"Mistress" Cairns Summary and Statistics: Season 2005
A very unusual season. Fish were not prolific but they were big. The season started late and there wasn't much around until the last week of September. The Linden Bank never fired, and nor did #10 Ribbon. It seemed that aggregations of fish would appear off #4 and #5 Ribbons; that it would be one good fish a day for a few days and then go quiet for one or two days. It was very frustrating if you weren't in the right place at the right time.
The location of the fish meant that we and just about everyone else in the fleet did our turnarounds at Cooktown and we didn't come down to Cairns until mid November. This just reinforces the flexibility Cooktown offers.
The weather was fantastic with most days in the 8 to 15 knots region and only one brief period where it got up to 25 knots. That we should be so lucky! To make things even better we didn't get any Northerlies (limited choice of anchorages) and the temperatures were pleasantly, but not excessively warm with relatively low humidity.
Our average weight was estimated at 510lb and this is our highest ever. In previous years it has ranged from 385lb to 461lb. Given that most of the small fish are males one ponders what the implications are for the breeding season? Our biggest fish tagged by Mark Hanson of Brisbane was estimated at 1100lb plus. It was Mark's first time fishing on the GBR and we congratulate him on a great effort.
We used circle hooks again and we continue to improve our success rates. I hope it is because we continue to improve our technique rather than just luck. This year our hookup rate on big baits (Scalys & Tuna) was 86.7% and the Strike to Tag Ratio was 73.3%. This compares to last year's Strike to Tag Ratio of 56.2%. On Scads hookup rate was 77.1% and Strike to Tage Ratio 54.3%. Last year's Strike to Tag Ratio was a neat 50% which we thought was pretty good! Interestingly the average weight on big baits was 544lb and on Scads 418lb. Big fish eat big baits.
Hookup Rates
| |
Strikes |
Hookups |
Tags |
| Big Baits |
15 |
13 |
11 |
| Scaly's / Tuna |
|
86.7% |
73.3% |
| |
|
|
|
| Scads |
35 |
27 |
19 |
| |
|
77.1% |
54.3% |
| 100 to 200lb |
6 |
|
|
| 201 to 300lb |
5 |
|
|
| 301 to 400lb |
4 |
|
|
| 401 to 500lb |
3 |
|
|
| 501 to 600lb |
2 |
|
|
| 601 to 700lb |
4 |
|
|
| 701 to 800lb |
2 |
|
|
| 801 to 900lb |
1 |
|
|
| 901 to 1000lb |
2 |
|
|
| 1000lb plus |
1 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| Sept 16/20 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 24/28 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
| |
|
|
|
| Oct 2/5 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
| 7 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
| 9/15 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
| 17/21 |
8 |
7 |
3 |
| 24/25 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
| 27/31 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
| |
|
|
|
| Nov 2/4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| 14/17 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
| 22/24 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
| |
|
|
|
| Totals |
53 |
45 |
30 |
| |
|
84.9% |
56.6% |
Till next year... tight lines. |
