Tuna !

[Brett_Finger]

Hi floks!
Just got back yesterday arvo from a quick two day trip to bundy, looking for Tuna.. we found them ;D
reckied on thurs arvo around a shallow bay i know and there were good schools of fish were blowing up around the place, schools consisted mostly of Thumper mack tuna to 6kg ! but there were also Longtails and spottie mackrell mixed in with them.
at one stage we were sitting in 2-4 ft of water 20ft from the sand with schools of around 10- 20 fish surfing the small swells with mouths open just inhaleing the nurmous baitfish that were seeking refgue in the skinny water.
we took three fish out of this insane carnage :o
Yesterday morning saw us back at the same spot by 7.30am, birds could bee seen working the nurmous schools of feding fish,some Mindblowing action was going off all around us,all you had to do was shot up breeze(5knt) and drift into the action, the fish were hot to trot.
small surf candie presenations were the order of the day, with fish crashing them with gusto.once again the fish were 5-6kg range,thay would take around 150m of line on the first run then dog it out at the boat once retrived.
we used 10# rods on these fish but a 8# would have done the job nicely.
one biger than adverage fish took a blinding first run pulling about 200m of 50lb Boinic Braid backing in reckord time,nothing in mean NOTHING sound as sweet as my Felty humming her seet song as the backing dissappears from the spool :D :D i just love her song..........
this fish gave me currie right back to the stage were i had just got the fly-line back on the reel,then someting with big teeth dacided it liked the tuna more than me,the speed that the rell riped into was totaly insane !!!!!!!!
my very-very sore thumb were the handle got me dosn't agree though >:(
needless to say i lost the fish but on a brighter note,after rewinding the slack line (again) i decided to strip the fly-line back to the boat incase it still had a fly attached it must have seeing i nailed again by another good fish!!!
Yeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!!!!!
this was a total thrill to enjoy such filth action on my home water again.
the total for a 3hour session yesterday was...
Mark,my mate. 7fish
me, 8
we had hooked 19 fish and got 15 to the boat!!!
we left just after lunch yesterday and wereback by 5pm.
sore muscells this morning but well worth it!!!
Hookin,Brett

[Brett_Finger]

PS: ;D
I also should point out that the rods used were 10# Strudwick,these rods are no doubt one of the finest in prouduction,running 10# Stripers over them with Penn S4 line for leader, reels were Feltys 9-11.
you could pull a bull backwards with this outfit,no doubt one of the toughest matched pair in the SWF world.
i should also point out the s4 line showed no signs of fraying after all those fish,and would throughly reckamend it as a leader material!!
Hookin,Brett

[Muzzy]

S4 is that similar or close to 10x

learn me some thing

[Brett_Finger]

Muz,
Mate the same line just in a pink clour and a little softer,just as abrasive as the 10x and knot strength as good!! a great line no doubt about it 8)Hookin,Brett

[Dale_T]

Brett,

Had some fun with big macs at Airlie Beach a few days ago.
Decided to go for a "day cruise" but spotted a school of tuna just out of Shute Harbour. The nine weight Struddie was out in a flash, the first cast was a hookup-- hooow goood was that. twenty minutes later, a 80cm fat mac was tailed and released. Then the wind picked up and was hard to keep track of the school. This was my first flycaught tuna on the the first cast.

Dale

[Fitzy]

Hi Brett,
Sounds like ya had fun on them choona.
Have ya finally worked out a better knot for that penn line?
Pretty good stuff but very slick in the knot department, particularly when joining to certain braids. Am commonly worried about good knots slipping so I've stopped using it in big fish situations & keep it for tight cover work.
Will be heading back to Bundy on Sundy night, might take a boat & a few rods to break-up those boring nights of study.
Got a new GPS to play with too so I'm keen to give it a run. Not gonna mention brand names etc just yet, till I see if I likes it.

Cheers,

Fitz

[Toddy]

Dont for get the three double hookups Biggie!!
Toddy

[Wesley_Pang]

Brett,

Thanks for the report.

Was toying with idea about going up to bundy for the Tuna, but decided to go for the Hervey Bay golderns. George got sharked after hooking a good goldern on 4lb fireline and chasing it for 40 minutes.

I got my 1st Hervey Bay Goldern Trevally on a clouser. Most impressed that such big fish swim in such shallow water. Reminded me of Christmas Island(Kiribati) giant trevally and bonefish. Great fun sight fishing in such clear water. I have to try to goldern wading next time.

I know you are pretty loyal to Struddy, but I'd have to disagree with you. Loomis GLX Mega are the best saltwater rod!!! Voltzy and I are fully paid members of the Ross Reels fan club.

Keep those reports coming.

Wes

[Brett_Finger]

Wes,
each to there own mate :D
me i'm a fully paid member of the Strudwick- Felty fan club!
so no cash for comments here 8)
good to here your finally getting some good fish at the bay it shapeing up to be a good season indeed.
the long-tails will be increasing in numbers in the next mounth so things will be fireing then!!!!!
Hookin,Brett

[Smithy]

TBF,

Going for the record post length hey? Pulled up a page and bit short! Sounds like you had a few good sessions. I plan on getting into a bit of bait and switch and dead bait trolling for Bills this season. If it is working out I will let you fly guys in on it. Spaniards are going to be a bit hard this season. Sounds like it was a fizzer in FNQ. Too many fish taken by the pros during there spawn last year by the sound of it.

Wes,

Was Scotty Matthews of "Flyblown" up there on the weekend? I passed him heading south at Gympie Sunday arvo. Jules Tyson had been averaging 2-4 Goldies a day at Pelican bank.

Everyone,

My only experience with Penn 10x was reef fishing at Rainbow in 58m of water. Bloody stretchy but abrasion resistant. It took about ten winds of the handle to wind the slack out compared to two or three with Platypus when you had a fish on. The stretchieness was too hard to put up with for any benefit gained by the abrasion resistance.

[Wesley_Pang]

Smithy,

Keep me informed about the bait and switching. If you get it going, it will be only a small step to get a fish on fly.

I saw the trailer for "Flyblown" at the Urangan ramp. I don't know him, but I've heard he got a few tuna. I don't know where he found them because we did not see many and the ones we saw were very spooky.

We saw someone on the sandbank. Small tinny with a ANSA sticker on it. He landed the 1st fish of the day.

Keep me posted about the billfish and the longtails.

Wes

[Brett_Finger]

Rob,
maaaate good stuff, i cannot compete with you and max for record posts ;D but i can say we should go for a fish up my way when i setled back in( Bundy).
have to head back in the new year as Mum is not the best of health. (bummer) :'(
there is a spot there taht i would like to show you as +
have seen jumping sails there on quiet a few occasions.
i have small knolage of chaseing them.
missed out on a trip with jack up north as the boat was kept boked and we couldn't get the shot we needed.
Hookin,Brett