Ross Hunter

Got them Ray thanks to James Ross

Thanks Ray and young James I am sure he will stop bragging one day, but probably not for a while yet. It was a great day Thanks to you guys Ray if James has any better photos he could email to me on gamefishing@big pond .com and I will use them on my web site next update. Ross

Alasdair, Thanks mate, totally enjoyed your company as usual The kingys just did not play ball. Ross

Well done mate Sorry about the cancellation but intend to re-run Sept 12th if that's OK Sometimes they get the weather right, but not today.. However the fact that they issued a strong wind warning makes it tough and three others anglers were concerned about the weather Ring me tomorrow if that date suits Ross

Raiders, I love it when a plan comes together. I had not heard good reports from mid week anglers who fished the Stanwell Park area, so I decided to chance our luck at the local grounds, which we had not fished for a long time. It was a calculated risk, but I knew that we would save lots of travelling time in doing so, and whilst kings at The Peak was a non event. We decided after half hour on them to head to a place that was nick named after us “Hunter’s Hill” off Coogee, for the thousands of hours Glenn and myself have fished there over many years on BROADBILL and BILLFISHER. It was always going to be a miss and hit affair, but I hoped that it would fish well. We had a great crew Ray and his son James, Alasdair (the flying Scott) and Ken and Ronny, the Chinese connection…….. They are all Raiders and great blokes. Having arrived at the spot off Coogee the first drop was most pleasing with snapper , mowies and pig fish coming onboard the Broady……………………..I breathed a sigh of relief, maybe a good decision after all. I kept the drifts quite short wanting to stay on the reef that was loaded with quality table fish; this was going to be a great day. The wind blew a solid 15 knots from the nor west and then died to nothing later on. What a superb day it ended up great company fishing with a champion bunch of Raiders, a bit of guitar and singing and heaps of quality table fish. Sometimes I do love my job! To the two guys who did not turn up. This what you missed.

We fished hard with a great team on Sunday.. No current, perfect conditions The full moon did us no favours on the snapper, although we caught a few to 2.5 kg We really cleaned up on big mowies, pig fish (14 0f them) and some huge jackets The flathead were not up to standard on the drift off Garie. The trawlers have been working them over. By and large a great day and a great feed of top eating table fish from my favourite place on earth Stanwell Park. We have our Raiders trip next Saturday so let's hope we get better weather than last Saturday. Sorry no photos, the batteries in my camera went flat I have inc a similar catch from a previous day, last week .Roscoe

Aero, My anglers I am proud to say have fished with me for 20 years and are the best you can have as a team, they can fish any tackle with great skill. Virtue of the fact we have won champion boat twice over the years as well as champ boat in many other tournaments at Pt Stephens. So that puts a giant hole in your theory. The fact is that the skippers find the fish and the anglers wind in the line and then tag and release. I guess that's why the best anglers chose to fish with us We fished down as low as 10kg many, many times on the small blacks in '97 and released 248 fish for the season inc the then Port record of 18 billfish in a day. Ross

Bob, As you said It is a democratic country so we all beg to differ on some subjects. It was only last season when one of your own boats lost fish after long battles on light tackle..why ..no points and dead fish...WHY As you can see this argument can be shuffled around forever, but no one can convince me that it's right. Tag and release is just what it says and angler skill and thrill should never come into it. The other member of our group on the original comittee was Julian Pepperel I forgot that before ( sorry JP) We also worked together on the Fisheries tag and release system some time before that original proposal to NSWGFA. Bob, your debate on the matter is much appreciatted and please accept my critisism as an opinion from someone who over the years has built up a love and a special affinity with my favourite species, the marlin, a fish that the more that you catch the more you want to protect and respect them. So please mate do not take my thoughts personally I simply disagree with these rules and cannot be swayed in any other direction. Ross Hunter Bat, Great post and good points made. We only fish one tournament a year and that is The Interclub and after 33 years it may be my last. Sometimes the politics can be overpowering It's sometimes better just going fishing without the dramas Ross

Beakie I have the same letter, from, in my opinion one of the most respected charter Captains in the country. Winner of the last two or three Interclubs Tag and release and the big fella is NOT happy at all. He is about to challenge his club over the decision Ross

Bob, I know that you guys have been pushing for this rule for some years. You cannot change my mind on this. Tag and release is just what it says ...Bugger the skill factor for the anglers, that simply does not enter the equation. On our boats we fish 15 and 24 exclusively, sensible tackle for our marlin stocks. You cannot change my mind, but good luck with the ramifications from it and I really feel you are drawing massive scrutiny from others, who are keen to look at the cruelty factor of our marine species. Maybe the rules were accepted in the '80's I thought personally it was earlier, I stand corrected. If the greens get hold of this they will draw and quarter the deal. Ross

Beakie, Your so right my friend.. This rule has put tag and release back to the days of Zane Grey..I was on the original committee in the mid '70's when we ( Peter Goadby, Tim Simpson, George Lee) put up two options to NSWGFA ..one the current system that has worked so well for over 30 years and the other option a line class deal.. This was not accepted because of (a) long drawn out battles effecting the health of fish when released. ( The fact that cheating was encouraged. ' "We want a simple option " unquote Here we are now reintroducing the whole issue which was knocked back so many years ago MY POINT IS; This is NOT about about angler skill in the fight this is about releasing fish that will live..I can see anglers fishing marlin at The Interclub on 8kg, snapping them off leaving those fish with 300 metres of line and a lure attached to die a slow painful death. ANGLER SKILL should not enter the equation this is about TAG and RELEASE and survival of the specie. From a professional Captain's point of view it is a major advantage for us guys having released 2880 billfish in my career on my boats..We won't snap them off and will catch them quickly, but this is not about us, this is about the FISH and it's survival. I have written a similar letter to NSWGFA and Fisheries in protest. Think about this one How are the GREENS going to react to this rediculous rule! Totally agree with your thoughts.............................. A great post Ross

Gazza, Boo always scares me, is it normal to eat fisheyes or to sing into a vb can?.....scarey very scarey..looking forwrd to your company again at Pt Stephens with the lads Thanks for the kind words Roscoe

That's too funny and now you mention it he did have a couple of lumps in his throat Ross

Mate It's along time ago but we replaced the bow floor section with ply and added stringers in there. Maybe from '82 on it made a more slid bow section and was easy to do. You could ring me for more info 95342378 Ross

Tan, The guy (Oliver) with the shorts on rang me yesterday to thank me for a great day He has fished on four other charters and has NEVER caught a fish that he could bring home. So he was pleasantly surprised when he did so well. He also said that "real men wear shorts but did mention that he thought he had a cold coming on". Ross

Billfisher, Originally the first dozen or so were built by Fallshaws in Melbourne We then built the balance at Greenacre in Sydney They were layed up by Ron and Arthur Robertson (the founders of the Cresta boats) we built around 150 boats and sold the moulds when we realised that fibre glass and alluminium in the one factory simply was not compatable. We never changed the design but did change the stringer and floor system. Glad you enjoy your boat We built the Billfisher from '76 (it won Fisherman's boat of the year to probably 84) Ross

Billfisher, Now the name rings a bell I remember that boat Did you buy it second hand off a guy from Hurstville?..It was one of the only boats we built a hard top on. Most interested on the reply.A great boat and I have many wonderful memories of fish caught from her. Here are a couple of photos of my 76 model Billfisher taken at Hat Head in '77. Ross

No kings that day Thanks for the reply Ross

Tim Simpson caught his first Blue marlin on Broadbill and his first jewfish as well. He is a dedicated fisho and loves chasing records. It's not for everyone, but for those who make the effort must be most worthwhile. Unfortunately with this sort of fishing there are a certain amount of losses, leaving fish with lures and hundreds of metres of line leading to a slow death for the specie. Congrats Timmo. Ross

Raiders, Had a great day yesterday with a champion bunch of guys ( just four of them) We fished the Hump on a bitterly cold day, however the constant flow of fish kept us warm. Sometimes these sort of conditions work better It wasn't rough but it was very cold with a nor wester blowing off the alps. brrrrrrrrrrrr! We caught some giant mowies, snapper and other assorted species We drifted all day, had a few bite offs from jackets, but not too bad.(see photos of our day) We have just updated our site for "Fishing Reports in July" Follow this link by clicking on it My Webpagewww.gamefishingcharters.com.auand go into "Fishing Reports "See heaps of kings, yellowfin and snapper Also roam thru Fishing Stories and Hints for some good yarns. Hope you enjoy There are far too many photos to post here Ross

Adam, I cannot recognise the boat from the photo, however that model were amongst the best performing boats that we built from that era . Thanks for the reply Ross

Dinnerbell, That brings back great memories for me. We built over 300 Broadys and 150 Billfishers..They are great boats.. My dear old girl BROADBILL has 27,500 hours on her and has weathered many huge storms and huge seas and is loved by all who fish on her I am proud to say as the original designer/ builder they are great boats. What is your boat name? Ross

Ah! Bat my beloved deckie of a dinosaur era, You learned from the master I recall the cow eyes one day with a bunch of drones who asked if we could stop for lunch and have a bottom fish in 1000 fathoms. My reply was unprintable and your reply was the same . The boys had trolled for all of 2 hours and were bored (poor souls) However 10 minutes later they were hooked up and fighting as a giant tuna jumps on the 24kg 2 hours later after every angler has had ago in the chair a 78 kg tuna joins the boat... well how the mood changed Hi Fives and yahoos photos taken, it was all happening. Cow eyes had gone. Don't talk to me about bloody cow eyes. Roscoe

Alasdair, Always a pleasure to fish with you... The big one is just around the corner Alasdair Ross

Gamerod aca The Human Winch, Your a beauty ..Thanks for that most appreciatted..Going out on any charter boats is not a guarantee of fish we are all only human and if conditions or the fish are scarce then it is hard for everyone, but if you perserver it will happen as you have so kindly explained. Thanks again Ross and Glenn