DESTINATIONS: THE KIMBERLEY, WA
OR 18 months, four mates and I had
been planning a nine-day odyssey
through the Buccaneer Archipelago in
the Kimberley region of WA. In my mind, it
had started off primarily as a fishing trip. We
fished, of course, and we caught plenty. After
all, we needed to eat. But even before we
slipped the hired 6m Polycraft into the
silt-laden water at the Derby boat ramp and
raced with the out-going tide down King
Sound, I knew this trip was about much more
than fishing. This was to be an extraordinary
exercise in planning and preparation, sound
decision making, teamwork, mateship and
surviving independently in one of the most
remote and beautiful parts of Australia.The crew
Along for the ride on this excellent
adventure were myself and Perth-based fisho
Steve Pettenon, a good mate I’d met 30
years ago at university. Joining us was
Melbourne angler Serg Uliana, a childhood
friend of Steve’s and now a good mate of
mine. Last but not least was a former work
colleague of Steve’s, Pete Nilson, from
Broome, and his twin brother John, from
Mandurah, south of Perth. We’d all fished
together at Exmouth a decade earlier, so it
was something of a reunion.
Pete was duly appointed leader of the
expedition because he’d undertaken a similar
trip 12 months earlier. You could do this tripwithout prior experience, but the fact that
Pete had done it before made everything so
much easier.The boats
For a trip like this it’s safest to take more than
one boat. With five anglers, we took two. The
choice of the first was easy. Pete took his TABS
4.85m Territory Pro, a plate alloy side-console
pushed along by an 80hp four-stroke Yamaha
outboard drawing from a 120l fuel tank.
The choice of the second boat was more
problematic, seeing that the rest of us live
thousands of kilometres away. The answer
came courtesy of Alex Foster of Boab Boat
Hire in Broome. On Alex’s advice we hired62 | fishingworld.com.au | March 2015
he shoreline ... is littered with small inlets
and bays, sheltered passages between islands of
various sizes, rocky outcrops, inlets, beaches and
creeks. These features provided unlimited light
tackle lurecasting and trolling opportunities.”
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