Category : Blog

It was another beautiful weekend for fishing on the Sunshine Coast. We had full day charters on Saturday and Sunday and fished the outer reefs. And there was plenty of action to keep everyone happy.

On Saturday we targeted the bottom fish at Caloundra Wide. We trolled a lure on the way out and picked up a little tuna, which made for good strip baits. And we reeled in some great catches, including snapper, pearl perch, tusk fish, gold spot wrasse and fusilier.

Everyone was kept very busy through the day with lots of under size fish on the chew. Despite that, they all managed to catch a few keepers, mostly weighing in between 1 and 2kg. Wally’s tusk fish and Pete’s snapper were the biggest of the day weighing 2.5kg and they are both excellent eating fish. Nice work guys.

We changed tactics on Sunday and headed a bit further north in search of bigger sized fish and some more colourful ones as well.

In the middle section of the Barwon Banks, in fairly shallow water (32 to 40m), we had some success. The colourful fish were definitely on the bite and we caught red throat emperor, southern fusilier, gold spot wrasse, venus tusk fish and moses perch – a pretty good haul I think.

But the day wasn’t over and we went out a bit deeper, into 80 metres, searching for pearl perch and snapper. The day was nearly over when the excitement started. We hooked a monster – a wahoo weighing a whopping 30kg.

This beauty was caught while trolling a Halco swimmer. Congratulations to Isaac, the lucky punter who wound it in – again and again. Every time we got it to the boat it would take another screaming run. Eventually we got it in the boat and most customers said it was the biggest fish they had seen. Wahoo steaks for all.

You might remember we caught a wahoo a few weeks back. They will get more and more abundant as it continues to warm up, along with other pelagics like mahi mahi, tuna and mackerel. Fun times.

If you would like to try your luck at catching one of these, head to our Contact Us page and send us a message or give us a call. We’d love to have you on board.

Happy hunting!

Caloundra 12nm- Moses perch, squire and tuskfish

Caloundra wide- Snapper, tuskfish, moses perch, fusilier and amberjack

Barwon banks-  Snapper, gold spot wrasse, pearl & moses perch, trag jew and fusilier

Murphy’s and the gneerings- Snapper, pearl perch, moses perch, hussar and gold spot wrasse

Caloundra 9nm- good size snapper and tuskfish

The weather looks to drop right out on Thursday afternoon, Friday Saturday and Sunday look great for fishing.

Hi all! Hope you had a fantastic weekend, especially all the dads out there who were celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday.

Not surprisingly, our weekend was spent fishing. On Saturday we did a half-day fishing charter and on Sunday we had a three quarter day charter. Weather was good on both days and we were on our way home when the wind came through in the arvies .The north-westerly wind on Saturday made for an awesome sunrise.

We had a strong current setting to the south on the weekend, which didn’t help things but we had a few little tricks up our sleeve that made it fishable.

On Saturday we fished Murphy’s Reef catching squire, pearl perch, moses perch and hussar. The most common fish caught that day were the moses perch. These fish don’t grow all that big but are great to eat.

The biggest fish on Saturday was a 2kg snapper. On Sunday we headed to the Caloundra 12 Mile and caught some squire, moses perch and tusk fish. We also caught a lot of undersize pearl perch and squire.

After a few hours we headed north to the Caloundra 9 Mile, which fished better. We caught snapper and tusk fish with the biggest snapper weighing in at 4kg.

The next few days don’t look good for offshore fishing, with strong south-easterly winds and a large swell. But by Thursday arvo things should settle and the weekend looks good. The new moon is on Thursday so fishing on the Sunshine Coast should be great for the weekend.

Don’t forget to give us a call if you want to come out on a fishing charter and head to our Facebook page to share your fishing stories: https://www.facebook.com/pages/TOP-Catch-Charters/340047046026078.

Happy hunting!

Happy father’s Day to all the dads out there from everyone here at Top Catch Charters.  We hope you all have a great day and congratulations to Royce Beale, the winner of our fathers day-dad’s best catch competition, we will see you Today.

To help spoil your dad this Father’s Day, if you haven’t already purchased him a top catch gift voucher, we thought we would share a recipe that my dad loves, a cooked meal that is a little bit special to help put a big smile on his face. This meal is incredibly quick, easy to do and the results are amazing.  We found pearl perch to be the perfect fish to use but any firm white fish fillet will do the trick

Glazed grilled fish fillets

You will need-

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fruit chutney
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 firm-fleshed white fish fillets (eg. Pearl perch, snapper, tusk fish or even bream)

1.  Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, fruit chutney, honey, coriander and garlic in a small bowl.

2.  Place the fish fillets in a flat non-metallic dish and pour the oil mixture over the fish. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour

3.  Preheat the grill/bbq to high and place the fish fillet on the lightly oiled grill/bbq plate. Cook the fish fillets, brushing with the remaining marinade occasionally, for 4-6 minutes each side(depending on the thickness of the fillets).

Served with a simple green salad it is a healthy and delicious lunch or maybe add a couple of garlic prawn skewers to the plate and serve it for dinner.

Note; a while ago we had a customer aboard and he was the owner of Maleny cuisine (they make chutney’s and salad dressings). He had left me some to try and they are delightful, we are hooked-pardon the pun, his apple, fig and ginger chutney works amazingly well with this dish.

So hopefully this helps you give your dad the day he deserves and you get some enjoyment out of it as well.  We are sure he will love it.

Barwon banks-  Snapper, gold spot wrasse, pearl & moses perch, trag jew, tuskfish and fusilier

Murphy’s and the gneerings- Snapper and sweetlip

Caloundra 9nm- Pearl perch, tuskfish and sweetlip

Caloundra 12nm- Hussar, moses perch, squire and tuskfish

Caloundra wide- Snapper, tuskfish, gold spot wrasse

Noosa north reef – Snapper, pearlies, moses perch, trag jew and tuskfish

The weather forecast looks good until Sunday afternoon when a strong  southeast change arrives.

Tides for Thursday; high tide is at 3:05pm @1.39m

Congratulations to Royce Beale who was the lucky winner of our fathers day competition.  We will see you Sunday for your 3/4 day fishing trip.  To see Royce’s winning fish head over to our facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/TOP-Catch-Charters/340047046026078?ref=hl.

We’ve had an action-packed week here on the Sunshine Coast – and not just on the fishing front. The whales are starting to make their way back down the coast and we’ve been treated to a few sightings of these magnificent creatures.

We’ve also had a lot of curious dolphins hanging around the boat for a “free” meal. We’ve been privileged to see a lot of newborn dolphins cruising with their mums but they have been very camera shy. The ones swimming solo seem to be more photogenic. This pic was taken last Wednesday.

Full day fishing charters have been popular recently and the weekend saw us fishing out wide on the Barwon Banks. We caught snapper, pearl perch, tusk fish, kingfish, amberjack, mulloway, and trag jew. The current was very light and we were able to fish some deep water, which yielded great results. We got some good-sized fish in 75-90 metres and it certainly stretched the arms of some customers.

The best results for the weekend came on Saturday when Tom and the boys celebrated his 30^th. Happy Birthday mate. Tom added to his celebration when he reeled in the biggest pearly, weighing 3kg. But the biggest fish landed on the weekend went to Chris with his amberjack weighing 7.5kg. Everyone caught fish and enjoyed the day.

This is a great time of year on the Sunshine Coast and the fishing is great. Our recent spell spell of weather with cool nights and fine sunny days is sensational.

The weather looks good for the rest of the week and the making tides in the mornings should fish well. If you would like to celebrate your birthday, or some other special occasion, with Top Catch charters or just come along on a mixed charter flick us an email: bookings@topcatchcharters.com.au or give us a call on 0429 013 012.

Happy Hunting!

Over the past 2 months  while targeting snapper we have been catching a very welcome by-catch. The venus tusk fish or Choerod of on venustus, as some more educated may call them, have been happily taking our baits and much to our delight as these fish fight pretty hard, look very special and best of all they taste fantastic.  All tusk fish are members of the wrasse family and are often mistaken as a parrot fish.  To tell them apart is easy just take a look at the mouth of the fish and if they have a beak they are a parrot fish and if they have large tusk like teeth they are the tusk fish.  The most common variety of tusk fish caught off the sunshine coast is the venus.  Other varieties caught here include the blue bone, black spot and harlequin just to name a few.  The average size is around 1-2kg and we have caught them up to 5kg. The minimum legal size limit in Queensland is 30cm.

Venus tusk fish occupy the northern and central coasts of eastern Australia.  They congregate on the bottom around rock or coral reefs.  We have caught them in water as shallow as 18m and as deep as 90m but best results are in the 50-60 metre range. Good baits include squid, crab, fish flesh, pilchard, prawn and even chicken strips.  Tackle used is 30-50lb mono leader with 5/0 to 8/0 hooks rigged in a paternoster formation.  We get best results drifting through a patch of rough ground with scattered life and if the drift produces fish we will do it again if not we just move north or south and try again.  These guys are one of the most popular table fish with firm white flesh that flakes of into large chunks. It has a delicate fish flavour that is very sweet ideal for poaching or grilling.  Next week we give you a recipe to try and perhaps you could give it a go for your dad on fathers’ day.  Hopefully these tips help you catch a tusk fish while there are plenty around.  Let us know how you go.

Happy hunting!!!!!!!!

Barwon banks-  Snapper, pearl perch, tuskfish, maori cod, moses perch, fusilier and job fish

Murphy’s and the gneerings-  Squire, pearl perch, sweetlip

Caloundra 9nm- Squire, sweetlip, casino pa natet tusk fish and moses perch

Caloundra 12nm- Snapper, moses perch, hussar, pearl perch and maori cod

Caloundra wide-  Tuskfish, snapper, gold spot wrasse, moses perch and fusilier

Don’t forget to send in your entries/photos, only 3 days left until the Father’s day fishing trip is drawn.

Hi all! How awesome is the Sunshine Coast weather? I hope you’ve been enjoying it. We’ve certainly been making the most of it and getting in some offshore fishing. We went out for a full day charter on Saturday and a half day charter on Sunday. On Saturday, we headed out to Caloundra Wide and caught a bit of a mixed bag including snapper, pearl perch, fusilier, gold spot wrasse and tusk fish. The Venus tusk fish were certainly chewing and the biggest we reeled in was about 2.5kg. These fish are excellent eating quality and one of the most beautiful fish in the ocean. Everyone got onto at least one.

We spent Sunday inshore, fishing the Caloundra Nine Mile reef. Squire and pearl perch were caught with one pearly weighing in at 2kg. It’s a good size for a shallow reef and was hooked on a Zman sea bass soft plastic – a colour that also works really well on the snapper. We spotted a few whales, which added to the excitement and the weather was perfect. I couldn’t think of anywhere better to be on days like this.

The weather at this time of year is very stable, which is great news for fishing and it and should stay like it for another couple of months. If you want to get in on the fishing action, give us a call and book a trip.

Happy hunting!