Ningaloo 2017--pic heavy, more pics added
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Just back from the annual trip. Spent a month at Winderabandi point. The first 2 weeks were in the company of my chief fishing accomplice, my wife, who then went back to work , to be replaced by my youngest son. We also had a keen pick up passenger from the camp next door a few times, young Jason, who will likely now suffer from an expensive addiction for the rest of his life. Seeing a Black come tailwalking at you from close quarters will do that .
The trip was a bit different to previous years, as we are constantly evolving our fishing methods. We ventured wider, trolling, for the first time, and were instantly rewarded with a pair of marlin, a little black and a larger striped. This was with my wife and we were driving my son insane posting all these pics. We had four in the first five days out there , then they went quiet.
The first week was almost non-stop wind, strong SE-S. We went out regardless, just trolled lures for mackerel heading into it, something we normally rarely do,until we had one in the bag, then trolled home out a bit wider with the wind behind. Raised wahoo, mahi, and a sail, but got none to the boat. The second week was much better, had a few beautiful days, and good fish. Big wahoo were about--the first was sharked, the ones boated all went 138-. . Mahi were more plentiful, ate a lot. Mackerel weren't thick, or big, sharks got most. Big Rankins and Coronation were certainly about--probably close to our PB's. All of the really big Rankins go back down on the release weight--big breeders who aren't as good to eat as the sub jobs, keep the breeding stock protected. Had a small blue (?) grab a trolled gar meant for a sail, which was released , and another black took a ballooned gar meant for a sail off the anchored boat, nearly jumped aboard, and released itself under the boat after a good fight. Those little marlin go hard, harder than a sail, pound for pound, IMO. Sails were very patchy, coming and going. You'd give up trolling after several fruitless days, then there they were again. Sharks were just as bad as usual, or worse--we had another sail taken, this time on the last day, by a massive whaler, had to be a Bull, who firstly bit it in half, then came in boat side to take the remains, and even hit the prop, idling in gear, to stall the motor. All on video , to follow. Fought another XOS whaler on 80lb gear for over an hour, who had taken a trolled fish and hooked on the lure. Finally broke off 3 metres from the rod tip-- I had harnessed up for the first time, and it makes all the difference.
Throw in some beautiful sunsets, and good company, and you have something you just can't replicate.
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clayd
Posts: 128
Date Joined: 07/12/15
Awesome
Sick photo's! Love the one of the whale coming out of the water. Looks like a submarine about to launch. Will read the report once i've stopped flicking through all the photo's again. Good work.
dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
Great pic of thee stars you
Great pic of thee stars
you didn't see anything strange in the sky's around the 24th June if you were up there ?
gruntre69
Posts: 533
Date Joined: 15/10/16
That photo of the marlin
That photo of the marlin with the line heading to it from the foreground is top notch! Great read!
Marine trimmer NOR (available for clears, tops, carpet, upholstery, custom equipment covers)
Walfootrot
Posts: 1385
Date Joined: 23/07/12
Think you got photo of the
Think you got photo of the month a few times over!
More drum lines, kill the bloody sharks!
uncle
Posts: 9488
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Looks like a great trip mate
Did you see the emu in the milkyway?
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
Deleted
Posts: 6265
Date Joined: 26/04/14
Some great pics there.
Some great pics there. Marlin jumping pics look mint
kirky79
Posts: 1354
Date Joined: 13/01/12
Great Report
How good is Ningaloo!! Those Coronations look brillant. Some great pics amongst that lot. Thanks for sharing
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15648
Date Joined: 29/11/05
Epic
Sooo good. Gah i miss those days!
Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance
davewillo
Posts: 2419
Date Joined: 08/09/16
Just brilliant photos!
Just brilliant photos! Sounds like a bloody great trip!
PGFC member and lure tragic
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Certainly epic.
my rant re Labors betrayal on the lease issue was a bit off the mark, after talking to Phil, this business has a while to run yet. Whales seem to be getting thicker every year. Lots of very close encounters, you really had to be on the ball when trolling. We had never been out wider before chasing billfish, certainly a lot to learn. Found them mainly from 130 to 210 metres, went out to 250. Too close? Also found them in 30 metres. Having that sail taken by the shark really pissed me off--new rules from now on, 120lb leader, and once the leader is in hand, it's a caught fish. Every efffort will be made to grab the bill and unhook, but I'd rather bust a hook off in the corner of their mouth than expose them to a needlessly long fight. I'll add more pics.
crano
Posts: 708
Date Joined: 04/11/09
Amazing
So jealous
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Fishing mans heaven
You have found it, some really great pics there thanks for sharing, are you going to put the video up with the shark in.
By the size of the bite it must have been a bloody big un.
Simo_
Posts: 1843
Date Joined: 13/11/06
Great pics and report. I
Great pics and report. I can't wait to get up North again
Bring on April
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18054
Date Joined: 11/03/08
noy just the post that was
noy just the post that was heavy with pics some of them fish looked quite heavy as well. well done on pics and fish
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Krusty
Posts: 714
Date Joined: 27/11/15
Awesome pics, love the Marlin
Awesome pics, love the Marlin in action shots, probably shouldn't pull so hard on the line though ..... you pulled the head right off one of them
My fishing spots are so secret........... even the fish don't know where they are !!
Callum24
Posts: 1015
Date Joined: 24/06/12
Loved it best post for a
Loved it best post for a while
Qualified carpet layer available for jobs big and small
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
That shark was enormous.
Really didn't think any whaler could get that big. Even looks big on the Gopro, and their wide angle really shrinks things. Big enough to eat an entire sail, in two serves.
Hutch
Posts: 2221
Date Joined: 21/04/13
Amazing photos, looked like a
Amazing photos, looked like a great trip. Shame about the sharks but doesn't look like there's much you can do about them up there atm
Chinbald
Posts: 317
Date Joined: 21/02/09
Great Report
Not sure what pic I like the most. There all pretty special.
Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
As above mate, cracking
As above mate, cracking report, pics and fish!
Great news form Phil RE the lease too.
Certainly is gods country up there!
•••••••• Electrical Contractor NOR ••••••••
Browndog
Posts: 590
Date Joined: 10/04/12
BLOODY HELL
Epic report, just wow.
scano
Posts: 1247
Date Joined: 31/05/07
Awesome report, and awesome pics
I like the camp setup and stars pic in particular. Also some bloody solid rankins landed! And agreed they start to get full of parasites and taste like crap when they are really big, far better eating the juveniles.
Scano
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Video uploaded of sail vs shark
Got the video uploaded to Vimeo, posted in Fishing Videos sub-forum on here
Darren253
Posts: 570
Date Joined: 23/07/16
Keen to have a look
Cracking photos ranmar...
Can you post a link to the video? I can't seem to find it
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
2017 Best write up and pics
Awesome !!!
Colt_Striker
Posts: 624
Date Joined: 26/07/09
Some amazing pics & top
Some amazing pics & top fishing mate
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
here it is
fishwrecked.com/forum/shark-takes-sail
Brock O
Posts: 3242
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Amazing photos and great
Amazing photos and great fish...cheers for sharing and Congrats on what looks like an amazing holiday in perfect conditions!!
backlash
Posts: 335
Date Joined: 12/10/10
awesome report!
Thanks for sharing!
Glen.vit
Posts: 196
Date Joined: 11/01/11
cracking photos mate, few
cracking photos mate, few nice fillets to.
Tom M
Posts: 661
Date Joined: 22/09/15
Nothing not to like in the
Nothing not to like in the post and the pics. I see a GoPro strapped to the head of one fisherman, what camera gear did you use to take photos with?
Tom M
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
We used a mix
Gopro headmounts are useful, as well as stick mounted gopros for the below water shots. The above water stills were a mix of smartphone, and DSLR. I have donated my "old" K-x Pentax as a boat camera,with 18-125mm Sigma zoom, this was used for the billfish shots, and the best of the catch stills. I always shoot in RAW, so the smartphone is useful for immediate sharing via social media. The star shot was done with my newer, mid range Pentax K-70, with the same model lens, Sigma 18-125mm DC HSM. I took quite a few Milky Way shots, just posted tthe one shot. i also like doing timelapes, using the K-70 for a much higher quality than I got with my GoPro.
I have a large amount of video to go through, should be able to post a complete edited video within the next 2 weeks.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Looking forwars to it
Your posts of pics and videos are really good and keenly looked forward to
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Full video of trip
Now up on the Fishing Videos page