We thought we'd seen wild mackerel sessions before | Fishing the Wild NT Ep.9

The Northern Territory's coastline is one of the healthiest marine environments on earth. The biological diversity and the numbers of marine creatures is almost unmatched worldwide. One of the signs of a healthy marine ecosystem is the amount of sharks present, and there is one particular spot in the Northern Territory that has more sharks than anywhere else. At the very top of the Wessel Islands in North East Arnhem Land is a three kilometre stretch of reef that is home to an extraordinary number of aggressive sharks. They are here because of the pristine water and the abundance of food. This particular stretch of reef is a place called Cape Wessel, the very tip of this dramatic chain or islands that knives out 100 kilometres off the Northern Territory's mainland coast. It is sacred Aboriginal land with deep cultural significance and a place that has to be respected. Its prehistoric rock formations create an eerie underwater landscape of deep drop-offs, coral reefs, cracks, tunnels and deep holes that seem to go down forever. It is a place that you feel like you haven't been invited. It is also one of the most remote and wild places on earth and has some of the best big Spanish Mackerel fishing in the world. Because of this there is one family of professional Spanish mackerel fishermen that venture out there every year to brave the hostile conditions to chase the mighty Spaniard. Dad Bruce Davey, mum Juanita, their children Elsbeth and Tiger and Tiger's wife Prue all lead a unique lifestyle living aboard the family mothership Wildcard. The Daveys have been professional fishermen for generations forging a living off the wild north Australian waters for collectively around a hundred years. Raised on the ocean they have all lived an adventurous life beyond comprehension to most people. Professionally line fishing for Spanish Mackerel is an adrenalin-loaded dangerous form of hand- to-hand combat fishing. Its not for the half-hearted. It's physical and takes a lot skill and understanding about the ocean and the animals that live in it. Because of the sharks, mackerel fishing at Cape Wessel has a unique set of challenges. Unless they are landed quickly the Spaniards are ripped to shreds in a vicious game of tug-of-war between fisherman and shark. These battles are brutal and it is not uncommon for the sharks to get airborne as they attack with so much force, and it is no wonder they have given this place the nick-name "Cape Carnage". The Wildcard family are some of our closest friends and they have always wanted Simmo and I to join them and experience first hand their way of catching Spaniards and to witness some of the craziest shark behaviour we are likely to ever see. So this week we have decided to take the three day journey living aboard the Wildcard to see first hand this form of fishing and the Jumping Sharks of Cape Carnage. alright Lets go fishin Yeah! Here we go. Put this one on. So this is a skirted garfish tie one hook in and a bit of wire through the garfish's eye and that skirt comes down over his nose and those colours are proven attractants basically make it look pretty and thats it. So Cape Wessel mackies are bigger than other mackies around the country? These are the horses? Yeah we call it Cape Carnage. Big fish. Big sharks. Big everything. I was looking under the main boat there just before we jumped out and there was just sharks everywhere already and we haven't even started processing. You can get in even closer and get out of the "shark zone" but sharks have really honestly evolved here to fish off the backs of boats - they know. I just had a hit then. I'm getting out of the way of - here we go! Come on Juanita. Are you calling a good one here? Yep calling a good one. Woah! Shark on him? Go Juanita! Here we go..... He's got a shark on him for sure This is a tough battle Did you see that shark? Yep, here we go. He is still on it! Woah. Scheez! Woah that is a massive mackie... and a shark was on him straight away Here we go! She is on. Another one. Wow. Another goodie. Another one woah! We are in trouble. Everywhere here. Oh no! I don't think I've got a whole one in yet Woah There are just sharks and mackerel everywhere here at the moment. Bloody sharks Arhhhhh! Woah! Ah thank God So this is why they call it Cape Carnage there is just sharks everywhere you can see them below the boat when Juanita pulls up the mackerel. Thats a pretty common occurrence Juanita, that there? Yup That a bigger one, look at the size of those teeth there. So this is a place you definitely don't want to fall in around. But um, is there some days when they are not here at all? Or are they always here? The sharks are always here but sometimes they are more brutal than others. Ok well thats just incredible. Alright She is back in. You are kidding me! Look at that! Holy dooley She's on Fletch see if you can get that Here we go! We are on here Fletch. Yes. Go Prue! Hang on yep we are on here again! Holy F%^# Got him, Got him. Should I move? Nah Woohoo. That is what happens. Wow Oh there is a shark. Holy hell. Oh yep yep we're on. Look at that. Far out No this is a bit of the scary bit for Simmo, oh off again. That my friend is why we call it Cape Carnage. Don't drop it it is very sharp. Thats all thats left of one mackie his bottom jaw. Have a look at that And those teeth there they are designed for the mackie just to slice into the bait and cut it in half We are on again! And I don't want these teeth to hit my leg or my femoral artery here. Thats going in. Do I have to change sides? You're right Woohoo. Go this is a biggie! You beauty! This is the worrying bit oh oh a shark on him right here. Go girl. yes. That's the worrying bit for me. You beauty! Geez Yeah! Ok so immediately killed him. Brain spike him and cut his throat. that is clinical. Clinical. So this is the set-up, we have go our VB cord or like 4mm rope and it has actually got a bungy strap there. That is the shock absorber. So when the fish hits it is not going to pull itself out straight away its going to take a bit of the pressure and then this goes back 13 metres, is that right? 13 or 14 metres. Look at that one. Oh man its fun. I love watching it. Look at that woah! Here we go we are on! Here we go! Come on I'll get one here, I had a hit. Go girl, there it is! Yes. Rock it! Geez Thats a shark up it. Oh Jesus Christ. No just leave it leave it! Ok Oh yeah a shark's got it Now you are pulling in a fish and a shark. Holy hell. Jesus! What? Oh yep I got it! F&%*ing hell. Righto be careful. Remember what I taught ya. Look at that! I've got him. Alright are you good? I'm good. A bit slippery. Be careful now. It's a bit slippery. Alright. What is going on? Shark on him. A shark on him. Shark on him. A shark has got him. Alright now land it. Woohoo! Bang! Debut! Well done. My God I slipped on the floor there and started heading towards the drink and there's sharks everywhere Commercial debut. Far out that is a lot harder than it looks. Oh no! This is epic! There is just no way you can get them in hey? Thats why I did giggle when you said that you wanted to use a rod. That is just absolute carnage. It's carnage you 're right. How long have you been fishing this country for Juanita? Ah here probably about 25 years. It still scares the willies out of me. Do you still see things that you are surprised by? Yeah. Don't tell me a whole one! Don't tell me. We got one. Yay, we got a whole one woohoo. Mackerel are faster than sharks thats why um they'll still feed. Sharks don't normally get to eat mackerel. But these sharks have evolved to learn that they'll get and easy feed hanging off the back of our boats. So this shark's behaviours is pretty specific to these islands? Yeah. A couple of other spot where we fish that they are like this. But no where near as frightening as here. So the sharks are thick here at Cape Wessel as we know - Cape Carnage as they call it. That is a mackerel that is not going to go for commercial use that is going to feed the crew tonight. But look at the size of that bite that was a 2.5m shark all over him, he had a couple of friends as well. Man this is adrenalin. Adrenalin. Hang on I think you are on there girl, and I'm on too you beauty. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Alright its making a run. Wait up wait up don't pull any more. F*%^ing hell. I can see why they use gloves. Here we go we have got another fully here good work girl. Nutso. Oh no. Was that a shark right there? Pretty excited pretty nervous too actually. Because I know how fast how hard these guys can pull and I know how hard the sharks can pull. Part of me wants to hook up part a little part of me doesn't. Thats perfectly normal mate. If it makes you feel any better I pooped myself, I crapped my dacks every time I come out here. Really Yep And you have been doing it for 30 years. Yep That really instills confidence in me too. Yeah but come on have a look at the size of my arms mate. These are just show muscles Juanita. They're just show muscles. You have a little bit more horsepower than me mate. Mackerel have got a 'wanted poster' of Juanita underneath the water. Dead or alive. They've had a few goes at reefing me in. You're on. Here we go. Do you want to have a crack? Ah... Alright. Ok Go ready. Oh he is off I think. Go! Go! Go! Go! How did you get pantsed that time? Oh no! That happened pretty quickly. I was wondering why I was I was doing so well. He had no propeller. Thats right gone. It's just incredible. The sharks around here are just absolutely insane the amount that they are on. And like Juanita said they have actually trained themselves to feed like this. This is actually a natural feeding process for them now. Coming behind these boats they obviously know the sound of the engines and will just hang around for one of these guys to be disabled by getting hooked up and then thats the only time that they are fast enough to catch mackerel. Two Three That was a big one. Mackie Bae, like that Salt Bae - Mackie Bae Yep. Just drop mackerel like this. I made a mistake on that one, I got the gut cavity and that side is beautiful. So when it is done like this you have lost the tail so it is harder to fillet. So then you have just got to find wherever you can start and take it through and especially for the way we fillet once you have lost that tail it makes it harder to process. So it's beautiful if you can just pick that white line on the belly. Ah is that the rule, ok. The white line on the belly, right I'll remember that. So you flip it over, same thing I might get that whole fillet so you just try to take it back there. And that one you can see the difference in the flesh. So that there versus this one here which hasn't been bitten by a shark. That looks like you have just caught it 5 minutes ago. That one's stressed. So its started pumping adrenalin through its body and you can see that even though we've pulled that in in 30 seconds it looks like it is older than this one is but they are about the same time. What makes that look older the lighter colour? Yeah and see how it starting to get a bit fluffy along here? So this one here, I wouldn't that doesn't pass my quality control. So that one has go to be sliced and we can't put that in our pro box. So it's got to be perfect like that. Does everyone have standards like this? No no I think our standards are high. But there are definitely people who adhere to the same standards as what we do. Quality is everything if your reputation takes one batch of sub-par fish and your name is mud after that. How long have you been doing this Tige? Well I was on the boat from 2 to 3 weeks old and I'm 28 this year so I've been here pretty much the whole time. Hey! It shows. Filleting for 6 months Great with a knife. Great with a knife. Holy shit. (cameraman) I did that for Mike's benefit. I've been out here for 40 .... never dropped a knife. So thats the perfect example of what not to do. And all this stuff that you are talking about in terms of the quality of the fish and the way that you process it.. that apply to all species of fish? Exactly. Especially what Juanita was saying with the brain spiking. If you brain spike every fish you are just guaranteed that the quality is going to be twice as good as if you didn't. Because we have been doing it wrong Simmo and I a lot of the time because we just neck a fish straight away thinking that it needs its brain to operate the heart to keep pumping out the blood. So there could be truth behind that I'm not going to definitively say that that is not the case I know with tuna they cut them off here and let the brain pump the blood out. I just know from what we do with mackerel. Its also its more a safety principal as well because if you have got a mackerel going spastic in front of you the first thing that you want to do is shut that fish down. Quieten it because it becomes safer then and then you can deal with everything after that. Its also cleanliness you can see if you keep your boat as clean as possible you are preparing food for the populations. So now it will go into our wash tub there which has got constantly running water and that water. Yep and that water just washes the fish washes the last bits of blood off. And then after that it goes into the boxes and straight down to the freezer. And thats the thing, the thing that I've seen so far is this whole process is that there is not one element thats not designed to keep that mackie as fresh as possible. The whole process is designed that way I suppose is it. Safety and quality. They are the two things. There you go, if you ever see Wildcard Wild Caught mackie on the menu I'd advise you to have a crack at that. They are not over exaggerating when you use 'wild' twice. Here we go. Whack him in there Morgs. I'm going to go after this. Here we go. Bull shark. Thats a bull shark. Go Grab that frame behind you. Look at that whoah. Sharks in here. He's bitten that rope off. He's bitten that rope in half. This is actually where Morgs... I don't know whether you saw series one for Fishing the Wild this is where Morgs fell in the drink. Because one of these mackerel came through the boat, Morgs actually had to jump out of the way to avoid it. The severity of the situation at that time. I'm scared. He's got it. Simmo... don't pull on that rope. Its giving me the heeby geebies here a bit. Ocean whaler, black tip reef shark, bronze whaler, lemon shark and bull shark. Look at that one, there the bull shark there. thats a bull shark. There the scary ones. Massive massive bull shark. There is another one look at that. Oh geez Just the weight of these things alone, you can imagine if in amongst that and had two of these guys pulling in different directions you are going in half very quickly. Thats awesome. That is so cool They got the line. What are you going to do? Pull one up? Just an insane amount of sharks out the back here all the time and they'll hit that pretty quickly. Whoah. Geez. Oh it a big bull sharks down there too. And they are the bad boys around here tiger sharks and bull sharks Juanita? All the sharks with teeth are the bad ones there Morgs. It's just absolutely incredible. Whoah It's just carnage. We had a GoPro in the water and a shark came along and just ate the GoPro. So there it is. Yeah they are eating rope they are eating absolutely anything that touches the water. So if one of use just puts any limb in there jumps in - over. So thats why its really important boat rules to have. Stay in boat. Stay in boat, that's the biggest rule. ...the lighthouse thats going as well its started... ..he's head-butted the side of the dinghy.. ...just totally, just the one time, just totally supportive.... ...he's an absolute wanker.... ..yeah thats Robbie yeah.... Well done Prue that's lovely. Remarkable days seem to just continuously just stack up on one another out here in the Territory. If you make the effort and you put yourself in wild places well, inevitably, wild things are going to happen. Fishing the Wild has always been more about the wild then it has the fishing. Our love for being in it and our passion for learning more about it. And being around people who share the same experiences and outlook is something just as valuable as the experience itself. And on that note we would like to whole-heartedly thank the wonderful Wildcard family for their continuous friendship and hospitality and if you would like to experience the wild Wessel Islands for yourself and be a part of the Wildcard family while you are doing it then head to www.wildcardluxurycruises.com.au Simmo and I both believe it is the wildest fishing adventure in Australia, their details are also in the description area of this video. And of course if you would like to know more about the Northern Territory and how to plan your own adventure then head to northernterritory.com to find out more. And if you haven't consider liking this video and subscribing to our channel. It helps us create more of these free episodes. We would also like to sincerely thank the traditional owners of the Wessel Island group for allowing us to visit. See you next time.

Channel: FISHING THE WILD

Views: 633,131

Rating: 4.8593388 out of 5

Keywords: fishing, adventure, hunting, outdoors, cooking, sportsfishing, wildlife, ocean, outback, northern territory, spearfishing, aboriginal, australia, coral trout, documentary, cod, grouper, goliath grouper, camping, catch and cook, remote islands, remote camping, tropical island, desert island, arnhem land, nt, beach fishing, rock fishing, coral trout recipe, tiger sharks, handline fishing, jumping sharks, crayfish, spanish mackerel, shark attack, Australian, commercial, mackerel fishing

Id: GGNMEBd8cSY

Length: 30min 30sec (1830 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 27 2019