A mixed bag of Abrolhos Islands Fishing- Week 7 2016

This week we had another 4 day individual charter to the incredible Abrolhos Islands. We started out with 7 customers on board but picked up an extra 2 passengers at the last minute to make a total of 9 very excited fisher-people. The promise of Abrolhos Islands fishing had them all very excited and ready to go.

On day 1 we started out throwing the lures in. Within 5 minutes we had 4 fish on 3 lures, which really got the group excited. Mo got the two nice Bonito pictured above. We then had some fun in the shallow water catching some nice Baldchin Grouper and Pink Snapper. Soon we had a Spinner Shark putting on a show jumping at the back of the boat. It was a cool highlight for the whole group. Before long we hit some Bottom fishing spots where we caught a nice couple of Dhu Fish. We then went across to the shallows where the crew went diving for some nice Crayfish for dinner.

We started day 2 with some Bottom Fishing and got a real mixed bag including Dhu Fish, Spangled Emperor and even some Pink Snapper. Things were quieter out wide as some bad weather began to set in. But some Baldchin Grouper in the shallows made for an exciting afternoon of fishing.

Day 3 was a rare day as it was a “Blow Out” with consistent winds of 30 knots and gusts of up to 45 knots. We were all safe at the morring however it meant very little fishing happened. The group decided to pass some time with a casting competition, unfortunately along with the wind it was freezing cold so the competition only lasted 5 minutes.

As it turned out it was lucky the group had such a good rest on Day 3 as Day 4 was very busy. We started Day 4 with a good session with Spanish Mackerel, Shark Mackerel, Benito and Samson Fish all taking lures. We followed this up with a fun session getting some great Baldchin Grouper. Before long we decided it was time for some reef fishing, and boy was that fun. The 4.5m swell from Day 3 of the charter really stirred up the fish and they were definitely on the bite. We got a mixed bag of Dhu Fish, Pink Snapper, Red Emperor and a couple more Baldchin Grouper before we hit the sanctuary zone and went for a swim at the Anemone Lump. It was pretty fun when Lance jumped from 3 metres behind the boat onto the deck after seeing his first shark underwater. It was a Bronze Whaler but it certainly gave the whole group a bit of a laugh. We then headed back to Geraldton to finish the charter with 3 broken rods and plenty of fun tales to tell.

Chad