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When you think of what Nomad means you imagine wide open unspoilt space barely touched by the hand of man, then think of the Odyssey it conjures up images of either an epic journey as detailed by Homer (not Simpson) or a unmanned satellite orbiting uncharted territory. Mostly these journeys to such lands remain unattainable at least until you take a fishing adventure with Nomad. Once aboard the Cessna Caravan floatplane you realise that this will be something special, mind wandering you could not possibly imagine what sights were waiting for us at Marion Reef. Odyssey (the Mothership) is prominent on the horizon after some 90 minutes of flying time ,when we land into the tranquil waters, we are met by the welcoming crew to our home for the week.
With the full moon in its dominant phase we went out in the afternoons to a reef system that not only was spectacular in its maze like formation but the aftermath of its destructive qualities were apparent with the rusting wreck of a vessel still prominent. This was as Malcolm Crane has said the playground for the "Escapees from Jurassic park" If these huge monoliths of fish were not biting then they patrolled their ground like sentry dogs appearing almost magically then seemingly challenging the presence of the dory by swimming unafraid up to it then turning away refusing any cast lure to disappear as well as any David Copperfield illusion However when the tide turned it was a different story these "invincibles" became the hounds of hell, if we hadn't realised by the sight of one of these fish (fish seems such a ridiculous word to use for these creatures) all of 70 - 80kgs levering itself out above the water (think of Wolves of the Sea, killer whales beaching themselves to feed on seals) to slip into the next blue hole and devour some unsuspecting pray. When a Gt is prepared to do that for its next feed we should have realised what a maelstrom was going to occur, with two ex Olympic waterpolo players on board and Malcolm fresh from a 6 month training regime we were primed, carpenter rods, fisherman rods and a seven seas armaclad to boot, pe 10 line modified drag Saltiga dogfights and stellas we were the S.A.S going in for a sortie. The sight of 100kg fit men battling with locked up drags was reminiscent of the Battle of Thermopylae except the result was reversed - constantly,! line parted like dental floss, lures smashed , fisherman were treated with contempt and disdain with the caranx of the Gods more concerned with shielding the lure from its advancing bigger brother than it was with the straining angler. One particular moment with gladiator Wybrow when his hooked behemoth swam to the dory to avoid a chasing bigger fish amazing when you think the hooked fish was in 50kg heavyweight category. However I was convinced with some perverse delight the fish came to show itself before taking of into the abyss with the lure. Next to come was Malcolm even with benefit of the afore mentioned training and boxing regime his fish gave him the equivalent of a straight right before pulling him into the guard rails (if they weren't there we were convinced we would have seen him water-ski!!) before breaking him off with a final kidney punch delivered courtesy of the middle rail.
As Malcolm has stated elsewhere when the stargate opens again or the shipwreck is discovered to have plutonium on it the secret of these fish remains, one thing for certain the warriors from The 300 were not humbled beyond repair (unlike the props damon wrecked to try to give us a fighting chance) We will in the words of MacArthur- RETURN
Thanks
Christopher Harrison
Director
Bradfield & Prichard Randwick
 All material copyright Nomad Sportfishing Adventures 2007
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