BIG GAME FISHING: WHERE IS TERRY? Australian Great Barrier Reef

Australian Great Barrier Reef

My very good friend and angling partner Richard Richardson from Houston and I arrived in Cairns, Australia early in the morning October 11th some 30 hours after we had left home. After some shopping, sight-seeing, and rest that day, we met Captain Glenn Jones and boarded the “Black Label” early the next morning. The two hour run to Linden Bank, the closest aspect of “the reef” to Cairns, went by quickly on this bright sunny morning. Upon reaching the continental shelf we slowed to 4 knots and deployed the two dead baits of the typical GBR spread. The remainder of the morning was taken up by frequent bait changes as we experienced numerous chop-offs from the “razor-gang.” Early in the afternoon though we caught a 10 pound Kawakawa which was quickly bridled for live-baiting. No more than twenty minutes went by before the leader was ripped from the hands of the mate. After a ten second drop-back I set the hook and we were solid with the fish. She was a beautiful creature performing numerous spectacular aerials right next to the boat. We had her to the boat and tagged after a tough 17 minute fight using 60 pounds of drag on the heavy action unlimited chair outfit wrapped with 130 pound dacron. As we released her it was clear that she would go 850 pounds plus. What a way to start our week!

During our stay we worked up to the middle and upper Ribbon Reefs nearly to Lizard Island. We had our best fishing at the northern end of our excursion where we raised 4 to 5 fish each day. We ended out catching two more fish over 700 pounds and an additional one about 600. The remainder were all 200 to 400 pounds in size. And several days were quite entertaining despite slow fishing as we encountered 25-30 knot winds and 12-15 foot seas superimposed upon a significant swell. That made our 40 foot boat seem rather small. None-the-less we experienced no significant problems with the sea-worthy craft and had a great time. I still did not get my first grander but I could hardly complain after 8 fish in seven days averaging over 500 pounds!