Browned off at Browns Mountain: Opinion

The fishing is getting out of control at Sydney’s thronging sea mountain

Browns Mountain. S 34 02 003. E 151 39 404. Surely you have heard of it? The underwater monolith is the place for Sydney’s offshore anglers. You can lock horns with everything from 70kg-plus yellowfin tuna to blue marlin five times that size, menacing mako sharks to big blue eye, and the schooling gemfish are abundant all winter long. Which is to say nothing of the extraordinary southern bluefin tuna run this year. If not at Browns then head to Heaton’s Hill twice as far.

Such is the pull of Sydney’s go-to spot, Browns Mountain, that just about anyone and everyone with a seaworthy rig, some decent tackle and a good weather eye is making the long trip east these days. You get a few little dishes that shouldn’t be out there. You should remember that Browns is no stroll in the park. It's 22 nautical miles (40km) east-south-east of the CBD and way longer punching home in a westerly blow.

For much of the voyage to Browns you feel like you are on your own. You lose sight of land, perhaps passing a few bottom-bashing boats near The Peak, 9 Mile and 12 Mile reefs (depending from which port you leave), before crossing the long featureless leg from 65-75 fathoms.

Things look up in 80 fathoms, where the seabed starts to plummet and the game fish swim. The Continental Shelf nearby in 100 fathoms sees the confluences of ocean currents and its edge is a highway for game fish. Beyond here there’s a feeling of awe in the anything-is-possible big fish abyss. And then you arrive….

Alas, you can’t miss Browns Mountain on a decent weather day. What was once the preserve of commercial trawlermen, longliners and dropliners has become a piscatorial Pitt Street thronging with recreational fishers scrambling for a slice of the action.

Irate trailerboaters fight over ‘their’ patch and the explosion of small boats flocking to Browns has brought ‘parking’ woes, visible pollution and heated exchanges between crews. Regulars reckon it's now so ugly, a fight rather than fun, they’re questioning the point of heading there, at least on the weekend.

The breaches of common courtesy are many. Some berley amid the chaos and abuse other boaters for driving through their slick. Game boats steaming back up the ‘top’ to start another drift create wakes that dump into smaller craft and send tackle flying. Others are left stunned after losing expensive lures to some muppet trolling across their spread. Yet others roar across to hooked-up boats and compromise their chance of landing that fish of a lifetime.

Thanks to modern electronics and improved weather forecasting, reliable outboard engines and an explosion of capable trailerable fishing boats, the tyranny of distance is no more. Yep, Browns has become a madhouse with more boats per square sea mile than any hot spot in the whole of Sydney Harbour.

One regular counted 36 boats on Browns last weekend, noted a stream of beer cans and refuse thrown overboard, lamented a big game boat steaming past and creating massive wake, and was driven to distraction by the constant beeping from fish finders 24 nautical miles from land. Then there is the bad language on the VHF radio and, clearly, some breaches of the deep-sea bag limits.

We don’t take pleasure in airing recreational anglers’ dirty washing in public. But it does seem a whole new generation has missed out on their ethics' classes. When you are at Browns Mountain, act in a cooperative way. No-one needs more regulation, just some common courtesy. There are plenty of fish to go around amid a fleet of considerate fishers.

Here's some classic fishing footage from Browns Mountain. It's a Sunday with the blue-eye and gems, yellowfin and makos snapping, footy playing in the background, as the boys rib each other between boating them. Photos courtesy of Captains George and Hovig Aslanian from charterboats Wahoo and Allie Hunter, Sydney, who have enjoyed a hot season on the big tuna around Browns.

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Browned off at Browns Mountain: Opinion

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