We woke up bright and drove to Batemans Bay to board our charted boat from Topcat Charters. After stocking up on coffee and some snacks from a local bakery, we parked our car near the pier and met up with our guide/captain/fisherman of the day, Anthony.
When Muffin’s parents finally arrive, we boarded our catamaran and set off.
Our chartered boat leaves Batemans Bay
It was a bumpy ride heading out to sea … Anthony prepared some trawls and we sailed around. Quite suddenly one of the reels bent and we stopped the boat and reeled the other rods up. Anthony saw that a kingfish was pulling at the end of the line … fortunately for the fish, it had managed to escape …
We decided to try our luck in the reef instead, and headed towards the shoreline. When we anchored, Anthony handed out some rods and most of us had a go … It didn’t take long before we felt some nibbles and strong tugs …
We landed a snapper …
Snapper from the reef
We had to throw back a grunting gurnard, because it was too pretty to be eaten …
A colourful gurnard that grunts
We kept a morwong because it looked like the type of fish that you’d eat …
Looks edible …
After having our fill of small reef fishes, we decided to head out towards the sea for more game fishing. On the way, we met several seals, and some whales!
We were soon out in the sea, and the waves were much more choppier. Anthony set up the rods and we started trawling again. We managed to get two tunas (an albacore and a skipjack)!
Once we headed back, Anthony gutted/cleaned/scaled our fish, which we took back for dinner, and even managed to save some for later.
In all, we had a fantastic experience, though I think I still prefer getting my fish from the fishmongers …