After a few weeks of busy school-work (I can see why Term 4 is called the “silly season” up here), a group of us booked into the Broome Beach Resort for a weekend of fishing and relaxation. All up, there were 16 of us there – 10 for a deep-sea fishing charter, 6 for a day spa with massages. We were all there for the drinking and swimming.
Piling into the bus straight after school on Friday, we rocked up a four hours later a little hungry, but with our thirsts well quenched. Saturday saw the girls off to their day spa – they insisted on being driven to the place via bus, which turned out to be a good 500 metres from where we were staying. The remainder of the crew hit the shops, stocking up on all the things Fitzroy shops don’t offer (read: everything).
A quiet Saturday night for most with dinner out at the Zoo Cafe, then it was up bright and early for the fishing on Rare Breed II with a 6am pickup. The swell was quite large, which accounted for quite a bit of extra burley from those used to the calmer waters of the Fitzroy, so we only ended up travelling about 25 miles off shore, instead of the promised 40 for the big red emperor. Regardless, there were plenty of fish on offer, with catches including Spanish Macs, Mackeral Tuna, Coral Trout, Blue-Line Emperor, Silver Snapper, NW Snapper, Rankin Cod, Sea Perch, Spanish Flag, Green Snapper… need I go on?
There were also the undesirables, such as the hard fight, only to pull up the head of a large Spanish Flag, one NW Blowie and even a very ugly Monkey Fish (also known as a Stargazer… do a Google Search and you will see why!)
Although I was far too busy to take photos of my fish, or anyone else’s for that matter, we did catch enough to feed everyone – as the fish-cleaning table shot shows.
The moment we got off the boat, it was all stations go as we quickly packed up the bus, and made the trek back to Fitzroy. We hit home just after 8pm, and having promised to fillet the fish for everyone on returning home, it left me a very busy boy as I worked feverishly until 11pm, filleting and skinning the fish, while Emma bagged and labelled them for everyone. A big weekend, but a fantastic one! I look forward to making it an annual event!
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