Situated almost 300kms North-East of Gladstone, Saumarez is a reef system visited by only a few long range charter boats. The 80+ foot motor-cat, Kanimbla, was the vessel we were to board for our expedition beyond the Great Barrier Reef, to the Coral Sea. We were due to depart late in the afternoon of Saturday 12 April, 2003.

Whilst waiting for Jason’s plane to arrive from Sydney, we knocked down a couple of quiet Ones at the Port Curtis Yacht Club. During this session it became obvious that we all shared a similar level of excitement and anticipation. Many of the boys had been on this trip before, and a few of them were veterans of several prior Saumarez adventures. As the preliminary beers flowed so too did stories of past trips and predictions of what to expect over the coming week. The Bullshit Barometer did start to rise rapidly when the Gold Coast Contingent of Big Al, Rob and Sinesy proceeded to proffer their two cents worth. Generally though the comments and claims (from others) were of a reasonably believable nature.

Shortly after Jase finally arrived in a maxi-taxi with about 300kgs of fishing gear, captain Bruce fired up the big diesel engine and Kanimbla nosed out of the harbour with 19 mad keen anglers aboard, 2 dedicated deckies (Adam & Les) and gourmet gastronologist (Shane).

Only moments into the trip the ritualistic rigging began. Numerous rod tubes were recovered from storage, big game reels were retrieved from cabins, and high speed trolling lures were produced from large Plano tackle boxes. Gimbal belts and heavy wire traces for the toothie species we would soon encounter also made a sudden appearance. One of the early jokes was that our collective gear was possibly worth more than the mothership!! Steve Ho (there were two Steves) and of course Jason deserve special mention for their outstanding and selfless support of the fishing tackle industry…

Indeed, Steve Ho proved early on Sunday morning that his gear was Coral Sea compatible when he boated the first Wahoo of the trip in short order. Fervent hollerin’ of “STRIKE”!!!! soon brought Kanimbla to a halt as Steve demonstrated the Super Seaman technique (ie. he pumped and wound). Shortly after the fish was landed, relative newcomers to the turbo-pelagic caper (such as myself) did a double take at the $30+ lure which had brought in this first ’Hoo. It was snipped clean in half thanks to the razor sharp fangs involved. No wonder the tackle shops love it when people head out here!!

A well honed filleting knife would’ve been flat out cutting through the excitement at lunchtime on Sunday, as it was only an hour or so before the Webster Twin-Fisher dories were to be launched for the first trolling session at Saumarez. The only bloke not sharing our enthusiasm was Shane, who’d copped a dodgey steak sanga back at The Yachty. As a result the poor bugger had been as busy at both ends as a well fluffed porn queen for the previous 20 hours. So aside from our one crook sailor we were fired up and we were absolutely LUVIN’ IT!!

One by one the dories were lowered by electric winch from the top deck of Kanimbla to the duckboard astern (this is sailor talk for the metal grill platform located at water-level at the back of the boat). Groups of two or three anglers eagerly passed their gear from the duckboard into their dories. The 30 horse-power Yamaha outboards were warmed up, before we trolled large lures around current lines and over likely looking drop-offs.

A mixed bag of ’Hoo, Dog Tooth Tuna (Doggies), Yellowfin Tuna (’Fin), Green Jobfish (Jobbies) and Japanese Sea Bream (Jap Bream) were taken during the session. High speed lures such as Halco Giant Tremblers, Yo Zuri Bonitas, Elliots Mackerel Maulers, as well as a variety of Hex-Head style skirted lures and the proven Halco Lazer Pro 190DD’s all produced results. In fact, it was difficult not to hook up!

Before long we realised just how many sharks were present, and geez were those bad boys hungry! Almost straight away there were some spectacular wipe-outs as the Grey Coat Brigade helped themselves to any hooked fish not wound in quickly enough.

If lucky, the angler would retrieve a football sized tuna head with the lure intact. If unlucky, the angler would retrieve a lureless slack line with the 100 – 200lb multi-strand wire trace snipped off as though it were merely a piece of string!

Just as effective right from the first session were large (125gm – 200gm) metal jigs such as Raiders when dropped deep and cranked up FAST. Shane is the finest exponent of this technique I’ve met, and it is little wonder his nick-name is Jigmeister. Geoff was also in great form with the jigging caper – boating a lovely Wahoo from the starboard (right-hand) side of Kanimbla just after we’d pulled up to sort out a couple of tuna that had been hooked up from the duckboard while we were trolling.

During a quick trolling session from Kanimbla early Monday morning, Sinesy took it upon himself to relieve me of $850 worth of gear comprising: Wilson Live Fibre rod, Shimano Trinidad reel & Bionic Braid line, by way of accidentally hoisting it over the side of the boat while trying to remove his own rod from an adjacent rod holder. Geeze I felt sorry for the big, silly, dumb idiot. He went as white as a ghost and was so upset he said (verbatim, and to his credit): “When I saw what I’d done I felt so sick in the guts I just wanted to throw up”. Even though it was only 7.30am when his over-exuberance backfired , I instantly went to the beer tap and poured us two lovely, cold, cleansing schooners of Carlton Draught and reassured him that everything was cool. Heck, accidents can and do happen. I also said (half jokingly) that if he proceeded to do that to my $1,600 trolling outfit he’d be going swimming.

Sharks or no sharks fella…

On account that Jigmeister’s Live Fibre & Trinidad & Bionic Braid rig had not likewise been recklessly tossed overboard, he was in a position to generously loan me his backup rig, a lovely little braid-spooled Shimano Calcutta 700 outfit. If the truth be known: I was delighted by how easily this accounted for Jobbies, Jap Bream, Coronation Trout and Red Throat Emperors (aka Sweep Lip Emperor, or simply Lippers). So, despite that clumsy prick from the Gold Coast almost ruining my trip, I was re-tackled, fired up and back amongst the fish in no time at all!!

The earlier splash of my favourite outfit on its way to Davey Jones’ Locker was by far the biggest disturbance on the surface of the ocean that Monday morning, as there was a total glass-out. No wind, no waves – dead calm. “How good is this?” we were all asking ourselves (rhetorically of course, because we bloody-well knew how good it was!)

Mostly we found the trolling to be good (although a bit patchy at times), as we ventured over the drop-off North-West of Zenobia Rock, several miles East of the main Saumarez reef system. The lack of breeze was both a blessing and a curse, as Jigmeister et. al. worked their heavy metal slugs in the still water and began to sweat like unfit squash players in the ninth game. Sooner or later you simply had to troll lures in order to cool down. Nonetheless, before long it turned out to be a hot (in more ways than one) session, with the fatality of many a finned foe forthcoming.

Not too long after Chef-Shane again tried to over-feed us to death, the dories were launched and I had the pleasure I fishing with Stevie Ho and Jigmeister. Steve hooked a really cool Wahoo and the sharking we witnessed shortly thereafter was one of the most amazing wipe-outs I’ve ever seen. Despite a great hook-up and Steve expertly playing the fish, this ’Hoo had no chance at all once the old mate Noah arrived on the scene. After a few moments zipping along the dead flat surface like ’Hoo do (sorry about the pun), there was a massive boil involving heads, tails, fins, teeth, and most memorably….blood. It was like something out of a horror movie. Steve’s 100lb+ multi-strand trace was surgically severed only moments into the massacre. I will never forget that assault and I will respect the ocean all the more for having witnessed it first hand.

Other dories reported similar style wipe-outs, although some did manage to boat their Wahoo through a combination of skill and luck.

Later that afternoon Jason was kind enough to invoke a serious case of Marlin Fever in everyone aboard Kanimbla. Jokes about the vastness of his tackle emporium aside, Jase was essentially on this trip with one goal in mind: “To rumble with a LARGE billfish and prevail” (Nevermind the goal of creating the 200+ Stubby Club, as that would require a corporate sponsor…something we are looking into for the 2004 trip…)

After a spectacular hookup the marlin took to the air a couple of times, and soon afterwards two other anglers cut their lines in order to make way for the Main Event. Jase then proceeded to give one of the best performances of his life (with his clothes on that is) to the collective delight of the Super Seamen, Y2K+3.

Throughout the ensuing fight Bruce, Adam and Les displayed supreme control of Kanimbla, as they manoeuvred the 25 metre vessel as though it were a 32 foot Riviera game boat. And as powerful as this fish clearly was, it had the misfortune of being hooked up to Mr. www.etackle.com.au, who was supported by one of the most competent crews in the business, along with a peanut gallery of 18 cheering (& filming) fanatics!!

One hour and ten minutes into the fight (and after several near disasters), the big beakie was finally yielding to one of the finest anglers I have seen in action. After witnessing the finesse, speed and skill of Jase’s right thumb working the big Tiagra 50’s lever drag backwards and forth, I have merely this to say to his future bride: “Congratulations young Lady, if your wedding tackle is anything like an oversized Shimano game reel, you’re in for a bloody treat in when in comes to the manual stimulation part of the bedroom proceeding!!”

After photos and a 5-10 minute revival session (of flowing water through her gills), the marlin was released and Jase was FINALLY able to suck down a celebratory can of Victoria Bitter (after stunning the audience halfway through the fight by actually DECLINING a quick swig from an offered Green Can!!)

Everyone was on a high that night!!

Interestingly, on Tuesday Sinesy and Rob invited me on a dory session. Evidently the guilt factor I had on Leon was working a treat, even though by now it was all fun and games (eg. “Sinesy, looks like I’ll need another VB soon thanks mate!!” or “Sinesy, just bait that hook up for me will you please fella” etc.) Jokes aside it proved to be another great session with Rob bagging a good Jobbie & Yellowfin, Sinesman a lovely Coral Trout and myself a smallish Doggie as well as my best Jobbie to date.

Again, dinner was of a size which would have pulled up Zeus (the God that is, not the phonetically similar Doctor “Seus” - although he too would have struggled, Green Eggs & Ham eating prowess notwithstanding…..nevermind…) While many of us were getting slightly annoyed at being so bloated from these force feedings, the Superior Super Seamen simply belched loudly and assumed the position at the duckboard for a serious night fishing session. Fish of the Day was subsequently procured by Dave Bodman (yes, as with the Steve & Shane situations there was a plural case of Dave on this trip, with Dave Bird completing the Canberra couplet).

Skillfully, and musclefully (hey, I’m allowed to make up words) Dave denied his GT from becoming meal number 37 for old mate Noah. And we’re not talking meters here folks: At the very last second Dave literally “snatched victory from the Jaws of defeat” (OK, that pun was deliberate…so sue me…) Well done son, you’ve finally proven that a whole lot more comes out of Canberra than merely unjust taxes, f***ed up foreign policy, marijuana, porn and layabout public servants…

The GT’s must have had a mid-term exam coming up, because they were certainly schooling up beneath the mothership (I’m on fire with the puns!!). In fact I managed to get one to the boat myself that night, even though I had to frantically apply some “rag drag” to the reel to help slow Trevor down and eventually turn him without burning my thumbs completely off on the braided spool (NB. Sinesy, a Trinidad would have totally smoked that fish without the need for such an emergency measures.) Even though I’m only a scrawny little prick, this fish felt pretty heavy and might have nudged 60 pounds on a dodgey set of scales.

Not long into the next morning dory session with Geoff and Shane, Jigmeister hooked a nice Wahoo (on a jig if you can believe that!) and he “almost” boated 100% of that same fish. Luckily, Grey Coat only managed to nip off the ’Hoo’s propeller before Shane scull-dragged him into the dory: Jigmeister 0.9 v Oceanic White Tip Shark 0.1.

After The Meister and Geoff both had their way (in a manner of speaking) with some smallish Doggies and Yellowfin, we decided on a bottom fishing session while we caught our collective breath, albeit in the stinking hot sun with no breeze whatsoever…. Annnnnnyhow, we lowered baits to some very willing Jap Bream and Lippers, when out of nowhere a really cool Tiger Shark turned up and eyeballed us menancingly. The jury is still out as to weather she was 12 or 14 feet long. Either way: this was not a fish you would want turning up during your kid’s boogie-boarding session outside the Mooloolaba Surf Club…

The three of us watched in awe as the Tiger came and took the floated live bait I’d set (for Wahoo) 10 metres off the back of the dory. While I never entertained the fanciful notion of actually landing such a monster I was keen to see how well my terminal tackle would hold up to such a thorough beasting. I let her take the 10/0 Gamakatsu circle hook (double-crimped with Flemish Eye on 130lb Black Magic Tough Trace) for about 10 seconds before slowly pushing the lever drag on my Tiagra 30WLRS up to strike. Just as I’d hoped, the slow strike allowed the hook to pull back out into the corner of her mouth, thus avoiding those extremely nasty teeth. It was now a fair fight….of sorts anyway - considering she obviously weighed more than all three of us in the dory.

Luckily, commonsense and fear prevailed. I cut the line after approximately 41.3 seconds had elapsed and 159.4 metres of 50lb Stren Hi-Viz mono had been peeled off my “light game reel”. Be buggered if I was going to get yanked out of the dory under 25 pounds of Tiagra drag for a reunion with one very large and (presumably) VERY PISSED OFF tiger shark. No thank you!!

As though we needed it: Wednesday provided more great trolling action with several ’Hoo and Doggie captures. In addition, during the morning session we experienced one of the hottest bottom fishing sessions imaginable. This was evidenced at about 10am when George & Co were spotted making a dash back to Kanimbla to deliver their 50 litre tub full of succulent reef fish two hours ahead of full-time. In the blink of an eyelid they were back out there amongst it with the rest of us, to fill another tub before midday. Likewise, the A-Team of Bruce, Grant & Starlo made gluttons of themselves during that session, upturning the milk-crate seats and filling them with reefies. When it’s THAT good you have to improvise!

In a sense that session may have ruined it for some of us. Rarely can you bung two pilchard heads on a 7/0 Gamakatsu Big Bait hook with a no. 6 ball sinker and get smashed on every drop. Rarely did you make it to the bottom without copping a solid hookup on a Trout, Lipper, Bream or Cod, and of course the Jobbies were constantly on the scene. Steve Starlo Commons demonstrated the art of catching 10kg Red Emperor, as did Dave Bird. At some stage mad Humps found himself proudly holding up the best coral trout of the trip. He was on fire and boy was he luvin’ that action! (indeed, we all were)

As with all fairy tales, our good luck (in the form of weather) had to come to an end sooner or later. Late Wednesday afternoon we headed back to the shelter of the Swains Reefs ahead of the imminent change. By the time we arrived 6 hours later at around 10.30pm, the majority of Super Seamen were attending the Blanket Show in an attempt to recover from four days of highly vigorous fishing action.

I bet you cant…

With designs on both (a) sleeping-in the following morning, and (b) making sure I pulled my weight at the capture caper – I decided to soak a few baits upon our arrival at our Swains anchorage. With the full moon almost upon us there was one hell of a current running. Jase (who’d had a grand total of about 15 hours sleep on the trip so far and was still awake) generously offered me a humungus snapper lead to get my paternoster rig with flesh bait to the bottom. A tonne of lead notwithstanding, the roaring current made it feel like we were trolling even thoughKanimbla was securely anchored. To the revelry and back-seat-fishing of those still sucking down VB cans and Big Jims on the back deck, I proceeded to boat 5 decent Lippers and release about 10 undersized versions. Eventually the bite died off and I staggered off to bed absolutely exhausted. (And being the idiot I am, still managed to get up at the crack of dawn!)

Thursday at the Swains was our first day of more realistic conditions. Although the action had slowed considerably there really weren’t too many complaints, as we were all pretty much fished out. One notable capture on Thursday though was an absolutely massive fish Robbie managed to get to the boat after a Battle of the Titans style fight. While many of us had witnessed Rob (sadly) lose a huge shark to Kanimbla’s anchor chain earlier in the trip, few were prepared for the sheer size of the monster Cod he caught at the Swains whilst on the troll. Well done mate, you were smashing it up all week!!

Friday morning the North-Easterly change had really arrived, but you know what: no-one really cared. Aside from Humps, (who is a bloody fishing MACHINE and may in fact require therapy for this condition), no one was even the slightest bit interested in getting soaked by the squally swells in a Webster dory. We’d all caught our share and it was time to get the hell out of there before the Weather Gods got really angry at us. We pulled the pick before lunch and set sail for Gladstone. Although a bit bumpy for the first few hours, the wind and the swell did eventually drop off. Some of the Super Seamen awoke in the early hours of Saturday morning as we gently motored into Gladstone under the somewhat surreal lighting of the harbour, while some of our other sailors snored away happily, oblivious to the fact we had arrived home (no names mentioned Steve Ho).

While Shane had one last crack at killing us all by LQF (Lethal Quantity of Food), Skipper Bruce announced, “Well boys, this is the Last Supper”. He was quickly corrected as it was actually our last Breaky… Be that as it may, this final bout of bacon and eggs gave us just enough energy to transfer the copious boxes of fillet packs from Kanimbla’s freezers to the jetty and, in turn, our eskies. There were very few frowning faces on Saturday morning when we saw the size of the total catch. You had to see it to believe it.

This was easily the best fishing trip I’ve ever been on. Sure there are guys who have done it all before, but I felt that everyone in the group had a great time and has taken away memories that will last a lifetime. Bring on Marlin Fever Y2K+4!!!

To his credit Leon fully replaced my rig after we got back (I even scored a lure!). Given that it was a genuine accident, I think this says a lot about the guy.