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You never know what will take the bait on your morning troll along the reef edge. This small Permit surprised us today.
Conditions remain calm today. Although, according to Buoyweather, that is about to change to a more typical pattern for October here on the reef – breezy with lots of bites!
So we made the best of what we were dealt, and caught a few small fish.
This small Black had a cluster of papasites on his shoulder. Tim says it’s quite common with these fish. Didn’t seem to slow him down at all.
I love it when they jump in the late afternoon sunlight.
Everyone enjoys a nice sunset. Especially when there is a Black Marlin blocking your view.
Another day of incredible weather on the reef. Our day starts out with swim at the Cod Hole. A popular stop for all the boats because of it’s trained abundant life. A bunch of resident Giant Cod, along with a menagerie of Red Bass, reef sharks, and Coral Trout. As soon as you hit the water, everything seems to swim up to greet you as the bubbles clear around your mask. Kinda spooky at first. Later on when the light chumming started, it was time get back in the boat. The natives were starting to get restless…
Couldn’t resist hand feeding a few of the big boys.
As we heeded outside the reef for the day, we made some passes along the outer edge. Since photography is my profession, it’s not often I feel that a picture doesn’t do a scene justice. But this is one of those places on earth that reminds me of the truth in that old saying. The beauty and extent of the reef can not be captured in any media.
Then the poppers hit the water and the Giant Trevalle’s pounced. This one found it’s way into the tail rope for a quick photo.
Back out in the deep for the afternoon troll. This Queenie rigged on twisted double wire makes for a fine offering. And it doesn’t hurt that it swims like an olympian.
Carl and Steve make the release part of catch, tag, and release look easy.
The weather conditions are improving as of today, and so did the fishing. A light SE breeze filled in and stirred up some small Black Marlin. We bait fished this morning and then put the hooks in the water around noon. Ended up getting 4 bites and missing two of those.
Another Scaley comes to the boat.
All eyes on the spread.
The big skipping bait gets lots of attention. Even by the smallest of Black Marlin.
The swivel and leader pop up quickly around here. It’s all Carl can do to clear the deck and get his gloves on.
The weather remained spectacular today. But not the ideal conditions for the marlin bite. Light North winds and strong full moon current historically make for slow fishing on the edge. So we have to wait it out. The forecast is for things to get back to it’s normal fishy self in a few days time. Meanwhile, we try to stay entertained. This morning we anchored down and went for a swim on the reef. The reef is alive! Lots of critters and someone living in every hole in the coral. Even got to swim down and touch a Giant Clam once the Whitetip sharks moved on.
While Tim was paddling back to the boat with our lunch in tow, a small Bull Shark thought he would help himself. Some fast thinking saved the day and our lunch. That shark was onto something, turns out Coral Trout are delicious.
Stephan takes advantage of every moment to get in some fishing. Here is a big stick bait, loaded up for a big cast.
His diligence pays off with a perfect bait sized Scaley Mackeral.
Our fearless leader Tim in his office. We pounded the waters in front of Ribbon #7 today, no sightings, no bites.
After spending some time recently in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, I thought I would warm things up a bit, like maybe the Coral Sea. This months adventure has me at 15º South Latitude, on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). I was invited to document the Black Marlin quest of angler Stephan Kreupl of Bluewater Fishing. Our ride for this trip would be the charter boat Tradition run by veteran Aussie captain Tim Richardson. After a series of crazy long flights and layovers to get here, we finally meet the boat and head offshore. The deckies on the Tradition are Steve Hall and Carl Copeland. Both multi year GBR veterans.
300Km North of Cairns is the city of Cooktown, and pictured above is the Fisherman’s Wharf. This is the end of road in NE Australia and the jump off spot for most of the gameboat operations fishing the GBR. Folklore has Cooktown populated by as many Crocodiles as locals. I didn’t see any during my brief time on the ground, but I plan on looking some up on my return pass thru town.
On our way out to deep water we spent some time in the inner reef catching fresh bait. Large swimming plugs are the norm for this. Steve flips a nice one over the covering board. This one is headed for the rigging table.
When the Scads and Scaleys aren’t biting, a welcomed bycatch is this Giant Trevally.
Add some poppers and spin rods to the bait catching chore and it becomes light tackle game fishing!
It didn’t take long for me to notice that everything is bigger over here. And the rigged bait is no exception. I can’t wait to see the animal that thinks of this as a snack…
And then we had a bite.
Our first billfish of the trip, and our only bite of the day.
Carl and Steve make short work of the tag and release of this fish. They called her around 500lbs. This angle and lens combo make this fish look very small.
It’s time for Bluefin Tuna Camp 2011. Headed to Halifax today to meet up with camp directors Anthony and Brad. The report is that they are biting so anticipation is high. More to follow…
The trip went great. I was able to observe the boys catch a bunch of fish. All between ≈ 300lbs and 700lbs. Some were tagged for science, some were kept for the quota. Lots of sea life, and plenty of seafood to eat. Other than one weather day as a result of Hurricane Katia, the rest of the days were calm. Below is a linked slideshow from the Nova Scotia gallery on my photo site.
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Here’s to being in the right spot at the right time. Thank you Capt. Mike.
I finally had another opportunity to ride along with my friends on the Mojito, and I even brought some luck this time. The mini movie below shows a glimpse of the North Drop action that Pico, Tito, and Aileen showed me. Thanks for the ride!
Some fish just are just destined for great things. All I have to do is find them in the viewfinder and let her eat. Take this White Marlin for example. I shot this fish while riding along with Capt. Butch on the boat Prime Time in the calm waters of the Mona Passage. We were based out of Cap Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic. His angler was only after one thing, White Marlin on the fly. Conditions were very pretty, just not many target species showed up in the spread. We raised a handful of Whites that week and got a few to bite. Even less stayed on the hook. Seemed dismal at the time. However, looking back this one fish made it all worthwhile. Teased well, ate the fly like a champ, and then stayed on top and jumped all over the ocean. I got a bunch of shots of this fish in the air, and a few of them looked like they would have a future. Now several years later, the demand meets the supply.
This July/August 2011 Sport Fishing Magazine cover was shot early in the battle while the fish was still a rigger length away – F8 1/1000th iso 160 in bright sun.
Then about three minutes later in the battle, when the distance closed, the jumps were still going on. This August/September 2011 Marlin Magazine cover was shot just under the rigger – f8 1/1200th iso 200.
