I found many previous trip reports on the Mackies very helpful in planning our trip, and I’m thankful for support of various fishwrecked members who I hit up prior to the trip. Thought the best way to say thank you is with a trip report of my own. Enjoy!

The plan was 6 nights on Thevenard, 12 crew (including at least 3 fishwrecked members), 2 shacks and 4 boats. Having not done many trips up north in the past, I had a goal of catching my first Red Emperor, Coral Trout, GT and Mackie. Was hoping to take some fish home, but the focus was on having fun, not on filling the freezer. Here is how it played out…

Pre trip, between fishwrecked member Radovan and I, we hit up almost all northern suburbs independent tackle stores and niche local tackle manufacturers/distributors, including the likes of Big John’s Jigs and Mackdog Tackle. Loaded up with everything imaginable. Radovan used some Big Johns jig heads to make his own version of a bottom meat, whilst I spent too many evenings tying paternosters and drift bait rigs. 

The journey began with Radovan picking me up 5:30am, a quick run back to his house to load and hitch up the boat, make a quick coffee for the road and we were on our way. With our 3rd crew member flying up to meet us in Onslow on Monday, there was plenty of time for two 40 somethings to have deep and meaningful conversations and crank out the tunes until we arrived at Wooramel Station retreat. Our romantic dip in the hotspring was soon to be interrupted by an overly confident primary schooler who basically told us to get out so he can do some bommies or his “Rhino of a dad” will be over to take us down. Met the old man a little later when he believed I’d taken ‘his’ gas bottle (better known as the gas bottle from the communal BBQ near his donga ). Situation smoothed over by convincing him that in doing so I have preheated the 4 burner BBQ for his family, rather than him having to heat up an older 2-burner.

Next day up early and headed into Carnarvon to meet the rest of the crew and pick up some last-minute supplies before heading up to Onslow. Another looong day on the road before finally reaching Onslow at a reasonable time, allowing us to crack open a beer and explore the foreshore before catching up with the crew for a few more beers and ultimately dinner at hotel.

Day 1 (well day 3 if you include travel time) – Arrival at Thevenard & Brewis Reef

Despite an almost perfect forecast, the wind was up when we awoke. Nothing too bad, but a lot stronger than forecast. Was rather good service from the hotel who followed us to the ramp, ushered the cars to the secure parking and drove the crew back to the ramp. Excitement was building as we launched the boats and seeing fish jumping out of the water at the ramp. Had a good yarn to another crew launching at the same time to also head to the island.

A rather bumpy trip, but the wind seemed to die down as we unpacked the boat and started to get ourselves setup in the shack. With excitement 3 of the boats headed out for the afternoon to start to get a feel for the surrounds (1 boat stayed onshore as the skipper and his crew seemed to be recovering from rather large hangovers from the night before). Without any marks we headed to Brewis reef and surrounds for some shallower water fun. Heaps of smaller stuff on the bite like Spanish Flags and Charlie Courts (which all went straight back), ended up with 2 decent Spango’s and Radovan pulled out a just size Red Emperor from 15m which got us pumped for the rest of the trip.

Day 2 – Bessieres Island & the Supermarket

First full day of fishing and the weather gods were on our side with only some very light wind. Headed roughly the same direction as our cabin mates towards Bessiers Island. Tried out a Mackdog Tackle vibe in the hope of a coral trout. Had plenty of hookups on smaller things, but nothing big to write home about. After a few hours the other crew we were with directed us to The Supermarket. We ended up being one of 5 boats out there, including the crew that we met launching at the same time from Onslow… It was on. I was on Jigs and my drift bait rigs and Radovan his home-made bottom meats. I pulled in a really good Red that went 71cm and 8kg, along with a GT (ticking 2 of the boxes for the trip) and a good-sized Robbo. Between us we also boated 5 good Spangos, a red snapper thing that we were calling a crimson (happy to be corrected) and Radovan hooked a good Cobia. Back to shore for a few beers and chat at the filleting table (and me talking up my red), before Radovan sent me away to start preparing the vac sealer in fear my average filleting skills would butcher the good fish we had caught .

Day 3 – Onslow Pickup & the Supermarket

Whilst the other 3 boats headed to the Supermarket, we made the journey back to Onslow in almost glass off conditions to pick up BC who was flying in from Perth. Without any phone communication that morning, we somehow timed it perfectly with BC calling us to let us know he was arriving at the Jetty just as we were entering Beadon Creek. We had worded him up that we were likely to pick him up and then head straight out fishing and it paid off big time. We ventured out to meet the rest of the crew and The Supermarket was on fire once again… Caught my first Coral Trout (on jig) that went 5kg with the lads pulling in a decent cod, another Crimson and a Mangrove Jack. With conditions being almost too good, and some warmth in the air, we decided to go for troll along the 30m line in the hope of a Mackie… We soon hooked up with line screaming off the reel at a rate of knots. BC had been nominated for the 1st strike and was straight onto it. Soon after the line went slack and the fun of winding in a stupid amount of line began. Initially we though we may have turned the fish and it was swimming towards us but after a good few minutes of winding and braid floating on top of the water we called it a lost fish and Radovan gave a hand to wind in the rest of the line… however the line quickly became tight and the fight was on once again. Was not long until the fish was in site and we realised we had a good size, and still rather green, Wahoo not far from the boat. I jumped onto the wheel whilst BC ran for the gaff. With some clear directions from Radovan we manoeuvred the boat as the Wahoo got in front of the bow. After getting back on even terms and the wahoo closer to the boat some premier gaffing from BC soon had the 160cm+ Wahoo on the deck. An amazing fish that many others on the island described as a fish of a lifetime. Not a bad effort for BC who had only been picked up a few hours before hand.

After 2 cracking days of fishing without being sharked once we were started to think all the talk of lost fish and gear was a myth…

Day 4 – Rosily Shoals and surrounds (~50m line)

Another near perfect day, maybe even too perfect as we were praying for some more wind at one stage. All 4 boats decided to head north for the day. Our plan was to do some trolling past Rosily Shoals before heading out into the 50’s, with 2 of the boats planning to possibly head out deep dropping.

Had no luck on the troll so soon headed out deeper. Radovan and BC promptly pulled in a stonking Spango each with BC’s measuring >61cm. We also bagged another crimson, a cod and a red throat emperor. Was a good fun day but lost a few decent fish to sharks. The 2 deep drop crews didn’t end up heading out, with the final crew cleaning up with a couple of cracker Rankins… we responded to their call over the radio searching for a spare catch bag as they had no room left in theirs!!! 

We then headed back towards Rosily Island to throw some stick baits. First cast I had a good hit on one of Mackdog’s GT lures, however the FG knot I had tied on the boat after losing the prior rig to a shark came loose. Happened 3 times to me that day and copped a bit from the lads when back on shore… and received plenty of advice on how to tie knots and some passionate conversation on the value of FG knots vs others. 

Day 5 – North West 50’s & 70’s North West

A bit more wind today, with many hands needed to help some of the boats load up and collect their crew. Had to run down to the beach with one of the boats getting sideways on shore and needed about 5 of us to push it back out. Once all were safely on their way, all headed back out to the 50’s. The deep drop crew soon departed on their loooong journey. The 2 of us that stayed in the 50’s had a short hot run before things died down. My first drop for the day delivered a decent cobia, BC pulled in a cracking 80 odd cm Cod and Radovan a good Robbo. However, I may as well have just tipped my jig box into the ocean as after the Cobia all I seemed to do was feed my jigs to a fish, and then to a shark. After losing too many of my favourite (and not cheap) jigs, it was time for a bargain basement $5 cheapie… First drop, this rather interesting jig that came rigged with trebles on the bottom delivered a 91cm Golden Trev, next drop a Spanish Mackerel which I believe measured just size but captain Radovan called just under so it went back, and shortly after a Crimson. Then I hooked onto something large. Still not sure if it was a big cod, a shark or even the massive turtle we had just seen swimming around. Played with it for about 15 minutes but could not get it close. Eventually went full lock on drag and held the spool but could not pull the hooks or break the line. Then got the skipper to help drive to recover some line. After recovering a fair bit, still on full lock and spool held we towed the damn thing around for a few minutes at 4 knots WTF. After it started to take some more line, I gave up and eventually got the line to break. At least my FG knot held up .

After the bite slowed we headed out to deeper ground in search of reds. With only a very rough guide, we picked out a few likely spots from the map. The first spot we explored was in the 80’s. Was dead, flat bottom and no shows on the sounder so promptly headed into the 60’s to sound some other likely looking ground. This spot too initially appeared to be dead but we eventually came across a little show. Set the drift and glad we did. The sounder lit up from nowhere and the fish were on. Caught a couple of silver catfish looking things, before hooking onto some decent fish. The sharks however were around, with BC being sharked and then the shark itself being sharked on the way up. Despite this, as it was getting late and the wind picking up even further, thought we would give it one last drift as we were not going to move to another location so late in the day. Glad we did as we pulled up 2 decent Reds. A great way to end the day before a bumpy ride back to Thev.

Day 6 – Island Day – Back Beach and clean up.

Like a previous poster mentioned, this was one of my favourite days. Had the island bus drop us at back beach for a flick. Myself and a few others went one way, whilst Radovan and one of our shack mates headed to the point. Most of us had good hookups with a few of us pulling in some smaller cod. But the fish of the day was a monster queeny caught by one of the crew at the point. We all soon headed up that way, getting onto many small GT’s and the long tom were also around. With plenty of fish around, thought it a good time to try a lure my son 3d printed me just after Christmas. I was stoked to not only hook a fish with his creation, but also getting it to shore. A decent sized long tom. By no means a trophy fish, but one I will never forget… with the lure snapping in half as I lifted the line to dehook the fish after a few photos to prove the catch to my son.

When we returned, and with a stronger wind forecast for our departure the next day we decided to clean up the shack and load most of our gear onto the boat to minimise any messing around in the morning.  We also took the opportunity to sort our fish with those in our chalet each returning with ~14kg of fillets (rather evenly split between demersals and pelagics)

Some final thoughts and learnings

-       So thankful for the weather we encountered, and I feel for anyone who had booked the week after us. Obviously, a bit of a lottery when booking.

-       We only discovered this at the end of the trip, however the Islands store has a map with some fishing ground marked. This includes areas such as the supermarket.

-       A general idea of where to head was definitely helpful, but there is so much ground out there that with a decent map and sounding around you will find fish.

-       Although we encountered sharks, it was as expected and in reality lost less gear than we anticipated. 

-       Top quality rods and reels stood out and helped with enjoyability, but all our mid-tier equipment performed admirably and caught just as many fish. Running tight drags and winding like hell seemed to help get some extra fish past the sharks.

-       The jigs I used seemed to make little difference up there, although reflecting on our catches, the rigs (or assist hooks) with some extra decoration seemed to outperform non decorated rigs.

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