Today we ventured out to the Murion Islands, two Islands about 22km north of the nearest boat ramp just out of Exmouth. With the weather forecast as good as it gets Ilia, Cathy, Amanda, Carol and I headed out past the naval jetty which is considered one of the top 10 dive sites in the world and headed north. After about half an hour of planing we arrived at the southern tip of South Murion. I have never seen "fishier" looking water. Birds diving as far as you could see in all directions. Tuna schools everywhere and what appeared to be Spanish Mackeral leaping from the water in pursuit of the bait fish that abound. Amazing!
After casting lures at shallow water close to the shore line trying to hook a trevally we decided trolling might be worth a try. Despite the incredible action in the water we trolled for about 30 minutes for a single hookup of an undersized spotted mackerel that ended up in the bait esky.
Time to try trolling through the passage between the north an south islands. Not much luck until Cathy decided to bring in her purple lure. With very little fuss she quietly landed a 60+cm Coral Trout. These fish a a prized table fish and to get one this size was pretty special.
After trolling to the western end of the passage the team decided to try some bottom bouncing. Ilia's research indicated we should try the 40m mark so we headed out.
Unable to find any structure we tried dropping into the 40m of water and after 10 minutes and no hookups Carol decided we needed to try and find something on the bottom before dropping our lines. She couldn't have been more correct as the first drift over a bit of a drop off resulted in a couple of great runs and one really good sized Spangled Emperor being boated.
After a half a dozen drifts over this one spot we had 6 big Spangleds and a really nice Rankin Cod in the esky.
Releasing Spangled Emperor is a new experience but that's exactly what Amanda did after we decided we had enough good fish for our freezer.
Time for a lunch break. As we drifted over the oily calm water, Cathy casually dangling one foot in the water suddenly jumped and pulled her leg back into the boat. Cathy had been bitten on the foot by what appeared to be a shark. A quick look over the side and a Cobia was clearly visible on the surface next to the boat. Obviously the Cobia had been attracted by Cathy's toes. Ilia who had just wound his line in dropped a bait in front of the Cobia and it was quickly boated.
Unable to top this effort by Ilia and Cathy we decided to try some more trolling around the northern tip of the north island.
No more fish but the snorkelling we did on the eastern side of the North Murion Island was the best snorkelling we have done on the Ningaloo Reef.
I personally snorkelled over 5 reef sharks amongst some really specky coral etc. Huge pristine bombies everywhere in this area.
The trip home was a bit "bumpy" but the day had been one to remember. Tea back at the park was "Asian Fish Delight" created by Sok and ably supported by Cathy. Brilliant meal.
Amanda's last day in Exmouth will be long remembered.