BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing – April 01, 2018

W

hile Star Trek fans may be familiar with

the words, “Space: The final frontier”, I

actually think they got it wrong. The deep-

water abyss starting at the edge of the

continental shelf is as distant to most of us as the dark

side of the moon.

The waters beyond Australia’s continental shelf offer

an exciting array of denizens, including tasty bottom

dwellers such as gemfish, blue-eye trevalla and hapuka.

However, the deep-water realm’s most exciting fishery

is the magnificent broadbill swordfish – with its bycatch

fringe benefits including bigeye and southern bluefin

tuna, opah and other mid-water ooglies.

The previously unexplored deep-sea bottom in 400 to

800 metres of water has now become fishable through

SOUNDING

OUT

AUTHOR: JOHN WILLIS

PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGIA POYNER; KELLY HUNT; RICHARD ABELA; JONAH YICK;

NICK STANCZYK; COURTESY OF SIMRAD, FURUNO AND RAYMARINE

Whether you want to join the swordfish gold rush or simply catch a feed of deep-water

delicacies from the bottom beyond the continental shelf, you’re going to need an echo

sounder with the capability to show clear details of the bottom structure and the creatures

near it in depths of up to 800 metres. BlueWater interviewed the experts at the leading

electronics companies to bring you this guide to achieving deep-water success.

the development of new tackle like braid fishing lines

and exciting new advances in fishfinder capabilities.

Modern electronics now enable us to see everything

in, on and under the water, as well as where we’ve

been and where we’re going. Small-boat sonar has

progressed to the extent we now get clear images of the

bottom and its inhabitants even beyond the continental

shelf edge. This effectively gives us the ability to fish

that final frontier: the depths of the ocean.

BEAM ME DOWN

Modern depth sounders were developed in Japan

following the second world war by brothers Kiyotaka and

Kiyokata Furuno, the owners of a small marine electrical

company. Today the name Furuno is still a world leader

Swordfish are

now commonly

caught beyond the

continental shelf

drop-off, but to catch

them you’ve got to

find the grounds

where they live and

then present your

bait down near the

bottom in depths of

between 400 and

800m.

THE FINAL FRONTIER

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