Abrolhos in big swell
Submitted by gib77 on Thu, 2011-06-16 07:09
Hi, just wondering if people that have been to abrolhos a few times can give me info.
We had made plans for a possible trip leaving gero this monday, looking like we wont be able to go as swell is forecast at 4.9m. Winds looking good, but think thats way too much swell. Taking 20 and 24ft boats. Hopefully we can push trip forward to wednesday as swell is dropping. Whats best weather site for out there?
Cheers
scottnofish
Posts: 1621
Date Joined: 28/08/07
was over there
2 days after a 4 m swell and you couldnt even see the bottm in 3m of water , struggled to land any fish except snapper ,they where like blowies , personally I would not go in more than 2m swell if I go again
hlokk
Posts: 4292
Date Joined: 04/04/08
Have been to the Abrolhos a
Have been to the Abrolhos a fair few times, sometimes in big swell, but being a passenger, not a deckie I was concentrating more on fishing than the swell :p. Pretty sure the inside areas would be fine (I cant ever seem to recall there being swell there). Do remember fishing the outside edges of some of the islands with some big breakers roaring by (few hundred m away at least) and would have been 3m+ (but not sure about 4.9). Obviously this is all on a rather large charter boat with a skipper that knows the area rather well. If you give Craig from saltwater a call today and let him know you're on FW and just wanted a few tips re the swell, i'm sure he'd be able to give you all the info you need.
If you dont know the area though, on a large swell, I would imagine it could be quite dangerous in some areas though (particularly the ones where it may just be the odd boomer set that sneaks in). If in doubt, dont go out.
Pete D
Posts: 1681
Date Joined: 07/06/07
Not alone
Cancelled our trip. Was leaving today
Hoping the stars align in a few more weeks.
Cheers Pete
alfred
Posts: 3097
Date Joined: 12/01/07
Yup, not happy, next time
Yup, not happy, next time maybe we should plan on shorter notice.
poddyfish
Posts: 986
Date Joined: 01/05/07
swell
the big swell dosnt help thats for sure.... been alot of ground swell over there lately aswell which hasnt helped the diving or water clarity. 2.5m and under usually makes for a more enjoyable/fishable trip
With the larger swell it also limits your options on where to fish/dive - wreck point is a very dangerous but at the same time awesome place to witness with anything over 2m of swell out there! one minute your in 50m of water the next your in 15 so you really have to keep your eyes wide open lol.
where about are you thinkin of going? do you have a mooring to stay on? have you been to the abrolhos before? pm if you need any more info
Fear The Spear............!
sunshine
Posts: 2626
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Love Wreck Point
What an awwwwwwesome spot but NOT up close - hell you need to be on the ball when even near this area but does it hold some fish, boils everywhere , I am sure that it MUST hold a huge head of tailor - I know there are plenty of spaniards around as we caught heaps trolling the back of the swells but in a 2 metre swell it was still hairy as hell with the swells standing up out of nowhere - sounding the area is amazing deep water to zero in nothing flat - no wonder the place has been the location of several wrecks
Sunshine
hlokk
Posts: 4292
Date Joined: 04/04/08
Not at wreck point, but on
Not at wreck point, but on the inside of one of the islands with similar features, we had the nose of the boat over the shallows (a few meters deep) and the tail of the boat (or at least the transducer which is near the middle of the boat) in 20m of water. You could see the drop off in only a few meters. Must have been near on a vertical wall. Certainly not a nice feature for swell if you're in a boat (tends to jack up very quickly and very nastily).
On a big swell, wreck point will definitely be off the cards.
sunshine
Posts: 2626
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Yup - the "Hole" in the Southern Group
Think that is what it is called, moored there for several days as a great safe overnight mooring spot. Bow on the coral rubble and stern in 20+ metres - have actually dived it - near vertical but got out real quick when a tiger paid a visit. Sitting of an evening flicking out unweighted tiny pieces of mulie from the back of the boat and catching humungous herring and the occasional large (several kilo.) tailor on fingernail sized offerings - great fun for a safe mooring spot
poddyfish
Posts: 986
Date Joined: 01/05/07
awesome
deffinently some unbelievable ground out there.... found one small channel inbetween islands last trip that you could cast a squid jig across. it dropped vertically into 38m of water! awesome stuff
Fear The Spear............!
hlokk
Posts: 4292
Date Joined: 04/04/08
Speaking of squid, last trip
Speaking of squid, last trip out at the spot I mentioned above, we had spaniards leaping out of the water as they smashed stickbaits, but just before we drifted to the spaniard section, there were packs of northern squid attacking all the stickbaits which was pretty cool. Prerigged squid rod managed to get them of course ;)
poddyfish
Posts: 986
Date Joined: 01/05/07
yum
gotta love that matt! we had waves of squid coming thru where we moored during the evening! made for great entertainment between both boats - plenty of inkings and plenty of fresh squid for a feast back home! bought home more squid then fish almost lol.... not that we didnt catch many fish - all where released but the squid didnt get that same treatment lol
Fear The Spear............!
hlokk
Posts: 4292
Date Joined: 04/04/08
Ended up getting some photos
Ended up getting some photos but they turned out crap (specially as someone somehow flicked my camera to tungsten WB). Got heaps of squid at night. I have some very cool footage I need to get around to uploading where squid are attacking baitfish at night in the light of the back of the boat.
Interestingly, we saw a few species. There was the northern squid (which attacked the lures durign day and hung around at night), I think some southern calamari (but may have been the northerns) and lastly some weird mostly translucent ones which looked a bit like a southern crossed with an arrow squid. They had the flaps 2/3rd of their body (unlike the arrows you get out deep which have them 1/3rd or less), as well as having smaller heads and a slighly bulging (but overall thin and delicate) body. Hmmm.
Fresh fish, crayfish, squid, scallops, how can you complain :D
thesupervisor
Posts: 1136
Date Joined: 10/06/09
been out to abrohlus on rat
been out to abrohlus on rat patrol was 8mtr swell when we left gero
i had a good spewing session on the way over but was fine one we got there
but its a big boat a lots of experiance in the area from the skipp
getting the bottom line final answer from a bunch of blokes that use false names and put smiley faces at the end of paragraphs is not the best place in the world to get the information you seek.
gib77
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 14/02/10
Hey guys thanks for views,
Hey guys thanks for views, obviously some gnarly spots around over there, and some nice protection too. We are hopefully going to try push trip a few days forward to wednesday. Hopefully swell will drop and make me feel a little happier for my first crossing. Experience is the key I think
Hansie
Posts: 162
Date Joined: 27/03/07
legends
good onya for the info fellas
looks like we in for some fun Gibbo!
giddy up wednesday lets hope the swell and wind play the game