Monthly Archives : September 2013

Amazing weather saw the school holidays get off to a great start last weekend.

We mixed things up a bit for Friday’s charter and instead of heading out early we ran the full day trip from 10am to 7pm. It worked really well on that day. We fished mainly in the deep water – between 75 and 80 metres, targeting pearl perch, which are sensational eating.

We caught a lot – some of the bigger ones were up around 2.5 to 3 kilograms – and we also caught squire and moses perch. The boys from Shipley Smash Repairs had a great day and there was some healthy competition and the novices caught as many fish as the more experienced fishermen. Well done boys!

 One of the things I love about running a fishing charter business and being out on the water is that no two days are the same. This weekend was a classic example. Mother Nature turned on her charm on Friday then hit us with challenges on Saturday.

We had a half-day and 3/4 day fishing trip on Saturday. The current was very strong and setting the opposite way to the wind, which made things very difficult for fishing and also for my deckhand. We had to keep moving around to find some fish, which meant the decky had to keep pulling in that big anchor. Not too many fish were biting in those conditions but luckily the crabs were hungry, which saved the day and everyone still had something to take home.

On the afternoon charter we headed to the Caloundra 12 Mile and while the current was still very strong, it did fish better. We caught, squire, tuskfish, pearl perch and moses perch. It looks like the afternoons are the time to be fishing at the moment – until Mother Nature plays her next trick. But the unpredictability is part of the fun and what keeps us going back out there day after day.

 The weather turns a bit sour until the end of the week so offshore fishing might be best left until Friday and the weekend. As we get further away from the full moon the current will drop off so we are really looking forward to this weekend.

Give us a call if you want to join us on a charter.

 Happy Hunting!

Caloundra 12nm- squire and tusk fish

Caloundra wide- amberjack, cobia, pearl perch and snapper

Barwon banks- trevally, fusilier, squire, tusk fish and hussar

Murphy’s and the gneerings- squire, morwong

Caloundra 9nm- squire, tusk fish and moses perch

The weather looks very ordinary for the next few days, hopefully Friday the winds will ease off.  There is a low tide early this morning and a high tide of 1.48m at 11:51am.

It was a mixed bag when it came to the weekend weather and it resulted in a mixed catch, including a couple of whoppers and some late season snapper.

We had trips three quarter day fishing charters on Friday and Saturday and a full day charter on Sunday. The mint weather on Friday resulted in a great day and the best fishing for the weekend. We headed to the Caloundra Nine Mile on Friday and Saturday and caught mostly snapper between two to three kilograms. Friday’s charter also resulted in tusk fish, moses perch and a nice blue-barred parrot. Everyone enjoyed the trip and it is great to still be seeing good sized snapper this late in the year.

We mixed things up on Sunday to try and dodge the ordinary weather and started the charter in the afternoon to let the sea settle a little. It paid off for us. While it started out a little choppy, it calmed through the afternoon and the customers wound in a nice variety including some squire weighing up to three kilograms, moses perch and amberjack up to 4.5 kilograms. The catch of the day went to young Jake, who reeled in an eight-kilogram cobia by himself and showed up his dad. I believe they had a bet on the best fish and Jake scored himself $5. Well done mate!

Tomorrow is looking like a good day for offshore fishing and it should fish well in the lead up to Saturday’s full moon. It was certainly good in the lead up to the full moon last month. Head to our contact page and get in touch if you’d like to come out and share in the action.

Happy hunting!

We get an extra treat on our charter trips now the warm spring weather is here – crabs. The weather change is increasing our yields making an added bonus for those on board.

Spanner crabs are the target species and can be caught from around Coffs Harbour in the south up to Bundaberg and roughly the same latitudes over on the west coast of Australia. You’ll find them in water from 10 metres to 60 metres.

The gear we run out is the same set up as the commercial crab fishermen use. It’s called a trot line and the crab traps are called lay-flats or dillies. Basically, it is a really long rope to which the dillies are clipped. It has a flag or float attached to each end and the traps in between them lay flat on the sand on the bottom of the ocean. We use pilchards for bait but any oily fish will work. Tuna and mullet are also good crab baits.

The commercial fishermen will leave their dillies soak for about 40 mins before hauling and resetting. The reason for this is to cut down the loss to predators such as turtles, sharks and cobia, which love to eat these delicacies.

We usually set ours on the way out, do our fishing and pick them up on the way home. Some catches through spring have seen upwards of 200 legal crabs for our punters to enjoy but an average haul is around 20-30 keepers.

Legal size limit for spanner crabs is 10cm and they are measured front to back not side to side like other crabs. We are allowed to keep male and female crabs as long as the female crabs aren’t bearing any eggs. In Queensland we have a closure from November 20 to December 20 when no crabs can be caught. During this time the crabs are spawning and this is how the stocks are preserved.

If you want to catch spanner crabs recreationally you are allowed four dillies per person and must have a rope and float attached to each one with labels stating your name and address.

We find the deeper you drop your crab traps the less trouble you will have with predators. Hopefully this helps you get a feed or two over the next few months or if you want to come out and have a look flick us an email or give us a call.

Happy hunting!

Caloundra 12nm- Snapper, pearl perch, hussar and moses perch

Caloundra wide- Snapper, pearl perch, fusilier, tuskfish and gold spot wrasse

Barwon banks-  Fusilier, red throat emperor, tuskfish, gold spot wrasse, moses perch, squire and a monster wahoo 30kg

Murphy’s and the gneerings- Snapper, blue barr parrot, sweetlip

Caloundra 9nm- Squire, pearl perch, hussar and moses perch

 There is light to moderate northerly winds forecast for the next couple of days with minimal swell, so the early mornings should be fine for offshore fishing.

It was another beautiful weekend for fishing on the Sunshine Coast. We had full day charters on Saturday and Sunday and fished the outer reefs. And there was plenty of action to keep everyone happy.

On Saturday we targeted the bottom fish at Caloundra Wide. We trolled a lure on the way out and picked up a little tuna, which made for good strip baits. And we reeled in some great catches, including snapper, pearl perch, tusk fish, gold spot wrasse and fusilier.

Everyone was kept very busy through the day with lots of under size fish on the chew. Despite that, they all managed to catch a few keepers, mostly weighing in between 1 and 2kg. Wally’s tusk fish and Pete’s snapper were the biggest of the day weighing 2.5kg and they are both excellent eating fish. Nice work guys.

We changed tactics on Sunday and headed a bit further north in search of bigger sized fish and some more colourful ones as well.

In the middle section of the Barwon Banks, in fairly shallow water (32 to 40m), we had some success. The colourful fish were definitely on the bite and we caught red throat emperor, southern fusilier, gold spot wrasse, venus tusk fish and moses perch – a pretty good haul I think.

But the day wasn’t over and we went out a bit deeper, into 80 metres, searching for pearl perch and snapper. The day was nearly over when the excitement started. We hooked a monster – a wahoo weighing a whopping 30kg.

This beauty was caught while trolling a Halco swimmer. Congratulations to Isaac, the lucky punter who wound it in – again and again. Every time we got it to the boat it would take another screaming run. Eventually we got it in the boat and most customers said it was the biggest fish they had seen. Wahoo steaks for all.

You might remember we caught a wahoo a few weeks back. They will get more and more abundant as it continues to warm up, along with other pelagics like mahi mahi, tuna and mackerel. Fun times.

If you would like to try your luck at catching one of these, head to our Contact Us page and send us a message or give us a call. We’d love to have you on board.

Happy hunting!

Caloundra 12nm- Moses perch, squire and tuskfish

Caloundra wide- Snapper, tuskfish, moses perch, fusilier and amberjack

Barwon banks-  Snapper, gold spot wrasse, pearl & moses perch, trag jew and fusilier

Murphy’s and the gneerings- Snapper, pearl perch, moses perch, hussar and gold spot wrasse

Caloundra 9nm- good size snapper and tuskfish

The weather looks to drop right out on Thursday afternoon, Friday Saturday and Sunday look great for fishing.

Hi all! Hope you had a fantastic weekend, especially all the dads out there who were celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday.

Not surprisingly, our weekend was spent fishing. On Saturday we did a half-day fishing charter and on Sunday we had a three quarter day charter. Weather was good on both days and we were on our way home when the wind came through in the arvies .The north-westerly wind on Saturday made for an awesome sunrise.

We had a strong current setting to the south on the weekend, which didn’t help things but we had a few little tricks up our sleeve that made it fishable.

On Saturday we fished Murphy’s Reef catching squire, pearl perch, moses perch and hussar. The most common fish caught that day were the moses perch. These fish don’t grow all that big but are great to eat.

The biggest fish on Saturday was a 2kg snapper. On Sunday we headed to the Caloundra 12 Mile and caught some squire, moses perch and tusk fish. We also caught a lot of undersize pearl perch and squire.

After a few hours we headed north to the Caloundra 9 Mile, which fished better. We caught snapper and tusk fish with the biggest snapper weighing in at 4kg.

The next few days don’t look good for offshore fishing, with strong south-easterly winds and a large swell. But by Thursday arvo things should settle and the weekend looks good. The new moon is on Thursday so fishing on the Sunshine Coast should be great for the weekend.

Don’t forget to give us a call if you want to come out on a fishing charter and head to our Facebook page to share your fishing stories: https://www.facebook.com/pages/TOP-Catch-Charters/340047046026078.

Happy hunting!