the lach peel monster

[netmaker]

what a morning. up at 3ish and off to peel. arrived as dawn was breaking due to a slow trip across the bay. there was a bit of south easter happening. wind vs tide wasn't conducive to light plastics so instead I deployed a couple of octajigs and sat back and read the paper. caught a couple of snaps in the low 40's which went back and then another that I kept for crab bait due to the tax man taking his cut on the way up. about 9am and things got interesting. big weight on and taking line. quickly pulled in the deadstick and started up the motor as I was running short of line in a short amount of time. well, I was half way back to Cleveland before the monster decided to head back to peel and after that it was back to Cleveland again and then north east heading for harries. a couple of blokes stopped to watch for a bit but I think they got bored after 20 minutes or so. I persisted and after the first hour I knew who was feeling most tired::). I battled on until 11.15 before the leader gave way and as I was close to wello and feeling shagged I called it a day. some pics of the sharked snap and 1 of my gps which gives an idea of how long this went on. I have caught some big rays before but this thing must have been the size of a vw. on the upside I was very happy with how my 8lb combo coped with this creature. nonetheless I think it may be time to upsize;)

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[wayno60]

Well thats a bit more exciting than reading the paper, could have stayed home and done that!!

[tropicrows]

Dave, Alli and I were relaxing at the beach on Peel. You should have swung by for a coffee while you were fighting that fish.,

[WalrusLike]

Don't think that was the tax man, more like the mafia.... 'we just want a little taste.....'

The tax man takes a full bite.... :)

Or maybe not in your case.... your tax skills minimised the loss....


Good effort turning Moreton Bay into your own personal backyard patio.... with a little bit of morning paper and exercise session. Love your work!

[thelump]

Turtle??????

[netmaker]

Turtle??????

no turtle. it was on for over 2 hours without coming off the bottom once.

[snapperbasher]

Probably a Shovel :-)...

[Bazzawookooka]

Nice work on 8lb !!!!

[netmaker]

Probably a Shovel :-)...

yeah. big shovel or ray. gave up hoping for big jew or cod after the first half hour::)

[Moonlighter]

It must move around the Bay a bit, Dave :)

I hooked the same animal a while ago over at the Rous Wall. Pretty much the same experience as you, it towed/we followed it around for ages until i got sick of it and cranked up the drag on the 8lb and it busted off. For a while i thought i had the blue parrot of a lifetime on.

I did catch a sizeable eagle ray on a SP a few years ago at Harrys, similar fight but that one was only about 2' across, still, i didnt boat it but saw it in the water a couple of times before i busted it off. Not totally sure if they intentionally take the plastic or just get hooked in the wings. Either way, it keeps you occupied for a while. Mongrel things.

[mattooty]

Moonlighter, those eagle rays definitely chase plastics. They're pelagic hunters that mostly occupy the midwater and upper water column chasing baitfish.

[Gazza]

Netman , sounds like you hooked your transducer....did you see a big hook on the screen ??