Today is our charter with Barradict down at Eco Beach. When I booked this charter, I didn't realize that the charter launches from Eco Beach which is 1hr30mins drive south from Broome! Luckily, the charter starts at 11am so we had ample time to drive down there. After getting some directions from the Broome Visitor Center, we started our drive there. It's been a long time since I've seen such
long, straight roads with no other cars around! We were told to look out for the signs on the road to turn off to Eco Beach. Soon, we saw it and it led to another dirt road.
It was the same red earth type of dirt track. We drove 12km on this dirt track to finally reach the Eco Beach Resort. This place is so secluded it has its own sewerage system and water source! It was like a resort out of nowhere. I wonder what people do at this place. I would be bored after 2 days if I was not fishing! But the view was fantastic!
We met up with the Barraddict skipper, Kurt and his friend Bonnie. We loaded our stuff on the boat and off we went. About 1km from the beach, Kurt slowed the boat down and anchored up and suggested we could cast some jigs to see if anything was biting. I thought we would be trying for little fish or baitfish first but little did we know, this was going to turn out to be one of our best fishing sessions in Broome!
I tied my Shimano Flat fall jig Phantom Squid color and dropped it down. Once the jig touched bottom, I started jigging. 3 strokes later, I felt a bump but no hookup. Kurt advised me to do long strokes and keep it at the bottom third of the water column. On the 2nd drop, I began doing the long upward strokes. On the 2nd stroke I felt like I hit snag but this snag was moving! Fish ON! My reel screamed like a banshee as the fish took off! It was peeling line like nobody's business. I had to re-adjust the drag a few times until the fish stopped running. Then I began pump n reel. Yet again, it took off but shorter bursts. The fish took me round the boat 2 times as I tried to keep it on the line. Finally after 10mins or so, I saw color and Kurt called it as a Golden Trevally! And what a monster it was! Topping 8kg, the fish was netted and unhooked for photos. It was awesome! After the photos, I speared the fish back into the water and it flapped a bit and powered away. I can't believe all this action was happening so close to shore!
Checked my jig and sent it down again. After a few times, I worked out that to bring the jig to surface, I took 7 long strokes so after 3-4 long strokes, I would free spool the jig down again to work half of the water column. 5 mins later, I was hooked up again. Same rod bending action and reel screaming. Went round the boat again and when I thought I had the fish under control, it sped off
again. This time burying me in some structure and busting me off!
Checked my line and the 20lb braid was cut. Re-tied my leader and blue/pink Shimano jig and dropped it. 1 stroke up and I was immediately hit on the down crank. Fish ON! This fish battled like the last and took me some time to bring it boatside. Another thumper Golden Trevally! Another round of pictures and back it went to fight another day. Bruce wasn't getting any luck with his jigs.
I then caught some small School Mackerel (Scomberomorus queenslandicus) on the jig as well. The fish were like everywhere! We continued fishing and various fish caught on jigs. Bonnie was doing some bottom fishing with dead mullet as bait and brought up some Saddletail Seaperch. She also caught 2 Golden Trevallys on bait. Meanwhile, Bruce was still not catching any Goldies but he did hit a 3kg Grouper on jig. That became our dinner!
I continued to use my Shimano Flat Fall jig and scored another Golden Trevally. Then on the next drop, I was on my 6th upward stroke when I was hit near the surface. I didn't expect that and was almost pulled over. I quickly steadied myself and fought the fish. The fish went under the boat and my reel screamed. I stuck my rod under the boat to prevent line cut but I was going nowhere! When the fish finally stopped running I started reeling in. Then I felt the line snagged. Darn it, a couple of pulls later, the braid snapped. Lost the jig but I thoroughly enjoyed the fight!
Only our footsteps on this untouched creek!
Kurt said we need to head into the creeks if we want to target Barramundi so at 1300, we left the awesome action at the reefs to hunt for Barra. The creek we headed into was rather shallow. Kurt said in a few days, this creek would be cut off from the sea due to low tides.
Measuring the monster Barra!
A happy angler
Kurt suggested I change my rig to a light jighead with a white plastic minnow. I tossed that jighead towards a hole and did small flicks on the rod tip. Halfway back to the boat, I got this massive hit on the jig. Quickly striked and began reeling. This fish felt heavy too. Out jumped the fish to reveal itself as a Barra and when it landed, the jighead came flying towards the boat! We examined the jighead and discovered the hook had opened! Darn it! Lost my dream Barramundi! I then changed to my DOA prawns and got a couple of small Orange-Spotted Groupers.
With the action quieting down, we decided to head back to the reef for more Goldie action. The wind was really blowing when we reached the reefs. I tied my 2nd last Shimano Slow Fall jig and started my jigging. On the 3rd drop, I hooked up again! Rod bending, reel screaming..... this was awesome! Brought the Goldie up for another photo op. Beautiful!
Dropped the jig over and started again. On 2nd stroke, I had a hit but missed the hookup. Kurt said drop it again, and sure enough the fish hit the jig again. This time I hooked up solid and began fighting the fish. This fish took me 2 times round the boat before busting me off with a final reel-screaming burst! Bonnie hooked up a Goldie on bait which gave her quite a runaround.
I now only had left my 130g Shimano Flat Fall Sardine color jig. We jigged for another 20mins but nothing was taking my jig. Bruce had a monster hit on this jig which took him round the boat and it was like a stale-mate. Neither party giving up. Then Bruce felt like the fish was snagged so Kurt moved the boat around, trying to change the angle of the line, hoping to drag the fish out but after 10mins of trying, Bruce had no choice but to pull the line hard. Unfortunately, the line snapped and Bruce was dejected. That was the last of the action for the day and we proceeded back to Eco Beach.
We had a cold beer at Eco Beach and recounted the days action. Mine was the non-stop action on the Goldies while Bruce was very happy with his record Barramundi. We enjoyed the trip so much that we decided to book Kurt again for Sat! He said he'll check his schedule and call us back.
Gut-bruising encounters with the Golden Trevallies
Gear used:
Rod - Shimano TCurve Travel Tropical PE1-2
Reel - Shimano Stradic Ci4 3000FA
Line - Sufix 832 30lb with 40lb Black Magic Fluorocarbon leader
Bait - Shimano Butterfly Flat-Fall jig (Pink/Blue, Anchovy, Phantom Squid, Sand Eel, Blue Sardine)
- DOA prawn lures
Rig - weighted jighead
- direct leader to lure
Fish ID - Golden Trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus)
- School Mackerel (Scomberomorus queenslandicus)
- Barramundi (Lates calcarifer)
- Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)
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