Our latest Trip Report to Bugatti Reefs from the 28th July-3rd August is as follows:-
Click HERE to check out Bugatti Reef on our location guide.
Click HERE to watch some video action from Bugatti Reef
We visited Bugatti Reef as part of our Coral Sea Lagoon Explorer trips.
Summary -
Well, for those who have never heard this name before, you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in future. Why is this so? Well the latest trip to this area produced 244 GTs released in 5 days fishing with fish ranging in size from 15-50kgs. And there were plenty of 40-50kg GTs in there, so the size of fish was right up there. There’s also the mix of 15-20kg Spanish mackerel and reasonable sized coral trout and longtail tuna to keep everyone happy. And did we mention that it’s a fly fisherman’s delight as far as big GTs are concerned. We landed one GT of around 22kgs on fly and lost one around 35kgs on fly from only one afternoon’s fishing. We can’t imagine a better area for targeting big GTs on fly than around this reef complex.
But it gets even more exciting than that. The entire area we are fishing is not even charted, and is completely unnamed and unexplored. We’ve just named this area Bugatti Reef because we had to call it something, but there’s nearly 100 miles of reef to explore, and in 5 days we barely scratched the surface of 10 miles of it. This means that when you book for next year, you’ll also be fishing some completely new and uncharted areas - it’s pretty exciting stuff.
And where is this area, you might ask? Well we can’t tell you that, but we can take you there, all you need to do is get yourself to Hamilton Island and you’ll fly in to meet the mothership at whatever bit of this reef system we happen to be at. There are areas of reef that you’ll be fishing where you will very likely be the first person to ever cast a lure, and that is some quite amazing stuff.
What’s the downside of this area? We haven't found one yet. The anchorages are spectacular, the scenery is stunning, the current can rage at up to 10 knots, that’s why the GTs get so excited. This is one location that we are very excited about for 2008, and we think that after reading the trip report, you’ll agree that this is some of the most exciting GT fishing to be had anywhere.
Report - Trip Report
The first reef we anchored at had no name, but it was a spectacular lagoon anchorage providing all weather protection in any wind. Within 2 hrs of dropping anchor we had 4 massive lemon sharks swimming around the back of the boat, and within 1 hour of the lemon sharks' arrival we had swarms of massive GTs swimming around the back of the boat. Jason hooked up a 60kg GT from the back of the mothership on a popper, and after the initial flurry, we were dropping baits down to them. On that first afternoon we were hooked up to a number of 60kg GTs from the back of the mothership, but all busted us off in the shallow lagoon coral.
By the time the clients flew in to the reef, the crew had already been for a scout around and caught a couple of very nice sized 30kg GTs in the surrounding reef areas, and within 1 hr of stepping off the floatplane all of the clients were enjoying some incredible GT action within a few miles of the mothership.
The first full day saw all of the 18ft dories getting into the action, with Ed Lester’s dory being the first to land a big GT. Angler Darren Wallis landed a 45kg and a 38kg GT in his first full day of GT fishing ever. To top off this story he came back to the mothership and landed a 40kg GT from the back deck before dinner!!!!! Maybe beginners luck, but who knows?? For a first time GT angler to land those sort of fish is a real credit to Darren and the location we are fishing. The action on the first full day left everyone stunned at this location. We had a mix of seasoned GT anglers and novices, and all agreed that it was one of their best ever days of GT fishing.
The areas we are fishing often consist of very narrow channels running between large areas of coral reef. The narrow channels between the reef tend to funnel the current, and currents of 9-10kn were common on the lead up to the full moon. The GTs were hanging in areas of high current around points, and also around low current areas where the schools of fusiliers were hanging.
One of the amazing things about this area is the range of environments that we caught fish in. From raging currents to bait schools, to deep drop offs, to shallow little blue holes up on the reef flats, there were fish in all of them. I guess that just sums it up, there were just GTs everywhere we looked. On the first day there were GTs to be found in literally every likely looking location - just amazing stuff.
Our second day saw us explore a little further from the mothership, but the swarms of big GTs were still hanging around the mothership, and didn’t look like going anywhere. It was truly amazing to just wake up in the morning and go out the back deck to watch massive GTs swimming around!!
I guess this trip report may sound a little repetitive, but every single day saw us catch a LOT of GTs. One of the highlights of day 2 was Tim Baker’s dory heading north of the anchorage and landing 2 GTs around 50kgs, plus 3 GTs over 40kgs and another 4 GTs over 30kgs, for a total of 9 GTs for the day all over 30kgs. That is a truly spectacular effort and with 2 of the 3 anglers on the boat being first time GT anglers there were big smiles all round. Patrick Coldwell and Roy Mills landed 40kg GTs while Graham Stevenson from NZ landed a GT close to 50kgs, for his personal best GT. In fact, nearly every angler on the trip landed their personal best GT for the week, which really says something about the fishing.
Lunchtime on day 2 also saw Brandon Khoo land a 36kg GT from the back of the mothership on a popper while we had come back for lunch. He was actually just trying to reload the line onto his spool and had a cast to check everything was working, and had this monster of a GT nail his skipping popper at the back of the duckboard-Incredible stuff. After lunch Brandon managed to connect with a 30kg GT within 3 minutes of being on the water. He had already had an amazing day, but went on to land 10 GTs for the day.
Day 3 saw some more amazing action, and Ed Lester in Dory 4 guided Darren Wallis to ANOTHER 45kg GT inside a small blue hole. These small blue holes were absolutley amazing structures. Completely surrounded by shallow reef, only accessible at high tide, and completely land locked at low tide. It seemed that the fish lived in these blue holes to escape the current, and also to have a captive feeding session at low tide. Can you imagine the terror those baitfish experience. It would be like being thrown into a swimming pool with sharks!!
Darren and Ed even got out and had a fish at low tide and cast into the blue holes from the coral. This resulted in a flurry of action as Darren was nearly pulled into the water. He also managed to land a few red bass and coral trout, but got done by every GT he hooked.
It was hard to come to grips with the landscape we were fishing. These blue pools were above normal sea level at low tide, by up to a metre, and the geography of the area we were fishing was something that simply amazed everyone. We were the only people for hundreds of miles, fishing in amongst one of the most amazing environments on earth, and probably the first to ever cast a lure in nearly all the spots we visited. This is pretty hard to get your head around, and don't think the reality of what we all experienced will sink in for some time. To have been involved with the first trip to this area was simply a privilege.
Day 4 and 5 have sort of formed into a blur of action, it's hard to remember what happened next. We relocated the mothership at some stage on day 4 and this was an amazing experience. The skiffs went out for the morning and Howard and myself just simply headed South East until we found an anchorage. This place is not charted, and we had no idea where we were going, it was hand steering and navigation by sight only.
The most amazing bit of all this is that we pulled up at some reef that looked pretty good, and within 2 hrs of dropping anchor we had lemon sharks and swarms of 30-50kg GTs swimming around under the mothership. Now remember, we've never been here before, are probably the first boat to anchor here, and had no idea where we were going. So to have all these GTs around under the boat led us to only 1 conclusion. THERE ARE A LOT OF GTs HERE!!!!! In fact the amount of GTs living on this reef complex is staggering.
At one stage on the 4th or 5th day we had 4hrs of continuous fishing where we were exploring new spots, and EVERY single place we cast at for 4hrs straight had at least one GT on it. That's 4hrs of fishing where every likely looking point, rock bar, bait patch or reef edge produced a hit, without a miss. That is simply amazing, and something I have never experienced before.
Some of the other highlights of these few last days were Malcolm Crane landing a 40kg GT, his personal best, actually that happenned during the 4hr session of glory as I now remember it.
Liam was fishing a spot and had 14 consecutive casts where fish swiped at his lure and missed before changing to one of the new Nomad Stickbaits and having the fish hookup at the boat. This amazing sequence was all filmed and will be on the Bugatti Reef DVD, which will be ready for sale before Christmas. This was one of the most amazing fishing sequences I have ever seen, and to get it all on film was something unique.
The last day at Bugatti Reef saw us land and release 19 GTs from dory 1 in a single day. I don't know if that will ever be repeated, but Bugatti is the place to do it. All I can say is that this is GT fishing Nirvana. If you are interested in fishing here with us in 2008, please check out the rates and dates page and get on the phone to us quickly to reserve your place. There are lots of people already interested as I write this, but we have to reserve places on a firts paid first booked basis.
Hope to see many more of you out on the water sometime soon.
Damon Olsen
and the Nomad Team.
All material copyright Nomad Sportfishing Adventures 2009
