Chris Bolton Fishing

30/05/2026

Remember- if it hasn't got our name on it, it didn't come from us!! We didn't catch it, we didn't pack it!!
Every year we get messages saying something like "we bought your gar from ______ and they aren't your usual quality".... and this year its started already 🤦‍♂️
In the past we have stopped supplying certain businesses with bait, and also reef fish because of this sort of thing happening on a recurring basis. Buy a few packets of gar, or a couple of trout off us, but they're somehow still selling our fish weeks later.....😑

A warning to any business that does it, with table fish or bait- I'll start naming and shaming if it keeps happening 🫵

29/05/2026

Almost that time again......
We'll start getting some gar into the usual places very soon! 👍
For locals heading out this weekend, there'll be some at Coastal Marine & Outdoors Innisfail this afternoon.
(We had cryovac machine problems last night, so they aren't our usual cryovac packs, but they're as fresh as it gets. They just wont last months in your freezer like they usually do. I'll refill the freezer with cryovac packs asap)
Cryovac problem being sorted right now. Once sorted we'll start catching and getting some out firstly to-
Tackle World Cairns
Tackleworld Weipa - Fishing the Far North
Tackleworld Coolalinga
Fishing & Outdoor World

26/05/2026

A short video of the process. This is obviously barra, but the same thing happens with all of our fish.

Once caught, every fish goes straight into live tanks — big tanks with plenty of room and constant water flow. From the tender tank they’re transferred into tanks on the main boat, where they stay alive and in perfect condition until unload day.
On unload day, (usually a Sunday) the fish are taken from the tanks one by one, ikejime spiked, bled, and brined. First into a brine while they bleed, then transferred into a second clean, blood-free brine.
Blood is what causes that strong “fishy” smell. Remove the blood properly and a box of fish smells like a freshly opened oyster — sweet, salty, clean, and like the ocean itself 👌
From the second brine, the fish are loaded into our vehicles and transported to our coldroom at Kurrimine Beach for packing.

Packing is a process in itself. Usually there’s four or five of us involved. Dad is always there carefully laying fish out on the bench while I pick through them for particular customers — everyone has preferred sizes and specifications. Every fish is gently patted clean and dry before going into a box. Kim tapeing and doing the paperwork. Evie filling in where needed.
Once packed, they’re on the next flight ✈️ to restaurants all around Australia. Any sold locally — and there’s always some — goes by road transport. Sometimes even by helicopter to Orpheus Island 🏝

Up north we work on 7-day turnaround trips: 4-5 days fishing, 2-3 days unloading, packing, cleaning, refuelling, loading ice, and travelling back to the fishing grounds. Operating like this in a remote location takes a bloody lot of effort and a bloody lot of organisation. No time to switch off.......
What we do has never been about quantity. If quantity was the goal, we’d do things very differently.
It’s about quality, sustainability, respect for the fish, and achieving the best possible return from a limited natural resource.
A lot of fishermen claim they’re fishing to provide cheap fish for the community.
Not us.
We’re not about cheap. Cheap isn't good, and good isn't cheap........

26/04/2026

Line caught barramundi.....

I see a few know it alls lately saying line fishing for barra isn't viable. There's only been 2,700kg caught in zone 1 using line, while 48,000kg caught in zone 3 using nets. Its too hard to line catch barramundi etc etc etc. The usual dribble I've become accustomed to....

As we all know, this year has been a long wet season, up north especially. Almost constant rain for months, cyclones to deal with, northwesterly winds etc. And we have very limited TACC. (Total Allowable Commercial Catch)
An extended wet season makes it difficult to catch beautiful clean, yellow tailed barramundi from headlands and river mouths.

I could have been fishing miles up in rivers and creeks, and caught the total TACC of 4,700kg weeks ago. Could have caught the 4,700kg of 'barramundi' allowed, but they would have been muddy, black tailed barra that frankly, taste like s**t!
With such a limited TACC in zone 1, it makes no sense whatsoever to catch muddy tasting river fish, and sell them for low prices. A lot do, but I don't.....If I sent those muddy tasting fish to restaurants, not that I'd ever do it, they would say something like "what the hell is this crap? We don't want this fish, we want the beautiful white fleshed barra that doesn't taste like mud, the same as you've always supplied"......

I've filled in time waiting for the right conditions by reef fishing and also catching bait for our own use. So far we've done very little barra fishing, purely because of what I just explained above.

The 'too hard' part they keep spruiking......
Bloody oath its hard. Much harder than say trout fishing or mackerel fishing. But remember, NO ONE has ever commercially line caught barramundi before 2025. Of course its going to be difficult!!! Anyone that thinks something that’s never been done before is going to be a walk in the park from day 1, well you're only kidding yourself.
Even more difficult if you're specifically chasing perfect chrome, saltwater barramundi for optimum taste 🤷‍♂️
And of course these days, everyone wants 'easy'. Very very few are willing to do 'hard'.....

As of today, zone 4 has only caught 1060kg. All nets. With a TACC of 45,000kg in zone 4.....Is netting not viable?? 🤔
I'm conserving the miniscule TACC we have in zone 1, which is line only, because I want the highest economic return, yet zone 4 has a huge TACC, they're netting, but only 1060kg caught in nets 🤔 The zone 1 against zone 3 comparison is null and void when you look at the facts. Clutching at straws.....

All in all, line fishing for barramundi can be viable, regardless of what anyone else says. And I can guarantee you, myself and Kim are the ONLY 2 people that truly know the facts and figures on that.
The handful of know it alls, well, they'll probably never know themselves because they are too lazy, too incompetent, and too set in their ways to think outside the box.
😘

17/04/2026

Respect, from ocean to plate 🔥👌

23/03/2026

Wave bouy recovery mission today.
Aerial dropped by DETSI ( Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation ) in front of cyclone Narelle a few days ago.
Job done ✅️
Should be some interesting data on this one! 👍

20/03/2026

Most of our followers are probably aware that we were in Princess Charlotte Bay through cyclone Narelle. Tied up securely in a small creek, off the Marrett River.
This morning I was inundated with calls and messages from the media, asking for interviews and videos etc. I did one or 2 with ABC, but I decided that was it. I'm not doing any more.

But I'm going to explain here, a bit about how and why we ended up being in Princess Charlotte Bay with a category 5 cyclone bearing down on us.

So, I always keep a very good eye on the weather. ALWAYS. Well before a low had even developed way out to the east, I was talking with people about a potential low/cyclone developing in a week or so. Most models showed that if it did form, it would likely end up going down into the cyclone graveyard without any impact to the qld coast. Ok, we'll keep an eye on it, but we'll go to work.....
A couple of days later, some forecasts were saying a possible coastal impact near Princess Charlotte Bay as a category 1, maybe even a cat 2 cyclone, Hmmmm, ok, nothing major but I'll start watching this even more closely..... My brain starts working overtime, what if this happens, or that happens etc etc. At worst a cat 2, nothing too serious, we'll plan on working and if we need to, we'll take cover up here. Let it pass over, then start fishing again.

A short time later, the forecast was cat 3. A short time after that, a cat 4.
Ok, look men, this is getting serious. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a cat 5 here. We have to make decisions, and make them fast.
My thoughts were-
Option 1, run to Lockhart as fast as possible. Bt there was issues with this option.... I don't really know the Lockhart river. We'd possibly be cutting ourselves short on fuel. And some forecasts were showing a crossing closer to Lockhart than PCB......
Option 2- steam as fast as we can back to Cooktown. Issues there as well, the main one being, it was already very rough, so it would be a slow trip. From my 30 odd yrs experience, rough weather is when most unexpected problems occur with boats. What would happen if we got halfway back to Cooktown and had a breakdown? We'd be stuck somewhere with very little protection, and have a category 5 cyclone bearing down on us.
Option 3- stay in PCB, find a little creek with good protection from all directions, and bunker down.
Next thing, the forecast was a cat 5, direct hit on Cape Melville, which was only a few miles from our position. S**t, this is serious!!!
I spoke with a very experienced, very smart retired fisherman (my uncle) about these options, and our thoughts on these options.
Obviously I decided option 3 was the best, for various reasons. I know PCB quite well, and a close family member knows it probably better than most. Between us we have a wealth of knowledge on PCB. I was confident in the boat, and my crew being able to handle anything mother nature could throw at us, as long as we were well prepared. I had more than enough ropes, spare equipment and communication on board for this very reason- being in a remote area in the path of a cyclone.

Anyway, as family and friends of myself and my crew started realising that we were directly in the path of a monstrous cyclone, we started getting inundated with calls and messages. Mostly messages of support, but several very unhelpful messages telling us how bad it was going to be, what was going to happen, how stupid I was for staying here, and what we should be doing etc etc. Screenshots from some bulls**t they'd seen on Facebook. Lots of advice from people that, to put it bluntly, knew f**k all. They knew f**k all about PCB, and f**k all about the thought and discussion that went into the decisions I'd made.
Now, when you have one of supposedly the most powerful cyclones in history bearing down on you, you really don't need to hear that your going to die, you're going to get a massive storm surge, you're in the wrong place etc etc. I stopped opening messages and answering calls, except from those I trusted for positive advice. I blocked crew from using starlink, until all prep work was done. I can block out that white noise, but most people can't......

Anyway, sitting here now looking back on it all, if I could hit rewind, I'd probably do exactly the same thing again. We all came out of it safe, thats the main thing 💯

As far as what it was like last night, well, one of my crew was in bed almost all night. The others were up and down. If at any time I had serious concerns, I would have made sure everyone was wide awake. In all honesty, it was a walk in the park, and nowhere near as bad as expected, or what we'd prepared for.
But if, or more likely 'when' I'm next in the path of even a small cyclone, I'd prepare exactly the way we did for this one- prepare for the worst possible scenario, and hope for the best.

No, no photos or videos from throughout the night. I won't sensationalise what we experienced here. I'm sure we'll be telling stories about this for years, but I certainly won't be doing it on social media.

Cheers to anyone that sent us supportive messages or gave me genuine knowledgable advice. You know who you all are. It certainly helped ease the stress. Hopefully I won't have to do that again for a long time.

And by the way, there were 2 other boats in PCB. I kept in touch with both through the entire night, and all is well all around 👌
Cheers

13/03/2026

Spots on spots....... not something you see every day.
There's a few particular reefs up north where, in my experience, 95% of the trout have these black markings, although it's usually just a handful of dark spots/blotches scattered here and there. These 2 here are a couple of the most distinctive I've seen.
Its only on the skin, there's no affect on the flesh.

14/02/2026

Something for everyone this trip. All line caught of course 👌
We've had testing conditions since the start of barra season. Unsettled weather, relentless north-westerly winds and thunderstorms. 5kts south-east in the morning, 25kts northwest a few hours later......every day is a test......
Changing target species almost daily. Constantly adjusting. Constantly thinking.

Constantly changing and adapting. And that there is something a lot of people have trouble with........

25/01/2026

Here's a little clip I did with Fisheries Queensland and Millstream Productions in October, in a local river.
If you go onto YouTube you'll find similar videos on other 'alternative method' trials as well, for those interested.

Something I've been asked a few times is "are you getting paid for these trials and all the information you're supplying?"
The answer is NO. Line fishing is the ONLY 'alternative method' in these trials that isn't receiving one cent from government!
We've invested a lot of our own $$ and time into this, without knowing for sure that we'll be allowed to continue line catching barramundi long term. But I'm sure 99% will agree, there's certainly a future for commercially line catching barramundi, regardless of what other methods are, or aren't allowed. 💯

Garmin Marine

This video is about line fishing – a low-impact fishing gear being trialled by the Fish-LIGHT program in Queensland’s east coast inshore fishery.