Fishing Trips with Skip

Port Douglas, that's a wrap.
Presentation night did this trip justice.
Champion catch of the day went to Anna Spanner on Day 1 with that monster coral trout (the very one that ended up on our dinner plates) thanks to Wrasse and Roe Seafood Restaurant
Karen Wager on Day 2 with back-to-back Spangled emperor, and Suzy Holland on Day 3 with a massive coral trout of her own.
Catch of the Trip honours went to Lisa who fought a 150-kilo shark 🦈 for an hour and a half. Absolute legend.

Species Award 🐠🐟🦈🐡🐳🦭🦀🦐🦑🐙🐎 went to Rebecca Louise with an outrageous nineteen different species landed, Karen close behind on eighteen, and Suzy and Lisa tying for third on seventeen apiece.

And then, the biggest F # UP. 🫢😬🤟
Nominees included Bec for pocket-dialing her boyfriend mid-gossip session
Anna twice over (filming herself instead of the fishing, then smuggling bananas 🍌🍌onto the boat for good measure)
Jennifer Watts for casting her line straight into another boat,🚤🛥️🛳️
Lisa for accusing a very confused stranger of trying to steal our van (turned out it was identical to ours and was his.)🚐
Tania Ravbar for trying to invent her own fish species
Belinda O'Sullivan for that unforgettable run-in with the Minn Kota.
The trophy, though, went to Karen, who stood up on night one and put a chair straight through a window.🪟🪟 Legendary stuff.

Port Douglas adopted us as their own (we were "the fishing girls" all over town by the end), and we rolled into Cairns the next morning very quietly. Huge thanks to Jake Exceed Sportfishing Port Douglas and Shawry Hook Up Charters, Port Douglas, who did an awesome job looking after us all trip and put us on the fish.

And here's the big one: we're doing it all again next year, five days instead of three, four days fishing with a rest day in the middle. Most of this crew are already back in. If you want a spot, get in quick.

The Port Douglas Fishing trip with Skip for 2026 was awesome. FISHING, FUN AND FRIENDSHIP. When women come together magic happens ✨️ 💛

Port Douglas Day 3 done, and that's a wrap on the fishing.
Down the coast this morning, into the creek chasing something completely different this afternoon, and the whole crew brought their A-game. Suzy backed up a shark with a mangrove jack, Belinda added three coral trout to the tally, and Suzy capped off her day with the biggest coral trout of the day. Lisa put in a huge shift too, capping it off with the only mangrove jack kept all day, hooked just inches from the bank; we watched it practically try to climb out from under us.
The story of the day though has to be Kazza's mud crab, hooked on a fishing line in the creek, released undersize, then hooked again on the very same line ten minutes later. Same crab, easy to pick with its injured claw. Jen backed up a grass emperor with a bronze whaler shark, Bec had a ball on Jake's boat with a mixed bag of nannygai, coral trout, sweetlip and a couple of new species, and Anna kept doing what Anna does best, capturing the whole trip on camera rather than her line.
Closed it out tonight with a beautiful dinner, coral trout on the menu, the very same fish Anna pulled in on Day 1. Full circle, and an awesome way to send off three days on the water with this crew.

Port Douglas Day 2 down, and what a way to finish it.

Right at the death, Lisa hooked into a shark past the hundred-kilo mark, towing her round the boat three times while she barked orders like a seasoned deckhand. Coral trout backed it up nicely too. Epic stuff.

Quiet start on our boat, but the bite turned on after lunch. Tania broke the ice with the first fish of the day, a Moses perch, before getting bitten off later by a Spanish mackerel or a wahoo. We backed it up with a Spangled emperor for the esky and copped an education in barracuda, three piles of tangled braid to show for it. Belinda reckoned she'd hooked the rarest catch of the trip, until it turned out to be our own Minn Kota trolling motor, nearly spooling her before the skipper sorted it out. Bec battled through eleven fish for just one keeper, a tea-leaf trevally she'd normally throw back, and Suzy rounded it out with a squirrel fish.

Jake's boat had an awesome day too. Karen ticked off a brand new species plus a couple of Spangled emperor, Anna bagged the biggest nannygai of the trip while filming herself solo in full selfie mode, and Jen and Elaine chased nannygai hard all day, Elaine sending a truckload of undersized ones back.
Two boats, plenty of stories tonight. Dinner's calling

Port Douglas Day 1 done, and what a way to kick things off.
Anna saved the best for last. The final fish of the day was a massive coral trout, and what a way to finish. Catch of the Day, no contest. That beauty's on for tea Thursday night cooked up by the local restaurant.

Bec went next-level with sixteen different species landed in one day: red emperor, Spanish mackerel, cod, a hussar, even a cheeky remora thrown in.

Coral trout were popping up all over the boat. Jen bagged a beauty of her own plus a good mixed bag alongside, Suzy backed up two coral trout with a nannygai, and Belinda stacked three plus a real mix of emperor she lost count of. Elaine's pick of the day was a lovely sweetlip, and Lisa got amongst it too with a few nice fish including a couple of trevally.

The whole crew was well and truly amongst it. Awesome first day out. Dinner out tonight, then we're heading out wide tomorrow with the wind dropping off. Bring it on.

Ladies, If you are thinking about joining me for the Cobourg trip next year, you better be quick. There are 4 spots left. Check out the video in the comments and message me for the itinierary and other info. Skip

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We call this a boy shot 😄😁😆😂🤪😜
Tag those you know 😘

Sound familiar? 👀

Scrolling Facebook thinking "I wish I knew someone who'd come with me"... then one trip later you're the one blowing up the group chat asking who's in for the next adventure 😂🎣

That's the thing about coming on a Fishing Trips with Skip adventure on your own — you never stay a solo traveller for long. Come once by yourself, leave with a whole crew of new mates already counting down to the next one.

Tag a friend who needs to stop scrolling and just book the trip 👇

SKIP TIP 🛥️
That flappy sock at the boat ramp isn't just telling you "yep, it's windy." It's telling you exactly how windy, no app required.

The angle it's flying at is basically a free wind gauge.
Hanging limp and lifeless? Pretty much dead calm, under 3 knots. Sitting about halfway up? Roughly 7 to 8 knots.
Standing straight out and rigid, not moving at all? That's 15 knots (28 km/h) or more, and that's when plenty of small boats start feeling it.

Bonus fact for the pic: each stripe is worth about 3 knots. That's exactly why you're seeing 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 in those examples, it's not random, it's literally how the sock's built.

So next time you're launching, don't just glance at it and think "windy." Read it properly, it'll tell you before your weather app does.

Tag the mate in your crew who reckons they can "just tell" how windy it is 😂🎣