22 Feb 2010

Fancy a Job as a Deckie ?

Jordan gets some expert advice from Joe

Jordan Whittaker has been spending the past month gaining some gamefishing boat deck experience aboard Bite Me and Tease Me. Jordan is no stranger to Kadavu Island waters. He and his father Brett have fished the area many times aboard their 25ft Blackwatch and Jordan is no slouch when it comes to fighting some of Kadavu's monster wahoo.
This time though it was all about popper casting for GTs and jigging the outer barrier reef slopes.
This type of fishing requires a whole new skill set and a broad knowledge of heavy duty GT tackle, complex leader knots that cast through guides and the ability to carefully handle big GTs so that they can be released unharmed.

New species on jigs

Assessing a hook-up before sliding in a GT

Advising anglers on likely GT haunts

Getting ready to gently boat another GT

or Red Bass...

Jordan's toughest challange.... carefully releasing a 40-50kg Grey Reef Shark that was accidentally hooked on a jig.
I am delighted to say Jordan slid the hook out perfectly with a hook release pole and the shark was swam away unharmed.

It wasn't all fun though....Jordan's time was also spent stripping the cooling system on one of Bite Me's Iveco 280HP marine diesel engines, scrubbing the hull and running gear and of course...cleaning the head... Its not all glamour being a deckie...

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