Waves of Discovery - deep sea Fishing Charters
Rodney started out with his business, Kiama Charter Service, in 1995 after seeing a business opportunity locally. He had been around boats for a long time and worked all over Australia working on charter boats, mainly in Western Australia and Queensland and saw an opportunity here to start to offer local reef and deep sea fishing.
Kiama Charter Service offers clients mainly reef fishing, picking up table fish, straight from the rod to their plates. The most popular fish his charters see caught in the region are flat head and snapper.
Rodney’s local fishing spots range from the southern side of Bass Point down to Gerroa and roughly 8 miles out to sea. 70% of his time is spent around Kiama Blowhole to Walkers Beach at Kiama, but does move around as well.
One of the biggest features of this area is the clean water. Kiama harbour especially is renowned for its clear, clean water. Locally there is an abundance of dolphins which people love to see.
The main differences with fishing on the Shellharbour route to Kiama is the type of fish you expect to catch. Shellharbour is renowned for its kingfish due to its rocks and shallow water and Kiama is renowned for its reef and snapper fish. A huge highlight with this whole region is that in his whole time in business he has not seen a decline in local fish numbers, and actually seen an increase! The only trouble locally that affects the fishing is when it rains.
What should you expect on a charter with Rodney - besides lots of entertainment do not expect a thing. Fishing can be unexpected. You need to be prepared for whatever comes and understand that conditions are out of the operators control. Rodney and his team go above and beyond and put so much effort into the day. Last weekend for example on Saturday they brought in 26 snapper all around 1.5 kg, and Sunday’s charter brought in 3 snapper. Many things affect the conditions including swell, wind, sun, the moon and tides. However, you could bring in travelly, leather jacket and red fish.
His advice to people looking to fish is to find specialised charters based on what type of fishing you are looking for. Kiama Charter Service specialises in reef fishing which is relatively easy and basic in the right conditions.
His career highlight was when the ship Princess Jewell anchored in Kiama harbour and he had to assist them and channel 7 with his boat.
Kiama Charter Service prides itself on word-of-mouth advertising and lots of return business. Weekends are their busiest times but charters run all week and he is generally out 2-3 days during the week also.
To book a charter either ring Rodney or Wife Ann or head to the website. The website will show availability for what days are available and what is currently booked out.
See more articles on
