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Big Cat Reality Swains Trip 2023 Review

by DANE RADOSEVIC
May 10, 2023
31 min read

Garry with his new PB gt measuring in at 123cm FL with an estimated weight of 36-38kg. Well done mate.

Introduction

We apologise that there will be no local weekly fishing report this week as our trusty scribe is away on a well-deserved break and wetting a line himself. Therefore, I (Dane) have decided to write a post trip report on our EPIC adventure out to the Swains Reef system aboard the mighty Big Cat Reality Fishing Charters. This trip idea came about due to the volume of customers that frequented the shop and had previously booked a charter not knowing who they were booking on with and having an underwhelming experience due to various factors. The idea was born to book the boat out exclusively to Fisho’s Tackle World customers. This trip is all about learning how to read the reefs based on conditions and tides (where to be and when, which is so vital even out in these remote destinations) and knowing how to target the different species, utilising various techniques and lures as even out in those waters the fish don’t just jump into the boat as many perceive. This trip was about bringing likeminded anglers together, learning along the way and in turn catching more fish whilst taking that knowledge back home and applying it to their everyday fishing.

Day one on the reef is always the most anticipated and exciting out of the whole trip, as all of your preconceived ideas and planning are now becoming reality, which can all come unstuck once you see the reef for the first time as it can be so overwhelming. We knew prior to the trip that we were leading into a new moon, therefore we were on building tides which is great. This knowledge gave us the ability to structure our fishing for the trip and our game plan was to focus on the deeper water species and respective techniques for days 1 & 2, before incorporating more topwater fishing working both pressure edges and the flats on days 3 & 4 which then gave us days 5 & 6 to pick and choose what we wanted to do to end our trip. Let’s get into it.

Not a bad drift when you're pulling in quality table fish like this.

How is that for variety, a coronation trout, legal red, red throat and long nose emperor. Well done Cody & Paul.

Swains Reef Day 1 - Working the deep for reef species

Day one we were met with typical Swains reef weather which consisted of a 10-15knot blow from the SE, making it a little sloppy in the tenders although still very fishable. Given that we had a run out tide which pushes from the SW we chose our desired reef and headed in that direction. Upon arriving at our location, I like to take a good look at the reef and look for that crucial pressure edge which is so vital to catching big numbers of fish. Given the conditions were pleasant we located the pressure edge with ease and started sounding out the area for any sign of bait & fish life which is made quite easy nowadays by the advanced sonar and charting systems we have access to. A quick note I always opt to start out wide and fish my way into a reef edge, thus not spooking the fish up in the shallows. The reef system we were fishing had quite a few shoaly bits of bottom sitting wide of the reef edge in 25-40m of water and after sounding over the ground and marking some likely structures holding good fish life, we set up our drift to go directly over the desired structures and worked our lures over them. In this scenario we opted to choose 3 main lure types that could be fished comfortably in the conditions and at these depths. The jig rods were rigged with 80 & 100g Mustad Wingman slow pitch jigs, whilst the soft plastic outfits consisted of Zerek Live Shrimp 127mm prawn imitations & Zman 7” jerk shad soft plastics rigged to 1 1/2oz & 2oz 7/0 TT Headlocks jig heads, Zerek Fish trap 110mm and Nomad Vertrex Max 110mm & 130mm soft vibes were also part of the arsenal.

The first drift will usually be your most productive, often producing the better quality reef fish from an area and this trip was no different, landing our better quality trout, red throat & job fish. After multiple drifts over the one area and the fish life and catch rate noticeably dropping, we determined that we would be better off spot hopping, covering fresh ground and only giving an area 2-3 drifts max. This decision dramatically increased our catch rate of better quality fish for the entire trip. Note each day’s fishing is broken into two sessions, the morning session 7am-11:30am a short break back to the Big Cat for lunch by 12 and then back on the water by 12:30pm-1pm to fish into the afternoon to 4:30-5pm.

Dane with two solid red throat in two consecutive drops. They certainly loved this Zerek clown prawn colour.

In one particular area we found a nice patch of red throat working a deeper edge in 30-35m of water and don't these things pull.

Drop one coral trout, drop two glanced at the sounder and ripped my jig up getting slammed by this spanish mackerel. The variety is unreal.

Andrew decided to mix it up and go stealth mode with the black prawn and even it caught multiple fish before being snipped off.

By the afternoon session the wind had dropped out and we were faced with a run in tide which pushed from the NE direction. I have always found the run-in to be the less productive of the tides fishing in and around the reef edges so we opted to swing for the fences and hunt out some deeper water away from the reefs out in the paddock looking for reds and other prized reef species. Utilising our bathy charts, it was very easy to mark out some likely looking pinnacles and ridges for areas to start looking and after some sounding we managed to locate a small isolated structure holding plenty of fish life. In this scenario we were faced with 60-65m of water and a little current influence so we opted to fish heavier 150g Mustad Staggerbod jigs & Nomad Vertrex Max 130mm & Squidtrex 130mm soft vibes. On our first drift across we pulled two solid tomato cod, second drift a nice blue maori cod and then got blown away. Upon resetting the drift, we noticed that the fish life had increased and we managed to hook some quality fish however couldn’t keep the hooks in a few and the sharks that had been absent took their share. We then moved onto a larger ridge line in search of some harder reef structure which produced a few trout, job fish and we even got to watch our mate land his first ever dogtooth tuna of around 10kg. With our tail somewhat between our legs we decided to call it quits from searching in the deep and hit one pressure edge on the northern side of our home reef and target a trout with the prawn soft plastics. After 3 drifts working the 25-30m line, which on a lot of the reefs is where the reef meets the sand, we put 13 trout in the box and unfortunately we had run out of fishing time and it was time to head back to the mothership for showers, dinner and of course more fishing off the back deck of Big Cat.

The Nomad squidtrex certainly got the attention of many species of fish including this blue maori cod.

Deep water tomato cod that came off a small isolated rock whilst we were looking for reds.

Garry claimed the biggest doggie for the trip that fell victim to the Mustad wingman 100g jig.

Swains Reef Day 2 - Working the deep for reef species & we found fusiliers

Day two we awoke to glorious conditions, the wind barely blowing 5knots from the SE and we were all amped up to hit the water and see if we could improve on the previous day’s efforts. Having a better feel for the area and understanding the tides better we opted to head back down to the same reef system which also had a few small clusters of reefs close by giving us ample country to explore and spot hop. The game plan was set and with a run out tide we were focused on working the deeper shoals and reef edges continuously moving, locating and fishing over fresh ground using jigs, soft plastics and vibes. It pays to watch your sounder closely in these areas for fish sitting higher up in the water column where you can quickly rip up your jig or plastic through the fish, in turn hooking species like Spanish mackerel, green job fish and dog tooth tuna. Once again we encountered coral trout, red throat emperor, green job fish and Spanish mackerel and managed to put a healthy box of tasty fish together. Just a reminder that it is vital to handle these quality eating table fish with respect and care, brain spiking and bleeding immediately is crucial before getting them onto ice to chill down.

The run-out tide is my pick for fishing the reef edges and you have so many places and options to fish, hence why we try to set out a plan and stick to it. However, there is a rule on the reef when you find fusilier schools you can’t drive past them without lobbing a large stick bait or popper into it. So, we quickly deviated from our plan, happy with our efforts thus far and a full box of tasty reef fish to try and target a GT or Spanish on topwater. My personal combo of choice for this is a Shimano Stella 14000 spooled up with PE8 CAST X12 matched to a Venom pop PE8 rod. Once again, the first cast is the most important and will nine times out of ten get hit almost instantly on the first sweep of a stick bait or popper. This time was no different, I lobbed a Nashy’s 190mm floating stick bait in and first swoop the water erupted as a pack of hungry GT competed for the lure and after a few tense moments and a few more twitches of the rod tip I managed to set the hooks into a typical 20kg Swains GT. It pays to rest an area after a few missed fish or landing a fish so we moved off the pressure edge where the fusiliers were stacked up before returning for Andrew to have a crack. As usual on the first cast he had a massive blow up from a singular fish on his popper however missed the hook set and it never came back. After a few more casts we had noticed the main fusilier school had shifted around the reef with the tide so we changed position to be within casting distance and Andrew lobbed in another cast and after a few pops got drilled by a solid fish, a GT pushing the 22-25kg mark and a great fish to open his account. Now it was onto Chris for his turn and after multiple casts in for multiple strikes and missed hook sets, we had shut the edge down and it was time to head back for lunch.

Knowing the afternoon session was going to be the tougher of the two fish wise and with the conditions near on as perfect as you could ask for, we opted to make the jump across the paddock to our next area. Another cluster of reef systems that would give us ample new ground to explore and fish the following day and give Big Cat another safe anchorage for the night. We fished our way across and targeted the deeper shoals easily located on the bathy charts and managed to pull a few trout & red throat on the plastics & jigs; however the fishing like the previous day was much slower on the afternoon run-in tide. We powered on to the next closest reef system and upon arrival we were greeted with packs of banana fusiliers this time aggregated in a tiny bay sheltered by a protruding reef finger, this screamed Spanish mackerel and possibly a Gt, so out came the PE 8 & 10 casting gear and our focus quickly shifted to throwing larger top water lures again, it truly is addictive. Note that although it is important to have a preconceived plan it can all change whilst on the water if you learn to stay observant, paying close attention to key details such as the change of currents and bait movements that can determine certain bites.

It was still Chris’s turn and he opted to fish a CAST Downunder pencil popper which is kind of a hybrid, a cross over between a stick bait with a small cupped face. This makes it a very versatile lure to throw being able to change your retrieve and the lures action on various casts to entice a bite just by how aggressively you swept the rod tip and if it was a short sudden stop of the rod tip or a long draw. Chris placed a nice cast right into the pack of nervous looking banana fusiliers and just like clock work after the first few sweeps of the rod tip a GT shot up and annihilated his lure leaving nothing but white water in its tracks and being in quite shallow water Chris had his work cut out for him with near on locked drag to stop this fish from going deep. After a short but intense fight Chris subdued a nice fish similar to Andrew’s and after a quick photo sent it on its way so we could tangle with more. It was my turn again, I cast in my Nashy’s stick bait and had multiple aerial strikes from big Spanish and for those of you who have done this before you know how frustrating they can be to hook. Often shooting in excess of 2-3m in the air as they try to chomp your lure whilst floating mid-air, it's crazy stuff. After a few more casts I managed to keep one connected and landed a nice school sized fish. For the rest of the afternoon, we ran around the various reefs marking out potential areas in preparation for another hot bite the following day on that run out tide.

Chris stoked with his first top water gt for the trip, a great fish to open his account.

High flying spano's were easy to tempt however hard to keep the hooks in. But Dane managed to keep one to stick.

Swains Reef Day 3 - Reef flats, reef edges and crazy topwater action

Day three and we truly woke up to the flattest conditions I have ever witnessed on the Swains reef, it was a proper glass out. It was going to be another fantastic day on the reef giving us the opportunity to stay mobile and move around at speed hunting out the fish. By this time in the trip, we were all itching to get up on top of the reef flats and let me tell you this is some of the most exciting fishing you can experience and one that can cause the most heart break. The gin clear waters allow you to watch everything unfold right in front of your eyes whilst taking in the true beauty of the reef, I get goose bumps whilst writing this as the fishing can be that good! I picked our flat, a rather large reef system one that had a variety of options from blue holes, massive drains to shallow consistent flats. Our arsenal of choice was the Venom V-swim 120mm & 150mm in the Iron man, trigger fish and blue spot trout patterns plus the Nashy’s 130 sinking stick bait.

Unfortunately, as we hit the flat a random patch of cloud came over that felt like it hovered over the path of the sun for an hour however it was probably more like 20 minutes. Sun is a very important part of flats fishing success and as soon as it poked its head out of the clouds we hooked and landed our first trout. Bites were few and far between on this area of the flat so we opted to make a move in search of the massive drains that run through the edge of the flat to hopefully find a little more tidal movement and bait. Within a few casts we started to get bites and landed a few more coral trout before Andrew grunted, I’m on and was getting stuck into a very solid fish which turned out to be a sizeable trout that seemed oddly skinny and sick. The flats fishing never really picked up and with another patch of cloud cover looming and with the run out tide really starting to kick into gear we decided to burn off the flat to another small reef system and cast some large top waters around for GT, Spanish and maybe a dog tooth tuna.

It was evident the deeper we worked into the Swains system and as the tides were still building into the moon the more life started to appear. From leaping shark mackerel feeding on the acres of summer bait and saury’s to that nervous water created by a ball of fusiliers about to be attacked, we could just tell it was going to be on. With glassy calm conditions it was made somewhat difficult to locate the exact pressure edge if it were not for the masses of bait pushed up along it. Let me tell you this edge was perfect, deep with a 20m drop straight off the edge and at the perfect stage in the tide. We worked the edge for multiple strikes from GT & aerial strikes from Spanish however we weren’t able to keep the hook in anything, it seemed they weren’t very comital and were short striking. I adjusted my retrieve to a very slow sweep and pause fishing a stick bait and bang I converted a small rat GT. Things went quiet along the edge so we decided to rest it for a half hour and come back as the potential was insane. After spending some time in the deep we moved back onto the edge where I opted to cast in a popper this time and do large pops with a long drawn out pause. First cast my lure was drilled by a large dog tooth tuna and it must have had some size as it straightened out two sets of 6/0 trebles on its first blistering run. A few casts later another doggie slashed at the lure finding the rear treble and after a short fight and almost subdued at the boat we watched the hooks pull and the fish swim away, somewhat heart broken to have lost two top water doggies I called it time to move on…….

Only a pump gt, however great sport nonetheless. Watching a pack attack from multiple fish of this size is very cool.

We moved across the paddock to the next reef system which had an epic pressure edge stacked with fusiliers and as we found it another one of the boats made their way over to us, we waited for their arrival and agreed to all cast in. Lobbing both stick baits and poppers into the fusiliers the water erupted straight away and a mate in the other boat was hooked up and so was Andrew after an eat from a fish that was never ever going to let that stick bait get away getting its entire body out of the water to demolish this lure and they both landed their GT’s. We decided to rest the edge moving out wider into 25-35m and started working a variety of soft plastics, jigs and vibes and got onto a serious patch of coral trout and coronation trout and within a few drifts had racked up over 20 fish. A few sharks started to move in on all of the commotion and happy with our efforts we pushed back in on the edge with the fusiliers still looking rather nervous I lobbed in one of the soon to be released Duo Fumble 230 stick baits and with the rod tip up burnt it across the top before a pack of fish homed in and one demolished the lure, landing a rat GT. The tide was starting to ebb out (bottom of the tide) so we decided to make a move and whilst driving past the backside of the reef it just looked too good not to stop and drop a plastic and we are bloody glad we did landing 11 solid trout in one drift, it was insane! Unfortunately, a few white tip sharks moved in and spoilt the opportunity of another drift so we shot down the reef edge 600 metres to the other corner of the runoff and managed to pluck a few more before it was time to call it quits for the morning session and with our box full we ventured back to Big Cat for lunch. On final count we managed 37 combined coral trout and coronation trout plus a few mixed emperor species, it truly was one of those special sessions in glamour conditions on the reef we all dream about.

The afternoon session we were meant to make a move, however we shot off as a group in the tenders to scope out the area further to the north before moving Big Cat up to find another safe anchorage. I am glad we made this move as after the first few hours of fishing and searching most of us had come up empty handed and the further north we pushed the worse the 4-6ft white tip sharks got, even eating our lures on the drop. We opted to work our way back towards Big Cat together and keep our same anchorage for another night.

Swains Reef Day 4 - More reef flats, reef edges and insane topwater action

The morning of day four we had a slight wind increase to 5-10 knots gusting and with minimal ground swell so we still had great conditions. However, come lunchtime to mid-afternoon we were expecting a blow to move in and intensify for our final two days fishing, we knew we had to make this morning’s fishing count. With the low tide now pushing into the early afternoon we still had the last of the run-in tide for the first hour or so. We picked the closest north facing reef edge that would still have some current hitting it and quickly scooted over to find a small school of fusiliers, I cast my stick bait into the edge and no sooner than it hit the water a lovely 20kg+ GT ate it off the top, not a bad way to start the day first cast. After fighting and dealing with this fish the fusilier school had moved on and the tide had already started to slacken off so we swapped back over to the jig gear to work the same edge finding the bottom of the ledge in around 28m of water and worked a couple of different drift lines as we hopped our soft plastics and vibes. This accounted for a few trout, however no record breakers. We found ourselves at a bit of a cross road knowing that we were making quite a large jump after lunch back south to another anchorage. We were toying with whether we should stay in this area we had fished the day prior as we knew it held bait and had quality fish working the area however we would have to wait for the tide and lose fishing time having to make a longer run later as the tide got even better. So, we made the hard decision to leave early and start scoping out new reefs and locations as we worked south that way gaining maximum fishing time for the entire run out tide period. At the end of the day, that is ultimately the most exciting part exploring all of the reefs.

We motored south a few nautical miles, skipping a few reef systems that we knew had been hit by others and as we were driving, I noticed what looked like a small reef system not actually shown on the map, so we veered off towards it. Upon approaching it I could honestly say it would have to be one of the most fishy looking clusters of small reef systems I have seen. There were 5 small reef clusters all tightly packed together creating multiple pressure edges and back-eddies giving us ample fishing territory that were all loaded with fusiliers, the casting arm was certainly twitching as we approached. I fired a cast in with a floating stick bait and after a few sweeps of the rod tip I had a shadow ghosting my lure and followed it right to the boat, it was a nice blue spot trout. I put another cast in its direction and almost instantly he was back and this time didn’t hesitate smashing the lure off the top, it was very cool to watch. We then all had multiple attempts on GT’s and a doggie which followed a lure right to the boat and circled us for a minute before vanishing into the deep blue. Once again, they were still feeding strangely and short striking even after adjusting lures and techniques. We had worked over all of the pressure edges holding fusiliers so we decided to sound wide of the reef system as the charts indicated two shoals in close proximity to each. The shoals came up out of 40m of water to 25m on top and were absolutely loaded with fish life. We deployed the soft plastics and jigs once again and it was double and triple hook ups for multiple drifts, putting 25-30 trout in the boat in an hour. It was quite a sizable area which gave us the ability each drift to move our drift line across covering fresh parts of the shoal and every time we did, we plucked the better quality trout once again. The trusty Zerek & Samaki Live shrimp 127mm getting a serious hammering on this day.

If its red its dead is certainly the moto out on the Swains, two solid trout from a strawberry patch we found.

The better quality fish we caught all certainly came from the pressure edge side of the reefs.

With sore arms and ribs, we made the decision to start spot hopping areas quite quickly to cover ground to make it back to the lunch time location. Fishing the SW corners targeting the pressure edges on each of the reefs we stopped on, we plucked a few more fish each time, until we honestly couldn’t fit another fish in the box, which turned out because we had 40 combined trout. I located what looked like a shoal out in the middle of nowhere on the charts and it was on the way so we ventured over and dropped a few jigs on it as I had a slight hunch that it may hold green job fish and possibly a doggie. After some sounding I found the peak of the shoal that came right up to 20m of water from down deep and it was loaded with life. We deployed the jigs and I came up tight on what felt like a solid fish, however for anyone that has caught them before doggies fight well above their class and I slung in a pup doggie that for its size went seriously hard. After that we called it and went in for lunch.

There was quite a few puppy dog's caught on the jigs this trip, however the bigger fish eluded us.

A 40 trout box, one session that we won't be forgetting for a while. It was chaos at times.

The weather had hit us and it was blowing a solid 15 knots and gusting to 20’s and with a 4nm jump across to our next reef system to call home for the night we got all the tenders together and took it super easy across, thankfully we were traveling beam into the sea rather than punching. With a solid bit of banter on the run across and all feeling a bit weathered and sore we decided to take it easy for the afternoon, grabbing a handful of pilchards, rafting up in the shallows and enjoy a beer or two whilst sharing stories from the past four days of fishing, all whilst managing to add a few trout and red throat to the box.

Swains Reef Day 5 - The weather had set in & we needed to make a move

Day 5 we awoke to things singing and flapping in the wind and we knew we were in for a tough day’s fishing. After a lovely hot breakfast, we made the call to have a team meeting to decide on our plans for the day. Where we were anchored was not ideal in these locations as it was quite a jump to the reefs we really wanted to fish and we would have had to punch straight into the seas that had grown over night. After some deliberation we had come up with a solid game plan with a safe anchorage and access to many reefs in close proximity to allow us all to fish comfortably for the final two days. Andrew and Chris opted to stay on Big Cat and have a rest for the morning, so I grabbed the other Chris and twisted his arm to jump aboard. We opted to make this jump straight after breakfast to catch the last of the making tide and it wasn’t pleasant but we all stuck together and ventured across at a safe and steady pace.

Upon arriving at our new reef system for the day, it was evident that the conditions weren’t really going to allow us to do much more than fish the flats. Which given it was the very last of the run in tide and about to turn it was perfect timing to do so. I grabbed my confidence lure the Venom V-swim 120mm in Iron man and Chris was casting around a Westin Swim 120mm. Within meters of our drift Chris hooked up and landed a nice trout and that bite was fairly consistent for the next few hours missing just as many trout as we had landed. With the tide now draining off the flat and there being enough current in the tide we opted to get the heavy top water gear out and start working pressure edges. The first few we rocked up to were scarce of fusiliers and only had patches of summer bait.

We made a call to move across to the next reef and it looked prime. We had a big pressure edge created by the corner of the reef which then had a slight channel before meeting back up with a tiny coral cay which created another pressure edge and an epic rip in between. It was also stacked with fusiliers and they looked nervous so I positioned the boat and got Chris to send a cast in. After a few sweeps and twitches of the rod tip to engage his stick bait it got demolished by a sizable GT however after a short tussle the hooks pulled. A few casts later he had an absolute bus leave a hole in the water behind his lure. Knowing we had stirred them up we motored off them and let it rest for 15 mins before motoring back into position and I lobbed in a cast. True to form a very sizable fish came up and had multiple attempts at the lure before disappearing back into the depths. By now the wind had intensified even more and we were getting nailed by patches of rain. We agreed to call it quits and head in early for lunch to be able to get back out to catch the last of the run out tide. As we were running back across, a mate called over the radio that he had caught an absolute beast of a GT (measuring 123cm fork length and estimated to be 36-37kg) and he was only one pressure point up from us. Having experienced what we just did in our location I was keen to have lunch and get back out.

Wind, rain, hail or sunshine I was going back out after a quick lunch and I roped Andrew and Chris back into coming out with me. We punched it straight back to the same location and after having missed more fish on topwater than ever before Andrew and Chris allowed me to lob in the first cast and boy aren’t I glad they did. An absolute bus rose up and ate my lure with such anger that we just all looked at each other and didn’t say a word. Being in only 10m of water it took some serious drag and boat work to keep this fish out of the reef and coming in the right direction. What felt like forever however must have only been about 5 minutes. We got this fish alongside the boat and Andrew said what now? We were looking at a serious slab of fish that took both of us to lift it in as it stretched across the entire length of the front casting deck. You know it’s a big fish when you can’t fit your hand around its tail wrist. I was absolutely wrecked however so stoked to land the fish I had been chasing all trip, its always so rewarding. After a few quick happy snaps and a short swim to help revive it, we watched it swim away ever so gracefully into the depths. High fives were flowing all around and we cracked a beer to celebrate as the lads knew how bad I wanted that fish. It measured in at 125cm fork length and estimated to be around 37-38kg, my biggest from the Swains reef. We re-grouped and Andrew and Chris made a few casts for a few boils and missed opportunities just as the tide was ebbing and the rain clouds were approaching and starting to pour down on us, hence we quickly packed the boat up and called it quits for an early afternoon finish to clean up, sort the boat and re-rig the gear for our final days fishing on the reef.

That night we got to enjoy the BIG seafood night dinner experience thanks to Kenny the chef and afterwards we shared photo’s, stories and tales of all our fishing experiences and what we all wanted to achieve on our final day. Midway through the evening the big cat crew announced to us that we had bagged the boat and crew out on trout, totalling 525 trout, so we all agreed to leave the jigging gear onboard and go topwater the next day. Not a bad problem to have, I guess.

Swains Reef Day 6 - All or nothing top water mission

Day 6 although met by some wind it had eased overnight and as the sun was coming up over the horizon the rain clouds started to move off. The final day on the reef is often filled with mixed emotions, you are extremely tired and sore, discovering muscles you never knew you had before, however with only one day left you still want to fish hard. We had a morning run in tide with the change around 9am and with sunny skies we decided to hit the reef flats and enjoy the scenery. All casting the Venom V-swims in the 120mm & 150mm we managed to tangle with trout (which we released), red throat emperor and yellowtail emperor that provided so much sport in those shallow waters. With the wind continuing to drop out we decided to leave the comfort of our home reef and utilise that slack tide period to punch across to the next reef that hadn’t been fished as yet. Unfortunately, with the large rolling swell pushing through it made that smaller reef unfishable and we moved down to the next big reef that should provide more protection, which it did. We moved into a slight bay created in the reef with multiple tight channels winding back up onto the flat. Casting in tight to these channels and slowly twitching and pausing our lures to allow them to shimmy down deep into them we got onto a patch of solid red throat that provided some sport for a short period before we had worked the area over.

By now there was enough movement in the run out tide to start spot hopping pressure edges in search of our final GT’s for the trip. We radioed into Big Cat that we’d skip lunch to allow us maximum fishing time for the run out period to maximise our chances. We started spot hopping pressure edges and the first two we pulled up to were absent of any bait and life. I made a call to push back west and fish another cluster of reefs that were close by to the ones we had success on the day prior and I’m glad we did, as the first edge we pulled up to looked unreal in the full sunlight. Andrew fired in a cast and after a few sweeps of his stick bait he raised a solid fish which ate the lure close to the boat. Chris was up next and after a few casts and missed opportunities he called it quits with a sore elbow, this style of fishing isn’t easy on the body. With time running out I jumped up the front and running on pure adrenalin I made cast after cast missing a few sloppy eats from GT’s, before a XOS Spanish went aerial getting some serious air time and cutting me off in the process. Bummed having lost my lure that caught the big fish the previous day I re-tied and we moved to another edge.

Andrew with another solid gt that annihilated his CAST Down Under pencil popper off the top.

It too looked unreal and was one I had fished quite a few times, after a few casts I came up tight to a nice fish to end the trip on a solid fish in its mid 20kgs. with time running out and wanting to give everyone the ability to fish we moved right in on the edge and this edge is insane with massive channels, caves and undercuts with large plate coral and bommies. We got towelled up more times than we landed fish but the visual aspect of this style of fishing is truly incredible and we managed to add a few more red throat and yellowtail emperor to the box and released a few more trout.

Not a bad way to end the trip with another solid topwater banger.

With our final day coming to an end as we counted down the clock, we made a last-minute decision to catch the last of the ebbing tide and make our way closer to home reef where we were instructed to be collected and hit the corner that my big fish had come from the afternoon prior. Chris and I were absolutely spent so we sent Andrew up the front deck to fire casts in at the nervous looking fusiliers sitting just where they should be and in 10 casts I think Andrew had follows every cast and pulled hooks out of three fish that committed to the lure after short fight times. It truly was a trip for missed and dropped fish like none other I had experienced before, however that is what keeps you coming back for more next year. Happy with our efforts we rafted up along side another one of the boats who were also spent after a day on the GT’s and enjoyed a beer and took in the scenery knowing we were steaming home in only a matter of hours.

I apologise for the long winded write up however after experiencing what was an incredible 6 days of fishing on the Swains reef there were so many EPIC experiences and sessions to cover and I still didn’t have time or room to fit them all in. It was a fantastic trip with a great bunch of blokes who all fished hard, shared info daily which saw many firsts and PB’s broken and that is what these trips are all about. Big Cat and the crew were honestly flawless all week and made our time on the reef a truly memorable one. Until next year, bring on the Fisho’s Tackle world Hervey Bay trip 2024. If you are interested in joining one of these trips, enquire with the shop and we will see if we can add you to a trip or put your name to the waiting list.

Main soft plastic outfit – Shimano Stella 6000, spooled with Ocean PE3 braid and matched to a Venom RLFVS12 7’ 15-50lb rod.
Heavy soft plastic outfit/light flats stick bait outfit – Shimano Stella 6000, spooled with CAST X12 PE3 braid and matched to a Venom RLFVS14 7’ 20-60lb rod.
Heavy flats stick bait outfit – Stella 8000, spooled with Varivas PE4 braid and matched to a Venom RLFVST2 7’11’’ 40-60lb rod.
Heavy top water outfit 1 – Stella 14000, spooled with CAST X12 PE8 braid and matched to a Venom RLFSSTXVP8 rod.
Heavy top water outfit 2 – Stella 18000, spooled with CAST X12 PE10 braid and matched to a venom RLFSSTXVP8 rod.
Light jig outfit – Ocea Jigger 1500HG, spooled with Nomad Ammonite PE2 braid and matched to a Bone Ocean Thug power 3 rod.
Medium jig outfit – Ocea Jigger custom F 2000, spooled with PE3 braid and matched to a Venom Ocean Warrior RVSF2 rod.
Heavy jig outfit – Ocean Jigger custom F 3000, spooled with PE4 braid and matched to a Venom Ocean Warrior RVSF5 rod.

Stand Out Lures:

Zerek Live Shrimp 127mm in colours 04 & clown prawn.
Samaki Live shrimp 127mm in colour golden carrot.
Zman 7” Jerk Shads in smokey shad, bubble gum pink and pearl.
McCarthy 7” Jerk Shads in hot orange and pink pearl.
TT Jig heads to suit the above soft plastics 1 1/2oz & 2oz 7/0’s.
Mustad Wingman slow fall jigs 80 & 100g in colours LPK & PKC.
Mustad Staggerbod slow fall jigs 150g in colours LPK & PKC.
Zerek Fish Trap 110mm in orange biscuit and tusk fish.
Nomad Vertrex Max 110mm & 130mm in disco bits & coral trout.
Nomad Squidtrex 110mm & 130mm in whatever colour went down.
Venom V-swim 120mm & 150mm in iron man, trigger fish and blue spot trout.
Nashy’s 130mm sinking & 190mm floating stick bait in fusilier patterns.
CAST Down Under 120g diving stick bait in ether.
Duo Realis Fumble 230 floating stick bait.

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Home » Fishing-Tips-Techniques » Offshore-Fishing » Swain Reefs Trip

The Lighter Side of The Swains

By jay cottrell.

The fishing stories about The Swains I heard from my Grandad growing up were filled anglers using heavy handlines and large overhead rods.

Double droppers and big hooks loaded with squid or mullet were the normal rigs used to tempt the various reef species the inhabited the shallow coral bombies. These old stories came flooding back when I received the news that I was invited to join the crew from Wilson Fishing on a Swain Reefs trip aboard a trip of a lifetime with Big Cat Reality Fishing Charters.

As you can imagine the Wilson team brought along a lot of tackle toÂ test out. They really did mean 'you don't need to bring anything' in their trip brief. There were more rods, reels and lures then you could count. It was going to be a busy time testing out all the gear and I couldn't wait.

The tales I heard growing up were going through my head as I set about selecting some outfits to use for the coming week's fishing. We were lucky to have an amazing weather window for our trip, so I decided to forget the heavy stuff (sorry Grandad) and focus on fishing as light as possible.

I decided on a rod I was familiar with from home - the amazing 15 -40lb 7' Venom (RLFVS10) and matched this up with an ATC 5000 Valour SW loaded with 30lb braid. This would be my main combo for fishing Fish Traps, Live Shrimps and Live Flash Minnow Wrigglies.

The second outfit I settled on was a 40-60lb Venom Stick Bait rod with an ATC 10000 Valour SW loaded with 50lb braid. This combo would be used for casting Zappelin stickbaits and the like around the reef edges.

These two outfits would be the mainstays for the ensuing 6 day's fishing action.

After a 34 hour steam we were well rested and extremely well rigged up. We anchored up under fading light at East Cay towards the top end of the vast Swain Reefs system and after dinner and a few refreshments we hit the bunks dreaming of what was too come.

I had teamed up with Tim from Tackle World Bundaberg in tender #6 and excitement levels were high as we motored away from Big Cat for the first time. With the high tide early in the morning our game plan was to get up onto the shallow reef flats and cast Zerek Zappelins and Cavallas for coral trout.

We had a great morning session landing numerous dark coloured trout, but we also donated a few lures trying to extract them from their coral homes.

The call was made at lunchtime that the Big Cat would be moving to a new anchorage about 8km away. We had a bit of travel time to explore the reefs on the way over to the new spot and set off with an open mind.

With the tide dropping out it didn't take long to find a likely looking edge at which to cast lures. Out came the Venom Stickbait rod with a 160mm Zappelin tied on an 80lb leader. My very first cast our jaws dropped as a pack of 10 or more GTs in the 20-25kg range came off the edge fighting for the lure all the way to the boat. Somehow they all missed the hooks and shot off all over the place. The next cast a solid GT smashed the lure almost as it hit the water and after a fair tussle, I boated a cracking GT around 20kg.

Timmy was up next and one cast was all it took for him to hook up. After a stubborn battle on relatively light tackle he too landed an impressive GT around the same size. The next hour or so was a blur as we landed countless GTs, Spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna and fat shark mackerel on the stick baits.

We had to get going soon after to catch up with the mother ship at the new anchorage as we still had a fair way to travel.

Back on the boat that night, over a few sherbets, there were plenty of stories coming in about how good the fishing had been. Battles had been won and lost by all boats with some impressive fish caught by all. It was easy to sleep that night as we were stuffed and it was only day 1!

Moring session day 2 saw us finding some great fish shows on the sounder not far from Big Cat in about 20m of water. We were jigging 110mm and 160mm Fish Traps that rarely made it to the bottom the fish were ravenous. We landed diamond trevally, pennant fish, goldspot trevally, dogtooth tuna, Spanish mackerel and green jobfish in a hectic session.

On the rare occasions our lures made it through these fish, we got some epic trout and red throat emperor that were feeding underneath the pelagics. What a session!

After lunch we again went hunting the reef edges with surface lures. This was to be a bit of a daily routine - trout in the mornings and trevs after lunch. We landed some amazing blue fin trevally, giant long toms and GTs in another crazy arvo session.

The night fishing off Big Cat was epic. We caught 69 big spangled emperors from about 4-7 kg with 3 and 4 guys all hooked up at once. It was chaos. I used and abused the new Live Fibre RLFSAS16 overhead rod in this session putting it through its paces trying to stop these tough fighting fish from getting back to the coral.

Again, we slept well that night

Day 3 and Big Cat was on the move again so we headed to the new reef straight away. Where we ended up was the trip's highlight for many of us - the impressive Centenary Reef system.

This reef system is made up of sand cays, blue holes and seemingly endless reef edges. We found a nice current line in about 28m loaded with fish. This session was the one dreams are made of.

First drift we had 10 double hook ups on big trout, solid red throats and parrot fish. We went back to the top of the drift and called in all the other tenders. The next hour or so was crazy with everyone hooked up at once the whole time. It will remain one of my favourite memories of the trip.

The tide stopped running and the bite slowed so we sat back and reflected on how good the morning had been. During this session Tim had caught 2 big red throats on the one lure and Clint from Wilsons had caught 2 trout on the same single hooked jighead! Crazy stuff.

The stand out lures were the 5" Zerek Live Shrimps and 130 Live Flash Minnow Wrigglies rigged on 27g Mustad Darter jigheads

The next few days went along just like the past few with us chasing bottom fish on the light rods in the mornings and casting the heavier gear along the edges in the arvos.

We didn't use bait all week in the tender and caught more trout than any other tender. Just shows what you can do with a light, powerful spin rod and a bunch of rubber lures.

Our main technique on the reefies was to keep in contact with bottom as much as possible and use a couple of short, sharp jigs of the lure. Most of the bites were on the drop or just after you jigged the lure.

Lifelong memories and friends were made on this trip and my Swains stories for my kids and grandkids will be very different to the ones I heard growing up.

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Fishing Trips
MV Night Crossing
Testimonials

Boat Charter to Swains Reef

If you have always dreamed of taking the fishing trip of a lifetime, you should consider a boat charter to Swains Reef. Commonly referred to as “Fishing the Swains” it is one of those trips of a lifetime. Many anglers feel that you are not a real saltwater angler if you never “Fish the Swains.” Cross this item off your bucket list now!

At Gladstone Coral Charters, we do not guarantee the success of any trip. There are too many variables out of our control like weather, tides, barometric pressure, moon phase and bait migrations. However, let’s just say we would be extremely surprised if you went on a boat charter to Swains Reef on the M.V. Nightcrossing and didn’t catch fish. Since the boat will work its way along the reef each day, if we don’t have much luck one day we will evaluate the options and find another spot where we believe the fish have moved.

You can target many different varieties, and your catch will be prepared and frozen for you. Between fishing sessions, you will dine on luxury meals and relax in the bar of our custom built boat. You will be served by our staff and have as much down time to relax as you wish. Whether you are looking for a relaxing trip with some fishing, or a hard core fishing trip with good food and drink to begin and end the day, a boat charter to Swains Reef is the trip for you.

Please contact our friendly staff.

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Swains - June 2023

Spearfishing trip.

3th - 10th June 2023

Swains Spearfishing Trip - June 2023

Swains Reef Details

Departure Location: Gladstone (Ferry Terminal off of Bryan Jordan Drive, Gladstone. Next to Complete Angler)

Departure Date: 3rd June 2023

Return Date: 10th June 2023

Diver Price: $3,500 per person

Contact: [email protected]

Cost: $3,500 per person - $1,000 upfront deposit (non refundable)

7 day trip to the Swains group of reefs is located 120 nm north east of Gladstone. And spans from as far south as Hixon Cay all the way up to the Ribbon Reefs off of cairns. There are literally thousands of reefs and sand cays that create, arguably, some of the best spearfishing and some of the best examples of colours that the Great Barrier reef has to offer!

Trip price includes Great Barrier Reef daily charges, all meals, linen, towels, bait, ice, tenders, tea/coffee and a supply of soft drink.

Guests can BYO alcohol. Mixers are not included in our supply of soft drink. Canned beverages preferred due to safety and rubbish removal.

The swains reefs offer a little bit more protection from high winds and bad weather and being a little more remote than the Bunker Group, it can take around 12-15 hours of steaming on the mothership before an anchor is set, plenty of time to organise boats, dive buddies, gear checks and a beer or three.

The Swains is a huge attraction to all Spearfisherman, as it holds such a diverse range of species. In one day, you can go from free swimming Wahoo to Solid Mangrove Jacks on isolated bombies. No matter your quarry, you will be sure to have ample opportunities at bringing home a nice feed of Trout for the friends and family back at home.

Due to a large amount of gear needed for spearfishing we recommend booking additional luggage for your flight. We also recommend booking an extra 20kg for frozen fish on the flight home.

Polystyrene fish boxes will be available for $10, they fit around 15 - 20kg per box. Please let us know in advance if you are after more than one box. Captured fish will be filleted and flash frozen with your name on them.

WHAT TO BRING:

Divers are to be completely self-sufficient when it comes to gear. This includes spares and repairs. We recommend every diver to bring the following:

Float and float line, depths will range from 10m - 30m+, please bring a float line suitable for your diving ability. Large floats are recommended for visibility. Please note that a float line and float with blue and white - Alpha dive flag are MANDATORY

1x 130cm - 140cm twin rubber gun for long shots (clear water) and larger species

1x Backup gun 110cm - 130cm

Mask snorkel and fins

Weight belt and weights

Diving knife and filleting knife

3mm or 5mm wetsuit water temp average 22 - 25 C but can get as cold as 19 - 20 C, most people are more likely to get cold than too hot as you will be in the water for extended periods

Flasher and flasher float if you are more interested in chasing Mackeral and Jobfish

Zip lock bags or vac sealer (share with a buddy), bring plenty as it is recommended to make smaller fish portions for ease of use once you are home. All fish will be frozen to take home or consumed on the vessel

Water proof marker for fish labelling, fish will not be shared around due to the risk of ciguatera in some of the larger coral trout. This ensures each diver is responsible for looking after their own catch

Recommended spares and optional items:

At least 1x spare shaft for each gun, 2 preferred

Spare rubbers & tying kits

Spare bridles

Mono and crimps

Spare mask and snorkel

Spare knife

Spare gloves

Dive computer, safely monitor your surface recovery times.

Aqua Ear, this helps prevent ear infections use at the end of each day to dry out your ears

Antibacterial hand wash, we like to take a Dettol wash for fish spine injuries and coral cuts this works well to stop infection when applied to any small cuts post-dive

GoPro or action cam, the fish life and coral is absolutely amazing!!

Lycra pants in case the water is hot, these can be worn with a wetsuit top

Travel insurance - in case of severe weather or illness

There is absolutely nothing available for purchase on the boat when it comes to dive or spearing gear.

Spare items can be shared among the group as to minimise luggage, but that is something you can arrange with your travel buddies!

Departure & Location Information

Address: Gladstone (Ferry Terminal off of Bryan Jordan Drive, Gladstone. Next to Complete Angler)

Boarding Time: From 2pm

Parking: Paid parking can be purchased via Compleat Angler (07)49727283

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Sojourn to the Swains – part three

November 7, 2019

THIS is the final piece of my three-part series on an epic Swain Reefs fishing trip .

If you have missed either of the first two parts, you can find free digital copies of the articles at issuu.com/bnbfishing

To give you a brief rundown on the adventure so far, Wilson Fishing compiled a motley crew to test some of their awesome fishing gear. Topics covered to date include a break down on all the rods, lures, fish and everything in between. For this final script I’m covering my favourite fishing technique, what is was really like on Big Cat Reality Charters and a bit of karma.

As this was my first trip to the Swains, I was of the opinion that the very remote places we planned to fish would consist of the fish just jumping on the hooks with little or no effort. While that can sometimes be the case, often you still need to work out the best technique for that location at the time.

Interestingly enough, when we finally reached the northernmost point of the trip, which was also the most remote (we were actually east of Mackay, a long way north of the harbour at Bundaberg where we departed), we discovered the fishing wasn’t actually as good as some of the areas we had previously fished.

Odd you might say, which is what I thought as well, but we soon discovered after the crew did a bit of free diving that the reef appeared to have been damaged from either severe storms or cyclones. However, one of the beauties of this trip was the freedom to move about, so it was back to some hot fishing spots we discovered on the way north.

Techniques for the Swains

Fishing techniques obviously depend on what fish is being targeted, and while the aim of nailing plenty of ‘red’ fish was part of the mission, Sean (Tiny) and I seemed to have an overriding magnetism to the more silver fish, specifically some brute GTs. In order to hook one of these fish that patrolled the various bommies and reef edges you needed to ideally find bait.

Finding bait can be as simple as seeing it spray out of the water as a large predator chased it or sounding it up with your sounder. Interestingly, a lot of the baitfish were small, but this didn’t seem to deter the GTs, which we found ready to ambush a well-presented topwater lure cast to the edge of frightened baitfish.

The plan to catch these drag-pulling monsters, after we located bait and had current pushing against an edge of some sort, was to fan-cast both stickbaits and large poppers. As it turned out, the stickbaits were by far the best choice, with the Zerek Zappelin doing all the damage over the 10 days.

That’s right, zero GTs on poppers. I’m not entirely sure why this was the case, but it may have been due to the fact the stickbaits allowed a larger variety of retrieves. They could be worked anywhere from very slow with extended pauses to a fast twitch across the surface. Both techniques scored fish, so it’s safe to say it is important to mix up your retrieves to find out what is working best.

It is also good to work in tandem with your fishing partner so you can cover the most ground and both get casts away in ‘prime’ spots. However, the old ‘hail Mary’ to the wider grounds also produced fish. This went against the trend, but these fish were easier to land because they were further from the structure.

When chasing the monsters, it is also important to have the right gear, which I have covered previously, but what I haven’t talked about is how much drag to run. Basically, a lot. The ATC reels were pretty much wound up to full drag (‘sunset’ is the technical term) so you could barely pull any drag off with your hand.

This might seem like a lot, but it was amazing how fast some of the bigger fish could rip the line off the reel, even with that amount of drag. This is where it is extremely important to have a well-designed rod, because it makes trying to control these fish much easier. The weapons of choice were the Venom GT Popper (I used the PE8, which was ideal for me).

Not too strong to make fighting the fish hard, but stiff enough to turn their massive heads away from the reef. Something else we did when one person hooked up was to get the other lure in and jump on the engine in case we had to pull the fish away from the reef or get the boat in a better position.

Doing this can be the difference between landing and losing one of these fish because they can easily drag around the tenders. It is worth noting that even though we did bring a few fish on board for photos, all the GTs were released and all swam away strongly. Apart for the initial strike, when you see these monsters come out of the water and smash a lure, watching them swim off gracefully is just as exciting and even a little more rewarding.

Big Cat Reality Charters – Swains trip

For what was initially a dive charter boat, the Big Cat Reality Charters team has turned this vessel into an awesome extended fishing charter boat. Everything about the operation is done with complete professionalism from all the crew and captain. However I, or more so my wife, was not very happy with Jeff the chef because I put on about 4kg in 10 days.

But the food was unreal, and we ate like kings, so a little extra weight was to be expected. Who can say no to char-grilled coral trout wings and a Stone’s Ginger Beer after a long day fishing on the tender, and this or some other delicacy is what we came home to each day before we settled into our actual dinner.

The hospitality didn’t stop there because all the crew and James the skipper were happy to pass on plenty of tips and tricks for maximising our trip both on and off the water. In terms of fishing vessels, they were 4.1m SmartWave boats with 50hp Mercury tiller steers that had been specifically set up for the mix of fishing you will encounter.

While 4.1m doesn’t seem big, they were deep-sided boats and had lots of lean rails to assist when fishing a big fish. All tenders were fitted with quality Garmin electronics that you were fully briefed on how to use. However, if you want, you can bring your own boat on the trip, which is what the Wilson Fishing boys did.

This is awesome because you can bring along a bigger boat you are familiar with. Overall, I couldn’t fault the team and I felt a little spoilt because all our gear was loaded by the crew into the tender each day, our fish were cleaned and Cryovacced, boats washed daily and many more things, leaving plenty of time to rehydrate and chat with new mates.

It is worth noting you do drive the tenders yourself, but that is all part of the adventure and it allows you to pick and choose what sort of fishing you want to do. If you are after a charter trip of a lifetime, I can highly recommend Big Cat Reality Charters. For more information on trip destinations, dates, cost and more, check out bigcatreality.com You won’t be disappointed.

There are several people I’d like to thank who enabled me to go on this trip of a lifetime. First, I’d like to thank the team at Wilson Fishing. It was an honour to get the call-up and I relished the chance to test some new gear. I already have and use plenty of their gear, but it was good to try some stuff I wouldn’t normally put in my stable.

Thanks also goes to the team at Big Cat Reality Charters. You guys made this trip ultra-enjoyable and it was an absolute pleasure to be aboard the boat. Thanks must also go to Principal Scot Steinhardt at Victoria Point Hight School (where I’m currently on a contract as well as doing the mags) for approving my extended leave – much appreciated. And finally, thanks to my wife for looking after the kids while I was away ‘working’. Somehow, she doesn’t see the funny side of this statement.

I thought I’d leave this to last, but karma did strike while away on the trip. After giving fellow scribe Greg Lamprecht a sneaky cheap shot in my editorial before I left about losing a rod on his trip aboard Big Cat, I too managed to throw a very nice Venom rod over the side of the boat first cast one morning.

After it had slipped from my grip, I yelled to Tiny that I was jumping in, but he said he had it… as it disappeared out of reach in an instant and sank to the bottom. Disbelief set in and I immediately thought back to my dig at Greg as I pondered what to do next. Should we call it in, knowing full well I was going to cop it big time from the guys for the rest of the trip, or just cry silently and not mention it?

Well, I bit the bullet and Tiny called it in over the radio to see if one of the crew could free dive and retrieve the rod. Fortunately, we marked the spot on the GPS, so had a good idea of where it was, but as the sun was low in the sky and there was a bit of cloud cover, we couldn’t see the rod, despite doing a few runs back and forth over the mark.

Unbeknownst to me, JC was at the ready and somehow managed to record most of the conversation between the tender and the mother ship, so there was undisputable evidence of the mishap. With my head hung in shame, we continued to fish for a while as the mother ship made its way up the coast so a couple of the boys could bring a spare tender out to try to get the rod.

Thankfully, we managed to find the rod and reel on our return to the spot. Unfortunately, this took a little while and with the tide rising all the time, the original depth of around 10m soon increased to 15m, which was getting on the free dive limit of the crew. After Aaron’s initial attempts to hook it with a makeshift grapple failed, Gary called it and said he would dive.

Kitted up with weight belt, fins and a camo suit, he set off for the bottom. After what seemed like a fair while (and probably seemed even longer for Gary), the surface of the water was finally broken and the silence broken as the tip of the Venom was slowly raised towards the sky to cheers of joy.

Relief set in as Gary took a few deeps breaths and explained that a good trout was sitting just next to it. How do you beat that!?

Check out more awesome GT and Swain Reef action here!

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This North Queensland trip is testament to the maxim that good things come to those who wait after a weather aborted attempt at the same trip almost three years ago. This time our arrival at Agnes Waters and the Town of 1770 just on dusk presented an ocean resembling glass, a distinct lack of wind, and all the remaining hallmarks of a great adventure. Take 8 guys, a skipper, a deckhand, a 45 foot vessel and add the southern waters of the Great Barrier Reef and you have a recipie for ocean adventure. It is hard to accurately capture a week at sea, so this story will predominantly rely on the trusted digital SLR camera.

The trip was with 1770 James Cook

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Join a Group Charter – Swain Reefs

Groups at times find themselves short of the minimum 15 people for their trips and require “fill ins” to complete their group charter.

Joining a Group Charter is ideal if you would like to return to remote areas of the Great Barrier Reef (predominately the Swain Reefs) with an offshore charter or experience it for the first time. It’s a great opportunity to share stories and meet new friends with groups who love fishing. The price shown here is a usual amount for an eight day/seven night trip to the Swain Reefs, but pricing will need to be confirmed first based on the groups trip preferences.

We also hold a waiting list for people to join groups on these occasions. If something becomes available for trips throughout the season and you have added your name, contact details and time of year that suits your itinerary, we will be able to get back in touch with you to advise of dates available and numbers required. Please contact 0436 640 197 , email us at [email protected] , or fill out the registration of interest form below.

Admission Fee 15-20 people total
Arrival City 8-15 hours weather dependant based on destination

Most of the trips available for people to join are 8 days (7 nights) to the Swain Reefs. Joining a Group Charters is an opportunity for individuals or small groups to visit the Swain Reefs for a wide variety of fishing out of the tenders or off the Eastern Voyager.

The price shown may vary depending on group numbers. Depending on the group, this may vary and will need to be confirmed with our bookings officer first. The price may vary depending on whether the discount conditions have been met. A non-refundable deposit of $750 per person is required to confirm your booking. Your trip will be confirmed by our booking office once you have confirmed your spot. Once that has been processed, we can then look at setting up a payment plan (usually four pre-arranged payments) to pay the balance of the trip off by six (6) weeks before the expected departure date.

Rates may vary

Min $3,625 8 days / 7 nights.

The cost of $3,625 per person is based on a regular 8 day / 7 night trip to the Swain Reefs or Shoalwater Bay, and a daily rate per person.
Depending on the trip you are joining this may vary. We will confirm the price of the trip when one becomes available to join.
* Based on 2025 prices and may vary.

What to bring

No Travel Insurance included - please organise your own.
Fishing gear - you must bring your own, as none is provided. (A suggested list of tackle can be found on our Useful Links tab.)
Tackle World Gladstone - 07 49723 692 offer (advice and terminal tackle) & Compleat Angler Gladstone (offer advice, terminal tackle to full set up if required) 07 4972 7283
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Some of our people have been going on these trips around Australia continually for 40 years. We had a couple of guys with us that are heavily involved with the food and wine scene in Sydney and the said that some of the meals were as good as you would get in any restaurant in Sydney. Regards - Les.

Hi guys. I was out at Swain Reefs in October 2019. Great meals all round, with a great recipe the chef did for the sweet lip. Great trip, crew and skipper. Thanks. Chris W (NSW)

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Swains Trip Report

swains reef

By Huxstang June 25, 2022 in Saltwater

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AUS-BNE-FISHO

Great work on the fishing and report @Huxstang . It was a good read.

Cheers Hamish

charlie.hans.fishing

Yeah Hux, you all crammed some excitement and fishing into a few days.

Shame about the weather but like you said, no one can do anything about that.

Thanks for the report waiting for photo's.

Ripper report, @Huxstang . Thanks. A bugger the weather gods didn't shine for you. Thinking of trying again next year ?

How deep was the red emp ?

Next year….maybe, mate was talking about Melville Island or one of the Barra camps for something different. We will see…plenty of time to think about it I guess.

The red was in @ 45m…..holding on a small pinnacle in the 50m zone.

Angry51 , AUS-BNE-FISHO and ellicat

Angry51 , ellicat and AUS-BNE-FISHO

Another Wazza

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Tackle and gear to take on a 7 days Swains Trip

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I am heading out on the 2 June for a 7 day swains, the cost is $2300 but you take your own tackle. I have been advised to take the following. 30 x 8 oz + 30 x 10 oz + 20 x 12 oz snapper leads and 25 x 8 ball and 25 x 10 ball.......50 x 8O hooks and 100 6O hooks........... Has anyone been on a trip like this? And what sort of tackle did you go through???? The boat supplies pillies...........but I plan on taking California Squid and Mullet fillets as well.......figured on one box of squid and a kilo of mullet per day......... Whats your opion on the above and yeah anyone wants to come along theres bookings available.

Re: Tackle and gear to take on a 7 days Swains Trip

as for tackle its always a good thing to have too much than not enough....it also depends on what outfits you are fishing .....and how much reef fishing experience you have .... but IMO think some of your hook quantities may be an over kill (21hooks a day) .......as for the bait get the squid but wouldn get the mullet and get some plastics instead ....you can always use fresh bycatch flesh baits when you are out there....

...........GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO BAIT.........

If you take mullet get fresh fillets and salt them down. In my opinion Bonito or small Tuna salted are even better. The Squid could be worth taking

A Proud Member of "The Rebel Alliance"

I agree use fresh flesh baits caught on site rather than taking mullet. I dont use much squid on the reef but I do generally carry some for desperate measures. The old squid / pillee cocktail can be good at times, but often not worth the effort. I still think fresh locally caught flesh is best.

On our trip, you can catch plague amounts of varigated emperor every morning whilst sitting on anchor throwing down the first brekkie beer. If a handful of you do this and fillet them up then you will have more than enough fresh bait each day which is by far the best. We used very little on board bait on our trip. Re tackle, don't forget some 00 size sinkers. I used them a hell of a lot of time when sitting at anchor for dawn and dusk/night and a lot brilliant fish were caught during these session on silly sticks (lighter gear) include big RTE, Spangles, trout, trevs and things we had no chance of stopping. The other time we use these light sinkers was when fishing the shallow bommies from the dingies. This allow you to let you bait waff down slowly and get hammered. Bigger sinkers plummet the bait into the 'ain't getting that back' area too quick. What sort of gear are you tacking. For my next trip, I will be taking four rigs - one silly stick (snapper size or a bit lighter with braid), one medium size spin with mono for dingy use (straight through mono to save rerigging time), medium/heavy overhead with mono (again to save rerigging time) to cover shallower water drifting from big boat and a my heavy overhead with braid and a long leader for trolling and drifting from the big boat in deeper water. One thing that was stressed to me was to look after your hands and skin. Those little nicks or sunburn you get on a day trip and you don't worry about become a PITA on a seven dayer, so get some full size gloves that you wear all the time to protect the hands and cover up the skin. You will have a ball.

Extra stubbie coolers and hats... maybe spare sunnies as well. Also worth taking an extra spool of line for trolling/floater rod

a big handline with mono for fishing out of the dories. those trout will put you in the reef before your flexi and shiny rod even loads up. gloves. antiseptic lotion for the nicks, cuts on your hands.

Originally Posted by Si a big handline with mono for fishing out of the dories. those trout will put you in the reef before your flexi and shiny rod even loads up. gloves. antiseptic lotion for the nicks, cuts on your hands. Man up ...... If ya gunna go handline - use braid Chris

Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day ! Teach him how to fish & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day! TEAM MOJIKO

I have done 12 trips out to the swains and suggest that you take arange of ball sinkers from 000 to 8 as well as the snapper leads. What you need to use will depend on the run in the water and where you are fishing. If you are shallows fishing I would use a good quality heavy spin rod and reel using a 4500 or 6500 size spooled up with 40-50 lb mono to a 6/0 hook, preferably with no sinker but as small as you can and absolutely screwed up drag because if you have any drag you will lose the fish into the coral. You can use the same outfit for casting out from the mother boat or fishing the deep drop offs from the atolls. Once again sinker size depends on current/run but as light as possible. For drifting I take an overhead with a TLD 20 or 25 spooled with 50 lb good quality braid. You can then use either a patenoster rig of 35-40 lb size with snapper lead or a trace with a ball sinker to the hook. For trolling I use an overhead rod and reel. Once again with a minimum 50 lb line and it is usually mono but sometimes braid. As far a bait goes check with the boat because every time I have gone out we have had the californinan calamari provided by the boat. If they do not then you could ask them to get you some and pay for it yourself to save you carrying it up there. I agree with Appolo that there are always lots of varigated emperor and other bait fish caught and their fillets make great bait. If you are after big Red Emperor then put a big bait on. We use the whole fillet of a baitfish. Make sure you have a good wide brimmed hat, sunnies (and a spare pair in case you lose them) and wet weather gear. When it rains out there it really rains. Take a nail brush to get the crap out of your nails and wash your hands regularly in anti bacterial soap to save those nicks getting nasty. One thing above I disagree with is using braid as a handline unless you really want to cut your hands to pieces. I would not like to be trying to bring in a 10 or 15 kg Red Emperor or Chinaman with abraid handline. Enjoy your trip and let us know how you go.

Just a couple of more questions which hooks are best 6 O Gamagasu or 8 O and how many? The other question is the boat only gives pilchards, so I am definately taking those boxes of california squid... will one box per day be enough???? Did any of you guys use poppers on the GT's??? I have only been to the outer reef off of Airlie Beach bout 150 KLM out.........Never been to the Swains so I dont know what to expect......... When I was out of Airlie Beach it was reef coming out of the water shelving down to 40 Meters then out about Hundred meters then shelve of into never never land........ How many Xrap 20's for Mackerel is this a big thing on the reef???? Argggggggg this is costing a fortune, but the trip is only 2300.00 dollars so its not to bad. Also I am leaving from Gladstone, where did you guys leave from and what boats did you guys go out on??? How much??? Keen on doing this every year.

The braid hand line comment was a joke ! do not use braid as a handline ........ fingers may be lost Chris

Originally Posted by nowornever1972 Just a couple of more questions which hooks are best 6 O Gamagasu or 8 O and how many? The other question is the boat only gives pilchards, so I am definately taking those boxes of california squid... will one box per day be enough???? Did any of you guys use poppers on the GT's??? I have only been to the outer reef off of Airlie Beach bout 150 KLM out.........Never been to the Swains so I dont know what to expect......... When I was out of Airlie Beach it was reef coming out of the water shelving down to 40 Meters then out about Hundred meters then shelve of into never never land........ How many Xrap 20's for Mackerel is this a big thing on the reef???? Argggggggg this is costing a fortune, but the trip is only 2300.00 dollars so its not to bad. Also I am leaving from Gladstone, where did you guys leave from and what boats did you guys go out on??? How much??? Keen on doing this every year. Keep it simple, mono for all but the deeper fishing will make re rigging so much easier. Halco Laser Pro 190's seem to work for us although if you can get hold of some Ribbonfish seemed to be the go as well if you can get them. Squid will catch fish, but you will find that the amount of other fish you will catch will be more then enough for bait, as they say fresh is best. I'd take only enough for back up. Also take a selection of squid jigs as you should get some nice squid at night. Fish as light as possible. Mark

Looks like I will be guying some smaller sinkers 00 and 000 sizes...........I ended up geting the snapper leads 30 x 8 oz -- 30 x 10 oz -- 20 x 12 oz for $120.00 I think thats cheap? If anyone wants the guys number PM me.

Hook sizes??? I remember up off airlie we mainly caught coral trout and red throat.........the trout have hudge mouths I thought we used 8 O......

Originally Posted by nowornever1972 Did any of you guys use poppers on the GT's??? I have only been to the outer reef off of Airlie Beach bout 150 KLM out.........Never been to the Swains so I dont know what to expect......... Gave it a go on a few bommies, but after getting zipped twice in two casts by big macs and losing the lot, I gave it away and went back to chasing trouts and RTE's. I did get a 30kg GT on the troll.

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“My son Jamie and I had wonderful trip to Andros and Swain’s Cay Lodge. Alvin is a great fishing guide and we cannot wait to get back to fish with him again. We had a terrific three days fishing with him in the bights. Cheryl is a great host and took fine care of us. Our room and our meals were mighty fine. The bonefish love Doug McKnight’s custom tied flies. Thank you to the entire staff at Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures”

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COMMENTS

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7 Day Swains Line Fishing Adventure! Ever wanted to fish the magical Swains Reef? ... This is a remote offshore fishing trip that can be affected by weather and challenging for the inexperienced fisherman. Fishing outcomes are dependant on weather conditions, fish activity, fishing gear and your experience. ...
7 Day Swains 24th to 31st May 2025
This 7 Day line fishing trip is ideal for all levels of fisherman and is a perfect trip to enjoy with all your mates. "Reality Fishing Charters" will take you to the beautiful reefs and coral cays of the Swains. This remote reef system is full of life with Coral Trout, Sweet lip, Spanish mackerel and Red Emperor just waiting for you.
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This trip idea came about due to the volume of customers that frequented the shop and had previously booked a charter not knowing who they were booking on with and having an underwhelming experience due to various factors. ... Big Cat Reality Swains Trip 2023 Review. by DANE RADOSEVIC; May 10, 2023; 31 min read; Garry with his new PB gt ...
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Swain Reefs. The remote area of the Swain Reefs has around 1,000 coral reefs within its boundaries and is located 120 nautical miles from our departure point in the port of Gladstone where you are able to fish the reef all year round. The trip can take a minimum of 12 - 15 hours travel time weather dependent (overnight from the port of ...
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Experience the Reef
Experience Reef fishing at it's Best. Come aboard the luxurious "MV Night Crossing" for a 6 day Live-aboard Offshore Reef Fishing Charter. Departs from Gladstone Qld every Friday afternoon. Enjoy the remoteness of the Swain Reefs -Travel 120 nautical miles off shore overnight and then arrive to fish the outer Great Barrier Reef from one ...
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Double droppers and big hooks loaded with squid or mullet were the normal rigs used to tempt the various reef species the inhabited the shallow coral bombies. These old stories came flooding back when I received the news that I was invited to join the crew from Wilson Fishing on a Swain Reefs trip aboard a trip of a lifetime with Big Cat ...
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Boat Charter to Swains Reef. If you have always dreamed of taking the fishing trip of a lifetime, you should consider a boat charter to Swains Reef. Commonly referred to as "Fishing the Swains" it is one of those trips of a lifetime. Many anglers feel that you are not a real saltwater angler if you never "Fish the Swains."
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Departure Date: 3rd June 2023. Return Date: 10th June 2023. Nights: 6. Diver Price: $3,500 per person. Contact: [email protected]. DETAILS: Cost: $3,500 per person - $1,000 upfront deposit (non refundable) 7 day trip to the Swains group of reefs is located 120 nm north east of Gladstone. And spans from as far south as Hixon Cay all ...
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SWAINS CAY LODGE
Service. 4.8. Value. 4.7. Swain's Cay Lodge is the perfect island retreat on Mangrove Cay, Andros Island, only a a 20 minute flight from Nassau. Newly built in 2009, Swain's Cay is located on the beach. Kayaks and bikes are available for guest use to explore the island, our bonefish flat, reefs and blue-holes. The ideal location for the world's ...
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Swain Reefs. Enjoy a trip with your mates and partners to these remote reefs and coral cays located 120 nautical miles from Gladstone in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. You can explore both deep and reef edge fishing, and it is an ideal location for all fishers. This remote reef system offers up some great varieties of fish from coral trout ...
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Most of the trips available for people to join are 8 days (7 nights) to the Swain Reefs. Joining a Group Charters is an opportunity for individuals or small groups to visit the Swain Reefs for a wide variety of fishing out of the tenders or off the Eastern Voyager. The price shown may vary depending on group numbers.
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Gladstone Fishing Charters
FISH THE SWAINS!!!! - Swains Reef Charters aboard the Australiana. Australiana offer 7 - 10 day fishing charters for group bookings of up to 14 guests, departing from Gladstone Quensland to the Swains Reefs. The Australiana is also available for charter anywhere along the Qld coast!! Owned and operated By Michael and Helen Ross.
Tackle and gear to take on a 7 days Swains Trip
I am heading out on the 2 June for a 7 day swains, the cost is $2300 but you take your own tackle. I have been advised to take the following. 30 x 8 oz + 30 x 10 oz + 20 x 12 oz snapper leads and 25 x 8 ball and 25 x 10 ball.....50 x 8O hooks and 100 6O hooks..... Has anyone been on a trip like this? And what sort of tackle did you go through????
Swains Fishing 2021
Highlight video of our annual fishing trip to Swains. Some good fish, a couple of broken rods, predominantly good weather.Footage includes largest squid I've...
Swains Cay Lodge, Bahamas
May 03, 23. SWAINS CAY LODGE, BAHAMAS CLIENT TRIP REPORT. We just received a glowing trip report from Swain's Cay Lodge on Andros Island in the Bahamas. Swain's Cay Lodge is a full-service bonefishing operation and beach resort ideally situated and built to cater to anglers, non-anglers, families and couples. Located on one of the nicest ...
The sleeper train that's a wild ride to another world
Railway enthusiast Will Swain travels on the train at least once a year and planned to propose to his girlfriend Chloe Beckett on this trip. However, as Beckett explains, happy to tell the tale of ...
Live updates: Myers Park vs. Independence, Bank of America Stadium
Swain County (11-2) at Charlotte Country Day (4-7), 7 p.m. — The Maroon Devils pummeled Charlotte Country Day 34-0 last year in Bryson City and will make the 200-mile trip to south Charlotte for ...