sleepygreg
13-12-2009, 11:02 PM
I arrived at the Marina to board In The Black, only to discover that our deckie for the day would be Ben, Shane's son. This was the first pleasing aspect of the day....as I now knew we had a good deckie to look after us. Ben may be young but he is an extremely competent deckie, as well as a good fisherman in his own right.
We picked up the Ausfish crew from the pontoon at a touch after 6am. Lethal098 (Lee), Lee's cousin Malcolm, DarrenJ (Darren), AnthonyL (Anthony), Chamelion (Matt), Searider (Pete) and Lovey80 (Chris) boarded and after introductions all round, the standard safety talk from Ben and the housekeeping rules, we headed off accross the bay. It was a bit messy heading east, but nothing too uncomfortable - with the SE changed having kicked the seas up a bit.
We neared Hutchies and the trolling spread was deployed. Stories started being told any many questions were forthcoming from the crew - and answered by Ben and a bit of a brains trust from those that had some experience with this form of fishing. I joined Shane on the flybridge to check out the sounders and discuss our options. His main concern was that the southerly change had put the fish down.
We trolled for a little while with no luck.....the sounder showing bait schools...but they were down low and not balling...a sure sign that there is nothing nasty chasing them. Noticing that all the other boats working the area were having the same lack of success as we were the call was made to head north to some spots off wide cal and try to nail some reefies.
Ben swapped over the trolling outfits and rigged up the bottom gear as we steamed to our first spot. Meanwhile the sea had almost glassed out. On arrival and after sounding around to find some shows the call was made to drop lines. While the boys made their first drop I broke out the frypan and got the bacon and eggs underway. The first pearly hit the esky soon after and then a procession of undersized fish started coming up. After a while the undersized fish were overwhelming the keepers, so the lines in and off to try another spot....while everyone had a feed.
Next spot proved very similar.....big shows on the sounder....but once again undersized fish being in the majority...with Ben trying to jig some live bait, only to get some of the smallest pearlies I have seen.
This scenario was repeated a number of times......with bait balls on the surface all over the place....but no fish sighted working them, or birds hovering and diving. Ben managed to get a few yakkas, and a couple of strings of juvenile bonnies. Some were put down live, but not touched, and others were slabbed and used as strip bait.
We moved in closer to some shallower water and a cod spot that Shane has. This is usually good for a few decent sized cod as a last resort esky filler. Time for the lunch rolls to be broken out. Once again shows on the sounder...but the results not indicative of the scene before us. Though Pete managed to find a corner of the boat that produced a couple of undersized maori cod, and a reasonable gold spot that was released into the esky....along with a MIL fish that Lee claimed, as his mother in law loves em ( we all had a chuckle over that one). Darren managed to get a legal pearlie on a SP. Chris managed to get busted off on 50lb braid, and more undersize fish hit the deck.
Come 1.15pm and it was time to up lines and head back. Many stories were told, subjects discussed, debates had and friendships made. We had a few fish in the esky, though not as many as we hoped for, and everyone managed to take home a few fillets. The catch was mainly pearlies, with moses perch, tuskie and cod contributing in small ways. Many thanks to Lee for doing the filleting, Shane for trying to put us on to fish, Ben for his great deckie work and passing on his knowledge of the area, and to all the guys for being great company for the day.
As for those who have asked "when is the next one?"........It will be when I am back in work and can afford it....or when someone else organises one. I am happy to co-ordinate it. A night session has been suggested. Lets get the festive season over and look at the new year.
Cheers
Greg
PS....pics to follow.
We picked up the Ausfish crew from the pontoon at a touch after 6am. Lethal098 (Lee), Lee's cousin Malcolm, DarrenJ (Darren), AnthonyL (Anthony), Chamelion (Matt), Searider (Pete) and Lovey80 (Chris) boarded and after introductions all round, the standard safety talk from Ben and the housekeeping rules, we headed off accross the bay. It was a bit messy heading east, but nothing too uncomfortable - with the SE changed having kicked the seas up a bit.
We neared Hutchies and the trolling spread was deployed. Stories started being told any many questions were forthcoming from the crew - and answered by Ben and a bit of a brains trust from those that had some experience with this form of fishing. I joined Shane on the flybridge to check out the sounders and discuss our options. His main concern was that the southerly change had put the fish down.
We trolled for a little while with no luck.....the sounder showing bait schools...but they were down low and not balling...a sure sign that there is nothing nasty chasing them. Noticing that all the other boats working the area were having the same lack of success as we were the call was made to head north to some spots off wide cal and try to nail some reefies.
Ben swapped over the trolling outfits and rigged up the bottom gear as we steamed to our first spot. Meanwhile the sea had almost glassed out. On arrival and after sounding around to find some shows the call was made to drop lines. While the boys made their first drop I broke out the frypan and got the bacon and eggs underway. The first pearly hit the esky soon after and then a procession of undersized fish started coming up. After a while the undersized fish were overwhelming the keepers, so the lines in and off to try another spot....while everyone had a feed.
Next spot proved very similar.....big shows on the sounder....but once again undersized fish being in the majority...with Ben trying to jig some live bait, only to get some of the smallest pearlies I have seen.
This scenario was repeated a number of times......with bait balls on the surface all over the place....but no fish sighted working them, or birds hovering and diving. Ben managed to get a few yakkas, and a couple of strings of juvenile bonnies. Some were put down live, but not touched, and others were slabbed and used as strip bait.
We moved in closer to some shallower water and a cod spot that Shane has. This is usually good for a few decent sized cod as a last resort esky filler. Time for the lunch rolls to be broken out. Once again shows on the sounder...but the results not indicative of the scene before us. Though Pete managed to find a corner of the boat that produced a couple of undersized maori cod, and a reasonable gold spot that was released into the esky....along with a MIL fish that Lee claimed, as his mother in law loves em ( we all had a chuckle over that one). Darren managed to get a legal pearlie on a SP. Chris managed to get busted off on 50lb braid, and more undersize fish hit the deck.
Come 1.15pm and it was time to up lines and head back. Many stories were told, subjects discussed, debates had and friendships made. We had a few fish in the esky, though not as many as we hoped for, and everyone managed to take home a few fillets. The catch was mainly pearlies, with moses perch, tuskie and cod contributing in small ways. Many thanks to Lee for doing the filleting, Shane for trying to put us on to fish, Ben for his great deckie work and passing on his knowledge of the area, and to all the guys for being great company for the day.
As for those who have asked "when is the next one?"........It will be when I am back in work and can afford it....or when someone else organises one. I am happy to co-ordinate it. A night session has been suggested. Lets get the festive season over and look at the new year.
Cheers
Greg
PS....pics to follow.