Eddy1
09-07-2006, 09:13 PM
After purchasing the new boat before easter, we have been waiting anxiously for our first trip to "The Banks". Reading all your posts over the last 12 mths had only wetted my apetite for things piscatorial, especially the big knobbies. Finally the weather seemed to be falling into line and strangely falling on a weekend.
Lined up a couple of mates from work who are mad keen and non fish-growlers. Set off from Mooloolaba at 2.30pm on Sat. Great run out, no chop with just an easy 1.5m swell, that meant our arrival at the central area of the banks was at around 3.40pm.
Sounded around for a while using some marks I got from a book I bought a while back. Seems these marks are only a guide for an area and you really find your own marks by simply looking around. The first few drifts over good shows produced some pearlies and yes, yes my first decent knobby snapper, I was rapt ;D ;D ;D...could have gone home then and there!. You see all of us on board were real novices in regard to deep-water fishing, so the results over the next few hours were experiences that will be remembered for a long while. We all got many firsts of species and many personal bests including bagging out on snapper with a few going up to the 5kilo mark. You couldn't wipe the smile off Pete's face. Got blowin away a few times on 50lb braid, they felt like good snapper, dunno,? maybe they hit the reef?
Anyway with respectable reps of many different species, and having our 15 snappers by 3.00am we headed in, only to be confronted by a seen at the Mooloolaba ramp that can only be described as well organised mayhem :-/. Boats being launched 3 & 4 abreast from both sets of ramps with other boats rigging and waiting for their turns, this is at 4.00 am mind you!!. One guy floating past said we certainly picked the wrong time to come in. Anyway we sat back and watched and were amazed at the efficiency of the whole process. It was probably only 10 to 15 mins and a couple of lanes were clear, so we swooped and managed to get the Quinnie on the trailer :D.
We are all looking forward to our next trip, to say the least ::) ::).....ed
few pics to come...
Lined up a couple of mates from work who are mad keen and non fish-growlers. Set off from Mooloolaba at 2.30pm on Sat. Great run out, no chop with just an easy 1.5m swell, that meant our arrival at the central area of the banks was at around 3.40pm.
Sounded around for a while using some marks I got from a book I bought a while back. Seems these marks are only a guide for an area and you really find your own marks by simply looking around. The first few drifts over good shows produced some pearlies and yes, yes my first decent knobby snapper, I was rapt ;D ;D ;D...could have gone home then and there!. You see all of us on board were real novices in regard to deep-water fishing, so the results over the next few hours were experiences that will be remembered for a long while. We all got many firsts of species and many personal bests including bagging out on snapper with a few going up to the 5kilo mark. You couldn't wipe the smile off Pete's face. Got blowin away a few times on 50lb braid, they felt like good snapper, dunno,? maybe they hit the reef?
Anyway with respectable reps of many different species, and having our 15 snappers by 3.00am we headed in, only to be confronted by a seen at the Mooloolaba ramp that can only be described as well organised mayhem :-/. Boats being launched 3 & 4 abreast from both sets of ramps with other boats rigging and waiting for their turns, this is at 4.00 am mind you!!. One guy floating past said we certainly picked the wrong time to come in. Anyway we sat back and watched and were amazed at the efficiency of the whole process. It was probably only 10 to 15 mins and a couple of lanes were clear, so we swooped and managed to get the Quinnie on the trailer :D.
We are all looking forward to our next trip, to say the least ::) ::).....ed
few pics to come...