Kenn Reef

Nige Webster takes on a remote trip that offered some mind-blowing fishing and lessons on how isolated sea mount fisheries work.

Huge red bass and coral trout are prevalent at Kenn Reef

SEA MOUNT FISHERIES
We have long known that structures rising from great depth toward the surface of the ocean tend to attract a variety of predatory fish. Our outer Great Barrier Reef drop-off zones and small reef systems that rise from hundreds of metres of water tend to be a hot-spot for huge fish to congregate.
Places like New Caledonia and Fiji attract sport fishing anglers that travel to experience the crazy fishing that can be found around these extreme drop-off locations. There are less travelled spots however, that take the adventure to the next level. Some of these are isolated reefs in the middle of nowhere that we refer to as sea mounts. These structures are remnants of a geological time long passed. In many cases they are relict volcanoes whose summit sits close to the surface of the current day ocean level. Coral reef crusts cap these structures and being that they rise from 1 to 3 km, they tend to form serious current obstructions. All of this forms a unique recipe that attracts myriad fish species.
One of these isolated mounts is known as Kenn Reef. It can be found 300 Nm ENE of Bundaberg in Queensland. I recently headed off on a unique fishing adventure to find and explore the reef. I jumped onboard the mothership Big Cat Reality which departs from Bundaberg.
The plan was to join 14 other anglers as part of an industry trip that we filmed for two episodes of The Fishing Show by AFN. Loaded with a bunch of tenders and more tackle than you can imagine, we headed east. After 40 hours of straight steaming and on the morning of our second day at sea, we got a first look at Kenn Reef.
SCIENCE OF SEA MOUNTS
It stands to reason that thriving watery eco-systems occur around sea mounts. These structures are often found offshore and proximal to deeper current-rich waters. This means that cold and nutrient rich water has the potential to hit these hard structures and push up towards surface. This phenomenon known as upwelling creates the perfect environment for attracting myriad of big predatory fish.
The nutrient-rich waters attract baitfish and also encourage bottom dwelling organisms to grow and thrive. Before long you have the perfect holding point for big fish. They have current obstruction which creates the perfect staging point; there is structure for protection and there is a ready supply of food.
EXPLORING NEW WATERS
It’s rare to see such heightened levels of anticipation, but on our first morning at Kenn Reef, I saw more child-like adults than ever before. We were all jumping out of our skins to get fishing around this beautiful reef system; 2 days at sea waiting for this moment, just added to the excitement. I was to fish with Troy Dixon: R&D man for Wilson Fishing. A big part of our job was to try and test a large range of the product Troy had brought on the trip.
A great way to cover ground while looking at and learning of the structure is to troll. A spread of lures consisting of deeper diving hardbody lure and surface stickbaits was employed behind the boat and our fishing trip got underway. We didn’t travel for long before rods started to buckle and we began to get acquainted with the local green jobfish population that appeared to be in plague proportions. Additionally, in among the jobfish, we started to troll up the likes of coral trout, trevally and other reef species.
As we encountered patches of fish or stand-out bottom structure we began to change tact as well. Jigging with metal and bucktail jigs became a popular way of targeting a variety of reef and pelagic species. The group plan was to fish sections of the reef and then as the days went by move onto other sections of Kenn Reef.

The waters around Kenn are a pelagic playground for the likes of sailfish

Radio chatter suggested that all the boats were experiencing some special fishing.
The afternoon of the first day at Kenn Reef is a session I won’t forget quickly. One of the species I had really wanted to travel to this reef to target was the dogtooth tuna and I wasn’t disappointed. Troy and I discovered a ledge sitting away from the reef that was simply stacked with big red arches on the sounder and the picture just screamed dogtooth tuna.
Trolling and jigging lures around this ledge produced some of the biggest dogtooth tuna I have ever seen. Fish in the 75-plus kg range were playing the game and at some point we stopped celebrating the 30 to 50 kg fish: yes, the fishing was that crazy.
Trolling big deep-diving lures like the PelagicZ’s definitely seemed to be the catalyst for hooking the really big ones. Hooking these fish and then driving them away from the ledge provided some chance of landing them. The one aspect we noted when landing the big fish is that they seemed to out-size that of the local sharks and therefore we didn’t lose the bigger models to shark attack.
REEF PATTERNS
It was interesting to note that every second day of fishing produced different patterns. Returning to productive waters from the previous day often drew blanks on species such as the dogtooth tuna: such is their nature to move or shutdown after being caught in one spot. This became a trend noticed by all the boats fishing the area.
A good approach that worked well for another of my fishing partners Greg Lamprecht, was to spend time searching for isolated bommies found away from the main reef system. Greg has great ability when it comes to finding structure and he spent plenty of time looking and finding it at Kenn Reef. This time spent searching provided some amazing sessions when fishing with Greg.
In many cases we stopped trolling so as to jig with bucktail options on smaller rises that popped up from the bottom. This produced some staggeringly big trout and red bass in places. Wider troll runs also picked up isolated areas of current and structure that produced surprises such as sailfish. It goes to show that just because you have travelled to an exotic location doesn’t mean you can forget sound fishing principles

Hidden bommies around Kenn Reef were always home to big red bass

JIGGING VERSUS SURFACE FISHING
Many of the anglers that headed to Kenn Reef expected to find some awesome surface fishing on offer; this was not the case. It came as a surprise that nearly all of our fish were hooked beneath the surface on this trip. It may have had something to do with the mood of the fish or current pattern that they just wanted to eat deeper. The lesson here is that if you want to tangle with a variety of big fish, sometimes you have to be prepared to fish in the manner that will get bites.
It’s easy to have visions of what you would like to do prior to leaving on a fishing trip, but ultimately the fish will behave in a specific manner, and if this does not suit your chosen style of fishing you have two options: stick it out and become frustrated, or change tact and bend a rod.
THE BUCKTAIL JIG
I hadn’t fished with bucktail jigs in years and it was refreshing to see a few boxes in Troy’s boat. Mustad have brought out a new range and I remember watching really old videos of Mal Florence using them on the reef in my younger years. It prompted me to give them a go and they were a standout lure for the trip in my opinion. 1 to 3 oz jigs were used and often spruced up with a paddle-tail soft plastic to give them a little extra life. The retrieve was so easy. Let the jig drop to bottom while holding the line between thumb and forefinger: any change in line speed means a fish has eaten them and should be struck at. As the lure hits the bottom, quickly engage the reel, give the jig two sharp lifts and then with the reel engaged, just let the lure drag through the water behind a drifting boat: many fish bite at this point. If there are no bites, simply repeat the process.
I loved using these jigs on this trip: they are incredibly versatile and could be jigged tight to bottom for the likes of trout, or ripped through the water for species such as dogtooth tuna.

Jigging bucktails will catch everything here – from reef species to giant trevally and dogtooth tuna

THE WRAP
I am fortunate to be able to tag along on trips such as these, but always on the way home I ask myself if I’d do it again with my hard-saved fishing money. A trip like this one to Kenn Reef is a no-brainer: in 40 odd years of fishing I had never seen some of the crazy fishing I got to experience out here and the answer was a definite yes.
If you are tempted by a trip such as this and have the money to spend, I can thoroughly recommend the experience.

Nige Webster is northern field editor of Sport Fishing and field editor for Freshwater Fishing magazines. Based at Noosa he fishes the entire east coast in fresh and salt water – offshore – bream – barra – trout.