on the rod holder loaded with 250# mono & line fed through a thick one foot stainless lip with a roller at the end of it. Scroll down to the lower part of this link & you will see what I mean.

Alvey Reels Australia. Alvey Fishing Reels. Australian made center pin side cast fishing reels. 100% Australian made fishing tackle since 1920.

He uses 2 hook dropper rigs tied with 150 mono leader. Screw fluorocarbon!!!! The fishes over yonder are wild!!!! What kelong sotong or long leaders. The 15kg Jew took a chunk of barracuda!!! Wahahahaha!!! I am pretty sure any metal jigs I decide to throw overboard would have gotten them snappers, but I was simply too lazy & having too much fun to switch from bait. All the fish we caught were with single dropper rigs tied with 80 or 100# mono -- short & simple. As we were fishing such shallow depths, it was way too bothersome to use rangong longish leaders with fish biting hot & heavy.

[DaFrogman]

Wahahahahahahaa!!!!....

In that case, my crew would really enjoy fishing with that guide hehehehehehe.....

But he hasn't seen the 9 hook 200lb Apollo rigs my boys use..... one drop and you've gone over your OZ bag limit...hehehehe.... Great Stuff.

Hmmmm will think about Darwin now, its just round the corner from here...

Saimee