The Vernon's with the Stig & Canadian Pete

Saturday morning had us meeting Richard & Pete at the Nightcliff ramp at 0500hrs.  Getting the poly off the trailer was difficult as the return trip from Wiligi had welded the boat to the bow roller!  A bit of persuasion with some screwdrivers had us on our way.
The initial run in the dark was interesting, following Pete's anchor light as he motored along.  Our guides were very good, stopping to allow us to catch up & make sure we were ok.  Its very hard to judge swell & when to back off etc in the dark!  About the halfway mark the sea calmed & combined with the emerging daylight saw us arrive at the North West Vernon island.  We fished a beacon whilst Stig & Pete went exploring a nearby reef.

This Jack came off the beacon along with several Spanish Flag

Jack pulled around 5 or 6 Spanish Flag from the same location (I reckon it was the same fish!).  Heading further east around the top of the island we stopped for an intermission of heavy rain.

Heading further around the island we stopped & fished a reef adjacent to a sandbar.  Several small reef species were caught & released.  The next spot was a plateau of water cascading off the reef into the dropping tide (think small waterfalls).  This looked fantastic with a nice drop off & beautiful clear water.  Several small Bluebone, a Coral trout & various others were landed.

Small Bluebone were abundant

Coral Trout are a beautiful fish

Alas the Pelagics were nowhere to be seen, no bird or fish activity of any sort.  After briefly visiting the Southern Blue Hole we decided to head back towards the ramp.  A short distance from the ramp we stopped under strict instructions from the Stig.  Within minutes Pete was on to a good fish which they gave chase to & landed.  After seeing a few fish I started looking at the sounder which began to light up like a christmas tree.  The Trevally below came from a sink as long as possible approach...

A new PB Trevally on fly

Further exploration had Jack hook a nice Queenfish which was unfortunately lost.  I also hooked another pelagic which went the same way.......  The fish were there you just had to locate them.
Heading back to the ramp we came across some Tuna, Jack had a follow but no take.  In all the excitement we ended up with a fly line around the prop of the Suzi.......time to call it a day.
For those of you with electric motors, check your shear pin!  After removing the prop we found ours is half missing i.e. broken!
Many thanks to Richard & Pete for a great day on the water.  I wouldn't normally consider such a long run, however it does have benefits compared with a longer drive over a very average gravel road!

Get out there & fish!

Jon & Jack