Wreck Reef in the Coral Sea with Wilson Fishing on board Big Cat Reality Charters
Just got back from an epic Wilson/Venom Tour to Wreck Reef on board BigCat Reality Charters. For those who don’t know, Wreck Reef is located 450km from the QLD coastline in the Coral Sea. It’s a 36 hour steam out to wreck reef and we arrived early Sat morning with no wind and calm seas. This is a self-guided charter so two of the Wilson boats were quickly launched followed by four well equipped tender boats ready for us eager fisherman to go hunting.
The first couple of days we had some great weather and although the fishing was slow all the boats managed some crazy Wahoo action with most fish being landed well over 150cm and 30 plus kg. Derek took the honours of the biggest wahoo which was an absolute beast that went 187cm and an estimated weight of well over 40kg. Other notable fish were loads of Green Jobfish, GTs, Red Bass, Coronation Trout and some monster Coral Trout with Kev catching a thumper 102cm beast. I also managed to catch the biggest GT of the trip with a Zerek Flat shad plastic on a 3oz custom made jig head which I was working in some deeper water.
Day 3 saw us in a new area of wreck reef (Porpose Shoal) with a solid 20knots of wind blowing. Everyone was picking up the odd green jobfish on the troll before Shane nailed a monster Dog tooth tuna on a skipping dead bait. TC in the same boat also caught a nice sailfish on a Zerek Zappelin stick bait which was also another exceptional catch. By late arvo every boat had caught a dog tooth tuna with Steve getting a cracking sized one as well on a yet again a trolled Zerek Zappelin stick bait. We also caught some nice Green jobfish, big wahoo and I also managed a 132cm Yellowfin Tuna.
The following 3 days blew 25 to 30 knots so most of the tender boats stuck close around the reef edges either trolling, popping or chasing trout on soft plastics. The Wilson boat was a centre console around 6mtr so we were lucky that we could still get out and fish in the very ordinary conditions. Although it was extremely wet and hard going we still managed to catch some Amberjack, Gt’s, wahoo and Trout. A couple rough mornings were also spent on the BigCat mothership trolling various areas for Wahoo, Amberjack, Barracuda and a Dogtooth tuna.
We all used a huge range of venom rods over the trip and I have to say credit given where credit is due. They are hands down one of the best brand of rods on the market without a doubt. Whether it was popping, stick baiting, jigging, soft plastics there was a rod to suit every form of fishing and they all performed unbelievably well. The Zerek lures were also outstanding and were put up against many other leading brand lures the entire trip to test them out. They were as good as any other brand and in many cases out fished other brands 10 fold.
I would also like to highly recommend James and his BigCat Reality Charter. I found the operation to be extremely professional, well run and very enjoyable. The effort by the 6 crew members was endless and not to mention very easy to get along with. To run an operation in such remote areas is a huge credit to the team and everything ran like clockwork. Whilst these remote coral sea trips are limited they also run Swains trips and are happy to work in with clients to fish anywhere you want them to. You won’t find another charter operation like it.
Last by not least a huge thanks to Wilson for giving many of us the opportunity of a lifetime to fish such a remote piece of paradise. Kord Lucas, Troy Dixon, John Carmody and James your efforts to organise such a trip was exceptional. Thanks heaps guys.
YouTube highlight clip below
