Cape York Great Barrier Reef Coral Sea fishing adventure @ Albany Island.
There are a number of things that go into a fishing adventure. These days, with Instagram and YouTube, we think (me included) that the weather is never bad and the fish always bite on the first cast. Fishing is an active sport, to be sure, and those who are fishing as hard at 4 pm as 9 am are the ones who typically get the fish of a lifetime—that extra cast and that extra effort!
- When I was younger, I earned pocket money by helping on a game fishing boat in Cairns. The skipper always said the best weather days were the hardest fishing days.
- A friend went skiing in Canada last January, and there was no snow. The weather is what it is, but we want to be in a location where there are fishing options, no matter the weather.
- Albany Island is just that location.
Just ask Softie how great the place is.
Albany Island Lodge is not Lizard Island, nor does it want to be. There are more fancy, gentrified locations in Australia than you can poke an overpriced craft beer at. Not that we do not love a craft beer… just as long as it tastes like XXXX Gold and we can spell it. We struggled with Great Northern that’s why we call it ‘black fish’ or ‘red fish’. It is easy to get distracted by beer!
Getting a great night’s sleep is the first important part of your fishing day. Albany has accommodations that comfortably accommodate 12 people in airconditioned rooms with fans. Most importantly, they are all tropical ‘grim-safe’, keeping all the little bugs out.
Sleep well, fish well
At dinner the night before, the guides will let you know when breakfast is and when you need to be ready to go fishing. The start times will depend on the tides and the fishing in recent days. The crew up at Albany Island knows it is important to start the day well with a hearty breakfast. There are no alternating days between a full breaky and a continental snack a full cooked breafast is on offer each day. There will be, of course, cereals and toats for those who are saving themselves for a big dinner.
Yum, Yum, and YUM
We may tell untruths when it comes to the size of your fish. But honestly, this was bigger when we landed it. Please just let us know if you need more breakfast.
As mentioned above, your guides will let you know what time to be ready to go fishing. The boats are perfect for the conditions and the location. They even come with fresh organic coconut water. Your guide will have everything ready for you with your lunches and drinks on ice with lots of water for the day on the water.
You are going to need a bigger boat than this
It is a little difficult to tell from these two photos but the wind was very unpleasant and not friendly at all
What I can tell you is that no matter the conditions the crew will get you out fishing.
What your actual fishing day is going to look like depends on a number of factors.
- Weather is the big one!
- Type of fishing you want to do
- Are you a fishing fanatic?
- What do you want to have for dinner?
For example, one of my favourite things to do is stop at one of the sand cays or Johnson Islet, have a BBQ, swim, and throw poppers off the beach. Or maybe have a crack at a couple of Barra
The barra are in decent numbers on the right tides.
Not in the numbers you will find at a traditional barra fishing lodge.
Runoff barra fishing
The area is not famous for its barra fishing. The Jackey Jackey and the Escape River offer some great barra fishing on the right tides. With some good weather, you can get around the west coast and have a good at the Jardine River with good barra and Saratoga fishing.
The flying fish are a little different up North
Johnson Islet, this was a plan B day, as it was toooo windy to get to where we wanted to go.
Always have 50 bucks in the boat as you never know when you are going to run into some fresh crays.
Popper fishing for GT from the beach of Johnson Islet on a plan B day.
Maybe a swim
No Cold days at the tip of Australia
Great Barrier Reef
Just your footsteps and maybe that of a few turtles footsteps
Great fishing and a nice swim
But at the end of the day, you are here to go fishing and have a crack.
Some days it is better to be on the camera than in the photo. Looks like hard work!
Big Fish for Big Boys
Father and son on some good jacks
For those who like the starvation stick
Bad weather Mack’s & it was shocking!
Looking at the photo above, the weather does not look so bad, but it was! The beauty of Albnay Island is that you can find places to fish no matter what the weather. Nothing beats amazing weather! No matter how good the fishing is, we all want conditions like those in the marketing material. Rain and wind make for a harder day BUT Albany will get you out fishing!
BIG bad GT, not all fish are created equal (*he is 6.4)
They are serious teeth.
Then, at the end of the day, no matter how good or bad the fishing is or how good or bad the weather has been, great food is just so important, and Albany Island does this well.
At the end of the day no matter the fishing you get to go back to your own little islnad
There are no noisy neighbours here