four_button_arnie
26-07-2011, 11:42 AM
Hey guys another trip offshore from Gladstone.
On this trip I had Rob (work and fishing mate) and his mate Keithy. We planned to take advantage of the good weather on Sun/Mon. We headed out of Gladstone Harbour around 1900hrs and aimed the pointy end of the Yalta 'Bimini Twist' offshore. The run out was fantastic, although a little dark as the moon didn’t make an appearance until after midnight, so due to the lower visibility we knocked a few hundred revs off our normal cruise speed. Small swell say .5 with a huge swell gap had us in high spirits (I love being able to drink my customary mango iced tea without spilling it all over myself:beer:).
On our last trip we did some exploring and found a few bits of good looking bottom so we thought we would give it a whirl. We tried a few drifts in the general area to see what was about and to get a good supply of legal hussar for strip bait, it was a bit quite, until the moon poked its head over the horizon and then we began to get some better hits. The bite period was relatively short but in that time we had a blast.
First of the rank was Rob with a nice Red of around 7kg, massive sigh of relief when a new spot produces! High fives all round and a fait bit of excitement was on board. Unfortunately Keithy was not feeling to flash hot so that slowed him down a fair bit.
After the first fish we where still getting the odd hit but nothing to show for it. MMMMMM what to do? Ahhh might try one of those PE Tackle suckers. Green Goblin shrimp was the order of the day, made it glow with the head lamp then sent down the bait. Drifting, drifting, the sounder showing the rise the fish where hanging off, ready for it……’pluck’ ‘pluck’ smash! I hooked up to what felt like a nice sized red, got him to the boat and GONE:-[. A few choice words where spoken rebait, reposition the boat, lets go again.
Same deal send the Green Goblin down, wait for the rise, and its hammer time, he made the Tcurve 400 and the Saltiga OH work for their worth, and finally my first larger Red hit the decks, quick humane dispatch and into the ice box. Next drop I was smacked quick hard and pulled up what I thought was a good Red only to find a 55cm Red Throat, dam he would have been a legal red! Im not complaining RTE are my favourite fish to eat.
69709
My Red E number 1
Next drift, Rob’s 80lb Fin Nor rod suddenly was pointing directly at the ocean floor and line was peeling off his Saltiga at an alarming rate, worried and excited looks where past. For the next 5 tense minutes they battled it out, at last colour was seen and a stonking 11kg Red hit the deck, what followed was utter lunacy of high fives and school girl giggles;D;D;D. Rob's next fish was none other than a Pearl Pearch, first one to hit the decks of the Yalta.
69710
Robs 11kg
The bite was slowing down so a nice big bait was in order, sent him down with Mr goblin. Again the Tcurve was violently bucking and line peeling off the spool again. Red number 4 for the night. Terrific.
Day break had us heading back towards the islands and to find some shallow water. Keith was right as rain and got into some good RTE, which was unreal. I pulled a nice trout on a pillie, which is always a great addition to the ice box! Come 0830hrs on Monday we where beginning to feel some what deflated (as we had been awake since about 0900am the day before with no sleep) so the decision was made to head home. Bugger all swell on the way home but the chop was coming from everywhere, it was a bit bouncy, so the Yammie got trimmed all the way in, and the throttle pushed down, sitting on 45km/h in this horrid chop was the way to go, the Yalta just cruised along, a comfy ride for all on board. The Yalta handles shitty chop really well at above 40km/h just enough to flatten it out I guess.
To make the trip even better approaching Facing Island we where greeted by right in front of us a pod of massive Humpbacks, we think 2-3 BIG adults and a younger calf who was doing some ariel acrobatics. We stopped the boat and let them pass. Bloody awesome;D
69711
Final Catch
69712
My 2 red friends
Righto that’ll do.
Josh
On this trip I had Rob (work and fishing mate) and his mate Keithy. We planned to take advantage of the good weather on Sun/Mon. We headed out of Gladstone Harbour around 1900hrs and aimed the pointy end of the Yalta 'Bimini Twist' offshore. The run out was fantastic, although a little dark as the moon didn’t make an appearance until after midnight, so due to the lower visibility we knocked a few hundred revs off our normal cruise speed. Small swell say .5 with a huge swell gap had us in high spirits (I love being able to drink my customary mango iced tea without spilling it all over myself:beer:).
On our last trip we did some exploring and found a few bits of good looking bottom so we thought we would give it a whirl. We tried a few drifts in the general area to see what was about and to get a good supply of legal hussar for strip bait, it was a bit quite, until the moon poked its head over the horizon and then we began to get some better hits. The bite period was relatively short but in that time we had a blast.
First of the rank was Rob with a nice Red of around 7kg, massive sigh of relief when a new spot produces! High fives all round and a fait bit of excitement was on board. Unfortunately Keithy was not feeling to flash hot so that slowed him down a fair bit.
After the first fish we where still getting the odd hit but nothing to show for it. MMMMMM what to do? Ahhh might try one of those PE Tackle suckers. Green Goblin shrimp was the order of the day, made it glow with the head lamp then sent down the bait. Drifting, drifting, the sounder showing the rise the fish where hanging off, ready for it……’pluck’ ‘pluck’ smash! I hooked up to what felt like a nice sized red, got him to the boat and GONE:-[. A few choice words where spoken rebait, reposition the boat, lets go again.
Same deal send the Green Goblin down, wait for the rise, and its hammer time, he made the Tcurve 400 and the Saltiga OH work for their worth, and finally my first larger Red hit the decks, quick humane dispatch and into the ice box. Next drop I was smacked quick hard and pulled up what I thought was a good Red only to find a 55cm Red Throat, dam he would have been a legal red! Im not complaining RTE are my favourite fish to eat.
69709
My Red E number 1
Next drift, Rob’s 80lb Fin Nor rod suddenly was pointing directly at the ocean floor and line was peeling off his Saltiga at an alarming rate, worried and excited looks where past. For the next 5 tense minutes they battled it out, at last colour was seen and a stonking 11kg Red hit the deck, what followed was utter lunacy of high fives and school girl giggles;D;D;D. Rob's next fish was none other than a Pearl Pearch, first one to hit the decks of the Yalta.
69710
Robs 11kg
The bite was slowing down so a nice big bait was in order, sent him down with Mr goblin. Again the Tcurve was violently bucking and line peeling off the spool again. Red number 4 for the night. Terrific.
Day break had us heading back towards the islands and to find some shallow water. Keith was right as rain and got into some good RTE, which was unreal. I pulled a nice trout on a pillie, which is always a great addition to the ice box! Come 0830hrs on Monday we where beginning to feel some what deflated (as we had been awake since about 0900am the day before with no sleep) so the decision was made to head home. Bugger all swell on the way home but the chop was coming from everywhere, it was a bit bouncy, so the Yammie got trimmed all the way in, and the throttle pushed down, sitting on 45km/h in this horrid chop was the way to go, the Yalta just cruised along, a comfy ride for all on board. The Yalta handles shitty chop really well at above 40km/h just enough to flatten it out I guess.
To make the trip even better approaching Facing Island we where greeted by right in front of us a pod of massive Humpbacks, we think 2-3 BIG adults and a younger calf who was doing some ariel acrobatics. We stopped the boat and let them pass. Bloody awesome;D
69711
Final Catch
69712
My 2 red friends
Righto that’ll do.
Josh