Page 69 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine

Minjaia’s children with a mix of reds. Ryan Moody held a spanish mackerel.
Female anglers right in the picture to catch fish
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mation in it, it’s hard to take it all in at one time.
the Cassowary Coast Boab Boats franchise, Great Barrier Fishing and Island Tours, Port of Call Fishing and Boating Supplies and a pontoon at Cardwell – learning on-line was a great and very convenient attraction.
ing up that you have now. I was a bit old school on the equipment, but I have learnt quite a bit from Ryan. He knows his stuff and you can understand what he’s talking about. He’s good at explaining things.”
“My favourite part was learning to watch the water and its lines – you learn a lot about how to read what you’re looking at,” she said. “With my first boat, I didn’t want my son to grow up in front of computer games - so we would just go out and bumble along. We would catch catfish, and all the other crap fish. But once I started doing the courses, I started catching some decent fish.
A North Queenslander who spent a substantial part of her life on a fish- ing boat in the Torres Strait islands, fishing “has always been in my blood”. Four hire boats are in her fleet – from a 4.2m tinnie to a 6m centre cab and two charter boats.
For Annette, nannygai are her fa- vourite species at the moment, but she also loves tracking down coral trout and going game fishing. “We go in the billfish tournaments up here every year. We got champion boat for under 7.5m last year with Innisfail Gamefish Club, the year before I was runner-up in the female class, and in the 2015 Cairns Blue- water comp I got champion female.”
“I struggled to pay for the courses as a single mum, but it was so worth the money to learn and then go out and catch decent fish. I’ve done all the other ones as well – wonky holes and fingermark, threadfin and sounder skills. I don’t do too badly when I go out now,” she said.
“I watched a lot of Ryan’s YouTube videos which were really helpful. I loved looking at how he sets up mackerel rigs,” Annette said. “He explains things really well and I really like his leader knots.
“Yes, I do like chasing the marlin, the reef fishing and mackerel.” And what about her husband David? “Oh yes, he helps a bit,” she said.
“I am doing the sounder skills be- cause we didn’t have the gear grow-
But Melissa wasn’t relying on a fishing and sounders course when she caught a monster queenfish one day. “It took my bait then swam straight at the boat, launched itself over the motor, slapped me in the face on the way past, then started thrashing around in the boat with hook, sinker and teeth flying. I had to jump on it and wrangle it bare-handed, while my fishing bud- dy Tracey stood at the front of the boat squealing like a stuck pig... it was hilarious.”
For Annette – after 20 years in the police force and being a tick- eted skipper while simultaneously running fishing charters as well as
Annette Swaine landed a barramundi.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, June 2020 – Page 69
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