ROSS DOES IT HIS WAY ON JET SKI
NO boat, no worries.
Meet Ross the Jet ski fisherman. If you have spent more than a few hours out wide off the seaway chances are you have seen Ross Tyrrell.
I first met him a few years ago during marlin season. In among the multimillion dollar game boats ideally decked out with a skipper and deckhands was a speck on the water.
I ventured over to see what it was only to find a new friend, Ross the jet ski fisherman.
Worried for his safety I asked, “What the bloody hell are you doing out here?”.
“Same as you: catching marlin,” was the answer.
We were a long way from the Broadwater or the waves off South Straddie where I usually encounter jet skis.
Ross is a firm believer that size doesn’t matter. He and his small jet ski have out-fished bigger boats ... mine included.
In fact now when I see Ross on the water I am no longer worried for his safety – I breathe a sigh of relief: “If Ross the jet ski fisherman is here I must be in the right area.”
Ross has had boats over 30 years he’s called his Gold Coast home, but it’s the jet ski from which he prefers to fish.
“It’s more personal on the ski,” he explains.
Although he gives up a tonne on room he doesn’t want for devices on the ski.
His is custom-made to fit in a bait tank, rod holder, kill tank, GPS, sounder and what he says is the most important accessory anyone contemplating getting into jet ski fishing should have: a PSD (personal safety device).
His is attached to his lifejacket at all times. “You’re all alone out there, and the biggest tip I have is to take care of your safety first and fishing second,” Ross says.
He has racked up a few thousand hours fishing on the Gold Coast, but his favourite memory isn’t one of the many marlin he has caught or the time he hooked a mako shark off the pin bar. No, it’s the time when he alone shared the waters off the coast with a pod of Killer whales.
“They popped up alongside the ski, there were around seven of them, that was a pretty special moment,” he shares.
He also once dropped a GoPro camera attached to his line to the bottom of the 18 fathom grounds.
When he got home to view the vision he was shocked to have learnt there was a 20m great white under his ski.
Ross the jet ski fisherman is one of the many great Coast characters you’ll run into on the water here in paradise.