Carlee Andrews

A glimpse of the face of women involved in fishing inside Western Australia must include some of the younger generation. Too often we read of today’s youth being berated for disrespectful, antisocial behaviour. Too seldom do we read of young people quietly going about their business enjoying a commendable lifestyle.

One young woman with a healthy outlook on life is Broome’s Carlee Andrews. Carlee is average height and average weight, with olive complexion, black hair and ocean-blue eyes full of life, especially when she smiles and reveals the dimples in her cheeks. At 13 years of age (“finally”) Carlee is full of energy and creativity. Her strongest interest is focussed on outdoor sporting activities, including surf-ski riding, fishing, swimming, snorkelling, horse riding, and acting as crew for her father, Jero, aboard his 28’ Wharram catamaran ‘Dawn’. Cats are well-suited to these local waters, moving fast on light airs and providing a stable platform from which to troll stern lines and get amongst the spanish mackerel, cobia, and tuna. There is no limit to the design of lures, just let your imagination run wild with colours and shapes, tassels, rattles and glitter. But it’s no good asking Carlee to rake up the leaves or sweep the yard at home: all the yard broom handles and rake handles have long since been snaffled for handcrafting into queenfish poppers!

Sailing is a wonderful way to get around on the water. The absence of motor noise means you can sail right up close to snoozing turtles, massive gliding manta rays, eagle rays launching into thin air, and of course dolphins, who play on the thrust of the bow wave. When the season is right for huge schools of baitfish moving on the tidal flow their location is often given away by terns and gannets feeding noisily, and dive bombing from mast height. Underneath these bait schools lurk the pelagic fish, and a catamaran can head straight in amongst them trolling lures.

Often as ships arrive in the port of Broome to load live cattle, or discharge cargo, or just to do the work of tenders to oil exploration and drilling offshore, those ships bring fish such as cobia following in their wake. Carlee’s favourite table fish is cobia. Bluenose and threadfin salmon are also valued table fish, and she has a special way of catching them. While paddling her surf ski she trolls a line astern with a spoon lure. At special times of the seasons salmon arrive in great schools shoaling like surf along the shore of Roebuck Bay. In their exuberance they snap at anything moving, even a metal lure.

There is nothing especially separating Carlee from her school mates, she is just as involved in all the things young people enjoy, or crave, or become passionate about: clothing fashions, Hollywood screen hero idols, and the current details of the latest soap opera. But Carlee also has a quiet determination to pursue her favourite sport whether it is trendy or not, whether all her friends want to join in or not, whether she lands a fish or not. Her easy-going nature means she can have a good time whatever the day brings.

When asked where her interest in fishing started Carlee admitted that having an elder brother like Troy, who works as deckhand on the game-fishing charter boat ‘Fad II,’ certainly meant she had a lot of family inspiration as well as back up. But if she doesn’t catch a feed of fish she is just as content to buy a serving of deep fried Barramundi from the restaurant and take-away at the jetty.

If Carlee’s smiling face looks familiar to you in the context of what is well known about Broome, but you can’t quite place her, then perhaps it is Carlee’s other brother you are remembering. Kyle Andrews was the inspiration for the Cancer Foundation charity, which collects funds to allow children suffering from cancer to spend a holiday in Broome, and sample some of the good things this town has on offer for young people. Kyle lost his battle with the illness, but memory of him is indelibly drawn in our hearts. Kyle was another keen angler and water sportsman, and some might say ‘a hard act to follow.’ Carlee is not eclipsed by the shadow of her brother Kyle, but simply does her best and gets the fullest reward from the kind of sport, which he also enjoyed.

Congratulations, Carlee, on your enthusiasm for the best things in life, the things that are often so easily taken for granted: fresh air and sunshine, the bountiful ocean, and just good fun.