leonp88
17-05-2012, 08:17 PM
G'day all,
Haven't posted a trip report before, so forgive the first real post.
Always knew it was going to be a good weekend with the forecast looking great when checked all week prior. Picked a mate up late Saturday morning and headed out of the Boyne after low tide at around 11. Not a bad trip out to Masthead by any means at a little under 25 knots we were out there around lunchtime.
Went for an afternoon spear on the Southern side of the island picking up 3 trout in total and one big cray. I stuffed around with a GoPro camera but had some teething issues and ended up having more of a leisurely snorkel. Back to the boat before dusk to move towards the Eastern end of the island where we'd later roll the swags out and spend the night in the boat. Did a few drifts before anchoring in a good spot in about 20m of water and with limited bait pulled up about 4 decent sized RTE (and a number more undersize). Sleeping wasn't too hard with a gentle swell rocking the boat and I only woke once in the middle of the night when the moon was right overhead. Was a really nice clear night under the stars - amazing how much you can see away from all the industry lights of Gladstone.
Awoke again just before sunrise and I knew before my head reached the top of the gunnels that it was going to be a perfect day - there was no slap whatsoever on the hull and the boat was still. Turns out it probably didn't get to 5 knots all day!
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8215/sunrisef.jpg
Had two separate really nice dives on the Sunday - first thing at the Eastern end of the reef and then around on the Northern side. Both times in about 8m of water (nearly the limit of visibility, wasn't great this weekend!). Some cool sightings - dolphins underwater, an ~8ft Tiger, and lots of turtles. Shame the GoPro wasn't working properly!
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/2449/masthead.jpg
Picked up a few more trout and ended up with 4 each (plate size most around 42cm). The highlight of the trip was when we decided to do a bit of trolling on the NW edge of the island on the way back to see if there were any mackerel around. Yep! Sure enough, after a good 20 minutes of trolling something big hit the laser pro once, and again and hooked up. About 15 minutes later and after a number of drag-screaming runs I landed this horse of a Spaniard on my mate's Saltiga (his arm was in a cast, I supplied the lure and set the rods so I claimed it!)
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4581/spano.jpg
Went 125cm and 20+kg (weren't able fit it in the esky let alone weigh it)! My biggest fish and a MUCH more intense fight than the last big fish I caught (1m barra on a 2500 stradic). Yes I was a bit excited.
All in all, not a bad weekend and I have freezer stock for the following month :)
Cheers
Leon
Haven't posted a trip report before, so forgive the first real post.
Always knew it was going to be a good weekend with the forecast looking great when checked all week prior. Picked a mate up late Saturday morning and headed out of the Boyne after low tide at around 11. Not a bad trip out to Masthead by any means at a little under 25 knots we were out there around lunchtime.
Went for an afternoon spear on the Southern side of the island picking up 3 trout in total and one big cray. I stuffed around with a GoPro camera but had some teething issues and ended up having more of a leisurely snorkel. Back to the boat before dusk to move towards the Eastern end of the island where we'd later roll the swags out and spend the night in the boat. Did a few drifts before anchoring in a good spot in about 20m of water and with limited bait pulled up about 4 decent sized RTE (and a number more undersize). Sleeping wasn't too hard with a gentle swell rocking the boat and I only woke once in the middle of the night when the moon was right overhead. Was a really nice clear night under the stars - amazing how much you can see away from all the industry lights of Gladstone.
Awoke again just before sunrise and I knew before my head reached the top of the gunnels that it was going to be a perfect day - there was no slap whatsoever on the hull and the boat was still. Turns out it probably didn't get to 5 knots all day!
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8215/sunrisef.jpg
Had two separate really nice dives on the Sunday - first thing at the Eastern end of the reef and then around on the Northern side. Both times in about 8m of water (nearly the limit of visibility, wasn't great this weekend!). Some cool sightings - dolphins underwater, an ~8ft Tiger, and lots of turtles. Shame the GoPro wasn't working properly!
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/2449/masthead.jpg
Picked up a few more trout and ended up with 4 each (plate size most around 42cm). The highlight of the trip was when we decided to do a bit of trolling on the NW edge of the island on the way back to see if there were any mackerel around. Yep! Sure enough, after a good 20 minutes of trolling something big hit the laser pro once, and again and hooked up. About 15 minutes later and after a number of drag-screaming runs I landed this horse of a Spaniard on my mate's Saltiga (his arm was in a cast, I supplied the lure and set the rods so I claimed it!)
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4581/spano.jpg
Went 125cm and 20+kg (weren't able fit it in the esky let alone weigh it)! My biggest fish and a MUCH more intense fight than the last big fish I caught (1m barra on a 2500 stradic). Yes I was a bit excited.
All in all, not a bad weekend and I have freezer stock for the following month :)
Cheers
Leon