stonecold
21-07-2008, 02:07 PM
In the lead up to this years Evans Head Fishing Classic I was more than a little dubious about our chances of getting much fishing in. The last 3 classics have yielded only a handful of fishable days due to deep low systems making the bar impossible to cross. Given the weather over the past 6 months I thought our chances of fishing more than a couple of days were slim. A week out and I was pleasantly suprised by the large stable high pressure system covering most of the country. As it turned out this year was the only classic in its history where you could cross the bar and fish outside each and every day...glorious!8-)
So I arrived at Evans on Friday arv and set up camp had a quick look at the bar...flat as, slight NW breeze beautiful...now comes the hard part. I had to head back to camp and head off for a mates wedding on the Saturday and not look at the sea for another 2 days:'( I left my 2 deckies at camp, they kindly sent me SMS updates with the bar conditions for the full 2 days. One txt in particular of a 6.5m sailfish crossing a flat bar full stick with a comment along the lines of this should be us! where are you?
Finally made it back to Evans at 9.00am on Sunday morning still seedy from a late wedding night and way to many xxxx's. I was on the water and fishing the coffee rock close in at south reef by 10 and had a 75cm snap in the box by 10.15am...there is a god!
Finished the Sunday with 13 squire/snapper for the day. My best wasnt huge but a nice fish none the less. Deckie no 2 managed one of his own going nearly 60cm..he was now satisfied that the capt new what he was doing.
Monday was catch and release day for snapper and given the biggest snapper for the comp to the Monday was a 9+kg brute I thought I'd push a little wider and chase some trag and pearlies. About 3 n mile east of south reef at Evans the sounder screen lit up red...yehaa. Drop em over boys. Expecting more snapper and having discounted any nasties I was a little perplexed when all 3 lines went limp half way to the bottom..nothing...its like on Sienfeld when Jerry has a an encounter with "NEWMAN"........I muttered under my breath with the utmost of distain..."LEATHERJACKETS" It didnt matter where we went..any deeper than 30 m and..."LEATHERJACKETS". So with a dozen "LEATHERJACKETS" in the box and missing a full box of 7/0's we motored in closer and managed to pic up a dozen trag in a last ditched effort to salvage some pride, the young fella (deckie no 1) managed 3-4 squire on S.P one of which was scoffed by what I can only imagine was a cod. By the time the cod let it go he was a mess. Muzz if you read this I now know exactly how you feel about..."LEATHERJACKETS"!
I had to work Tuesday and grudgingly left camp at 7 for the office. Again the bar was flat and again I fielded a dozen txt msgs asking where the heck was I. It became to much at 2pm and by 3.30 I was sounding around a ledge that has produced the odd jew for me in the past. A good show of fish and couple of drifts to get the lie right and the baits went over the side. A couple of tailor slabs hit the bottom soon after. At 4.05 the young bloke picked up a mowie that went hard and then went back over the side. At 4.10 I had my first solid bump and at 4.15 a 14kg jew hit the deck. That was followed not long after by a solid double hookup one of which pulled the hooks, the other was my young blokes first jew. A respectable 12kg model..do you reckon he was happy in the pic, He's only 43kg ringing wet so it was a laugh to watch with 50lb braid. It was about that time that a mate back in Cassino txt me to say there was a big storm heading straight for Evans Head. I'd been watching it on the horizon for a while and it was filthy looking. Deckie No 2 argued the case that it was going around, and for a while you know I believe him. It was coming quick so we decided to pack it in and make a run for it. Just as I picked up the last rod it registered a solid thump. I handed the outfit to deckie no 2 so I could get ready to pull the pick. Well he hooked up and 5 minutes later a twin of the last 12kg fish was flapping in the box.
I looked back at the headland and it had disappeared in a white sheet of water..oops to late. We got the anchor up and the rain was pelting down and wind blowing at 35knts...It rained that hard that the dry bag up the front had water in it and it stung your face as it hit. Still 3 nice jew and it was beter than work.
We had a further 2 full days fishing but things went down hill on the fishing front for us after the jew trip. I spent a fair bit of time looking but with little success. I couldn't see any point bringing any more squire or trag back in so concentrated on bigger fish with little success.
Friday... the final day brought the only negative for the week and I suppose if you get that many people in the one place your bound to find some uneducated ignorant p#/*k. I found a nice little bit of country with some fish showing on the sounder. Had 3 drifts over it to find the lie then anchored up. After 25 minutes with little reward I decided we were hangin to far off the back of the mark and needed to move up a little. About that time I noticed a small half cab heading straight for us. He came right in within 30m at times and sounded around and around. Obviously I was on "HIS" spot. after 10 more minutes and him heading further seaward I said the the boys come on pull em in we'll go back up over the mark and make another drift and get better positioned. Well old mate heard the motor fire up and swung straight around. We got the anchor up and headed back up over our mark and had just cleared the ledge when ignoramous dropped the pick directly on our drift line. After a few choice words to my deckies the decision was made to leave this ignorant p#*k to it. I motored past said ignoramous but he wasnt game to look. One of his 3 deckies copped my abuse (he's the one in the red jumper in said picture of the ignoramous). Mr Rego 11 I'd be more than happy to discuss boating manners and etiquette with you at a later date if your reading. On a brighter note the highlight of the day was my youngest blokes (6y.o) first real fishing trip to sea and his first legal squire.
All in all a great week with the boys and looking forward to next year already.
A big thanks to Evans Head Coast Guard for their coverage all week and also all the organisers for a great week
So I arrived at Evans on Friday arv and set up camp had a quick look at the bar...flat as, slight NW breeze beautiful...now comes the hard part. I had to head back to camp and head off for a mates wedding on the Saturday and not look at the sea for another 2 days:'( I left my 2 deckies at camp, they kindly sent me SMS updates with the bar conditions for the full 2 days. One txt in particular of a 6.5m sailfish crossing a flat bar full stick with a comment along the lines of this should be us! where are you?
Finally made it back to Evans at 9.00am on Sunday morning still seedy from a late wedding night and way to many xxxx's. I was on the water and fishing the coffee rock close in at south reef by 10 and had a 75cm snap in the box by 10.15am...there is a god!
Finished the Sunday with 13 squire/snapper for the day. My best wasnt huge but a nice fish none the less. Deckie no 2 managed one of his own going nearly 60cm..he was now satisfied that the capt new what he was doing.
Monday was catch and release day for snapper and given the biggest snapper for the comp to the Monday was a 9+kg brute I thought I'd push a little wider and chase some trag and pearlies. About 3 n mile east of south reef at Evans the sounder screen lit up red...yehaa. Drop em over boys. Expecting more snapper and having discounted any nasties I was a little perplexed when all 3 lines went limp half way to the bottom..nothing...its like on Sienfeld when Jerry has a an encounter with "NEWMAN"........I muttered under my breath with the utmost of distain..."LEATHERJACKETS" It didnt matter where we went..any deeper than 30 m and..."LEATHERJACKETS". So with a dozen "LEATHERJACKETS" in the box and missing a full box of 7/0's we motored in closer and managed to pic up a dozen trag in a last ditched effort to salvage some pride, the young fella (deckie no 1) managed 3-4 squire on S.P one of which was scoffed by what I can only imagine was a cod. By the time the cod let it go he was a mess. Muzz if you read this I now know exactly how you feel about..."LEATHERJACKETS"!
I had to work Tuesday and grudgingly left camp at 7 for the office. Again the bar was flat and again I fielded a dozen txt msgs asking where the heck was I. It became to much at 2pm and by 3.30 I was sounding around a ledge that has produced the odd jew for me in the past. A good show of fish and couple of drifts to get the lie right and the baits went over the side. A couple of tailor slabs hit the bottom soon after. At 4.05 the young bloke picked up a mowie that went hard and then went back over the side. At 4.10 I had my first solid bump and at 4.15 a 14kg jew hit the deck. That was followed not long after by a solid double hookup one of which pulled the hooks, the other was my young blokes first jew. A respectable 12kg model..do you reckon he was happy in the pic, He's only 43kg ringing wet so it was a laugh to watch with 50lb braid. It was about that time that a mate back in Cassino txt me to say there was a big storm heading straight for Evans Head. I'd been watching it on the horizon for a while and it was filthy looking. Deckie No 2 argued the case that it was going around, and for a while you know I believe him. It was coming quick so we decided to pack it in and make a run for it. Just as I picked up the last rod it registered a solid thump. I handed the outfit to deckie no 2 so I could get ready to pull the pick. Well he hooked up and 5 minutes later a twin of the last 12kg fish was flapping in the box.
I looked back at the headland and it had disappeared in a white sheet of water..oops to late. We got the anchor up and the rain was pelting down and wind blowing at 35knts...It rained that hard that the dry bag up the front had water in it and it stung your face as it hit. Still 3 nice jew and it was beter than work.
We had a further 2 full days fishing but things went down hill on the fishing front for us after the jew trip. I spent a fair bit of time looking but with little success. I couldn't see any point bringing any more squire or trag back in so concentrated on bigger fish with little success.
Friday... the final day brought the only negative for the week and I suppose if you get that many people in the one place your bound to find some uneducated ignorant p#/*k. I found a nice little bit of country with some fish showing on the sounder. Had 3 drifts over it to find the lie then anchored up. After 25 minutes with little reward I decided we were hangin to far off the back of the mark and needed to move up a little. About that time I noticed a small half cab heading straight for us. He came right in within 30m at times and sounded around and around. Obviously I was on "HIS" spot. after 10 more minutes and him heading further seaward I said the the boys come on pull em in we'll go back up over the mark and make another drift and get better positioned. Well old mate heard the motor fire up and swung straight around. We got the anchor up and headed back up over our mark and had just cleared the ledge when ignoramous dropped the pick directly on our drift line. After a few choice words to my deckies the decision was made to leave this ignorant p#*k to it. I motored past said ignoramous but he wasnt game to look. One of his 3 deckies copped my abuse (he's the one in the red jumper in said picture of the ignoramous). Mr Rego 11 I'd be more than happy to discuss boating manners and etiquette with you at a later date if your reading. On a brighter note the highlight of the day was my youngest blokes (6y.o) first real fishing trip to sea and his first legal squire.
All in all a great week with the boys and looking forward to next year already.
A big thanks to Evans Head Coast Guard for their coverage all week and also all the organisers for a great week