Northern Conquest Charter Trip

ANTICIPATION; it has to be one of the best things about fishing. If you’re anything like me, the days leading up to a Northern Conquest fishing trip are filled with excitement, decisions, optimism and preparation.

Sometimes even doubt creeps in – is the moon phase right? Are the tides too big? Will the current be roaring? Will they chew in a northwest wind? It’s all anticipation, and it’s the main reason why fishing can be so rewarding or so damn disappointing. Anticipation was high in the days leading up to what is becoming our annual offshore trip in Townsville.

There is nothing that heightens the pre-trip excitement more than when you’re going with nine or 10 of your best mates. Phones keep ringing and you discuss tackle, tides, forecasts, plans and brag about the size of the fish you’re going to catch.

Northern Conquest’s San Miguel was our vessel, a cracking boat I’d had the pleasure of fishing from a year earlier. A forecast of 20-knot wind wasn’t ideal and as the boys gathered for lunch at the Longboard Bar and Grill on Townsville’s Strand, the sea of white caps did its best to dampen our mood.

A quick trip to the pub and it was clear the boys were still excited, and no matter how bumpy our ride was to be that afternoon, we weren’t going to be thirsty! The plan was pretty simple: to head as wide as the weather would allow us on the first afternoon and evening, chase nannygai and spangled emperor by night, and head wider still if the conditions allowed.

Red emperor and coral trout were also high on the agenda. To be honest, the conditions weren’t great on day one and with a few of our crew ‘less seasoned’ on the water than others, I feared there would be some crook boys that evening. Nothing dampens anticipation like being seasick, but thankfully the lads remained healthy.

After several hours of steaming, a few beers and yarns it was time to fish. The action started slow, apart from the plague proportions of trevally. You name a trevally species, we caught it. Although they pulled ridiculously hard, they were so thick that they really became pests. In amongst the silver came decent spangled emperor, the odd cobia, green jobfish… and sharks.

For poor old Al from Gympie it was the start of a three-day battle with the shark population of north Queensland. Al could dead set drink XXXX Gold for Australia, and after three days on San Miguel he could have been awarded a baggy green in catching sharks as well. Day two was a little more forgiving weather wise, with the strong wind subsiding somewhat and making fishing a little easier.

Conditions were still far from perfect but good enough to get stuck into lovely coral trout and hard-pulling chinaman fish. Obviously the trout were more welcome aboard San Miguel, so Lukey, Drew and Sam quickly went to work on accumulating some 3-4kg models. My good mate Ross hooked a brute that most of us were calling a red emperor but as is often the case, a thug of a chinaman hit the surface instead.

Gympie guru Ivan decided to stop heckling my dad for a few minutes and managed a lovely coral trout on his light spin gear. BCF Sunshine Coast area manager Marty had never caught a red emperor, until now. All of a sudden he was buckled over in the corner of the boat, battling what was clearly a good fish.

If there had been a betting market on the battle, the red emperor would have been a very short-price favourite, but as time passed, Marty’s odds trimmed considerably and it was clear that the red emperor gods were smiling; and so was Marty as he proudly held aloft his first legal red. Marty was sent for a sit down, partly because he’d just landed the cracker we were all after but mainly because he was sucking in the big ones and badly needed a breather.

No matter how much you fish offshore, every single legal red that comes on board is a trophy moment. They are such awesome fish – tough to catch, great to eat and worth every second of the fight. Day two came to a close in similar fashion to night one, with Al battling the sharks, big Matt kicking back with a rum and Ivan heckling my dad. Luke decided to give the beers a bit of a nudge and the banter and games between he and Drew were priceless.

Good times, boys! With even better weather on day three, the lads were pumped because we were heading wider to some red country. The day started slowly, and it seemed as if the reds weren’t going to play the game until Ross came up tight on a good fish that nailed his flesh bait. The way it fought had red written all over it and sure enough, Ross was on the board with a red emperor of about 7kg.

Hope was restored but the fish’s mates wouldn’t chew, so it was back inside the reef for us. Some quality coral trout and redthroat emperor kept us entertained throughout the day before one of the coolest parts of the trip materialised out of nowhere.