Now bear with me guys as this is my first report on this site so here goes. Last Thursday week i was lucky enough along with two mates, Chief and Nifty (soon to be a fishwrecked member) to be in Broome on holidays. Oh and the wives were there too! Now after much planning and speaking to other fishwrecked members (wade tolley) we decided to give Absolute Ocean Charters a try whilst in Broome. Now we have been on many fishing charters but i was impressed that husband and wife team Mick and Kelly cater for small groups of 4 or more but no more than 10. This suited us, minimal tangles (in fact i don't think we had one all day?) and no bumping elbows with fellow fisher people. Kelly picked us up from the accomodation along with two other guys, Luke from Perth (ex victorian) and John from Tasmania. We were met at the beach by Mick and after a safety briefing on board the 42 foot ally boat UTOPIA, we were under way. It wasn't long before Kelly came out with the toasted sandwiches etc. As the 5 of us got to know each other we agreed to share the catch to ensure all had a good feed at the end of the day. Weather was getting better with about a 8-13kn wind blowing.

We headed for a few spots about 27km West of Broome and on the way out i was amazed at the marine life. We saw 4 sea snakes on the surface and several turtles. I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of a huge sperm whale completely out of the water...an amazing sight.

On the way out Mick set up three trolling rods with poppers and lures and within 3 minutes bang it was on, a 17kg mackie. Luke was onto the rod and within a short time the big boy was on board. Not to be greedy we all decided that that mackie was a keeper and there was plenty of fillets to go round. UTOPIA is a well fitted out and fast boat and we were out there in a short time. The first drop saw us in about 27metres of water and as soon as the lines hit bottom it was full on. We continuously caught and released numerous cod, spanish mackerel, saddletails, groper, small red emperor, small sharks, fingermarks, coral trout, mackeral tuna, spanglies and other fish i can't even remember the name of? As quick as we were pulling in fish, Mick and Kelly were pulling them off the hooks and rebaiting at the same time. All day we maintained a 100% success rate in releasing fish...we were pretty happy with that!

We headed out a little further to about 40metres and thats when the fun started.......yes we were in to some tackle testing GT action...and they came in hungry! I lost count of the number of fish caught and released and it was the best fun fishing i have had for a long time. The high quality Penn Rods, Okuma and Shimano reels were up to the task with the biggest GT coming in at about 17kg....there were some other REALLY big hookups and surprisingly very few sharks? Most times all 5 rods were being tested at the same time. Mick and Kelly promised us a good time and boy we were having it! In between all the fishing Kelly provided us with cold meat and salad lunch and fruit platter, biscuits, lamingtons etc......enough food to feed a small army?

At the end of the day we were tired, sore, well fed and invited up to the bridge to join Mick for a chat on the way home. At the time of writing this Mick and Kelly were travelling down the coast in UTOPIA heading for Mandurah and getting ready to run charters out of Mandurah. Now i have no affiliation with Absolute Ocean Charters but i will give credit where credit is due. Mick and Kelly i believe have found a niche in the charter market, small groups, well spoiled in fishing and food and drink and have some great ideas coming up involving dive charters and other things that i won't mention just in case others decide to get in first? This is the first charter i have been on where i haven't had tangles, haven't banged elbows with other fisher people and could comfortably walk around the deck without tripping over some extended legs. Mick and Kelly have a simple business philosophy, keep your customers happy and make sure they have a good time and that worked for us. The last photo is Mick in the chair on the fly bridge. To Kelly and Mick thanks for a great day of great company, great fishing, and looking after fishwrecked members. I will see you over summer in Mandurah!

I miss Broome already???