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Helia 44 · 12-01-2015, 20:10

Hello Cruisers,
It may or may not really be a record, but these are the biggest fish I have seen caught off a sailing vessel... The Helia back cockpit area is GREAT for fighting big fish, and I thought you might enjoy some pictures.. This is a ten day trip in blue water around Fraser Island in Queensland Australia, and to be fair the biggest four fish of my Life, caught on 9-0 Penn Senator Star Drag about 30 years old, and a 6-0 Penn Senator I have had for 34 years. I thought you might enjoy the pictures just for fun...

30-45 minute battle, this nearly 9 foot Sailfish jumped about 20-25 times. I mean it was stellar spectacular.. It was a shame to kill him, but he was badly hooked and bleeding so I gaffed and have done him up for the BBQ. They say they are not good to eat? Little soy sauce on the grill, tastes like a lean pork cutlet. He measured 8' - 8 1/2"...

The Giant Trevally is the biggest anyone I know has seen, my mate Glen can hardly hold him up for the photo.. He is really good eating, about like Halibut, a nice firm white steak...

We caught a normal Spanish Mackerel early in the trip and steaked him out. However, this one is the biggest I have personally ever seen. Filleted in a loaf and baked with the skin down, little garlic and soy sauce sliced into the fillet and ummmm good they are to eat...

And everyone makes fun of me when I done my SAMS suit (Shark Attack Mitigation Suit) but really trust me it is warranted. A leading Shark Specialist says that if you knew how many times a BIG one was near you in murky water when you were swimming, you would never go in the ocean again.. heh he...

Bronze Whaler, about 9-10 feet, not killed, turned loose, but this was in a major yacht anchorage in broad daylight on the turn of the tide. A bigger one hit later in the night but we could not get him to the boat...

BigBeakie · 14-01-2015, 14:41

Hi Helia 44,

They may well be a record for Helia, it's a fairly new design after all, but there have been some massive fish caught off cats, thats for sure.

There is someone with a cat set up for big game fishing and plenty of marlin have been tagged & released off that boat.

44'cruisingcat · 14-01-2015, 14:45

That Mackerel is the best fish there. We caught a similar one a couple of months back. Put 10kg of superb meat into the freezer.

Mirage Gecko · 14-01-2015, 15:31

Nice fish.
Bait or lures?
Which anchorage did you hook the Noah?
Chris

Ram · 15-01-2015, 03:58

We troll all the time, in the summer we get our share of nice Tuna in the Med- sometimes when we get a small one we make flip flops with them

BigBeakie · 15-01-2015, 04:21

I tried that style of flip flops once, but they made my feet smell worse than normal, and that's sayin somethin

Helia 44 · 15-01-2015, 21:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mirage Gecko

Nice fish.
Bait or lures?
Which anchorage did you hook the Noah?
Chris

Hello Chris,
I don't know what a Noah is?? If you mean the Bronze Whaler it was near White Cliffs at the old ruins of the logging station... By the wrecks... Just the place where you would jump off to go swimming. I carry 300 feet (90M) so was anchored out 50 M offshore in the about 50-60 feet of water... A Shark specialist said "If you knew how many times swimming in the ocean a major shark was near you, you would never go in again".... I don't know but it seems to me that we have depleted a lot of the fish source and they might be in a bit closer to shore interested in the "Large White Mullet" swimming around. It was in broad daylight at the tide change when the current was down, EXACTLY when you would go swimming, heh he.. I have a SAMS suit, (Google it) and I will not go in without wearing it.. heh he.. A much bigger one hit that night after dark, stripped the reel out and was gone...

Anyway, ten days out, all caught on lures except for the Bronzy... They are all a record for me, and maybe the average is about one fish per whole day of sailing and trolling, but a MAJOR FISH each time.. The big GT was caught coming in off the deep blue, onto the Northern Banks at the bottom of Hervey Bay near Fraser, the Sailfish off 80 mile beach halfway to Double Island, and the BIG Mackerel off Wolf Rock.. We caught more, just showing you the BIIIG ones that did not get away..

A Mackerel is a bit bland. You fillet the big one, bake it skin down, slice the roast every 20 cm and add soy sauce, garlic, sweet chilli, something for seasoning, cook until it is well done and it is verrrry nice.. The GT is also excellent, firm white flesh, and the Sailfish like a roast pork cutlet, only not fatty or oily.. Very nice. A 100 liter deep freezer is going on, portable 5" wall 12v chest type, on the aft cockpit deck by the dinghy when we go again...

Next we will go offshore for Tuna... The Helia is a floating resort, and WOW DO I LOVE THE AIR CONDITIONING, it was like 35 degrees C and down around 30 at night. I had one or two going in the main salon for a siesta, and one in each Queen Stateroom that was occupied at night.. That is the only thing wrong with cruising at this time of the year..

Regards to all,

Mirage Gecko · 15-01-2015, 22:25

Noah's Ark.... Shark

Interesting comment on the Mackeral taste as most people I know love the taste but we always fillet as opposed to steaks and eat asap.
White cliffs great anchorage but I will not swim any where in the straits because of the sharks but then again I am a whimp when it comes to them and crocs.
Make sure you leave some for us when we are back that way in a couple months
Chris