Today in Karratha

[Alex86]

Took the boat out for the first time in just over 5 months on Thurs. Didn't do very well with the fishing, so went out again today, absolute cracker of a day, hardly a breath of wind above 5kts and flat as a tack.


Cruising along:










My mate Tim with some of his catch









My mates Bill and Tim- look how smooth the water is, glassy!!!!!





My Flathead





My Queenfish. Sorry about the no-shirt, I had to use it to wipe up some blood off the boat.



My Mackeral






Didn't get a good photo of the 1m+ Mackie that Bill was reeling in, it was an absolute behemoth! Unfortunately before we could get it in the boat it busted off the hook. Spewing!!

[t-rex1995]

few nice fishes there bud definately can't complain about the smoothness like a babys bum shame about the mackeral hope you got to see it good tho

[Betz]

Nice mixed haul, we got blown out while in Dampier/Karratha so didn't do very well but the place looks very fishy indeed.

[Alex86]

There's fish everywhere up here. I've got no idea what I'm doing when fishing so don't know how to chase the big stuff etc. I don't eat fish anyway, its just fun to catch things!

We were watching groups of 6 or 7 swim past the boat fairly frequently. Had them chasing lures right up to the boat too but none of them decided to see if they were tasty. If we had a spear, probably could have speared a few from the boat itself they get that close!

That big mackie is still out there, suppose we will just have to go back out one day and try get it!

[Thomo238]

I had a great view of the ocean from the Pluto Gas Plant while working...

[Alex86]

Someone's gotta work though (normally its me!)

[Alex86]

19/9/13

Went for a troll, no good. Changed spots and got a few. Here's a shot of the only fish I caught, just a Queenie





And my mate Tim landed this monster Queenfish too, biggest one I've seen! About 90cm long. Put on a few sweet runs and a good fight. Also got a small Spanish mack and golden trevally, but no photos.

[Alex86]

16 October....

Slept thru my alarm this morning and got in the water a bit after 8. Was hoping to be in by 0645-0700. Cracker of a morning, so calm and flat. The arvo picked up to 13knots with gusts to 17. Boat handled it very well, and fortunately my skill level has increased with it and the conditions didn't worry me at all (a while ago when I was less proficient in it we ended up copping 20 knots, that sucked!)...

Anyway we lost a couple of what we expected to be sharks. The last one did a HUGE run and nearly took all of my mate Justin's line; however he did land a shark earlier and a queenfish while trolling (first troll catch on my boat).
I landed a shark too. It bit some trim on my boat and left teeth marks. Better that than leaving marks in either of us!!!
So, time for the pics...


Justin & queenfish




Me and my shark (sorry once again for no shirt!)





Shane I'm looking in your direction for some shark ID. Methinks its a reefie of some sort, but I can't narrow it down.

[sharkcaver]

Awesome pics mate. Great stuff. maybe a juvenile black tip going by the tail and pecs?? but I don't have a good pic of all the fins. Maybe also a spot tail shark. Ref: Marine fishes of North WA, Swainston, page 22. Its a reef shark of the black tip variety of some description anyhow.

[tomwithannl]

Hi Alex
I'm jealous of the fishing conditions as it is still bloody cold down here!
The shark is a Spot-Tail Whaler (same family but different to a black tip) and they grow to about 1.5 mtrs. We used to catch them in Darwin and they can be a real nuisance when you are chasing other species.
All the best.

Tom

[Alex86]

thanks Shane and Tom, knew id get an answer. Bit of googling definitely looks like the spot tail.

they appear to be somewhat prolific up here.
this one was a cranky little bugger. Fun to catch though.

I like the warm weather. Its heating up though, summer is on its way! Believe it or not, I'm waiting for fog to clear right now!