DEEPWATER REELS

Yellowtail kingfish move out to the 100 metre reefs. Albacore and the mighty yellowfin tuna, hunt the edge of the Continental Shelf, particularly our favourite fishing location - Brown's Mountain.

Brown’s is 21.5 miles ESE from Sydney Heads. It’s a seamount east of the Continental Shelf which attracts and holds schools of tuna, right through the May-October period. Although winter gales are common, this time of year can also produce protracted periods of calm, making our 6 metre centre console a practical platform for the run to Brown's.

But in 2009 the tuna run never happened. Apart from a short run in May (see video here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH5hj9WI6Xw ) the yellowfin never arrived. Albacore and mako sharks provide a great backup most years, but until August 2009 they were quite scarce too. To run 20 miles off shore, use $150 of fuel and $50 of frozen pilchards for bait without scoring a fish is pretty disheartening. Yet there was one other option we had available. As well as tuna, Brown's Mountain is home to huge numbers of deepwater fish. Blue-eye cod, Frost fish, Hapuka and Gemfish swarm at the Mountain in countless numbers, through winter. In summer, this type of fishing is not possible because the East Australian Current runs so fast it makes bottom fishing too difficult. Winter is the time to chase these delicious deepwater species. In conjunction with our tackle supplier we had developed two new reels for deepwater bottom fishing.

In 2009, weather permitting, we averaged one trip to Brown's every week. We drifted across the top of the Mountain (which is really a plateau, like a tilted card table), cubing for yellowfin, baitfishing for sharks, and fishing the bottom with our new electric and double handled deepwater reels. We also had guests aboard at times using other brands of electric reels, mainly from Daiwa. So it was a good opportunity to both test our new reels and compare them, to the competition.

Water depth at Brown's ranges from about 450 metres to well over 600 metres, depending on which side of the plateau you’re fishing. The western side is shallower. It presents a tough challenge for tackle. Those in the know have told me that the sea bottom is swept clean of mud by the current, and is covered in deep cracks and fissures. At Brown’s it’s possible to snag the bottom then lose your sinker without excessive pressure, on the gear. The thought is that the sinker falls into a fissure on the sea floor, and the leader parts where the trace strikes the edge of the crack. Several times we have pulled up lines and rigs lost by other anglers, sometimes hundreds of metres of braid.

But it’s not just the rough bottom that demands the strongest outfit and terminal tackle available. When the gemfish spawning season reaches its height around August, the Mountain swarms with hungry mako and blue sharks, and also seals. It’s common for these predators to attack hooked fish being retrieved. With the heavy line we use (200-pound braid) a take from a shark or seal puts enormous pressure, on the gear. We have had five foot five inch heavy 80 pound game rods bending like a 12 weight fly rod, when this happens. Another problem is the ravenous gemfish themselves. Although (thankfully) they have fangs rather than cutting teeth, they slash wildly at the rigs, swivels, and even line on the way up.

A friend fishing on our boat, using a Daiwa Tanacom Bull had his 80 pound braid line part inexplicably some 200 metres from the bottom, one time. Because 80 pound line is light for Brown's, and because the small reel barely holds enough of it to reach bottom, that misfortune meant his fishing was ended for the day.

So our manual and electric reels have been designed from the ground up, to give the ultimate in power and reliability when the situations mentioned above occur.

For starters, both are based around a large 80 wide lever drag game reel.

Both hold 1000 metres of 200 pound braid.

This heavy line gives an extra margin of safety when a shark or seal strikes a hooked fish, and enables the use of 130 pound fluorocarbon leaders. This means that the terminal rig is very tough but still lighter than the main line, so that in the event of a snag it will break, rather than the main line parting. With braid being very expensive that’s the last thing you want to happen. The manual reel is a regular large game reel, but with a second handle fitted on the left hand side of the spool.

The large radius of the spool means a quick retrieve rate. When your arm gets tired – and it will get tired, retrieving a large fish from 500 metres down – you can keep winding with your left hand. Or if you can get into the rhythm, you can wind with both hands simultaneously and share the load. Note that with this type of fishing it is usual to leave the rod in the gunwhale holder during retrieve.

Our electric reel is the jewel in the crown of our tackle product range. Weighing in at over 20 pounds loaded with line, it is a heavy powerful reel designed for the deepest fishing, the toughest conditions, and the biggest fish available.

The reel has an operating retrieve of just under 1 metre per second. If comparing the retrieve rate of our reel, to competition products, there is something you need to know. Electric reels from the major tackle companies have their retrieve rate measured with a full spool, and no load. This does not give a true representation of actual fishing conditions. The retrieve rate of our reel was measured by dropping two baits and sinker to the bottom at Brown’s, then timing return to the surface with a stopwatch.

Many readers have not tried this type of fishing so I’ll briefly describe a typical trip to Brown’s Mountain.

The online weather forecast websites Seabreeze and Buoyweather predict a nor-westerly of 5-10 knots, on Wednesday. Emails and an SMS are sent out and a crew of three is assembled for a run to Brown's. Because deepwater fish are not particularly time sensitive, an early departure is not required. We leave Sydney Heads around 7.00AM after first logging on with Marine Rescue. Our course is 110 degrees, and Brown's Mountain is 21.5 nautical miles away. En route we stop half way at Twelve Mile Reef. June is prime time for yellowtail kingfish on the 100 metre reef line. Down go the jigs and 30 minutes later some solid 85cm kingies are on ice. Rods are stowed and off we go to Brown's.

On arrival several of the regulars are drifting over the prime spot, being the south-western corner. We prefer to stay well clear of the fleet because we are going to fish for tuna and shark at the same time. Around 3 kilometres north-east of everyone else, we slow to a stop and turn off the outboard. First job is to get the burley trail going. Jay takes thawed pilchards from the live bait tank and cuts each one into three pieces. I set a whole bonito rigged with a 12/0 hook from the starboard outrigger, hoping for a mako shark. Daryl installs our electric reel in the port rod holder and prepares for the first drop.

We do things a little differently to everyone else, when fishing the bottom at Brown's. Most anglers use large baits, large hooks, and break away sash cord weights, to get to the bottom. We use a rig with the least water resistance possible to get down fast. It’s a double Paternoster, about 1.5 metres long overall. On top is a brass ring, since swivels are not required with overhead reels. Then two short droppers with 7/0 circle hooks, all rigged on 130 pound hard fluoro carbon.

The weight is a four pound lead tear drop sinker. The baits are tiny in comparison with those used by most other anglers, being the head only of a pilchard. When the point of the hook is inserted between the eyes, the mouth of the pilchard is held closed. This very streamlined rig gets to the bottom fast, which is what you want in deep water. When the bait hits bottom and the line stops going out Daryl calls out the depth to the crew as shown on the detachable line counter fitted to the rod - 470 metres.

He then winds up the rig by hand 20 feet or so, to avoid the sinker fouling the bottom. During prime time it’s not uncommon for a hook up to happen almost instantly. The 100% Dyneema braid we use has zero stretch, so bites show just as clearly as if you’re fishing for whiting, in ten feet of water. In this case solid bumps are seen on the rod tip and the heavy rod used bends to a curve. We’re on!

There are three methods available for retrieval, with our electric reel. Manually winding the handle is an option, although the motor is wound with every turn so a lot of effort is required. Second option is to press the up button on the controller box. Our reel uses a separate controller box which incorporates a thermal cutout to protect the electric motor. Under overload conditions – for instance, when a 200 kilo mako grabs a gemfish and hooks up – the motor will automatically turn off to protect itself from damage. It will restart in 60 seconds. The third option is to use the remote controller - two are supplied with each reel. These are a small key fob, like the ones used for remotely opening your car door.

Two buttons, one for up and one for down. Very handy for fishing shorthanded or for operating the reel at a distance, for instance when a fish strikes and you’re on the flybridge of a game boat. In this way our electric can also be used as a remote teaser reel.

But Daryl prefers the control box. The up switch is depressed and the hooked fish start their long trip to the surface. Contrary to what many anglers think gemfish fight all the way to the top and often appear unaffected, by the change in depth. From 470 metres down our reel takes between 7-8 minutes to bring the catch to the surface. Daryl monitors the depth counter and as the fish nears the boat everyone stops what they’re doing, to look over the side. When we first started deepwater fishing, some of the keen game fishermen who are part of our regular crew thought that it would be a bit mechanical and boring. But it’s been amazing how much everyone enjoys it and how excited we all get in the terminal stages of a fight. In this case, six kilo gemfish are on both hooks. The circle hooks pin the fish securely, so a gaff is not required. They are swung aboard using the leaders and iced down fast. Gemfish and blue-eye cod, the main species encountered in this type of fishing, are two of the most delicious fish in the sea.

For twenty years my favourite table fish was coral trout, I now prefer a gemfish fillet.

As Daryl’s fish are boated Jay announces he has hooked up on the manual reel. Jay starts winding his fish up from the bottom. Not much fighting so we have no idea what species he might have hooked. We have hooked all kinds of weird and wonderful fish out here, some of which we’ve only identified by using the internet. Here’s an example, an Alfonsino.

Never heard of them before we caught one, but they are delicious on the plate. Jay steadily brings his fish to the boat, using the left side reel handle to break the monotony.

Our manual deepwater reel has a huge spool which gives a fast retrieve. The reel has a gearing of 2.6:1 but is a two speed, meaning you can switch to a low gear of 1.2:1 to shift a heavy fish off the bottom. It is supplied with 1000m of 200-pound braid, and a rod and depth counter included. Just my opinion but a compact double handled large game reel is a lot better – and a lot cheaper – than the big Alvey deck winches often seen at Brown's.

As Jay’s fish nears the surface we look over the side to see a long silver ribbon emerging from the depths. It’s a frost fish - like a hairtail on steroids ! This one’s around 6 feet long.

After 90 minutes or so we have our bag limit of deepwater fish, a mixture of gemfish, blue-eye, and the frost fish.

Everyone is relaxed because whether or not the tuna arrive we already have a great bag of fish to take home.

And that’s the joy of deepwater fishing. With game fishing always being a bit hit and miss, deepwater fishing is a great way to make sure you don’t go home empty handed. The exciting part is that the fishing is only going to get better. All up and down the East Coast there are canyons, sea mounts and deepwater structure holding gemfish, blue-eye, trumpeter, bar code and hapuka. Many spots are lightly fished or not fished at all. This winter, we will be fishing at Heatons Hill, a further 15 miles east of Brown's Mountain. Every inch of the kilometre of braid on our reel will be needed but I’m confident we will do really well out there. Small reels holding 600 metres of 80-pound line just can’t hack it when you’re exploring the depths.

Here’s what you get, with our deepwater reel packages,

all these extras are included in the price.

Firstly, with both manual and electric reels:

1:1000 metres of 200-pound PE20

100% Dyneema braid line:

2: A bent butt 24 kilo rod with roller tip:

3: A detachable resettable depth counter which accurately measures to 1000 metres: