Page 59 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine

No complaints about Swains
* from P58 often-treacherous Cap- ricorn Channel before reaching the calmer water of Swains.
The dories were launched, and we were off fishing!
everything discreetly and behind the scenes for a seamless opera- tion.
To be able to do the trip facilitated by a skip- per who really knows his fishing as well as his way around these reefs, in a purpose-built reef-fishing boat for an extended period, with a well-trained crew was an absolute privilege.
Lunch was at 12.30pm on the mothership and featured a location change while we ate, and then back in the do- ries by around 2:00pm for an afternoon session until 5.30pm.
The good part was they were fully across keeping fish in brine, doing the filleting, and bagging, tagging, freez- ing and recording the lot!
The extended bag lim- its for these trips are generous too, and you can come home with plenty of fillets, if that’s your thing.
Hot nibbles served on the rear deck at the end of fishing, washed down with a few beers were always enjoyable, as was the ripper of a substantial hot meal served in the saloon each night, followed by plenty of dessert and a few more drinks or a movie with the other guests.
During the day all the dories had radios, so we could communicate and keep each other up- dated.
On arrival at Yep- poon, the MV Capri- corn Star was gleaming from a recent refit and there were several no- ticeable changes from my previous trip two years prior.
Many of our crew opt- ed to fish from the rear deck after dinner and there were some nice spanish mackerel, cobia and reef fish landed.
George Baumber with a nice red emperor to start the trip on day one.
A gleaming MV Capricorn Star ready to depart for a magical week to the Swains.
Scott Wilson, the owner and operator is a stickler for mainte- nance, and COVID-19 hadn’t prevented his high standards from be- ing maintained.
A couple of big sharks were on the chew at night too, meaning there were always in- teresting stories from those sessions.
He operated within the framework of a strict COVID approved plan, with all the neces- sary protocols in place for our safety and his.
Somehow during the trip, the crew managed
Fishing the dories was made easier with most * continued P60
Out on the reef, we had four straight days of good weather, where we fished from the do- ries and this sated eve- ryone’s fishing appetite.
A typical day was a 6.00am hot breakfast and by 7.30am the skip- pers had been briefed by Scotty on the lay of the reef and shoals, updated on suggested pressure point locations to fish and other op- tions to make every day safe and a fishing suc- cess. www.bnb shing.com.au
John McNicol was all smiles under the pump out on the side deck.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, September 2020 – Page 59