Montebello Islands

[Black CC]

We had our annual West Coast fishing trip 2 weeks ago and it was our best trip ever. We have been doing the annual trip since 1994 with 12 of us hiring a charter boat somewhere between Geraldton and Broome. This year we went to the Montebello Islands (off Dampier).

The first fishing stop was about half way between the mainland and the Islands which is about 60km offshore. There was not a breath of wind but it was 40 degrees, so a little warm. We caught 30 Red Emporer at about a 5kg average in the first half hour which was a great start. The skipper has a policy of not doing the same drift twice to ensure the spot doesn't get wiped out so we kept on moving towards the islands. We stopped again at about 80km offshore and the drift produced about 40 Rankin Cod and a couple of nice Coral Trout.

We arrived at the islands and took a swim with about 100 Turtles. There are a lot of very big Tiger Sharks around the islands so the swimming is limited to jumping off the Marlin Board and venturing no further than a few metres off the back of the boat.

The second day we headed further West and dropped our first lines about 140km West of the Mainland. On the way out we caught several Tuna and Mackerel on high speed skirts. We consider these a bit of a pest as our target is Sailfish and Black Marlin. The Red Emporer and Rankin Cod were everywhere and we caught about 70 over the next few hours. The day was marred by the large number of Estuary Cod we caught. While great eating these fish are protected and are not allowed to be kept. The only problem is that most of them die when pulled up from 60 metres of water. At one stage I caught a double header with one at 25kg and the other at 20kg and both could not be revived although the crew tried every trick they knew.

On the way back we scored our first Sailfish, which was about 30kg. They are a magnificent creature. We caught quite a few squid back in the bay and had a great seafood dinner washed down with great wine and followed by a big game of Texas Holdem.

As we were starting to get close to the bag limit (20kg of fillets per person) we decided to fish in the morning and then explore one of the islands in the afternoon armed with flick rods and poppers. We caught the standard Red Emporer, Coral Trout and Rankin Cod in the morning and managed a few GTs and Long Tom in the afternoon.

On our second last day we decided to focus on trolling. We caught 5 Sailfish and a small Black Marlin of about 60kg. All were caught on very light gear which makes it great fun. The biggest Sailfish was 8 foot long and about 45kg. We needed about 20 fish to make the bag limit, which we caught in less than 10 minutes and we headed back to the Islands.

We played our annual beach cricket test series on the last morning which is always good fun with a 5 metre tide making the conditions interesting. We headed back to Dampier having had a great but very hot 5 days at the Montebello Islands. There had been not a breath of wind the whole time we were there which was amazing because when we were there in 2003 it blew the whole time.

I believe the Montebello Islands would be one of the best if not the best fishing spot in Australia.

Edited December 15, 2008 by Black CC

[Andy Loops]

We had our annual West Coast fishing trip 2 weeks ago and it was our best trip ever. We have been doing the annual trip since 1994 with 12 of us hiring a charter boat somewhere between Geraldton and Broome. This year we went to the Montebello Islands (off Dampier).

The first fishing stop was about half way between the mainland and the Islands which is about 60km offshore. There was not a breath of wind but it was 40 degrees, so a little warm. We caught 30 Red Emporer at about a 5kg average in the first half hour which was a great start. The skipper has a policy of not doing the same drift twice to ensure the spot doesn't get wiped out so we kept on moving towards the islands. We stopped again at about 80km offshore and the drift produced about 40 Rankin Cod and a couple of nice Coral Trout.

We arrived at the islands and took a swim with about 100 Turtles. There are a lot of very big Tiger Sharks around the islands so the swimming is limited to jumping off the Marlin Board and venturing no further than a few metres off the back of the boat.

The second day we headed further West and dropped our first lines about 140km West of the Mainland. On the way out we caught several Tuna and Mackerel on high speed skirts. We consider these a bit of a pest as our target is Sailfish and Black Marlin. The Red Emporer and Rankin Cod were everywhere and we caught about 70 over the next few hours. The day was marred by the large number of Estuary Cod we caught. While great eating these fish are protected and are not allowed to be kept. The only problem is that most of them die when pulled up from 60 metres of water. At one stage I caught a double header with one at 25kg and the other at 20kg and both could not be revived although the crew tried every trick they knew.

On the way back we scored our first Sailfish, which was about 30kg. They are a magnificent creature. We caught quite a few squid back in the bay and had a great seafood dinner washed down with great wine and followed by a big game of Texas Holdem.

As we were starting to get close to the bag limit (20kg of fillets per person) we decided to fish in the morning and then explore one of the islands in the afternoon armed with flick rods and poppers. We caught the standard Red Emporer, Coral Trout and Rankin Cod in the morning and managed a few GTs and Long Tom in the afternoon.

On our second last day we decided to focus on trolling. We caught 5 Sailfish and a small Black Marlin of about 60kg. All were caught on very light gear which makes it great fun. The biggest Sailfish was 8 foot long and about 45kg. We needed about 20 fish to make the bag limit, which we caught in less than 10 minutes and we headed back to the Islands.

We played our annual beach cricket test series on the last morning which is always good fun with a 5 metre tide making the conditions interesting. We headed back to Dampier having had a great but very hot 5 days at the Montebello Islands. There had been not a breath of wind the whole time we were there which was amazing because when we were there in 2003 it blew the whole time.

I believe the Montebello Islands would be one of the best if not the best fishing spot in Australia.

I will post some photos later today.

That sounds like a ridiculously great trip - would love to see some pics!!!!!!

An old highschool buddy lives in Exmouth and works for fisheries there - he has a little tinny and has caught all sorts from very large coral trout to a 100kg+ black marlin - those sandgropers have some great fishing.

[GregL]

Excellent report on a place I have always wanted to visit after seeing it on a series Bushy and Starlo did on WA a few years back.

Will definately be on my must visit list in WA when I finally get there!

Greg

[glennmreid]

can't want to see the pictures. sounds like an awesome trip

[Josh88]

Great report, sounds like a heap of great eating fish.

No wind as well always makes it easier to fish in, a cool sea breeze probably would of been nice in 40degrees though.

Looking forward to some pics.

Cheers

Josh

[Fisheroo]

look forward to the pics.....any chance of letting us know details of the charter?

[Black CC]

look forward to the pics.....any chance of letting us know details of the charter?

The Charter Company is Top Gun. I'm having a few issues posting the photos but should have it sorted today.

[Black CC]

The Charter Company is Top Gun. I'm having a few issues posting the photos but should have it sorted today.

Photos now included

[xtosea]

Awesome stuff champ, what a cute little Sail, seen a few vids on the place and you're not wrong about the fishing!!!!

[squid hunter]

sometimes i wonder why i live in nsw ya know

great report

regards

Squid Hunter

[locodave]

Where abouts is that radiation zone? I wouldn't go near it!

[Floating_Medic]

Where abouts is that radiation zone? I wouldn't go near it!

I wouldnt worry too much, it will just make you have daughters if you want to have kids.

[sails]

Hi black CC,

thanks for the report and pics, and the reminder of what is possible once you get way from the population centres. Sure would love to hook into those fish on a regular basis.

Well done.

Sails