Cooktown Fishing
I'm aboard Paradise Blue, a 64 foot cutter, sailing east out to the barrier reef from cooktown for a bit of fishing. We are in paradise.
Cooktown is about 4 hours drive north of Cairns - and of course, famous as the first stopover in Australia for Captain James Cook.
It's also the town closest to the Great Barrier Reef. The reef this far north is almost pristine…. so the marine life is literally leaping out of the water.
Our skipper Steve Budd spent 8 years building this beautiful boat, then sailed her from Kiama to Cooktown.
When he reached these amazing waters, Steve set up a diving and fishing charter. And he reckons there's a feast of fish on offer.
The main species everyone wants to target is coral trout, then nannygai, but the greatest buzz of all is spanish mackerel. They fight like hell !
Also aboard is local guide Mark Privett from Gone Fishing, so we should have no trouble finding the fish.
We're putting heavy stuff on to pull up a couple of nice reefies, and already we're on. A little cod, straight down straight up.
We couldn't have picked a better day, zero wind and fish breaking up all around us.
We're using bottom rigs on handlines and light rods. And Karen soon lands a nice sweetlip.
Sweetlip love fresh squid or pillies, and even the littlies put up a struggle. These red emperor are also fierce fighters. We're certainly racking up the reef fish!
This is a greasy rock cod - we had to look him up in a book, there are so many types of fish on the reef.
Here we go - Steve's onto something more substantial… Spangled emperor, nice table fish. Also known as the yellow sweetlip.
Meanwhile Mark's on the board with a red emperor… and a brilliant scarlett-breasted maori wrasse.
But skipper Steve's bagging the big ones. Look at that line go! He's dragging Steve right down to the lower deck.
On the dinner table this one... A mighty spanish mackerel! These speedsters run hard and fast.
This is a bit of a rarity, normally with wind and swell, you can never anchor close to the reef. The tide's low, so the water will gradually move up onto the reefs. Some fish hang deeper on the dropoffs, but these shallower reefs are the perfect place for coral trout.
I tell ya - these far northern reefs hold hundreds of weird and wonderful species… This fella's called a mother-in-law fish, because they taste so bad you'd only feed them to your mother-in-law!
Coral trout, on the other hand - are one of the top five tablefish… and Mark's bagging his own little banquet. The bag limit on trout is 7 per person.
Local lad Thommo's landed a lovely trout. Thommo reckons there's a real trick to hooking up on the handlines.
Thommo's wife Karen also prefers the handlines - and it's certainly no handicap. A beautiful big red.
Meanwhile, the cobia are cruising out the back. And while these two are playing chasie, a third cobia crashtackles Steve's pilchard.
Cobia aren't bad eating - but you have to cook them fresh. He's a healthy ten kilos. Cobia have a broad flat head, sleek body and incredibly powerful tail.
Paradise Blue can take up to 12 people fishing and cruising off Cooktown. This impressive boat is kitted out with everything from a DVD player to their own freshwater maker. Call them for bookings.
Mark Privett can also guide you to plenty of fish around Cooktown. Contact him at Gone Fishing for more details.
We stayed at the Sovereign Resort right in the middle of Cooktown. Check out their website for reservations and rates.
Speak to the friendly folk at Cooktown Booking Centre to set up your accommodation or sightseeing.
I picked up all my reef fishing gear at Big W. For a fabulous selection of gear and tackle, drop into your nearest Big W store.
We flew to Cairns with Virgin Blue. The website has plenty of great deals - or give virginblue a call on 13 67 89.
