Day fishing trips out of Broome or Cape Leveque?

Last time I was in Broome there was a guy walking around the caravan park organising a fishing charter.

He did a deal with the skipper of the charter boat, if he got enough paying customers for a fishing charter he went for free.

In the three weeks he was in Broome he organised 4 or 5 [I cant remember] trips and only the first one cost him any money.

Hi Olly,
You will be spoilt for choise in Broome. At this time of year look at ocean/reef fishing (more expensive of course). The esturary charters all run but the best esturay fishing is definitely in the wet. This doesn't mean you won't catch anything just that the best times are in the wet and you may be dissapointed if you have high expectations. A friend ran a charter up there for two years and the trips vary a lot, some are great others almost no fish. Not what you want to hear if you have just paid $100 - $250 each. At Cape Leveque there is quite a good charter run by the loacls (or was in 2001). It actually leaves from one of the communities and is advertised in the shop at Cape L. If all else fails the West Beach or the river on the other side of the cape (?Hunter Creek) can be entertaining and is free. Usual precautions for fishing in these areas applies re tides, crocs, sharks etc. The tide is no joke if you get caught on some tidal flats you need to move very swiftly and it was not uncommon to see largish bronzies cruising the flats in 2 feet of water.

Steve

G'day OLLY,

A bit of a story about our day out at Broome last year,

Today is fishing day for Geoff, Lynette, Lis and I. It is Geoff’s and mine 50th birthday present, a day of Sailfish fishing. The boat was El Quenta, skippered by Danny O’Sulivan, a bit of an extravagance but well worth the money. We got onto this guy by word of mouth in Derby and made arrangements from there. Danny advised us that today would by the most favourable day of the month for sailfish so we booked it.

Rang him last night to tee up our pick up from Gantheum Point, a beach where all the charter boats moor. He advised us to arrive about 5-50 for a 6am departure, we arrive about 10 minutes earlier and were somewhat concerned about the weather which was blowing up some chop on the beach. The prospects of being picked up in a small dingy was starting to look like a theme park horror ride. Well, the moment has arrived and Shaun the deckie ushers us to the end of the beach where the waves looked a little kinder. First Lynette and Geoff and then Lis and I arrive on the boat relatively dry and are introduced to Danny who welcomes us aboard and runs through some safety issues before departing.

The vessel is a 40 foot fly bridge game fishing boat (Danny and the boat as it turns out were the winning crew of the 2005 Broome Sailfish competition), very well appointed and very comfortable. Soon we were on our way, Danny had told us about an hours travel and he was expecting the winds to ease later in the morning and gave us a run down on how to fish for Sailfish. He spent a fair amount of the travel time rigging baits and rigging a couple of queen fish that would be connected without hooks to the end of the teasers. He suggested that with only 2 fishing that we would also run some marlin lures as they had also been around. Our expectations are high as yesterday they caught 3 sails.

We arrive at the destination and the water is still somewhat choppy with about a half to a meter swell but it was crystal clear. The teasers go over and so do the baits and Geoff and I are again reminded on how to hook these fish. It wasn’t long before we hit panic stations as a sail was chasing one of the teasers, it was on Geoff’s side and he was soon hooked up and then some came up and well I was over taken by the moment and broke a golden rule (tried to set the hook which usually results in a miss). All the gear comes in and Geoff lands the first sail of the day – a beautiful fish which we photograph and release. I get a lecture from Danny!

Some time later we managed a triple hook up, now this was a problem with only 2 fishing so Lynette decides to come down from the fly bridge to take on the 3rd fish. Lynette’s fish was the closest and she lands hers first my fish was jumping around near another boat about 100 meters away and Geoff’s was in the front of the boat. We managed to catch and release all 3 due to Danny’s skill in maneuvering the boat around without tangling any of the lines and Shaun’s speedy recovery of the remaining lines – great team work. This was 4 sails for the day and we were stoked.

There were a couple of boats turned up and we noticed a friendly exchange between the captains but things slowed down a little and we were able to have something to eat and drink. Lis was feeling a little off and spent some time on the fly bridge and another bait was taken, again on Geoff’s side and he lands his third sail, this was truly a special day. A little time later the bait on my side is taken by a tuna and Lis catches a nice Mack Tuna which danny rigs up for trolling to catch a marlin. This had to be seen to be believed, the tuna was all of 5 kilos and anything that would want to eat him was going to be pretty scary – but out he went on the biggest reel on the boat. It is only about 10-30 and we had already exceeded expectation. We troll for about 15 minutes when Danny decides to ditch the tuna bait as it was upsetting the other set lines (this fish is released only a little worse for wear). Not much later I catch another sail, these are just magnificent fish to look at, both in and out of the water. This is sail number six and what a great day!

The day is punctuated with several sightings of whales, dolphins, sea snakes (lots) and turtles but we continue to fish and all of the sudden a lone marlin strikes on Geoff’s side lure but fails to hook and even though he hangs around for a while we were unable to get him to strike again. A pod of 8 humpback whales get our attention and pass within 10 meters of the boat – what a great show. They were not concerned about our presence and swam closely together so not only great fishing but a magnificent whale tour to boot! Danny said another 10 minutes and we were happy with that so the baits were out again and got our attention. Someone was really smiling on us and we got another strike and again on Geoff’s side but he gives it to me (what a gentleman!) and I get to land my 3rd sail for the day (so 7 sails and 1 tuna) we could not have asked for more.

We not only have great memories but also great photos to remind us what a perfect day it was. We were fortunate with the weather, the date, the boat and the crew which all conspired to help us have such a memorable day. The word of mouth was certainly good for us as we picked a good skipper who enjoyed his job and clearly does not just take clients fishing, HE is part of the team and stated a couple of times that there was no point going if the conditions were not right. We’ll be talking about this trip for years!

The proof,



I know it is not a handline job etc but well worth considering unless Yuo're coming back to Broome on a regular basis.

Kind regards