Mozza
21-05-2008, 10:47 AM
Heh! Heh!
Hows that for alliteration (I have GOT to stop reading my 10yo homework!).
I passed on the w/e fishing fest in Townsville with the magnificent weather and held out for a midweek session, catching up on some work hours during the w/e. Monday was out; it blew like a whale with gas anyway but Tuesday, the cards started to line up quite nicely.
Kids sorted: :thumbup:
Work sorted: :thumbup:
Weather: :thumbup:
Deckie: :thumbup:
With a light S'erly forecast for the early morn, swinging around to SE'er during the day, it looked like a foray out past Cape Cleveland could be on the cars. With the Cape, 20ft Rock and, 4ft Rock beckoning, I started packing the bluewater gear along with some bottom bashing gear as well. This is all yellow zone, so you have to plan the trip carefully - trolliing at first light followed by some bottom bashing up until the low at 2:30.
Well, Monday night, the deckie, my BIL, cancelled at the last minute so it was out with the list of potential deckies and Curmudgeon wasn't hard to convince although I suspect there may have been a massive amount of Brownies involved... The only caveat being we had to be back in time for his spawn to be collected from school.
The weather was still looking the goods and we arrived at the boatramp @ 5:00 with the promised light S'erly blowing gently off the land. Sweet! I'd estimated an hour to get to the lighthouse but we got there in 40min flat with the 30hp Yammy pushing "Mozza" along at a good pace. I hadn't been this far before so I took an extra 30litres of fuel instead of the usual 10, just in case.
Everything was going to plan.
We broke out the trolling gear: 3 lines, a gar on a chin guard, a shallow diver and a deep diving lure and started to troll the outside of the Cape. The weather was spot on and the swell was non-existent - it was looking like a perfect day. 'Well this is unusual' I'm thinking to myself when ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ goes the deep diving blue/white pelagic Rapala. I'm up with the rod, Curm. deftly hauls in the other lines and I'm all set for my first Spaniard EVER! The first run was a good'n albeit a bit slow - not as fast as I'd imagined. Then the fight became more dogged, a bit like a long tail fight but I start to feel these big 'flicks' on the line and I call it for a turtle. Sh!t. 10min later she finally breaches as we confirm it. She's way too big to succumb so I lock it all up to break the line and BINGO I feel the lure release. Yoohoo, I've got it all back as well as not leaving hooks in the old girl. Not exactly, the rapala is destroyed - the metal bib has been bent @ 90deg, once set of trebles has been straightened and the split ring has snapped on the other.
Oh well, back to trolling as first light hits the horizon. We trolled everywhere - the Cape at least 5 times, 20 Foot Rock at least twice and 4 Foot once. Nothing. It seems my Spaniard virginity would not be broken this trip. Bait was noticeably absent and when we did finally see it on the sounder, the sun was way up and it was time to head to our first anchorage. We anchor up nicely on our first mark and I break out the jigs as Curm sends a herring to the bottom on a dropper rig. Bang! He's on almost immediately and I ready the net as it comes quite quickly to the boat. It's a mackeral of some type and I yell "that better not be a Spanish" while Curm goes into paroxysms of mirth. We net a nice 62cm grey mackeral - I've never seen Curm. so happy (his scores have been pretty low in "Mozza").
The esky is one fish up as he baits again and I try in vain to tease up a yakka or 3 on the jigs. I get a couple of little GT's which are kept, 1 as a livey, and the other for strip bait.
Curm's next herring hits the bottom before it is smashed with a nice, 42 (?) nannygai which is iced as well. Things go quiet so we move to the next mark but not before stopping over at 4 Foot rock to try the jigs again. I jig up a couple of small 'cuda as well as a stripey. After half an hour of fruitless jigging we head off to the next mark which looks great on the sounder but which produces a big fat "0", not even a tap. It's now 11 and the SE'er has pushed in - we decide to anchor off near the rocks at the Cape to see if anything's there. There must have been at least 20 BIG turtles there so we were a little apprehensive about hooking another one.
The little stripey goes over on my big outfit and I feel a couple of solid bumps on the way down but think nothing of it as I get set to flick the ratchet on when I realise there's definitely more than just a 12" livie on the end. WOOHOO! I'm finally onto something - momentarily, I think 'turtle' but Curm calls for it a GT. He's close - 8kilos of Gold hits the deck as Brian does the honours with the net (just) as I nearly walk on water with excitment. This is another species I've been very keen to latch onto - almost as good as breaking the Spaniard virginity but 8 kilos of fat, Golden Tevalley more than paid for the ribbing I'd copped from the deckie 'til then.
Time is running out but not before I hook a BIG cod or Grouper on the remaining 'cuda that I doubt even felt the faint tugging on his mouth - he must have felt something tho' because he coughed up the hook, bait and all still attached. Unfortunately we hook one more turtle that marks the end of a great trip out on the big blue in my little 4m tinny.
Hard work, lots of effort - the hordes of undersized nanny's weren't there the bait wasn't either but, we were repaid for the effort.
I know its a tome fella's but it's bin' a while since I posted a real story and besides, Scott can't be the only one with a way with words up here in NQLD....
Mozza
PS Curm may have some other pics to add and perhaps some comments??
Hows that for alliteration (I have GOT to stop reading my 10yo homework!).
I passed on the w/e fishing fest in Townsville with the magnificent weather and held out for a midweek session, catching up on some work hours during the w/e. Monday was out; it blew like a whale with gas anyway but Tuesday, the cards started to line up quite nicely.
Kids sorted: :thumbup:
Work sorted: :thumbup:
Weather: :thumbup:
Deckie: :thumbup:
With a light S'erly forecast for the early morn, swinging around to SE'er during the day, it looked like a foray out past Cape Cleveland could be on the cars. With the Cape, 20ft Rock and, 4ft Rock beckoning, I started packing the bluewater gear along with some bottom bashing gear as well. This is all yellow zone, so you have to plan the trip carefully - trolliing at first light followed by some bottom bashing up until the low at 2:30.
Well, Monday night, the deckie, my BIL, cancelled at the last minute so it was out with the list of potential deckies and Curmudgeon wasn't hard to convince although I suspect there may have been a massive amount of Brownies involved... The only caveat being we had to be back in time for his spawn to be collected from school.
The weather was still looking the goods and we arrived at the boatramp @ 5:00 with the promised light S'erly blowing gently off the land. Sweet! I'd estimated an hour to get to the lighthouse but we got there in 40min flat with the 30hp Yammy pushing "Mozza" along at a good pace. I hadn't been this far before so I took an extra 30litres of fuel instead of the usual 10, just in case.
Everything was going to plan.
We broke out the trolling gear: 3 lines, a gar on a chin guard, a shallow diver and a deep diving lure and started to troll the outside of the Cape. The weather was spot on and the swell was non-existent - it was looking like a perfect day. 'Well this is unusual' I'm thinking to myself when ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ goes the deep diving blue/white pelagic Rapala. I'm up with the rod, Curm. deftly hauls in the other lines and I'm all set for my first Spaniard EVER! The first run was a good'n albeit a bit slow - not as fast as I'd imagined. Then the fight became more dogged, a bit like a long tail fight but I start to feel these big 'flicks' on the line and I call it for a turtle. Sh!t. 10min later she finally breaches as we confirm it. She's way too big to succumb so I lock it all up to break the line and BINGO I feel the lure release. Yoohoo, I've got it all back as well as not leaving hooks in the old girl. Not exactly, the rapala is destroyed - the metal bib has been bent @ 90deg, once set of trebles has been straightened and the split ring has snapped on the other.
Oh well, back to trolling as first light hits the horizon. We trolled everywhere - the Cape at least 5 times, 20 Foot Rock at least twice and 4 Foot once. Nothing. It seems my Spaniard virginity would not be broken this trip. Bait was noticeably absent and when we did finally see it on the sounder, the sun was way up and it was time to head to our first anchorage. We anchor up nicely on our first mark and I break out the jigs as Curm sends a herring to the bottom on a dropper rig. Bang! He's on almost immediately and I ready the net as it comes quite quickly to the boat. It's a mackeral of some type and I yell "that better not be a Spanish" while Curm goes into paroxysms of mirth. We net a nice 62cm grey mackeral - I've never seen Curm. so happy (his scores have been pretty low in "Mozza").
The esky is one fish up as he baits again and I try in vain to tease up a yakka or 3 on the jigs. I get a couple of little GT's which are kept, 1 as a livey, and the other for strip bait.
Curm's next herring hits the bottom before it is smashed with a nice, 42 (?) nannygai which is iced as well. Things go quiet so we move to the next mark but not before stopping over at 4 Foot rock to try the jigs again. I jig up a couple of small 'cuda as well as a stripey. After half an hour of fruitless jigging we head off to the next mark which looks great on the sounder but which produces a big fat "0", not even a tap. It's now 11 and the SE'er has pushed in - we decide to anchor off near the rocks at the Cape to see if anything's there. There must have been at least 20 BIG turtles there so we were a little apprehensive about hooking another one.
The little stripey goes over on my big outfit and I feel a couple of solid bumps on the way down but think nothing of it as I get set to flick the ratchet on when I realise there's definitely more than just a 12" livie on the end. WOOHOO! I'm finally onto something - momentarily, I think 'turtle' but Curm calls for it a GT. He's close - 8kilos of Gold hits the deck as Brian does the honours with the net (just) as I nearly walk on water with excitment. This is another species I've been very keen to latch onto - almost as good as breaking the Spaniard virginity but 8 kilos of fat, Golden Tevalley more than paid for the ribbing I'd copped from the deckie 'til then.
Time is running out but not before I hook a BIG cod or Grouper on the remaining 'cuda that I doubt even felt the faint tugging on his mouth - he must have felt something tho' because he coughed up the hook, bait and all still attached. Unfortunately we hook one more turtle that marks the end of a great trip out on the big blue in my little 4m tinny.
Hard work, lots of effort - the hordes of undersized nanny's weren't there the bait wasn't either but, we were repaid for the effort.
I know its a tome fella's but it's bin' a while since I posted a real story and besides, Scott can't be the only one with a way with words up here in NQLD....
Mozza
PS Curm may have some other pics to add and perhaps some comments??