Since our first crew of avid fisherman went on the search of big and wild Southern Bluefin Tuna only 2 weeks ago, the catches have been coming in thick and fast providing amazing fishing, screaming reels and big smiles.
25 fish up to 30kg were caught yesterday, 22 the day before in perfect conditions from Coffin Bay aboard GT Fishing Charters as well as a few prized Kingfish as an added bonus to the day. As the boat limit is set to 6 tuna, of course the remainder were released back to the waters of the Southern Ocean to see another day!
Whilst many think that fishing is a mans ideas of a great day out ( and correct on the subject), but there are plenty of women who also love the challenge to get out and also muscle a few of these blue rockets on board. One of these keen fisher- women, Calalou, starred yesterday after jumping on at late notice and showed the boat what she can do & did it very well indeed! Calalou is shown in the images below with a sample of her catch.
It seems most speacies are on song in the local waters with large snapper, nannagai and strangely enough we got onto a few nice gummy sharks to get the day going just last week.
So fishing action a plenty here in Coffins Bay and there’s no time like the present to get on down here to sample some of the best sports-fishing going around. For $310 per person gets you a great day on the tuna, $250pp will have you bottom bouncing for Snapper, Nannagai, Blue Morwong, big Trevally and KG Whiting, Salmon and hopefully a few more of those sharks with in shore fishing for your popular table fish priced at $220 or $160pp for half a day.
For more details, fishing options and availabilities whilst on the Eyre Peninsula, contact us at Goin’ Off Safaris.
A more perfect day could not have been asked for as we jumped on board with GT Charters this morning for a big day of gut-busting tuna fishing.
The water was glassy calm as we steamed out to Greenly Anchorage. It was just short of a 2 hour journey, but the trip flew by as we sat back and watched the sun come up- a view many of us are rarely awake early enough to witness!
As soon as the lines hit the water the tuna were biting, and we’d caught our quota of these gigantic fish within about 20 minutes. But the catch itself is the challenge, so we continued on with a bit of catch and release for another few hours, often struggling to haul these massive fish onto the deck.
Settling for a catch of 23 tuna- most weighing over 20kgs- we decided to move on and try our luck with some other fish commonly caught in the area.
Throwing the lines in again in shallower water, we found a nice little patch of Nannygai, Sweep and a few Leatherjackets just for luck.
All in all a successful trip, with the boys taking home a 150L esky FULL of fish! And this is only the beginning of the season. If this sounds like your cup of tea, see our website for more information
For a start I had better introduce myself. My name is Erin and I am the new Assistant Manager at Goin’ Off Safaris.
After starting here on Monday, I have already had a very busy week booking in new trips and playing with the new iMac and today was no exception! This morning I jumped aboard the Coffin Bay Explorer for their 3 hour round trip of Coffin Bay.
Departing the Coffin Bay boat ramp at 9.30am, our guide Darian took us past some of the most pristine parts of the Coffin Bay National Park- some beaches that are only accessible by boat! The running commentary about the earliest visitors to the bay made for easy listening, as we all soaked up a bit of sun.
Our adventure around the bay continued on past two tiny islands known as ‘The Brothers’. The story behind them is truly fascinating, but I won’t spoil the tale before you get a chance to see them yourself.
Living on the Brothers are a wide variety of birds- including Cormorants, Silver Gulls, Crested Terns and Antarctic Skua’s- large, brown birds that journey here to nest on the islands. Also residing on the island are a pair of male Australian Sea Lions, as well as a spattering of smaller New Zealand Fur Seals.
Darian also has an Oyster lease, so part of the tour included a stop at the racks for a brief history about the oyster industry in Coffin Bay- and for those so inclined- a taste test of the freshestoysters you will ever taste! Delicious!!
Now as if the tour couldn’t get any better- a pod of almost 20 Bottlenose Dolphins made an appearance. As we slowly cruised by, they swam all around and under the boat in the crystal clear water- almost as though they were inviting us to come and play with them. Unfortunately Darian is not running swims with the dolphins this year due to the late breeding season of these magnificent animals last year. So instead we admired them from the boat.
We left the dolphins (reluctantly) and began the journey back home. In 3 hours we learnt amazing things about the history of the bay, tasted some of the freshest seafood you can get and saw a huge variety of land based and marine animals! And that’s all in a day’s work for the Coffin Bay Explorer!
This is only one of the many options we offer as part of our amazing tour packages around the Eyre Peninsula. For more information see our website
Port Lincoln, the Seafood Capital of Australia is now placed 3rd on the list of South Australia’s top 10 destinations behind Adelaide and Mt. Gambier.
And I thought it would rank higher with our unique adventure activities such as Great White shark cage diving, swimming with sealions and tuna, sensational sports fishing either on a charter or off a secluded beach. Speaking of beaches, these are to die for wether it would be for surfing, swimming, snorkeling, body surfing or just lazing about watching the kids build sandcastles and having fun.
You dont get seafood any fresher or plentiful and there are award winning wineries, picturesque National Parks full of wild life and birdlife, 4WD tracks, the Great Australian Bight Treks, resteraunts, pubs and standout accommodation.
A few people reckon the distance is too far or it costs too much. Rubbish! Check out Regional Express (REX) or Qantas Link for cheap flights that only take 40 minutes to get here from Adelaide. Goin’ Off Safaris will pick you up if required and give you 2-6 days of a action packed itinerary like no other or we can organise your agenda and drive yourself! What are you waiting for…..??
Summer is apon us again(where did that year just go…..?) and as always,the fishing action is hotting up around the waters off beautiful Coffin Bay.
Wether it is off shore on the reefs hauling in big Snapper, Nanagai and Blue Morwong or in shore bagging out on the delacies of the well sought after table fish like King George Whiting, flathead and the fighting Trevally, there is plenty of fun for all!
There are also some early reports of Tuna being caught all ready, which means that water temperatures are warming up and from January onwards, they should be coming in thick and fast which makes exciting fishing!
For land based anglers, you cannot beat an afternoon of beach fishing for the big, hungry Australian Salmon. The salmon really take off once you’ve jagged them and with the size of some of these, they can really pull you into their territory! It’s fantastic fun for all ages on our private beach with spectacular scenery and coastline with a bit of 4WDriving thrown in to get us to the location.
As with the weather, day trips and charters are warming up with plenty of bookings, but lots of availabilities as well, so please contact us for more information! Below are some images from a recent trip.
Our good mates at GT Fishing Charters, Coffin Bay had a good day out last weekend with a few average sized Snapper caught off shore.
As we are gearing up for another big summer on the land and water, owner/operator Gary Denton provides our clients at Goin’ Off Safaris with another superb optional activity to catch some of Australia’s best table fish.
Coffin Bay is of course home of the famous King George Whiting and with the best natural oysters farmed here as well as local crabs, scallops & crayfish, you know that you’ll be dining well!
A few months ago, Goin Off Safaris was asked if we would like to contribute a little something to the 2011 Cancer Council SA’s Glitz and Hammer Ball.
The Glitz & Hammer Ball is an annual gala ball organised by an external committee, supporting Cancer Council SA’s work within the community, with all funds raised going directly to Cancer Council SA to support cancer treatment, research, prevention, early detection, education and information.
We are all affected somehow by this disease, so we put together a 4 day/ 4 night package on the magnificent Eyre Peninsula, to be auctioned off on the evening, in the hope of raising several thousand’s of dollars to go to this cause. With the Port Lincoln Hotel, Adventure Bay Charters, Flinders Keepers Accommodation, Coffin Bay Explorer, Rex Airlines, GT Fishing Charters, Port Lincoln Limos, Cafe DelGiornio and us at Goin’ Off Safaris all donating their services, the package came out at just under a $11,000 auction item!
For 4 persons, this is now the major auction item which consists of;
2 nights accommodation at the Port Lincoln Hotel
Great White shark cage diving
swim with Australian sealions and Southern Bluefin Tuna
3 hours cruising the tranquil waterways of Coffin Bay & eating fresh Coffin Bay oysters
Full day off shore fishing charter
Full day of sight seeing, beach fishing,sand boarding, snorkeling and swimming
2 nights waterfront in beautiful Coffin Bay
Seafood dinner platter for 4
4 course dinner prepared by our in house chef
Airport pickup & return in style by limousine
I’m sure you would agree that this sounds like a lot of fun! The ball is on this Saturday, the 4th of June at the Adelaide Convention Centre and hosted by Troy Gray, with entertainment by stars such as Lisa Edwards and the Motown Connection! Its going to be a great show and there are still plenty of tickets available and for more information, click here.
20110421-084953.movHad a great trip over the last few days with leading American safari and travel agent Stephanie Hatfield from Uncharted Outposts. Organized by our own Australian Coastal Safaris agent,The Tailor, we had heaps of fun and plenty of laughs as we showed Steph and her husband Bill, just a small slice of what the Eyre Peninsula has to offer.
Quality food prepared by our in house personal chef, on the waterfront Coffin Bay, swimming with wild tuna, eating oysters straight from the rack and salmon fishing on a private beach were highlights for the visitors(see video 20110421-084953.mov).
Steph also has a few other strings to the bow as with Bill, they are very accomplished musicians and have their own rock band called Stephanie Hatfield and the Hot Mess. The first album is a ripper with another soon to be released. You can get a copy of their cd here at www.cdbaby.com
Below is a video clip of one of my favorites featuring them both.
After a long cold and wet winter, fishing boats are back in the water with punters coming back to the boat ramps well pleased with themselves. Summer is still trying to get here, but with only the super keen fisherman (these could also be bordering on madness) tackling the wintry conditions , this means that stock is thick which equates to another fishing bounty around Coffin Bay waters this summer.
Of late, big Snapper, Nannagai and prized table fish, the King George Whiting, have been getting muscled in by the boat load. Massive Trevally (for our region anyway), up to 50-60cm, have been providing a heap of fun in the shallows and as always, big Australian Salmon continue to enthrall on our private and secluded beach.
Kingfish are around for the dedicated and patient and once again expecting another big hit on Southern Bluefin Tuna from Jan-May.
Below is a few images from a boating trip aboard our favoured companions at GT Fishing Charters recently with some mates getting hold of some good “lump headed” snapper before the state wide ban throughout November.
We have had a lot of interest all ready in our fishing trips for the coming summer and these can be fully customised to what you and your group want. For more ideas and information for a package to suit you, visit our fishing page on our webpage.
We were lucky enough to show around The Travel Editor’s and freelance journalist, Rebecca Wicks around some of our secrets of Eyre Peninsula yesterday. After swimming with 40kg wild tuna in Port Lincoln, cruising around the sensational Coffin Bay on the Coffin Bay Explorer, some 4WDriving on massive sand dunes with killer ocean & clifftop views, we ended up at a prime endless beach.
The surf rods were unpacked, hooks loaded up, lines fired out & within minutes we were muscling in some big salmon. Check out this video to see Bec’s first fish caught off the beach. I like the way it was released as well!!
