Sour grapes and forever mates – By John Boon

Have you ever been on a fishing trip and just couldn’t wait for it to be over? I’m not talking about the lack of piscatorial action or even the conditions deteriorating. What I am talking about is the company on board. I believe nothing can ruin a fishing trip quicker than a deckie that doesn’t seem to be on the right wave length.

Many moons ago before we had the luxury of owning our own boats and the knowledge of how to fish the offshore reefs we booked ourselves in for one or two reef charter trips per year. As we were paying customers back then, the objective was simple, bring home as many fish to put in the freezer which would get us to our next charter trip.

The anti catch and kill brigade would probably be jumping up and down with reading those words but back in the day we were shelling out good money to do something we loved and also provide us with fresh fish anytime we wanted. Living in Emerald, Central Queensland we couldn’t just slip the boat in to catch a fresh feed of deliciousness whenever the weather was good.

When we were doing those charter trips we would mainly be doing them with the same blokes. Most of the guys were work mates and colleagues of my Dad. We got to know most of them quite well and there were some bloody top lads amongst them. Then there was the other side of the spectrum. You know the ones I’m talking about. Guys who just seem to want to annoy the living crap out of everyone on board. Most of these guys were strangers that the company had added just to fill the charter numbers up. This is absolutely NOT the companies fault, it’s just them doing their business duties to keep everyone happy.

Through these charters we learned a great deal, especially about different personalities. We sampled most I believe. Everything from alcoholics to rude and obnoxious, disrespectful and just plain aggressive. I witnessed a few events that almost ended charter trips. Don’t take this as a warning to stay away from doing these types of trips, as we made some really good friends as well.

Fast forward to the present day and how times have changed. We have done away with the charter trips to pursue our own piscatorial greatness. I find that the rewards are far greater and the experience gained from every fish caught and punching through the tough bites will make you a better angler with a better understanding.

 

Most guys who own offshore boats will have a “call up” list of some description. Reliable deckies who are keen as mustard and have a good understanding of what needs to be done both out on the water and off.

 

What you need to ask yourself is “how do you get a selection of good mates to take out with you?” The answer is pretty simple. You’ve got to be prepared to put in the hard yards to find the goods.

I’ve seen a few facebook pages dedicated to this very subject. You’re able to put a post up looking for anglers to tag along for the next reef trip. Unfortunately, taking up the offer sometimes doesn’t quite go the way it’s planned.

I’ve taken a few lads in the past who just don’t get it. If everyone just pitches in it makes the entire process just that much easier. I’ve had blokes roll their eyes at me when I’ve asked them to just pick up a rag and do a quick clean up in between drifts.

Another annoying factor is the ability not to listen. Sometimes other anglers rigs might not be up to spec or they might just be doing simple things wrong like not keeping the pressure on the fish. You give them some friendly advice and they go back to doing the same old thing. Now I’m not saying I know every bloody thing so just wait one second. I’m always open minded and looking to improve my own game. What I’m saying is that all good anglers are looking for that next piece of advice to advance their skills, being closed minded causes nothing but frustration for everyone.

So what can you do to try and find where all the reliable deckies are? Sometimes it can be just a matter of taking a leap of faith through those facebook pages mentioned before. Give everyone a chance and you’ll be adding good mates to your list in no time.

Sometimes you can be a bit more discrete and ask other friends what the person might be like or if they have ever fished with any of them before. A bit of word of mouth can make the difference.

Blokes who own offshore boats are generally a pretty sure bet because they have the understanding of what’s expected before they set foot on board. Unfortunately they can be a bit hard to round up at times because when the weather is good they are generally getting their boat ready as well.

On my last offshore mission I had my Dad as deckie number one and needed just one more. I had been mates with Peter Watts for quite a while. We discussed a lot of fishing trips with different tips and techniques. Pete owns his own boat and is no stranger to tackling the offshore waters.

This particular weather window finally lined up an opportunity that both mine and Pete’s rosters lined up. I gave Pete and Dad a ring and we were all locked in.

The trip didn’t get off to a good start. The time of morning was well before the sparrows were even thinking about farting. Have you heard the expression that “everything looks different in the dark?”

I took a few wrong turns when I was heading over to pick up Pete. Had to reverse the car and boat a few times but eventually made it to his house. Luckily I had left a bit earlier than I had planned. When I parked up outside Pete’s his place was in darkness. I gave him a ring for no answer. I stared to giggle. I knew exactly what was going on.

When I finally made enough noise, I saw Pete doing the Harold Holt down the hallway. A quick apology for “alarm technical issues’ and we were on our way.

We met Dad at the Rosslyn Bay marina, packed all the gear in and were out steaming past the Keppel Island group in no time.

Great conditions, everyone chilled out, a few yarns and some good coffee’s made the trip out very pleasant. The trip was cut short though because about ten kilometres from our first mark we went over a small bait spike displayed on the sounder. We spun around and back tracked over the GPS.

We spent a good 20 mins just idling around to pin point the exact location. We got the drift line and setup for our first drop. Anticipation was high as we drifted through the new found mark. We came out the other side with not even so much as a nibble. A quick think and a reposition was in order.

I set the next drift about 20 meters away from the previous.

 

This drift was looking to be about the same as the last one when out of nowhere Pete got folded over.

 

Dad and I looked on as our baits were getting zero interest. I put the rod in the holder and picked up the net. That sweet word was said when colour showed in the deck lights, “RED”. I slid the net under and pulled it over the side.

Going down wrong streets and sleep ins had all been forgotten when that fish hit the deck. What a great start to the trip. There’s no better feeling than pulling quality off a new spot. We got  a few happy snaps of Pete’s red then kept on travelling to our original mark.

The area that we were fishing on this trip was a big area covered in fern. I had found this mark a couple of years ago but hadn’t put in the time to fish it properly.

 

The issue I find with fishing fern country is that productive fern can look the same on the sounder as barren fern. Sometimes it’s best to do big long drifts. Once you do get onto a good patch of fish just hit the mark button on the GPS. 

 

There are a few other basic indicators that can narrow down where to fish. The presence of bait is always a good one. Sometimes you will see the ‘bluey green’ layer on the bottom (fern possible up to two meters high) and then you will see a big lot of bait from the bottom sometimes up 5-8 meters.

If you’re dialed in on your sounder and look closely at the ‘bluey green’ fern return sometimes you will see patches of hard red in amongst the fern. This can be big predatory fish like reds, trout, nannies and cod.

The final indicator and you can see this in both sounder shots is large predatory fish holding above the fern ground. I find that most of these sorts of returns are trevally or nannygai.

We idled up onto the mark and did a good sound around to see where all the action was happening. There was a rise on the eastern side of it where the current was pushing in and that’s where we saw all the bait and fish sitting. That was a good enough indicator to use this as a starting point.

As soon as the baits hit the bottom the pickers were going nuts. We spent a good couple of hours in this area and were rewarded with some quality including school sized reds, tusk fish, cod and sweetlip. We did move around but didn’t have to go far to find other productive ground.

Pete decided to end the trip in the same way that he had started it. We weren’t far from calling the final drop to clean up and head for home. We had all pulled our lines up and were having a well deserved beverage and a yarn. Pete looked at the sounder and noticed another patch of fern coming through.

“I’m dropping on that” he said. Both Dad and I were kicking back in the chairs and said “good luck” as we relaxed just a bit more. Well it was all hands on deck when Pete got folded as soon as he hit the bottom.

Pete was now getting good line back after having trouble lifting it off the bottom. There were some yahoos when Dad slid the net under Pete’s monster bar cheek trout. What a way to finish. It wasn’t hard to get Pete to smile when he lifted that trout for a photo.

Before we started this trip I mentioned to the lads that on the previous trip we didn’t encounter any sharks at all. Well this trip was the complete reverse. They bloody flogged us. I’m not sure how many rigs and sinkers we went through but it was a lot.

There’s nothing better than a trip out on the water with good mates. Even though Dad is obviously family I still call him my mate. Was Pete a champion bloke to have on board? You  bet he was. I think we learned a bit off each other which was good. Everything just flowed and a great time was had by all. Pete reckons it’s my turn to play deckie on his rig next. You know what, I think I might just take him up on that offer.