New dates for weather cancelled trip and more spaces available. Go to end of thread.
As those that have read the Fund Raising thread will know I am thinking about running a weekend charter to Barrier and beyond to help raise some extra funds for the kids team to use to attend the Robotics World Champs in the US late April.
I have had 6 people express interest (pending dates), and need 8 total to make it work. Will use this thread to discuss the trip and possible dates, as well as to gather the 8 anglers together if we can. You can post any interest or comments in this thread.
Timing
Lets try these dates -
Depart - after work or mid avo depending on what people can do on Fri 5 April.
Return approx 6pm - 7pm on Sun 7 April
Cost - $585 per angler + catering costs. That includes bait, ice, burley, deep water/game rods and tackle.
Full payment when you book please so i am not left hanging by people changing their minds last minute. If you do need to cancel you will get refunded as much as we can get from any replacement angler. Could be 100% or could be less if trying to fill a spot really late. Full refund if cancelled due to weather and can't reschedule or the trip doesn't go for any other reason.
The Trip
We can flex this around to what the team agree as their preferences but at this stage I would be thinking -
Friday avo snapper fish on the way across if we can leave early enough. Otherwise evening meal and socialising onboard as we cross to Barrier. After dark we drop to 8knt cruise for safety so you can hit the sack any time you like. Probably at Barrier between 10pm and midnight.
Sat morning early start for the crew and we head out to some of my Puka spots and maybe a new Bluenose spot we will be checking out next week. Probably an hour or two in the dark and then put some lures out for another hour or two. Guests can sleep in until they get hungry or we arrive at the Puka spots. Fish for Puka, Gemmys etc and then an hour or so trolling to the Bluenose spot. Fish for Bluenose then 2 or 3 hours trolling back to Barrier. Alternative is flag the Bluenose and head down to the Mokohinaus. Chase snapper and Kingfish there until dark and travel back to Barrier. Lunch on the run and late dinner back at Barrier
Sun morning early start and have boat setup for a shallow water burley and strayline session or a deeper water Snapper session depending on preferences. We will likely move around several spots during the day so can change techniques and do some drifting with jigs, softies, sliders etc as well. We can leave a bit of time for checking out any mid gulf workups on the way back, or leave Barrier late depending on what people agree on.
That's a rough plan to start with. Good mix of chasing big Snaps, Puka, Bluenose, other deeep water stuff, and maybe some Kingis depending on what people want. Some trolling for marlin etc as we move between spots in the right places. Weather and peoples preferences can change any of this.
Some pics from Barrier and spots we may visit. Will add them when I can get the photo uploader to work sorry.
For now imagine some big ugly forum guy holding a 20lb+ kelpie, a 30kg+ Puka, and a big chilly bin getting filled with pup Puka, Gemfish, and big Golden Snapper. The other Puka were all to big for the chilly bin, but those pups are great eating.