Each year for the last two years we have headed to the Ribbon Reefs on the Great Barrier Reef for Xmas.
And this year was no exception!
After the amazing trip we had to Princess Charlotte Bay in October, we had planned a two week trip. The plan was to spend some time at Lizard Island (we love Lizard) plus return to some other gems we found while returning from the Princess Charlotte Bay trip.
Sadly the weather had other ideas!
But not before we spent a lovely few days at the Ribbon Reefs.
Not only did a long term weather event ruin our extended plans, but an afternoon storm sent us packing!
Luckily we were on hand to help out a father and son boatie in their tinny, taken by surprise (as we were) when a storm cell developed right on top of us.
Ribbon Reefs – Outer Barrier Reef
I love travelling to the Ribbons.
I spent much of my early adulthood out there on the marlin boats, living, snorkelling, spearing and fishing on the outer reef.
Don’t we love it when we get a good weather window. Glassy days and Balmy nights.
The Ribbon reefs have great anchorages in a south east to north east air flow.
But anything from the north and west is a nightmare particularly in storm season.
Entering and exiting the reef area is best done from 10-3 so you can see the bommies.
Plus you’ll need the sun overhead to see the sandy patches for anchoring. Lest you damage the reef and potentially lose your anchor.
Overcast days are also difficult and why we installed a forward facing panoptix Livescope trasducer into Mood Swings.
This time on the way to the Ribbon Reefs we stopped at the Hope Islands for Xmas Day.
What a glorious little gem that can be reached easily from the Bloomfield River.
Stick around after the video for some photos of the trip below.
Fishing was short and sweet!
Fishing during our Ribbon Reefs trip was short and sweet.
Karen and our guest, local artist Daphne (see her art on insta) were very keen on snorkelling and you know what they say?
Happy wife happy life!
So we had a ball exploring and taking advantage of the fab weather.
Of course I did manage a few drops on a Wonky Hole we found in our travels, yielding one mackerel and two nice large-mouth nannygai.
It can be tricky fishing these spots in Mood Swings hence we often drift.
Our 6.5 m blue boat is the best option for fishing Wonky Holes on the GBR
To get yourself onto good fish like this, here are a couple of options…
- Grab a few of our Levitator jigs.
- Learn to find Wonky Holes (if you live inside the Great Barrier Reef)
- Dial in your Fish Finder! I show you how in my Sounder Skills 2 course.
Photo Highlights of our trip to the Ribbons.
Our new videograher Stephen Duscher came with us on this trip for the first time and all we can say is WOW! We loved his camera work and editing for the video plus the images he captured are so beautiful. You can see more of his great pics on instagram > Stephen Lucky Duscher.
Hope Islands
M.V. Debut on Emily Reef (S/E of Cooktown)
#BoatLife
Outer Barrier Reef
Trip Home
To find out what gear we used on this trip, check out our gear and tackle cheat sheet.
Well I hope you enjoyed our Xmas trip to the Ribbon Reefs.
If you’re new here, please check out some of our tips and tricks in previous blog posts. We have over 200 now (see below).
And for those that want to maximise their fishing time and get onto some great fish, take a look at our fish smarter courses.
Many people sell themselves short by assuming they “know” how to fish.
And for sure they do! But there are certain key things to focus on that most people don’t give enough attention to.
They spread themselves too thin.
Like spending time and money purchasing more lures.
And wasting time on YouTube.
For sure YouTube has some good info at times. But sifting through the rubbish is a waste of your time and energy.
Unlike YouTube creators making videos as a side hustle, (most of whom trot out the same misinformation), fishing has been my day job (and my livelihood) for 30 years.
There’s a saying… “Eagles don’t take flying lessons from chickens”.
So if you want to focus on the right stuff (from someone who has done the hard yards as a fishing guide for decades) and start fishing smarter not harder…
Take a look at our Fish Smarter courses.
