Category : Blog

Fishing in close on the half and 3/4 day charters has been very productive for the last 6 weeks. Plenty of hard running Amberjack and Black Kingfish being caught as well as some awesome sized Snapper around 6.5kg mark. Grassy Sweetlip, Moses Perch and some giant Cod have also been keeping us entertained. Spanner crabbing has also been very productive the last few weeks except if the turtles are feeling hungry.

Plenty of spots left on the boat for the next few weeks so give us a ring and get your own Top Catch!

Been a while since last fishing report, but in between the rain, wind, Christmas and New Years we have managed to get out to the reef quite often. Mackeral were running a for a few days and we got onto some great sized Spottys and also some big Spaniards. Some heavy Mahi Mahi caught on spinning lures also gave everybody onboard a great show. The bottom fishing has been a little bit slower on some days but we have still done really well on average. Plenty of Grassy Sweetlip and Red Throat Emperor caught at the nine mile reefs along with the odd large Snapper. Also landed a few great sized Amberjack and Samson Fish plus an awesome Longtail Tuna that circled around the boat at least 6 times and on numerous occasions when almost within gaf range would take off on some really long powerful runs. Crabbing season also opened up so there has been plenty of crabs around to give everybody a feed. Plenty of trips organised for the coming weeks, hopefully the wind can bugger off for a little bit and let us get out again. Give us a ring to organise your next trip!

We now have great new Top Catch singlets and t-shirts available for sale in a great range of sizes and colours. At $25 each they are fantastic value and a must have for summer! If you would like to purchase any ask the crew or contact us by phone or email.

Have been getting on to small patches of nice sized Snapper and Pearl Perch throughout the past couple of weeks as well as some Venus Tuskfish and Brassy Trevally. On Saturdays 3/4 day charter we got onto a great school of Teraglin Jew which were all around the 50cm length and kept us pretty busy. Crabbing has been fairly good lately as the crabs are quite active coming up to their spawning season. Predators have gotten to them before us a few times but still left us with some to cook up and try on the way home!

Even more great weather!! Some awesome days out fishing at the Barwon Banks and in closer on the half and 3/4 day charters with some huge Grassy Sweetlip and Snapper caught. Fishing has been a bit stop and go lately with some days a bit slow and others excellent. Nice Maori Cod, Red Emperor, monster sized Tuskfish have been the main catch with some nice Moses Perch and even a few caught that are a definite mix between Moses and Stripey Sea Perch. Also got a really nice Mack Tuna on the troll out. Great to give the heavier gear a bit of a workout before the pelagics truly arrive. Whales are almost all gone now with the last couple being spotted this week. Short Tailed Shearwaters or ‘Mutton Birds’ heading south on there annual Pacific Ocean migration have been a bit of a pain as they can dive down to depths of 60 metres to grab baits. But at least they keep us company when the fish go off the bite!

We have been pretty busy lately with a lot of great days out at the reef fishing. The Pearl Perch and Snapper have almost been throwing themselves into the boat with some good sized Snapper around the 3 to 5kg mark being caught. A nice Cobia was also landed on yesterdays charter after swimming around underneath the boat with the casino online angler frantically chasing after it. Smaller fish like Tarwhine, Squire, Hussar, Golden Threadfin Bream and even a Flounder have been keeping everybody busy in between the larger stuff. The Spanner Crabbing has also been fairly successful with customers all getting to take home plenty of crabs. Apart from the fishing there has also been plenty of other things to check out with Dolphins and Sharks swimming right up to the boat to look for an easy meal as well as Whales slowly cruising by. Plenty of trips organised for the next few weeks so gives us a ring on #0429013012 and get your own “Top Catch” 🙂

Wow! What a busy few weeks that was! Up untill now we have had a greatrun of excellant fishing conditions with a huge variety of fish being caught. The Pearl Perch have been on fire with good numbers caught as well as some good size Snapper and Moses Perch. Maori Cod and Tuskfish have also been fairly abundant. It is also great to see that there have been quite a few small Red Emperor being caught and released safely. Bigger stuff like Yellowtail Kingfish, Tiger Sharks and Amberjacks have also been keeping us very busy with a few scorchers caught lately as well as a very nice Dolphin Fish that ‘lit up’ and put on a great aerial show for us. Whales have been seen breaching everywhere and big pods of Dolphins have also been hanging around the boat. Hoping for some good weather now to get us back out there.

Have had a very big week of fishing with great weather and a huge variety of different fish. A standout would be last Tuesdays evening trip where we located a huge school of Pearl Perch which were constantly on the bite. We kept a enough for a good meal for everyone on board and released plenty back into the water. Crabbing has also been fairly productive this past week with most people usually able to take home a couple. Give us a ring or email to book in your next Top Catch charter!!

Top Catch Charters have now moved to their great new home at The Wharf Marina, right next door to Underwater World. We are now situated on the commercial wharf right in front of the Australia Zoo whale watching vessel. Come and check us out and say g’day if you are in the area.

Last weekend we had our Barra Jacks fishing charter where we headed out to the banks for a full day trip. Fishing was steady with plenty of Tuskfish and some nice Snapper taken. Barra Jacks store owner, Geoff came along and had a great day, helping out and telling some tales as well as landing a few nice fish. Crabbing was tough and were cleaned out by the turtles and possibly some rogue Cobia.

We also ran out on Tuesday for a full days charter where the conditions were excellent and fishing was red hot! A large variety of good quality fish were caught including a big Brassy Trevally, Amberjack, Green Jobfish, Diamond Trevally and plenty more. We also took home 5 great Snapper around the 4 to 7kg mark plus some good size Pearl Pearch. As everybody on board the boat had a nice feed of fish plenty that were caught throughout the day were safely released. Had much better luck with the crabbing also with the trays loaded with large Spanner Crabs.