Hello folks

Sorry for delay in keeping you up to date. Working hard and very tied at nights might have something to do with it. But I am pleased to advise that the Viking 11is back in the water. Friday 27th of June at lunchtime she was towed around to a berth for the final completion.

The new QSMII Cummins look magnificent in the newly painted 2 pack engine room, and with the top sides having a new gleaming coat of Glasirite she looks a treat.

We have achieved a lot in the month, engine refit, cleaning, wiring, plumbing, painting, fabricating, It is always a big job especially when you are trying to do as much as possible yourself, otherwise financially it would not be possible. I will be posting some great progress shots soon. I have had some great help from regular crew Peter Macray, and Mistress Captain Brett Alty.

I will be very excited towards the end of the week when the QSM11 Cummings are flashed up for the first time.

Stay tuned for pictues and more progress reports.

   

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Hello folks.

Installing new wiring for cummins QSM11 almost 75% finished, new bearings for rudders installed, engine room ready for repaint, new engine supports 75% completed, gearboxes with new engine couplings installed on engines, and painted, Genset repainted, drive pullies for auxillary equipment installed on new engines, transom painted by yours truly on spray Gun, not to bad. Rebuilding steering rams and steering arms and tie rods. Thats all for now folks.

 

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Hello folks

Viking 11 got lifted out of the water on Monday 26th of may 1300 for the start of new engine installation and refit. We have had a good week and achieved allot, Both old MTU are out of boat and so is generator, we have degreasedand washed engine room and started detailing, old MTU wiring has been removed, and engine room will soon be painted with Awlgrip 2000 ready for new engine mountings, rudders and shafts have been removed, and all bearings will be replaced. We have sanded transom and starboard side of vessel   ready for repaint. I have regular crew Peter Mcgray helping me, as well as Brett Alty from Mistress   Â

Hello again folks

We now offer 3 day share charter packages with accommodation for Port Stephens and Gold Coast, starting December this year. Go to the site for all details.

Well I have a bit of news, and to be honest after 25 years af being a sport and game fishing boat Captain I was thinking about a change, But I can’t do it, I love it to much. I have recently come out of Hospital, sorting out some health issues, and very happy to say all is good, and  that I am feeling very motivated. I have decided to repower the mighty Viking 11 with new engines and give her a big birthday. Told you I was feeling Motivated, and set my goals for another 10 years at least in the industry. The re-power will not only give the Viking 11 a new lease on life, but myself included.

I have decided on Cummings QSM11 Engines at 600hp which should give her a 25kt cruise, and a much better fuel burn with the common rail engineering. It is all starting after the Sanctuary Cove Boat show.

I am going to document  the whole programe on my Blog so keep in tune Their will be plenty to lean for those thinking about a re-power. I will also be letting you all know why have decided on certain products.Â

 

Back from Port Stephens season, and enjoying catching up with my wonderful family. Had some great times at the Port, here are a few highlights.

 

Catching 8 in a day as well as all three species.   Catching blue marlin over 200kg on 15kg, catching 3 blues marlin over 150kg,. Plus consistent multiple fish days.

 

Here is a great little story that was one of my personal highlights.

 

Kim, my wife ,came down for a little 3 day visit, during some time off. I decided to give her a treat and take her for a marlin fish. It was one of those days magic days weather wise, and we headed up to the Gibber, a serious reef structure between Broughton Island and Seal Rocks.  We caught our fresh bait got them out and crewman Wade, Kim, and myself sat back to enjoy the day. I went to the cockpit to have a leak and Wade took over the driving. As always it happened we had our first bite, Kim got hooked up to a nice Black, and I started clearing the gear. Well some how I found myself also hooked up, and for the first time ever Mummy and Daddy had a double header on, of decent black marlin, and personally I could not remember the last time I was hooked up to a marlin. It was a great hour of great fun. Of course I lost mine but Kim got hers. Mission accomplished back to the marina for debriefing and cocktails.

 

The 2008 interclub tournament was won by my good friends on the new Assegai Gorilla who took out the tag and release section! And my other buddies on rampage took out the capture section. Due to bad weather it only turned out to be a 2 day gig.

Well it was bound to happen, after a run of unbelievable fishing seasons, the 2006 Giant Black Marlin season was much slower than usual, but I can’t complain with the amount of big fish action.

We fished most of September which has been excellent in the past but the marlin were sparse, so we spent a substantial part of the day giving the clients great entertainment with large Spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna, yellow fin tuna, red emperor, and coral trout. Yes we did catch a few marlin in the afternoons but nothing over 300lb.

Early October bought our first Run of nice fish, and the Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic soon rolled around. We had a shocker of a start on day 1 and day 2, but our lucked changed on day 3 when we tagged 4 black marlin up to 750lbt, talk about going from the shithouse to the penthouse. At the end of the 7 day tournament we ended up being one off the pace, and client Brent Morehouse was champion angler. Brent has done 10 seasons with me and caught some great fish, many we have called 950lb, and he was always keen to weigh a 1000lb plus black marlin. On the last day in the last hour Brent hooked the biggest fish he has ever seen, I called it over 1100lbs, Brent elected to tag and release the magnificent fish to put him in front for the champion angler award. You know what they say it’s never over till the fat lady sings.

Another big fish story ended with a not so happy ending, another client wishing to weigh his first big fish hooked a monster off Lena Reef at the bottom end of the ribbons, the fish did some spectacular jumps and than sounded, an hour later we had her close but even with 85lbs of drag could not quite get to her, we felt she was tied, how wrong we were, she again bolted to the depths and stripped 400 meters of line off the big 130H Penn International. This was one of the biggest and most impressive fish that I have seen in my 25 year history. It was all hard yards but we managed to get her close again, I could see the huge fish paddling 25 meters down, than I spotted the brown shapes next to her. I was about to yell cut her off, but it was too late they made there move. We got her on board as quick as we could. The Black Marlin had a huge girth, but the shark eaten tail end left us devastated.

The 3rd of December our last day arrived, it was calm hot and steamy, 16:30 had not seen a fish behind the baits or on the sounder, and starting to count down the minutes to seeing my family, when the fish alarm sounded. I changed my focus from the baits to the sounder, and saw the 3 small boomerangs holding at 50 meters. Might get lucky yet I said to myself, I looked back at the baits just in time to see a big fish engulf the big scaley mackerel. It was than I realised that I had only marked the small fish that were accompanying the big mother.

An hour later we released our 4th fish for the season well over 1000lbs a great way to finish. In the wash up we ended up [with 55 black marlin, 4 over 1000lbs 6 over 900lbs and 9 over 750lb and a sea monster without a tail.

Early in 2006 found Viking II heading south for it’s season in Port Stephens. Our ever popular cost of fuel only trip from the Gold Coast to Port Stephens where we troll the continental shelf of NSW presented some great fishing for Warrick, Tony, and big Mike. The boy’s had a ball catching all 3 species of Marlin as well as some quality yellow fin.

Port Stephens again proved itself to be an outstanding destination, my regular fly fishing clients were kept busy on the long rods with the perfect size stripers and blacks and were blown away by the odd nice blue.

Conventional tackle clients had some big days, with double figures and the odd grand slam not uncommon. But without a doubt the biggest highlight of the Port Stephens season was winning the NSW Interclub Tournament Champion boat Tag and Release. Kim, my hard working wife, was relieved of her mother and office duties to fish this tournament. And fish it she did, taking out not only champion female angler, but also champion angler over all. A feat never before achieved by a lady. I achieved a personal milestone in my career, having now won this tournament four times as captain in the capture as well as the tag and release divisions. Again a feat never before achieved.

Four of the Billson’s Blue water Sport fishing Workshops were held in 06. Two in Port Stephens and two on the Gold Coast. As always these were highly successful. Held over weekends these workshops are not only for the new comers to the sport but also for the experienced, yes I can teach some old dogs some new tricks. Click here for this years dates if you want to join the fun!

I had a break from the fishing program for a few months this year, to refit the charter boat Mauna Kea. The Mauna Kea had been purchased by good friend Jeff Jennings, well one thing led to another and I found myself back using my old trade’s tools again, refitting the whole engine room and designing and overseeing the installation of its new tower. A lot of hard work but I am more than happy with the end result.

The Viking II departed the Gold Coast in late August for my 20th Giant Black Marlin season as a Captain and the 40th anniversary season of the first black Marlin captured over 1000lb. We kicked off on the 7th September and found there was no shortage of small to medium fish to keep the clients entertained. By the middle of September we had released our first nice one. Simon Atkinson the angler was ecstatic over the capture, and the boats first nice one for the season put smiles all round.

The 40th Anniversary Tournament with its 65 boats made it one of Cairns largest ever tournaments. Anglers Henning Hassle, Nils Christian Foss from Denmark who had been so successful in a previous Lizard Island Tournament were trying there luck with me again. The boys took 3 days prior the 4 day event to get there hand in. At the end of a tightly fought tournament the Viking II came in second place to Mauna Kea. (I knew I spent too much time on that refit). Never the less a great tournament, and a good result. Congratulations to Jeff and the boys, and my team.

Robert Ell and his team from Sydney were back again, their 4 day trip produced 24 bites for 10 releases. We had a ball too Rob.

Matt Sanders, and Greg Beard, mixed up a spear fishing trip with their marlin fishing, 3 days of marlin fishing for 6 releases and no shortage of trout for the table.

Beau Kuok another regular, normally a Lizard Island guest, this year decided to experience staying on the reef live aboard. Beau enjoys fishing the reef in the mornings and employs his Chinese cooking skills to prepare the fish for lunch. His steamed coral trout or red emperor is to die for. Beau still managed to average a Marlin a day during his afternoon session and will be spending more time on the reef in the future.

The Lizard Island tournament rolled around again Murray Hansen and the boys from NZ utilized the comfort of a mother ship for the 7 days, and put there trust in me to give them a result.. I have won this gig 4 times prior but this year was not my year. The boys were great sports and we had plenty of laughs. You know what they say the sun doesn’t shine out of the same dogs arse all the time.

I had to leave the Viking to Capt Steve Haygarth ( Hoggy) to run for 10 days while I attended to some other commitments. Hoggy has done many seasons with me and he did a great job for clients Michael Hayes and friend and Jeff cooper and friends. I saw the video footage and believe some of the fish released during this time were well over 1000lb. Good Job Hogg.
John Houghton and mate Steve Woods took 6 days at the start of November. John celebrated his 50th birthday on the reef, Steve got a 900lber and John caught his share of smaller fish.

Bruce Yancey did his second trip with me, and utilized the Atlantic Princess for his Mother ship. I must say at this point that the AP’s service and food is second to none on the reef, and our 3 nights were thoroughly enjoyed. Bruce still has not been lucky with a nice fish, but wins the party animal award every time.

Richard Draper, Chris Hevelston, John Staley only took 3 days but got real lucky, 2 over 900lb and 4 in total. This started a nice little roll for us.

Roy Sayman also only took three days, but caught 8 fish including one over 800lb and one over 600lb. By 14:30 on Roy’s last day, we got an early mark; Roy was a little worn out to catch another one.

The husband and wife team of Bruce and Laurie Bosley took 6 days a wonderful couple who were passionate about their fishing. They were rewarded with 10 fish for their trip, and each achieving a dream of 2 big ones around 900lb.

Regular’s Paul Kelly Uncle Doug and Rodney, love there bottom fishing and light tackle and had a great first day with a 20lb red emperor and 40lb Spanish mackerel. When the marlin baits were put in Uncle Doug hooked up to a sea monster, the big fish took its toll on Doug who is not a big man, he looked a little relieved when after a succession of unbelievable jumps the big fish got rid of the hook. Still puffing after the first encounter, Uncle Doug, who is not a fit man. (Sorry Uncle Doug) was on again this time to a 500lber on steroids. I will say one thing about Uncle Doug, what he lacks in size he makes up for in heart. The boys each caught a marlin and plenty of other action on the other tackle.

Jim Wild and friends were to finish off my season, we were on 95 fish for the big fish season and sights were set on the three figures, alas it was not to be. I took a punt and went out wide to the sea mount, plenty of big Wahoo and Dorado and bait but no marlin, a missed opportunity on the way back in, and one fish on the edge was our finish. Jim and his mates were great guys and loved their trip.

2006 was over 82 days of heavy tackle marlin for 96 fish, I think close to top boat we had some great times with you guys and hoped you enjoyed our company and efforts. Thank you so much.

Our 2005 heavy tackle season started on the 6th September and finished on 1st of December 87 days straight chasing the giant black marlin that migrate to the Barrier Reef every year. All of our clients went away with some amazing memories and extremely happy so much so that on returning home in December my wife Kim informed me that our book was full for the 2006 season. Some highlights were.

Regular client Brent Morehouse from the US topped off a great week by catching another grander with us. He is getting towards double figures with nice ones now, but still won’t put one in the boat unless a definite 1100lb.

Ferdi Pistirious from South Africa got 2 over 850lb in the Lizard island classic. Bill Holt also from the US letting a monster go over 1100lb. Old time friend and partner in the original Viking Paul Kelly had a blinder 4 days catching 5 over 900lb and 9 in total.

Dan Percy also from the US followed on the hot early November bite, with a total of 9 for his 5 days. His first day a 750 lb’er he lifted the ante on the second day with a 850lber than the next day a 950lber and to really put the icing on the cake let a monster go well over 1000lb in his last hour of his last day.

December saw us moving from Cairns to the Gold Coast were we are now calling home. Our young family Kai now 2 ½ and Emmi-Rose nearly 4 are loving it and having the Viking 11 parked out in front of the house makes life much easier, and lets me spend more time with the family.

By early February this year, we were doing our southern season out of Port Stephens, we started our season and the fish started snapping, Up to 10 billfish a day was not uncommon and all 3 species Black, blue, and striped marlin could be caught in a day. Neil Delaney caught a Grand Slam for a single angler, and had some hot fishing for his 5 days.

Our 1ST Workshop was held on the 11th and 12th of February, I would have to say my best ever, they are becoming very popular and from the remarks from the students they are more than impressed with what we teach them. There fishing day on the Sunday saw many of the students putting into practice what we taught them, and catching there first ever marlin.

Regular Japanese Fly-fishing client Hiro had booked his usual 7 days out of Port Stephens. The fishery stayed strong and we hooked some nice fish on the fly. A 600lb Blue, which blew us away on 20lb tippet, and a weighed 125 lb black on 16lb tippet just a little under the record were a few of the highlights.

We fished the NSW interclub tournament last weekend in February and the 1st weekend in March. We have won this event 3 times prior with capture, and I was keen to take out the Tag and Release section. To our delight we achieved that feat this year, to the best of my knowledge I don’t believe this has ever been achieved before. 13 black and Striped marlin tagged and released in the 1st weekend of the tournament did the job. My Wife Kim took out Champion overall angler, and also Champion female angler. She did a great job on the rod and we were more than delighted.

Thats all for now but check back soon for some more news

Hope to see you soon

Captain Bill