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Dec 5 2006

Well it has been a pretty incredible season. Sitting here looking back at what will go down as one of the best seasons for BIG fish I can remember. "TRADITION" with my crew of Glenn Hillier, Brett Chain, Bennett Griffin, Frankie Marion and Paul Sharpe experienced some of the roughest weather and finest fishing imaginable!!!

We tagged 40% more fish than 2005, and of these 10 were over 900 lbs, 5 of these over 1000lbs, and 1 over 1200 lbs all tagged. We had a double header bite with Greg in early Nov up on #10 ribbon that saw us catch the little one- she was 800 lbs!! I came up the ledge at Heartbreak Ridge where I marked 2 fish 140 feet down in 220 foot of water. I called to the boys to get ready , and as everyone on board was watching the big bait, up she came. 4 foot deep body out of the water down to her belly, and a 2 foot dorsal on top. She ate the scaley and we stopped the boat to give her time to get it down. This was the one we wanted, no question the biggest fish I have seen since fishing with Muddy up here many years ago.

I called down to Frankie to get the scad out of the water, as he wound it in as fast as he could it came tight and started pulling off drag at 45 lbs. I pushed the throttles into gear and waited to come tight on the big bait. The call was to cut off the scad rod once we came tight. I didnt want a double header with this thing on the right!!! As we went forward and wound up to come tight, the small fish on the left just kept taking line. Then heartbreak, the big bait came skipping back to the surface with no giant fish attached to it. Huge bummer, oh well we can go catch the little one and then come back and try to get another bite from the big fish.

The little fish came climbing out of the water, all 800 lbs of her. Frankie (wearing the PESCADOR camo shirt) hit her with the tag and we cut her off to keep going about her life. I then spent the next 2 days looking for the big fish but no go.But we did get Greg 3 fish on the last day, including a real nice 900 lber.

Manly and John joined us for 5 days , the first few watching the boys around us catchign huge fish while we played with the little ones. Saw an 1108 lbs , 1040 lbs gaffed and several others over 1000 lbs tagged in these few days. Tired of watching and not catching i went back to the top of # 10 Ribbon and camped out waiting my turn all by ourselves. We were rewarded with a nice fish of 500 lbs for John, and spent 2 hours later that afternoon at full drag for a nice 900 lb fish for Manly that spat the bait back to us 20 feet from the leader. She put on an incredible show at the back of the boat with us in hot pursuit.

Frankie flew back to the real world of high fashion designer and manfacturer www.pescadorbrand.com and Paul "Kiwi" Sharpe (fresh from a stint on the Tysons Pride in St Thomas) joined Glenn on the deck for the rest of the season. Pauls buddies from NZ joined us for a few days with a couple of hot 600 lb fish and nice weather for a change!!!

We then spent a week on the Atlantic Princess with the Square Bear with Capt Sparrow at the helm to fish our buddies from the Gulf Coast. We had Ron, Terry and Kane with us and managed to release 7 fish in 7 days, the biggest of which was a hot 650 lber for Kane. We fought 4 nice big fish during the week and managed to have them all come unstuck at inopertune times!!! A couple were real nice ones.

Last trip of the season was Neil and Peter from Melbourne joining us again. We had a few bites and managed to catch one good fish while missing a few small ones. We watched a few nice ones get caught right next to us , and even baited a few good fish but to no avail.

Overall an incredible season with lots of wind (will it ever stop?) but also a very large number of huge fish seen and caught. I think there would have been over 100 fish over 1000 lbs released, and a handful weighed this year, including : 1040,1084,1091 (Junior World Record) ,1103,1106,1108, 1261 and 1291lb fish.

A lot of my mates saw or fought the biggest fish they have ever seen , and i know of 2 that Laurie Wright caught that he said were the biggest he has seen- and he has done almost 30 seasons off Cairns!!!

cant wait for 2007 to come around and see all our friends back in Australia again, and enjoying the TRADITION and the Great Barrier Reef.

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

November 3 2006

Well, I dont know where to begin!!! Other than the delay for the update can be blamed on Telstras absolutely crappy service!!

Last report was Kens first day with a real nice one up on Hicks Reef of 1050 lbs !!!! His week got even better!!! Next day we went back to the same area and did not see a fish, so back to No: 10 Ribbon on day 3 were we fished Heartbreak and let a really nice one go at 1200 lbs!! our second grander in 3 days, and our 5th bite in a row over 1000 lbs. This was Kens' 5th grander, 3 in Madiera and 2 on TRADITION. Day 4 we had a little one fall off, to keep our big fish record in tack!!! Late starts on the Bali Hai, gave us a bit of time to get some chores done each morning, and Benny and I even went to the top of Cooks Look on Lizard Island for a great view.

With the bite on, I have a note in my diary saying that "this could be the greatest day in history on the reef!!!" The last few days nearly ever boat was encountering BIG fish. Our turn was to come!!! TRADITION went back to the same area and again came home with the results, we tagged an 1100 lber for Ken, his 3rd of the trip over 1000 lbs, and also tagged a 250 lb fish at the end of the day out of 5 bites and 4 on. What a big night on the Bali Hai. Last day of Kens trip we tagged a 300 and 550 lb hot fish, to finish his 6 days with 3 over 1000 lbs, and 3 other fish. The boys did an exceptional job as usual, getting some of the biggest jumps and hardest pulls on the wire. The weather was crap, so the pit was nearly always full off water fighting these big fish.

This last 7 days our good friend Greg was back with his family out of the Lodge at Lizard Island. They had lots of guests with them so we were put to the test to catch lots of fish!!! Day 1 we did squat!!! Did not even see a fish, biut at least it was getting flatter. Next day we fished /Heartbreak and had 6 bites, 5 after 5pm, and broke the swivel on one about 900 lbs, not a good start to the trip!! But it was 5 knots, so who is complaining.

Things got better for us the next day, with 5 bites and 3 tags on a 400, 800, and really hot 900 lb fish. The 800 came from a double header, it was a sneak attack on the scad that no one saw!! We were all watching this beast try to eat the scaley and were winding up the scad when it came tight. I was ready to call the boys to cut it off when the big fish did not come tight. Probably a good thing as it turned into an 800 lber!!!. The one we missed was the biggest fish we have seen all season, and the damn thing didnt come tight!!!! Next day we got a nice 700 lber for one of Gregs guests and in about 10 minutes, so she was pretty hot on the wire!!! Followed that with a couple of 400's the next day and everyone was pretty stoked!!!. Day 6 we got only one bite, but it was the right one , a really hot fish of 900 lb that had us tearing all over the ocean, and giving Glenn a really hard time with huge jumps on the wire. Today was our last day with Greg, and we fought a real big fish in the morning for about 15 minutes before the hook fell out!!! bummer.

So we finished Gregs trip with 7 fish in 7 days, half of which were all nice big fish!!!

Off to Cooktown tomorrow, and then start our next trip on sunday morning.

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

Lizard Island Tournament 2006

We fished 3 guys from South Africa, who were here with 2 other teams fishing on different boats. The week was over all slow, with flashes of brilliance!!. Fishing for us was a little different to the last few weeks, with only a few fish being seen, in periods of days. Many great captains did not even see a fish all week, and were confined to be spectators. We started off like this, and then moved into the other category!! Young Clifford was winding in a skipjack at the bottom of #6 Ribbon when it started to head out to sea, a rather unusual direction for a bait!! Then when it jumped, things got a bit more serious. After a fight of about 15 minutes and some pretty hard boat driving and incredible downsea jumps we tagged the fish - about 500lbs on 30lb line and Clifford's biggest fish!!!

Next few days were slow and we headed to Lena Reef, where the big ones were being caught. Bait fishing in the mornings was getting hard, we kept catching little blacks instead!!! Tagging a couple over successive days on 16 lb test. A few good swims , one with a huge cod, the biggest I have ever seen (could have swum inside his mouth he was that big) Benny wouldn't go inside the cave!!! the wuss!!

Days 5 of the Tournament and Mauna Kea with Cory at the wheel who was not fishing the comp comes out, does a downsea tack through the fleet and gaffs a 1261 lb black- the biggest by far for the season, to follow up on his 1084 the day before. We watched a few other big fish get caught next to us, and missed a 600lb fish. Late in the afternoon the tunas popped up in the opening and we were attacked by a real big fish that put on a hell of a show for Viking 11 and Square Bear to watch as we chased this thing for about 5 minutes. With no question to its size, the gaffs were out and off we went trying to get her. About 45 minutes in, the double was on and off the reel, but she would not pop no matter what I tried, and then at 90 minutes after pulling off a bunch of line we broke line on a fish about 1050-1100lb. The guys on the other boats got some great photos and said she was hooked in the dorsal, so thats why she wouldnt lead. Garth did a great job in the chair, and has a new respect for how hard these fish can pull !!!

Last day of the Tournament and we fished down #10 to our usual spots and were rewarded with another big fish bite at 2nd corner, and a much bigger fish than at Lena. After 40 minutes Benny had her on the leader, and was still a bit deep for a gaff shot, and Glenn has some long arms!!! So with the release done, we set off to finish the fight for Avery. Unfortunately with the fish 50 foot from the boat the sharks finished her off before we could get her. Totally devastated was the Capt and crew, and we hung our heads and headed home for the dinner with our friends.

Oct 21: First day with Ken, back for another year with us on the Bali Hai. With the wind still blowing, we headed up to Day and Hicks Reef for some respite from the weather. heading downsea on Hicks we got climbed on again!! After 15 minutes of great jumps and watching one of the finest anglers in the world, Benny put the tag in as Glenn got some big jumps and pulls on the wire. We called her 1050lbs, and put the baits back out!!! An exceptional fish that capped off a wild few days on Tradition. 3 fish over 1000lbs on in 4 days!!!

Back to the mothership for drinks and a fine seafood dinner!! Cant wait to go tomorrow!!

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

Oct 13 2006

Another great week of fishing on TRADITION, with 9 fish in 7 days, including another 950 lb fish for Matthew, his first big fish. Fished No:10 Ribbon Reef for most of the week, seeing 3-6 fish per day, and having a shot at one over 600 nearly every day. We had a couple of big fish fall off at the back of the boat, but thats fishing.

Has been very windy, so we stayed behind Lizard each night so we could enjoy the fresh coral trout, prawns and Moreton Bay Bgs!!! With mangoes for desert every night!!.

Our guests had a ball light tackle fishing in the mornings, and the girls Libby and Candy got stuck right in there catching plent y of scaleys for us to use in the afternoons.

Yesterday on No: 7 we tagged 2 fish, about 300-400 and had a shot at really big one, that dropped the bait. A really nice fish that would have gone easily. Peter caught his best fish with us, and are so excited they have already booked for next season over dinner in Cooktown last night. Back out tomorrow, 2 days fishing till the Lizard Island Comp strats for 7 days.

With the water still cold, the spawn may be late and should continue well into December this season. I have 2 openings from Nov 23 onwards.

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

Oct 4 2006

WOW, what a week of fishing TRADITION has had the last 4 days. Pretty much the best fishing of my life driving a boat.

First day on Linden Bank, I raised 8 fish, had 5 bites and jumped off a 400 lb fish, and tagged a 550, 900 and finished the day with one I called 1050, a big heavy solid fish in horrible conditions. The boys got worked, the boat was totally full of water and still going hard after her with the leader just out of reach. Great video from the tower and a great day in anyones book.

Next day we fished from Spur up to Opal and missed a nice fish around 700, and played with a big hammerhead for a bit.

The third day we fished up to Ruby Reef, and pulled off a fish on a Wombat after 10 minutes outside the Agincourts, and put the baits in at Escape Reef, where we got a 600 and later up in the shallows on Ruby tagged a stubborn fish of 650. The wind is still howling, at 25 knots, but it has been the same for 2 weeks straight.

Last day today we raised a nice fish around 700 that just could commit!! and that was about all we did today. So in 4 days we tagged 5 fish and all really nice ones.

Out again tomorrow, well we are everyday till Nov 23 at the moment!!!

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

Oct 1 2006

After a slow week us for the 40th, we jumped off 4 fish and saw quite a few more. Our anglers from the NT were blown away, and are coming back next year, a little later in the season when the weather will hopefully be a bit better. Top boat had 9, 8 and 6 for third, mostly small fish, but a few nice ones in there.

Today we fished and raised about 8, jumped off 2, and tagged a 550, 900 and one about 1050 at the end of the day.

Sept 25 2006

Just finished our first 5 days heavy tackle for 2006: Fished Anthony and the biys from Sydney for 4 days.

Tagged 2 fish in 4 days , of course the ones we tagged were 250 and 450lbs, whilst we jumped off a couple around 500lbs. And broke wire on a tailwraped fish after Anthony did a great job in the chair for 45 minutes. We also raised a real nice fish around 1000lbs that followed us for about 10 minutes but could not get her excited enough to eat. Yesterday we fished a group from Fosters Brewery and had a great day!!!

Raised 10 fish, had 5 bites, jumped off 2 fish around 500 lbs, missed a couple of little ones, and tagged nice fish of 900lbs that stayed on top and just jumped all over the ocean and gave Glenn a big pull on the wire. A great day and tomorrow is the first day of the Cairns 40th. 4 days and 60 boats, should be a zoo out there!!!

August 2006

Well its been a big month, finished my MED 2 ticket in Cairns (Marine Engine Driver grade 2) which now means that I can legally do exactly the same things on my boat I have been doing forever!!!

But did learn a lot about things that I have not had much exposure too. Learned how to weld and cut, but probably not a good idea to try it on a foam boat!!!

Fished some light tackle trips out of Cairns the end of August catching a couple a day, whilst in Townsville Capt Jim on REEL CHASE tagged 125 in about 10 days!!! he had all of his bosses clients on board, I tried to find some anglers but everyone was busy. Average days were 10 fish!!! high was 17 and 19 in one day.

Glen and I came down scad fishing from Cairns and then fished Cape Bowling Green with Jim on Wednesday, Brett and Andy from Tassie tagged 3 from 5 , whilst Jim got 2. The moon was making and really affecting the fish.

Just finished the Townsville Light Tackle (12lb line) fished 4 days as the first was blown out. TRADITION was a corporate boat for the main sponsor Gilbert Group who are big in mining hydaulics and equipment. We had a boat load of guys each day, and fishing IGFA rules with circle hooks was very frustrating, we raise a ton of fish and managed to loose enough that we would have been in the running. Did end up with 3 and 2 the next day, and yesterday had 2 bites , and raised 7 that would not eat a pitched livie!!! very frustrating.

Jim won with 17 fish for 4 days, with his same team as every year.

If anyone wants to charter us for next year, please let me know!! I know we see as many as the best , but dont have the anglers that will listen to the boys who did a great job as usual. Did manage to get a tag out of a fish, and wating to hear whose it was.

Heading up to Cardwell/Hinchinbrook for a 3 day tournament starting Saturday.

Fiji, Gold Coast to Cairns

Hi everyone, been a busy time, with the trip to Fiji on Megumi with Capt Greg Edwards and Jack, here are a few more pics:

Did the trip up the coast from the Gold Coast to Cairns, spending about 5 days onthe Swains Reefs catching sail, coral trout, and plenty of scaley mackeral for the Cairns season (baits) more big spanish mackeral than you can handle. Most were 30-40 lb fish with a couple up over 60lbs. My poor anglers got no rest, except for the quiet periods between reefs. About 30 minutes of rest and solid hookups all over again.

Ran into the Whitsundays for a few days and then up to Cape Bowling Green for a session on the little blacks. I traded in the 20 and 30 lb outfits and put out a spread of 12lb TLD's and 4 little lures. I fished the afternoon for about 3 hours and tagged 3 from 5 30-50lb blacks , with the other 2 breaking line on doubles and tripples. With only 1 angler and 25 knots, was a bit hard to reall capitalise on our bites.

Stayed the night at Cape Bowling Green, and with the wind increasing , only fished for a couple of hours, catching a ton of BIG bonitos on 12 lb. Ran into Townsville for the night and headed up to Hinchinbrook Island for a nice couple of days putting in the lee of this World Heritage listed island. From Hinchinbrook Island we bottom fished and speared in beautiful conditions for 2 days and then ran into Cairns.

The last 3 weeks I have been doing my MED 1 ticket (Marine Engine Driver) to satisfy the powers that be. One more week to go , and then back to some day trips and light tackle.

I have some time open before and after the Townsville Tournament, and fishing has not let off in the last few weeks. 4-8 fish per boat per day. Come on up and fish 12lb, fly, what ever you like!!! The trip after Townsville is not yet confirmed, so I can either fish little blacks , or take you out to Flinders Reef (as in the latest Bluewater Magazine) We spent a week there last year and had incredible fishing.

August 19-31 - Cairns or Townsville Light Tackle
Sept 8-15 - Townsville to Innisfail area, even out to Flinders Reef Light tackle
Sept 18-23 - Innisfail to Cairns Heavy Tackle
Nov 10-15 - start and finish Cooktown Heavy Tackle
Nov 23 onwards - Start Cooktown Heavy Tackle

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

Fiji Trip 2006 on Megumi

Leaving the Gold Coast on the 25th of May 2006 we headed up to the Brisbane port of Manly to clear Customs and Immigration for the trip to Fiji.

Aboard hull no: 9, the 44’ Assegai “Megumi” belonging to Garth and Maggie from Fiji. Captained by Greg Edwards, who built and ran the first Assegai from way back in 1992. Greg and I have fished together for many years all over the world, from Lizard Island, to the Bahamas and Caribbean, to a season in Bermuda. He asked me to join him on this trip and I jumped at the chance to go somewhere new and exciting. Also on the trip is one of Greg’s friends Jack, also from the Gold Coast. New to long trips, Jack was going to get the short course in delivery trips!!!

Clearing customs and immigration took a couple of hours, and we were out over South Passage bar around 5 pm and on our way to New Caledonia. A trip of around 780 miles of open ocean. We had been delayed a couple of weeks getting the boat finalized and also waiting for the next weather window to open. With 5-10 knots forecast by www.bouyweather.com, we were about 4 days from Noumea at 800 rpm, about 8 knots. The perfect trolling speed!!!

Jack had to come on the trip as damned if I was going to wind anything in!!! And it was a good thing he came, first day out we caught a 300 lb mako shark on a lure and missed a nice blue marlin late in the afternoon. One of the problems heading this way is that you have to pass over the Capel Bank, about half way across, this huge seamount comes out of 4000 meters of water up to 50 meters!!! 40 miles out from the bank we had new 3 foot SE swell, but only 5 knots of wind. Jack had to get back in the chair as we now had a 70 lb wahoo to contend with. On the NE side of Capel Bank, as the depth started to drop off a nice 400lb black marlin ate Lumo and put on a good show before swimming off with a nice new TBF tag in the shoulder. Next afternoon about 200 miles out of Noumea, the capitol of New Caledonia, Jack wound in a nice 60lb short bill spearfish which also ended up with a new tag in his shoulder.

This spearfish is the third of these in my career, Greg has only ever caught one up to this one, Jack was a little surprised by his range of species, and the last morning we caught a nice dolphin to round out the trip. 800 miles, 4 days, 2000 liters, a mako, blue marlin, short bill, big wahoo and dolphin – a pretty good result.

Port Moselle is the main town of Noumea, and the port for arriving and clearing. Unlike most places in the Atlantic I have been, there is no charge to clear, and takes about 2 hours of lots of forms, but super friendly and so obliging. And our French is lousy!!! Dockage the first day is free, and only about AU $30 per day.

The constant rain and warm climate make for the greenest mountain sides and valleys. It reminded me of parts of Hawaii, with big mountains running down valleys into the reef surrounded islands. The towns cover the hills and are very much like Bermuda, with lots of styles of houses, buildings and apartments taking advantage of the views.

We had a nice meal out, as our food was all locked up by quarantine till we left in a couple of days!! The morning of the 30th found us wandering around the covered market next door to the marina, and the choice of fresh produce and seafood was vast. We loaded up on fruit and veggies, and a nice kilo of fresh green prawns for dinner.

Along walk through town, lots of cool shops, parks and old buildings dating back to the original French colonial days. The hospital dates back to the mid 1800’s, and looks about the same on the outside!!! We all headed to the shipping port to clear out for the following morning. Then on the way back we saw a huge French cable laying ship and a Japanese long liner taking on about 60000 liters. The good thing is that the fuel is duty free, which makes it about AU$1 per liter. We got our paperwork for the duty free fuel so we can fill up in the morning on the way out of town.

The supermarket Casino Johnston is typical European, beautiful fresh produce, lots of variety from all over the world, and they takes cash from Australia, New Zealand, the US and of course French francs. The deli was like being back in Paris, more cheese types than you can imagine, deli meats and fresh produces. The meat counter was also about 40 foot long with some of the finest aged meat I have ever seen. We just don’t get the same range at our supermarkets. And of course we bought some fresh baguettes for lunch with our new shopping goods.

The rain of the last couple of days eased up and the sky was clearing at last allowing the true colors and beauty of Noumea to shine in the afternoon light. Up early on the 31st, more prawns needed to survive the day from the market. After waiting a couple of hours for the fuel tanker to come and refill the tank we emptied half way through refueling, we were on our way south around the bottom of the island to Port de Goro, a beautiful mountain sided bay behind the outer reef on the SE side of New Caledonia. After some prawns and fresh bread we watched the moon rise for the first time of the trip. While the SE swell broke powerfully on the outer reef passes. With high expectations of surf the next morning we were all excited about the morning.

Of course we should have been there yesterday!!!! The swell had dropped and did not have the size of the previous night, so off we trolled to the island of Mare, the second largest of the Loyalty Islands about 60 miles to the NE of Port de Goro. We anchored the “Megumi” in Baie du Nord in 20 meters of crystal clear 26 degree Celsius sand covered water. Jack and I had a swim and watched a movie after dinner.

We had snorkel up in the shallows amongst the sandstone cliffs and then trolled off to the NE corner of the island to Cap Roussin. Greg dropped Jack and me in for a spear and although I only saw one coral trout, the reef structure is exactly like the out reef off Lizard Island, steep shelves of plate corals and reef fish such as parrots and fusiliers, and of course the main predator of the reef, the white tip shark. The point here is on front of a big lagoon and white sandy beach that is possible to get the boat behind and hang out for a day or two. The surf potential here looked really good with a perfectly formed left and right that only needed some more swell. A big southerly swell would be perfect here as it faces NE, so the trade winds would be offshore.

Then back to more trolling for the day and into the night to arrive at Tanna. At Sulphur Bay on the eastern side of the island before dawn to watch the volcano Mt Yasur erupting up from lush undisturbed rainforest and native tribes living on the island. Once light we anchored in Port Resolution and watched the steam vents rising from the sides of the hills and foreshore, bubbling up boiling water and that never forgotten sulphur smell in the immediate area.

A man in a tribal outrigger canoe came out to great us and us in to see his village of Irepuow and get the full tour. We met Stanley in the village and he went off to see if it was possible to get transport to Mt Yasur while Sam showed us all around the village and over to the White sand beach. 2.5 km of sand beach with reef break surf all along. Huge stands of pandanus trees line the paths and foreshore.

The tribe had a big week coming up with a big ceremony on the Wednesday for 3 boys to become men. When the boys are 10 they spend two weeks away from school (yea) with an elder before the big ceremony with the whole village which includes circumcision ( owee ). The main thing that struck us all was how clean the village is, the dirt floors and areas around the thatched huts are swept clean and was just beautiful, and the feeling was of total openness and welcome, but it really did feel like you were imposing on their space. You knew you were somewhere special. We could only go to Mt Yasur in the afternoon, and we had to leave for Fiji, so I will have to stay a few days next year and go see the volcano then. We did buy a few things and some fresh fruit from the village store for the next couple of days.

Megumi then set off on the last leg of our trip 340 miles for Fiji. We ran the afternoon and then settled in for the chug. The weather again is beautiful, 5-10 knots of wind and maybe up to 1 meter of swell if that. Early the next morning we caught a tiny little weehoo (small wahoo) and got some good shots of the color of the stripes on him.

Later that afternoon we tagged another shortbill for Jack about 200 miles out, and in the evening about 180 miles out Greg tagged a 50 lb shortbill on 30 whilst another one was free swimming around the boat wondering what had happened to his buddy. We saw more boats today than any other, 2 longliners about 150 and 200 miles out from Fiji. Later in the week we met the guy who owns the longliner fleet in Fiji, he has 16 all on Asian boats, that most target tuna for 3 weeks a month, and swordfish the week around the moon, most swordies they get are the pinkies. All these vessels are working outside Fijian waters, so out on the high seas. That was the last fish of the delivery, and we chugged the last night having a big roast rack of lamb and veggies in nice conditions.

6am on the 4th June saw us about 50 miles out and off we went at 25 knots heading for Fiji. Most places we have traveled too, you don’t see land till about 15-20 miles out, and in Fiji the islands are visible from at least 40. At least you know you found the right place!!!

Ran in between the islands of Tavarua and Noumoto, two of the most famous surf places on the planet. No surf there as we can through due to lack of swell, which we like for traveling. Now we are here it can blow or have huge swell now!!!

Spent a few days driving around Nadi and up into the hills etc, rugged mountains, wild sugar cane on the hills and a lot of subsistence living. Fiji has a split population of half Fijians, and half Indians, which creates a lot of problems, but also some pretty good food.

Greg and I went up to the resort at Yasawa, which the boats owners own. We each had our own bungalow, bigger than most apartments, which go for about US$1000 a night, and checked out the boats and watersports side of the resort for the owners. Spent a bunch of time in the water snorkeling in the cold winter waters of the South Pacific. It was 27.5-28 Celsius. Big potential for fishing which Greg is going to be exploring in the next few months. The locals fish from long boats or pangas and seem to do pretty well without going out to the edge and seamounts.

The food was exceptional, and most of the guests there had also been to Lizard Island, so it was easy to compare the two. Last day in Fiji after flying home from the resort we took the Megumi out to Tavarua and Noumoto Islands to look for some surf. Cloudbreak was the only wave at Tavarua, and is only for the surf resort there, so we were not able to get in the water. We putted over to the outside of Noumoto and had a couple of hours in the water with only us form our boat out. Not epic surf, but fun head high in crystal clear water and a nice soft reef below.

And today I jumped on the Air Pacific flight direct to Brisbane to go back to work on my boat, with a couple of weeks to finish a few jobs and off to Cairns. Still have a couple of openings so let me know if you want to join me.

Tim

www.TraditionCharters.com

COURAN COVE 2006......What a hoot !!

Firstly, i must thank Peter Hargreaves, tourney director of Couran Cove again this year. This guy works trielessly, along with rest of committee, Mike Clare,his son Peter, Peter Pakula, Matt Gross, Brett Clarke,John Norling and Mark Ward to drive this thing and help make it one of the most fun and friendliest tourneys around. We arrived at Runaway Bay marina to be met by Tim Richardson who was driving his baby TRADITION up to Couran Cove so us southerners could fish in comfort for a change

So, my family, reds family, Leon and Josh all invade tradition and we are off. FOr those that have not fished on or been on TRADITION before, this boat is one very practical, yet very stylish, and very very comfy vessell. Tim, as a bloke is as nice as they come and always eager to help people achieve thier fishing goals with a world of experience.

The resort, was again just pure excellence !! I cant remember ever going to a place where EVERY member of staff right down to the janitors offer to help you if you need ANYTHING whatsoever. Fishing on tradition had its bonuses.

bonus #1 was we could consume copious quantities of alcohol and still crawl outta bed in the morning and get more sleep during the day if needed. bonus #2 We didnt get we AT ALL this year even in rain squalls........lol Bonus #3 We have a great kitchen which was great in dealing with sore heads with fresh fruit platters for morning tea, Platters of king prawns, along with a variety of fresh meat cuts like Turkey,smoked ham,silverside,chicken etc and salads, avocados etc for lunches and lovely champagne and cheese platters back at the dock in the late arvo...YUM!!

Oh, We always had plenty of liquids on board also.....lol Bonus #4 was the SUPER WINCH !! As marlin fishing was a bit quiet, we opted to fish for other species. And COuran Cove being 'ALL TACKLE ALL SPECIES' we though "why not"........lol As reported by Josh, a very nice Hapuka and a dolly was the result at a time of year not that great for deep sea ooglies.

I must say though, i am more than impressed with Tim's electric reel which is loaded with 200lb braid on what can only be called a SUPER SHORT STROKER fully rollered with all direction roller tip (i love that) We thought that weighing in a fish caught on 200lb braid and and electric reel was not really in the spirit of gamefishing so we didnt weigh our catch..........lol The food put on by couran cove was awesome, the preso night was fantastic with every angler getting prizes.

We then relaxed after the torney for a few more days. The restaurant Cooked our Hapuka for us on monday night in a few different ways which fed 24 with ease. Tues night we dined on the 18kg Dolly that Josh boated for us which was done 3 more different ways with a ripper of a thai fish dish also that was LUSH !

Wednesday My family and Uncle Leon Headed up to WET N WILD WATER PARK which was a great day. We then went back to our great freinds Pete & Jo Pakulas lovely home. Whilst the kids did their best to trash the house, Pete thought it best we hit the seaway for a quick flick in his new Boston Whaler. Well, this boat changed my mind on Centre Consoles(i previously hated them as they are ALL wet )

We scooted out and in less than 3 mins were at the seaway mouth without one drop of water on me or leon even after tacklng cruiser wakes that would have any boat copping some side spray of sorts. We flicked some plastics and slugs and went in seach of schoolin Macks and ended up with a few. We Zoomed back in from a few Km out with a 2m following sea and q little lumpy at times doing a very comfy 25knts, AGAIN without one drop of water anywhere inside the boat or on me.

We arrived Back in Sydney at approx 11.15pm. That was one long day but we certaily got the most out of it. Thanks to all of our great friends up there and others from Victoria that made up our wonderful Crew on TRADITION.(Leon,Josh, Jim and Sharon and kids,Peter and Vicky and kids, Pete and Deena and kids, Red and Lily and kids, I know Tim has us pencilled in for next year again. I cant wait. Its one place i look forward to going to every year. Its a tourney made in paradise. Well done to SPG&SFC and Couran Cove.

changa

ps. Congrats to the winner overall which took out the comp with T&R of what they called 2 sailfish which ended up being spearfish...........lol Funny the winner was a very recent Pakula School student............again.........!!!

March 1 2006

Been a busy few months, getting some things taken care of on the boat, fishing a few days when the weather has allowed and lots of traveling.

Got out a few days in early February, and managed to tag a few black marlin up to 100lbs on 20lb line, lots of fun!!.

Mid Feb saw me head to Florida to catch up with my friends and clients for a few weeks. I headed down to Coast Rica to fish with one of my mates, Jamie, on his 40’ Gamefisherman called “Jungle Rules”. He had the boat meet us up in Guanamar, about 80 miles north of Los Suenos, where the marlin bite had bee consistent. We managed to release 3-4 marlin a day from up to 10 bites , all on circle hook pitch baits. We caught blues, stripes and some big sails, but did not see any blacks. A couple of other boats caught blacks, and one boat raised one over 1000 lbs that did not eat, just swam through the spread back and forth. Another boat fought a black of 700 lb on 30 for about 5 hours before breaking it off at the back of the boat.

Costa Rica is such a beautiful country, I am going back to fish the Guanamar season with Jamie next year Jan to mid Feb 2007 if you want to fish with us let me know.

Back to Florida for the Miami Boat Show. A huge event this year, as Ft Lauderdale was a blow out from the hurricanes in October. The Big Game Room was the place to be, with a bunch of the legends there supporting the Billfish Foundation and the IGFA. All the boys were there from all over the globe, and was great to catch up with everyones news and stories from the year.

Back home and getting the boat ready for the Couran Cove Tournament on Mar 10-12.

Tight Lines,
Tim Richardson

www.TraditionCharters.com

Dec 11 2005

We just finished the trip from Cairns to the Gold Coast, joining Glenn and I were my mentors from previous years on the reef: Capt Greg “Muddy” Edwards from Assegai fame, and his uncle Capt Geoff Ferguson. Geoff is one of the first people I fished with, and is a retired legend of Lizard Island and Cairns. He ran boats such as Cervantes,and Kamari.

We ran from Cairns to Townsville and refueled, then out to one of the not quite secret spots off Townsville. We were anchored up in 200ft of water and waited for the midnight gong to signal start fishing!! With the reef closures in place we had o hang in Cairns for a while so as to be able to catch some fish for the freezer!!

We fished for a couple of hours that night and again in the morning for 4 big coral trout and 12 Red emperors.

Next morning we ran out to the edge of the Swains Reefs and trolled out wide south for the next couple of days. We tagged 2 black marlin the first day, both about 200lb on lures. At 5.30 the next morning we got pounced on by a big black around 700lb, and managed to get a few jumps out of her before the hook fell out. We ran through the Green Zones and continued to fish and spear our way down the Swains in flat calm warm weather. Found some nice spearing at several cays, and managed some nice trout and lobsters for the dinner table yet again!!. From the bottom of the Swains we trolled directly to Lady Musgrave Island, and jumped off a blue around 500lbs in the middle of nowhere.

After a night at LMI we trolled down to the top of Fraser tagging another small black. The water off the top of Fraser was awful, so we ran into Urangan and refueled, then ran south over the next 2 days to the Gold Coast.

Having some time off, and doing some maintenance on the boat over the holidays.

Tight Lines,
Tim Richardson

www.TraditionCharters.com

Dec 1 2005

Our season ended up with half our fish under 400 and the other half over 500lbs, including many 800lb fish and 4 tagged over 900lbs, as well as missing quite a few big fish, and having a few fall off close to the boat. With most of 2006 already booked, it is looking to be a huge season on Tradition.

Nov 20-22 saw a couple of guys from NZ fish with us and we managed to tag a few fish, including the last fish of the season for us at around 950lbs!! Had a bunch of bites down on Linden Bank, which continued into December for those still fishing, with many big fish getting tagged each day.

Nov 18: we fished Steve Gabriel and his family out of Lizard Island, while fishing up the top had been very slow, we managed a nice acrobatic fish around 250lb in some rough conditions

Tight Lines,
Tim Richardson

www.TraditionCharters.com

November 17 2005

Well I finally have a day to catch my breath and get back online with an update from the past couple of weeks.

Oct 28- Nov 3 we had some clients from the US staying onboard the mothership “The Boss” for 7 days. After a late start and bait fishing the first day from Cooktown. The next 6 days we had a bunch of bites form big fish , and missed 3 over 900 for the week. If there was a way to miss a fish, we found it, jumped them off, pulled hooks, fish missing the bait altogether and even broke line on a real big one. A real disappointing result as we were getting more bites every day than most but could not convert for our anglers. Fished a couple of days with Bennett and Eileen, and tagged a nice small fish for Eileen and had some good swims.

Nov 6 – 10 saw Greg and his wife Michelle staying with us on Lizard Island, and after 2 days of not seeing any fish on #10 , the bite was continuing in the middle ribbons. We kidnapped Greg from the Lodge and made the run to #6 where we fished down to #4. The run was worth it as we raised 4 fish and jumped 2 off, all small fish but there were some nice ones caught around us. We ran into Cooktown for the night and had a great meal with our friends from the Reel Chase. The next day saw us full of fuel and fishing began on #3 and then fished our way up to #6 for the run home to Lizard Island. What a great day, we had 6 bites, tagged 2 fish a 350 and a 550 and pulled the hooks on a another 600lb fish at the back of the boat. Greg was super happy and looking forward to seeing his wife with tales of fish. The last day of the charter Michelle came with us as we again ran back to the middle ribbons to try to go one better than yesterday. We fished from #6 down to #4 and back to #7. We jumped off a small fish on the top of #5 and as the afternoon progressed we fished north up the reefs for a shorter run home to Lizard. As we got to the bottom of #7 the scad disappeared in a big swirl and and a really nice fish climbed out of the water at the back of the boat. A tough fight at 75lbs of drag for 35 minutes saw Glen grab the leader , the tag went in and we cut her off. Had an awesome jump on the leader about 10 minutes into the fight, which Michelle was videoing. We ran back to the island for a great seafood buffet and a good nights sleep!!! Greg and Michelle are already planning next years trip to fish with us.

Mike joined us from Charleston and we have spent a nice week relaxing and fishing. After a couple of days spearing and swimming we fished the top of 3/bottom of 4 and out of 5 bites we tagged an 850, a 400 and had a small fish sharked , which we got the tail back from!!!

Fished our way up to Lizard with no bites, but some bottom fishing and lots of snorkelling the GBR.

Tight Lines,
Tim Richardson

www.TraditionCharters.com

Friday October 28 2005

What a week this was, just finshed 6 days on the Bali-Hai, a beautiful 40 year old classic mothership. THe fishing has been incredible this week, with at least 10 fish right around the mark let go, and at least 2 over 1100 tagged as well. We had a mixed bag, jumping off 2 fish over 900 , had a bite from a really big fish that didnt go on with it, saw a another few over 800 and tagged a 600 , and a couple of 400 lb fish with the last 5 minutes of fishing yesterday we got jumped on by a big fish on the scad. As the sun progressed to the horizon, we got at least 10 big jumps at the back of the boat, all on video. After a 25 minute fight with lots of drag we tagged her and called her 950lb. What a way to end a great charter!!! Back out after lunch for the next 7 days, and lots of fish out 30 miles on there way in to the reef.

Tim

Wednesday October 12 2005

Been a bit busy to report as I should have, so here it is tonight as the boys are cooking dinner.

Fished out of Cairns on the weekend of October 1 and 2, fishing was slow, but did stack up on big baits and caught some nice coral trout for dinner.

October 3-7 I fished some good friends from Charleston in the USA, and what a week we had fishing and staying on the mothership.

In 5 days of fishing we had 11 bites, tagged 5 fish and had one over 850 eaten by sharks after about a 90 minute fight with lots of drag. , so there is some great footage to be seen. We had 3 video cameras going at once as this fish took off all over the ocean 3 fish over 800 we jumped off, so ready to come tight on a nice one soon.

Monday was the start of the 19th Lizard Island Tournament, and with 47 boats competing is the largest field ever. The weather was flat calm for the first 2 days, and 18 and 21 fish tagged for the fleet.

Today saw 15-20 knots and expectations were high for a better bite, and it was better, but not yet great!! 31 fish tagged today, with about 5 over 800 tagged today. We have been getting our bites, 2-3 per day and have tagged 2 in 3 days, mostly smaller fish with the odd nice one appearing.

The weather is looking good for fishing till the end of the tournament, with 15-20 knots forecast, fingers crossed the big fish that have been marking on the sounder will come up and bite!!

Tight Lines,

Tim Richardson

Thursday Sept 29 2005

Ran back from Lizard Island today, wind is finally starting to lay down a little bit.

Spent the last 2 days fishing up on No:10 Ribbon Reef where the bite had been a little slower than to the south. We started out with a nice little fish for our angler Amy on her 21st birthday of around 150lbs, and then went to the Cod Hole for lunch and a swim. Back out for the afternoon session and the water looked really good.

Fishing downsea from 2nd corner we raised a nice fish around 5-600 lb that wouldn't eat, and then at the top of No:10 in the opening the big scaley mackerel disappeared in a big hole at around 4pm.

The 20/0 cirlce hook found its mark and the fish didn't jump, just headed back in towards the reef!!!

A bit more drag and the big girl new she was hooked and made a big jump as she headed out to sea. Amy brother Daniel did a great job in the chair for the first time, and after about 35 minutes alan pulled her up for Glen to get a perfect tag shot in the shoulder. Just about to cut her off, she bolted for the horizon, and off TRADITION went hard after her.

A bit more drag and she came up jumping, we shot back grabbed the leader again and cut her off. I called her 950 lbs, a really healthy fat fish , but a tiny bit short to definitely be a GRANDER!!!!.

Ran back to the mothership for a great dinner and lots of looking at the photos from the day.

Wednesday we again spent a couple of hours swimming at the Cod Hole and spent the afternoon down on No: 10 but did not have any bites today.

Today we ran back to Cairns , and are now cleaning up the boat for an overnight trip and then start mothershipping on Monday back up to Lizard Island for the big tournament the week after. The bite has really improved over the last 2 days down here and we will be amongst it hard for the next 2 weeks. Most boats are getting 3-5 bites per day with a few really nice ones starting to make their presence known.

After a cancellation, I am open for October 16-26 inclusive for what is probably the best couple of weeks for the season.

Tight Lines,

Tim Richardson

August 14 2005 - TRADITION CHARTERS TRIP TO CAIRNS

Here is a short wrap up of our first month on the road for the 2005 Cairns/Lizard Island black marlin season.

Tradition left the Gold Coast and ran up to Double Island Point the first day and then up the inside of Fraser Island and anchored at Rooney Point. While anchored in about 15 foot of sand with no wind I was awoken by some loud nasal noises, only to find that they were coming from outside the boa!!! A group of humpbacks were swimming under a full moon about 50 ft behind the boat. Later that night I was again woken by a really loud noise and found a 40 foot or so humpback swimming right under the boat, he did a full lap of the boat with his pectoral fin actually running down under the side of the boat. The moonlight was reflecting off the sand onto the whales glowing white belly, an incredible sight that everyone on board was able to experience.

Trolled pretty much for the next couple of days, with no marlin bites up to Lady Musgrave Island, then to Fitzroy Reef, Heron Island and onto the SW corner of the Swains Reef system. Tradition spent 5 days fishing through the Swains to end up at Hamilton Island.

The Swains were a totally new experience for me, having never been there before and great use of the tuna tower was needed to get in and out of some incredible anchorages inside full circle lagoons surrounded by beautiful reefs.

Lots of scaley mackerel for the freezer for marlin season, plenty of dolphin fish, yellowfin tunas up to 60lbs and plenty of coral trout for the table.

From Hamilton Island we stayed in Nara inlet for the night where a baby porpoise spent 3 hours chasing bait under our big floodlight, another incredible sight for our guests. We ran to Cape Bowling Green where the baby black marlin bite had been consistent for many weeks, only to have the bait disappear for a couple of days. I found the bait and we managed to tagged a few small fish over the next few days.

The Townsville Light Tackle tournament was again a great success, with exceptional organization. Whilst the fishing was a little slow, with 27 boats sharing the same few bait pods and a limited number of hook shy fish. We tagged one fish out of many bites, and caught some nice cobia up to 14kg , all on 6kg line, a great catch for any angler.

A new group joined us in Townsville for the 8 day trip to Cairns. Ran and trolled to Myrmidon Reef the first day, tagging 2 big sails on the way, along with a bunch of big dolphin fish. Trolled to Flinders Reef the next day, had a couple of bites from marlin but did not come tight, and anchored for the night. The Flinders group is about 100 miles NE off Townsville, and is a favourite for scad fishing as it does not get much fishing pressure.

We spent 2 mornings scad fishing, and the rest of the days catching dogtooth tuna up to 100lbs, wahoos, and lots of big coral trout on jigs, handlines and spearfishing. Trolling across the lagoon to NW Reef, we tagged 2 big sails and had a double hookup on dogtooth tuna, one went about 80lb, the other over 100lb. An incredible place for light tackle testing and lure loosing!!!

Headed over to Flora Reef, the southern atoll of the Holmes complex. Arriving at the corner of Flora we were attacked by about 8 wahoo, all over 40lb, leaping out of the water in a race to destroy my 130 tackle that was out for the long troll from Flinders group. We lost 3 really nice lures and a long night rerigging in preparation of our revenge the next morning. We fished 30 lb line and must have released over 20 wahoo up to 50lbsand 5 more dogtooth up to 80lbs. When one wahoo was up to the boat, there were up to 8 more free swimming around the boat eating chunks that we threw to them. The ensuing loss of many poppers and jigs was expensive, but damn it was a lot of fun!!! I have never seen wahoo fishing like this ever before, and that includes San Salvador in the Bahamas, the place to go for big wahoo. I had a guest who fishes the Bahamas for wahoo all the time , and he had never seen them free swimming and jumping out of the water to eat lures. Next year we are taking heaps of poppers and more jigs to donate to the fish gods, what an incredible place and trip.

Ran back to the edge off Cairns , and fished up to Opal Reef with no bites, then on Saturday we fished back south, tagging our first big black for the season, a really nice fat solid fish of 500lb, and had another shot from a small fish about 300lb in the late afternoon before running back to the Cairns Marlin Marina for the week.

Our Season starts full bore on the 24th of Sept, and then fish thru to the end of November. I have had a cancellation in mid/late October, so there is an opportunity to come to the greatest black marlin fishery on the planet, to fish and learn the techniques of using circle hooks on these great fish. Other openings I have are the end of November, and also open for the trip down the coast, and light tackle fishing off Fraser Island in December before coming home for Christmas.

For more updates during the season check out www.TraditionCharters.com or feel free to call me on 0427 758768.

Tight Lines,
Capt Tim Richardson