Frequently Asked Questions
These are a few of the Frequently Asked Questions that come up in conversation. There are plenty more on our FAQ page. We’re always happy to chat with you when booking a fishing charter with us, but hopefully these FAQs will cover off the most important questions.
Booking And Planning
The turn off to Balgowan Road is located about 4km north of Maitland on the Spencer Hwy where Balgowan Road turns into Main Street as you enter Balgowan 14km down Balgowan Road. Balgowan boat ramp is located at Warrenne point at the very western end of Main Street Balgowan.
We generally leave the ramp about 7am but can leave earlier or later to suit the clients. We are usually hitting the ramp around 4pm but happy to stay out later to suit or if the fishing has been hard to ensure the esky is full.
Of course, this depends where you are coming from. Many of our customers come from Adelaide where the average trip is about 2 hours depending on what part. Renmark is just under 4 hours and Port Pirie just under 2 with many customers coming from these areas.
Whether we cancel or not depends on many factors that we go into a lot more detail in this Blog. But basically when the wind is forecast is over 15 knots for most of the day we do not go. More information in our blog.
We charge currently at the time of writing this $300 per head. Our costs are continuously going up so how long it stays at this price is very much dependant on what our world brings us. This price is a price per head up to12 customers and we need a minimum of 8 to make the day viable to do what we do. Of course we are always happy to take less people if they want the boat to themselves but the minimum costs for the day are 8 people at the per head costs.
Happy to come in earlier if the customers have somewhere to be but do not do discounted half day charters in general. The vessel survey means having a full crew so our costs do not really make it viable, although happy to discuss something to suit if we can make it work. We have taken quite a few local families out to drop their precious relatives ashes into the beautiful waters off Balgowan where they can RIP in their favourite part of the world. Most likely where I will end up!
Lunch and snacks are something that are too hard for us to supply with all the variety of medically forced diets and chosen favourites so please bring whatever suits you. We supply a great range of soft drink and water but there is always your favourite beverage that you are always welcome to bring along.
Suitable clothing to keep you warm in winter or protect your self from the sun on our beautiful summer days are needed.
You are certainly welcome to bring some alcohol of your choice on board. Of course, we encourage sensible drinking and the crew needs to be zero but nothing better than celebrating an awesome day on the cruise back to the ramp with a cold beer.
Sea sickness is many peoples fear of getting out and enjoying what they want to do.
Getting a good night’s rest the night before and even the night before that is the best way to prevent sea sickness. Keeping alcohol intake to a minimum and or course taking many of the varieties of sea sickness tablets available an hour prior to getting on the boat definitely makes a difference.
There are other remedies available that will be covered in our blog.
We love seeing kids catching fish.
Of course, there is a minimum age for various legal and safety reasons
In general children need to be older than 10 and weigh 35kg or more.
Fish And Fishing
Catching snapper is something we would love to do, but with the current laws we are forbidden to target or keep them. Where we fish it is impossible to not have some bycatch of snapper and I cannot remember a day where we did not see some. The situation with snapper in Spencer Gulf is a real worry and for more detail read the full article.
You are always welcome to bring your favourite rod and reel. We can help you out by setting up a suitable leader and placing some quality tackle on the end if needed.
Balgowan Fishing Charters target King George Whiting with many different other species as bycatch during the day. Details of King George Whiting can be read here.
You will certainly need something to put your catch in. This can be left in your car and filled at the end of the day or bought on the boat for your lunch and Beverages and used for the fish at the end of the day. When the Snapper are on you definitely need to be prepared for a fish up to a metre long but the occasional shark or big Morwong takes a decent esky to fit into, so it pays to be prepared, especially if you have a large group.
This is something we can certainly coordinate. We have a few very professional filleters that will ensure you get 100% recovery from your quality catch. Remember this needs to be discussed well in advance as this can be 4-5 hours work for some catches so planning is essential. Filleting and cryvac packaging can be part of the deal.
Of course, scale bagging the whiting and squid is part of every charter. As is gut and gilling any reef fish. When we hit the ramp, the fish will be scaled and sitting in a fresh ice salt water slurry as it will all day from the moment it is caught.
Always happy to give advice on filleting any fish that comes on board. Our crew has experience with filleting and can give a quick demo or lesson.
Always happy to discuss all the best ways of making sure you enjoy your catch. Just ask on the day for some tips from the guys that just love eating fish. There are so many ways of cooking the many varieties we catch and we have tried them all.
Pictures Are Worth 1000 Words
If you still have some questions about what Balogowan Fishing Charters is like, take a look at either of our social media channels.
You’ll see hundreds of photos and some videos of fellow anglers getting out amongst it and having a great time on board Wild Thing.
Seeing is believing!