BUNKER DOWN

Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on many Queensland charter boats that are often dependant on interstate and overseas clients. I recently was lucky to take part in a trip aboard Bundaberg based Big Cat Reality, skippered by James McVeigh. The Big Cat is a large mother ship that carries a number of tenders on board, and a lot of its work in recent years has been fishing remote areas such as Cato, Wreck and Frederick Reefs, one of the true frontiers of fishing. This year, in response to losing bookings due to Covid, James has adapted his business to concentrate on shorter trips targeting more inshore locations to cater for the Queensland market and decrease costs. In Queensland at the time of writing, we have free movement throughout the state, and local based tourism has boomed.

The Bunker group of Islands is the most southern Island group of the Great Barrier Reef, and includes Lady Musgrave and Heron Island. Surrounding these islands are extensive coral atolls that are stacked with life. The main species encountered in this area include coral trout, red throat sweetlip, parrot fish, red emperor, Spanish mackerel and a wide range of other tasty reef species. It is