This week was an exciting one for the Blue Lightning family as we had both Sans Souci and Blue Lightning both with full fishing charters on board! We excited to showcase our incredible islands home to twice as many anglers. The crew on board Blue Lightning III were a group of hockey players from Perth and one from America. Meanwhile the crew staying on Sans Souci were KFC owners from Melbourne and Alice Springs. Unfortunately, I haven’t developed a system yet to get stats off a second boat so for this charter photos from Sans Souci will have to tell the story.
Blue Lightning III sets sail for the Montebello Islands
I was lucky enough to spend time with both crews (in between cooking for 20+ people that is). We made our way from Dampier to the Montebello Islands with plenty of opportunity to fish on the way out. The crew were welcomed to the islands by the typically breathtaking scenery and some fun fishing sessions before enjoying their first night at the Montebello Islands.
Onshore fishing at the Montebello Islands
We woke on day 2 to a windy day at the Montebello Islands. The crew decided to spend the day in close to the islands with a combination of beach fishing and fishing from Blue Lightning in the afternoon. They had plenty of fun catching a great array of Northern WA fish species and exploring the history of the islands.
Sailfish fun at the Montebello Islands
For day 3 the crew spent the day fishing through the Montebello Islands, with plenty of fun sessions including a highlight session on Mackerel which had the whole crew excited. But it was day 4 that is one for the memory bank. The crew spent the day out wide of the islands hoping to reel in a billfish or two. Within seconds of arriving at our destination we raised our first Sailfish of the day. It was an amazing day of billfishing with the crew having an absolute ball making the most of their billfishing adventure. The crew managed a four way hook up at one point with the back deck of Blue Lightning III like a busy freeway with anglers and rods changing lanes to stay with their Sailfish. By the end of the day the crew had successfully caught a total of 22 Sailfish. With more epic stories than you can count, this wasn’t a day any of us would forget in a hurry.
Return to Dampier
This charter was for five days only and so before we knew it the final day was upon us and we were due to return to Dampier. The crew had plenty of fun fishing their way back in to Dampier and sharing stories of an epic week of fishing at the Montebello Islands.
Individual highlights
Ken- My 1st Trevally and 1st Spanish Mackerel
Mark- My 1st Sailfish and personal best Rankin Cod
Dave T- My 1st Sailfish and personal best Estuary Cod and Rankin Cod plus catching 2 Trevally on one jig
Ramzan- Catching my 1st Red Emperor but the highlight of the charter was catching 3 Sailfish myself and seeing a 4 way hook up on Sailfish
Joe- Caught his 1st Sailfish, personal best Trevally and Rankin Cod
Tino- A charter of firsts for Tino catching 1st sailfish, 1st Red Emperor and 1st Rankin Cod
Rob- Scored a PB Chinaman and experienced his 1st time switch baiting
Dave- My 1st Sailfis. Dave also scored a PB Rankin Cod
Corey- Caught his 1st Sailfish, Spanish Mackerel AND Chinaman. My highlight was my birthday cake ? and catching my biggest fish ever my Sailfish
Nathan-Catching my 1st Rankin Cod and my PB Spanish Mackerel. The best day was when we went out Sailfishing though.
Until next time, happy fishing
Leah
