TOL's Great Adventure

[webby]

TOL invited me out sunday to be his deckie for the day;D
hit the water early around 4am and skooted across to Rainbow on nie perfect seas.
He wanted to be there in time for the sun rising over straddie, and the alarm bell going off for the blue fish to rise and shine.:-X
Waters were empty of fishing folkes, except we did by passed Dazza playing in the eddie at myora.;)
He picked the spot where the blue fish roam and baits went down.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Tol's on, only to find it was a Blue Spotted Ray, and before the morning was out, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's were happening constantly to Tol and yes they were all Blue Spotted Rays, dont think there's one left in Rainbow that hasnt a Tol hook left in its mouth.;D
I asked the big question, i though we were over here to catch Blue Fish, and his reply was they are blue fish:-[
He then switched over to a different zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, this time they were more serious fish of the family Mackeral.
But alas and not knowing the dirty tactics these fish preform, of the many zzzzzzzzzzzzz's he connected to and with him sweating like there was no tomorrow, he could only mannage one in the esky.
We then had a stealth approach from another low flying red boat, to find the Capt was Craigie and his deck wench CoverentyFly ?????? some navy dude:-X who just happen to steal the Bundy later at the M & G bbq>:( .
After cragie had anchored in our wake close enough to read the small print on the motor;D , Capt Tol decided to move and chase a few speedsters out wider.
This was when the problems started, and the donk wouldnt kick over:-[
After much advance mechanical searching, he found the 12mth old fuel filter had sprung a few pin hole leaks (not impressed), and the motor was devoid of fuel, which it needed to kick over.:P
So out went the anchor till the problem was solved and the Distress Call to Vicky Point was put on the back burners.;D
Out came the medical kit, and with a few 2inch bandages and a roll of plaster, and the fuel filter looking like it had been hit by a drunk driver:'( , we primed the motor again and she fired, so the decision was made to return to safety as the seas were reaching more then a 2inch swell, with fuel leaking all the way home and buckets of sea water flooding the bilge to diluted the fuel and the bilge pump running constantly, the only prob was we left a slick from Rainbow all the way back to Vicky point:-[
In the Capt's words shit happens;)
Thanks to Tol for a exciting trip and the fish caught was a bonus.
A few pics of the outing and the terrible sea conditions
regards

[T1]

Gee guys! Bloody terrible conditions indeed! The fuel problem would have been a bugger but at least you got a few fish to make it all worthwhile.

Take Care T

[charleville]

Goodonya TOL. You done good! :)

Great report, Webby. :)





So out went the anchor till the problem was solved and the Distress Call to Vicky Point was put on the back burners.;D
Out came the medical kit, and with a few 2inch bandages and a roll of plaster, and the fuel filter looking like it had been hit by a drunk driver:'( , we primed the motor again and she fired,


Ah yes - the famous adage is proven again, "Always carry WD40 for the things that should move and don't and duct tape for the things that shouldn't move but do." (and for a few other applications such as plugging holes.) :D

I suspect that the VMR would have been pleased to not receive your call yesterday. I went into the Manly Coastguard and paid over the very modest fee for associate membership and overheard one uniformed bloke there saying that they were "shit scared" of being able to cope as there was a "shit load" of boats out there yesterday.

I am now a member of both the Manly Coastguard and Jacobs Well VMR but hope that my own onboard supplies of WD40 and duct tape will mean that I will never need their help. 8-)

[ddobson]

A rainbow story of saturday night. A couple came back with a 90 to a metre snapper they caught on live bait in the depper area. I had just left befor they landed and my mate playing around with his duck he races had told me and even took a photo of the big brute. Goes to show not everyone catches fish in the same area of the bay. I was at peel and only got one hit by about a 50 cm and then spat my nuclear chicken and that was it for the night. Very unlucky for you boys to have motor probs but the weather shure looked good. And at least you saw some action.

[theoldlegend]

Yes, it certainly helps when the deckie knows when and where to go.

The Viccy Point ramp and parking area were deserted when we launched, but boy, wasn't it a different story when we returned! I can understand the aggro that goes on.

Yes, I had this bad habit of picking up rays all the time (3 in all) and after dropping two doggie mackerel, I think the deckie's patience must have been wearing a bit thin when I had my 3rd on. Trying to remember the advice I'd been given prior to this, the zedds were screaming, as was the line peeling off the TSS4 at a rate of knots, and after a while, the conversation went something like this:

"Are you on again?"

"Yeah mate."

"Well, are you going to get the bloody thing in, or are you just going to pig frig around all day?"

Having dropped two already, I was desperate to get this one in, and a Valium sandwich really would have gone down well at that stage but all to no avail. Blind panic set in and it all turned to shxt after that. Funny thing, the banter that had been going on all morning suddenly dissipated. By then I was very seriously considering tying the sand anchor around my neck and just stepping off the bow.

Anyway, the call was made to move and then drift for a bit, but the motor wouldn't fire, and a quick examination revealed fuel leaking out of the filter at an alarming rate. This is where the first aid kit came in handy. Some bandages, held in place with Elastoplast sticking plaster were deployed and the motor eventually fired up, so we went home.

One thing I did do was to watch the deckie like a hawk when he rigged up, and I learnt a new way of rigging pillies onto a set of gangs, which was good. Another thing I learnt was don't give the friggin things any slack!!

It certainly was a top morning with flat seas and plenty of action. That was followed by the M & G, where I managed to put a few more faces to names.


TOL

[Horse]

Shocking conditions;) Is that no wind or just an oil slick like the Exon Valdez;D

Webby is the only person catching any Macs that I know of. We will have to start calling him "The Fish Whisperer". TOL I'm sure you will be a convert to the little speedsters after your first experience.

Good to see you fellas left some of the big blue fish for me over X mas

Cheers

Neil

[theoldlegend]

There was virtually no wind at all Neil, which made conditions very hot once the sun got up a bit, but hey, who cares when you're out there.

Webby's knowledge of where to go makes it very easy.

Sorry I didn't manage to meet up with you at the M & G last Sunday.


TOL

[Horse]

TOL
Next time mate

[craigie]

Nice to bump into you blokes out there, actually put a grin on my face when I was heading north up the Rainbow and spotted the "Little Red Caboose" in a familiar location.
I figured you might be able to point us in the right direction so it was only reasonable that I come over and say G'day. !

It's a small world TOL, have not seen you for approx 10 - 15 years and out of the blue you turn up in Webby's boat !!! You'll learn plenty fishing with that bloke. Still remember you by other nick names but I'm sure "TOL" will grow on me. Was all a pleasant surprise and a chance to reminisce about times when fishing was less important.

Well done guys, your boat led the way (at least on the fishing front) as usual.

We did 90k's running around the day for our single winning squid at the M&G !!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers
Craigie.

[chief]

;D ;D fantastic yarn there mate, You fellas should have thrown a match over the side, you might have scored a few macs already cooked.;D

[bigbrian47]

T.O.L.
gwenda must have known you would have your piccy taken on webby's boat
she presented you very well ;D
cheers brian

[finga]

Hey TOL!!!
At least you have an excuse for missing ALL those fish.
You were a public servant remember. No skills for anything remember ;)

It would have been good to be a fly on the wall on that trip just to listen to all the porky pies told :D
Well done chaps :)

[PinHead]

poor Gwenda..getting ear bashed.."you should have seen all the ones that got away"..."you should have been there to see the line peel off the reel"

[nob]

that looks like total glass out wish that would happen here

[theoldlegend]

Yeah Craigie,

Let's not travel down that path of previous nicknames, although no doubt they'll come up at the Forestry Chrissy party next Friday.

Scott, you just reminded me! Retired public servant! No social skills, no technical skills, in fact no skills whatsoever! THAT'S why I dropped those 3 mackerel! That's why Webby. You should have made allowances.

Yes Greg, I did happen to mention to Gwenda how I dropped them. She wanted to know what these Zedds were. I got her to hold the rod and stripped line off like it was going out of fashion. Now she knows.


TOL

[finga]

tighten the drag then old fella :)