Southern Coast Charters - Closed for Business

03/12/2023

Today is the final charter for Southern Coast Charters - a bird watching charter. Tuesday she heads off to her new home in Vanuatu. Skipper Barry, and deckie Ian will head off up along the east Australian coast and complete handover on the Gold Coast. We once again thank everyone for their support over the last 12 years, we've made many memories! This is a bittersweet time, but onto the next chapter :) Cheers & festive wishes from The team of Southern Coast Charters

20/11/2023

A little something we have been involved in the last week or two!

Jim Ewing was cast as 'the fisherman' in the film Yesterday Island.

14/11/2023

{CLOSE OF BUSINESS} Southern Coast Charters wish to thank all those that have supported our business over the last 10+ years and whilst we are sad to be saying goodbye, its time for skipper Barry to put his feet up & enjoy retirement.
Bookings are now CLOSED - Current bookings in the next few weeks will run as planned (weather permitting) and the 'Southern Explorer' will depart Port Fairy after the 3rd December bound for Vanuatu! So if you're ever in Vanuatu you may see her operating as a charter boat with her new owners!
From her initial design and build on our property in Timboon to the waters of Port Fairy, it has been a wonderful journey and we have loved all the fishing trips over the years. We leave with many fond memories of the smiles on peoples faces when they landed a fish, a variety of fish, some monster barrels, surprising catches from the deep and overall our many wonderful deck hands over the years. Thank you :)

11/04/2023

http://www.southerncoastcharters.com.au/index.php/news-information/blog/end-of-season-king-island-trip-a-roaring-success

King Island Adventure Fishing CharterFriday 31st March - Tuesday 4th April, 2023 What a great way to finish off our King Island trips this season. We had a group made up of three mates locally and four from around Melbourne.The boys were not disappointed with what King Island had to offer, plenty of...

03/04/2023

Day 4 King Island update thanks to Ian for sending pics and report through-
After another restful night we were again up early and treated with an impressive sunrise. After bacon and eggs we headed about an hour south in search of nannygai.
First fish was another bloody big snapper! Not what we were after. Next was a schoolie of 20kgs.
In perfect conditions we moved a short distance and began to pick up the nannygai.
The pattern for the day was unfolding, short drifts, pick up a mixed bag of good snapper and nannygai move and drift over the same territory.
We were catching a good mix of fish including blue morwong, jackass morwong, Sargent baker mixed in with the targeted species.
A cuttlefish was landed and this proved to be a great bait . As soon was it on the hooks the size of the nannygai increased. The catch of the day soon followed when Mouse landed a great kingfish of 103 cm plus a great nanny on the same rig. He also landed another shark.
It was decided to give him the best on the boat award for his consistent efforts of out fishing everyone else.
Everyone has caught good fish and enjoyed their time on the boat.
We will head home in the morning after a quick fish of an hour or so.

03/04/2023

Some more pictures from yesterday that have come through today. Todays fishing report to come later tonight!

02/04/2023

Day 3 King Island update - Sunday saw us wake early as daylight saving wasn't on the Southern Explorers skippers clock.
A few of the boys had a fish before breakfast, landing a nice few big flatties from our overnight mooring .
Todays plan was to fish for snapper . We were not disappointed as several nice fish were soon landed but unfortunately an unwelcome guest arrived, a large bull fur seal. He was content on taking the fish as they were reeled close to the boat.
Skipper Barry had had enough of losing rigs and fish so a move was in order.
We shifted out to deeper water of around 80 meters around 4 miles south of where we were.
It was a good choice as several large snapper to 65 cm were soon landed .
A half hour later the bloody seal arrived. He again created havoc, taking several large fish.
Moving again we eventually lost him. Next stop wasn't as productive so after an hour or so we headed back to where we had caught the bigger fish. This time no seal and plenty of large snapper.
Overall the end result was a nice lot of fish and all were happy.
Tonight we a anchored between two islands.
Tomorrow we are heading to our nannygai grounds.

01/04/2023

King Island Day 1&2 report: The latest King Island adventure left Port Fairy in the early hours of Friday. The idea was to beat the forecasted wind .We did just that arriving at the northern end around 1 pm .
After finding shelter we had lunch and fished for flathead in the sheltered waters.
After a restful night we headed north to uncharted fishing waters to await the wind to abate.
Skipper Barry found some promising ground in around 40meters - We had found a new flathead ground! Many were landed to 50 cm.
Back to shelter for lunch with the plan to head to the snapper grounds with the wind abating.
Bingo !! the snapper were there in numbers to 60 cm. Also landed was a really nice blue morwong (or queen snapper )of 70 cm..
School shark added to the excitement, one of which had a munch on one of our Snapper right at the boat!
After returning to shelter, the fish were cleaned, deck washed, with time to relax with some liquid refreshments then fish and chips for tea.

01/04/2023

Early yesterday morning The Southern Explorer headed off on an adventure fishing charter to King Island. We are looking forward to seeing what they catch on this trip! Heading home Tuesday at this stage!

16/03/2023

A final wrap up and some more pics from our recent King Island Adventure Fishing Charter - it was a good one!

4 Day King Island Fishing Adventure 1st-4th March 2023 We headed off to King Island on the evening of Wednesday 1st of March, with a crew of fisherman eager to see what fishing awaited. We travelled through the night and woke up in thye waters off King Island. What followed was 4 wonderful days of f...