Windy Wello for Ausfish fellows

[Poodroo]

G'day, today was one of those days where we knew we were going to endure strong southeasters in the bay so Scalem decided that we were going to wet a line regardless but rather than suffer at Mud we would stay closer and try Wello. "Great idea!" I agreed so it was up at 2am (actually I did my usual trick and woke an hour before the alarm at 1am) :-? to meet Scalem at his place by 3am. We were on the water just before sun up and already making comment on the bay fans blowing on high speed. Unperturbed we soldiered on with the GPS tracking for Wello. As soon as Scalem's line was in the water before the slack in the line was retrieved he was on. Rolling my eyes already I watched and helped him net his first 42cm squire. At this point I was thinking I was not going to even have a half a chance to rig my own lines up. For a split second I thought that Wello was really going to fire up. I managed to rig up my lines but started to regret having done so because the wind was working against me. I think I broke an all time record for how many things I could get my line stuck on in one day. Problem was casting from my side of the boat the wind was blowing the line around the front of the boat and under the boat so my tally was I caught the front eyelet of the boat 3 times, the prop twice, the sea anchor I think it was at least 3 times. Not a lot came out of my mouth but there was a lot of expletives going around in my head. In amongst catching the boat etc I did manage to catch a just legal model at 35cms and later in the day an identical twin 42 cm model to Scalem's first fish. Scalem had two unstoppables. One still heading to Tahiti with a long trace and the other is still probably entanlgled somewhere on the bottom of the reef at Wello after it did a blinding run before fraying the leader and snapping the line. Considering the sloppy conditions I figure managing three keepers was still not too bad. Pulled in the sea anchor around 10am and headed for home. Still have my sea legs whilst sitting here typing. At least I have fresh fillets for dinner. :)

Poodroo

[cuzzamundi]

great catch there mate - your bravery was rewarded! who woulda thought - strong southeasters for weeks on end in december!!!

cuzza

[Fisher4life]

yeah it was a little rough to say the least... we seen you 2 on the water, however we were on a mission... wello only provided 1 undersize squire during our second drift.. so we headed out for bigger fish.... ;D

[esselte]

Well done guys. Well worth the effort. Wish i could of went out its been a while

[Cheech]

Good that you got something for your troubles. At least you knew it was going to be a bit of work, which is better than being battered when you are caught out. A couple of legal fish is nothing to sneeze at. Particularly in such uncomfortable conditions.

Had a Mud trip with Rando planned for this afternoon/evening, but had second thoughts at 1.00pm this afternoon with the wind blasting my place. Rando said it was fine where he was closer to the water (I am at Ferny Hills) so we were still on. An hour before we were to meet at the ramp and I was due to head off, I pulled the pin. 17kn at banana bank, and had pretty well been that speed all day, even I have my limits. Only problem was Rob had his phone turned off so did not get my PM's and missed call till he was at the ramp. Oh well.

Is it just me, or has it been pretty average most weekends for months?

[Scalem]

Yep,

It was certainly ordinary weather, but that's not to say it affected the fish. They were certainly there, I hooked up to a steam train with what I call my suicide rig, which is a tiny baitcaster rod with ony 2KG main line, and 3.6KG leader. But what a buzz, isn't it always the case that the fish will hit the lighter rig almost every time ::) ::)ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz dink!! So there you go, we hooked up a few times, but as Poodroo said, it was really difficult fishing where the wind interferes with everything, blows the boat around in difficult angles to drift and it became a real pain.

Maybe Tuesday will be better, my boss has granted me permission to take a client fishing for the morning. Why not?? There's a heap of corporate lunches and a few golf invitations floating around, so this works for me!!

Scalem

[aquarius]

G,Day Brian, yeah its always the light gear that takes all the big hits and they end up smoking you.
But like you say its fun while it lasts.
Those steam trains sure take some stopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Considering the conditions you did well to take home a feed.
Best of luck for your next weeks Wello :) session.
Cheers Brent. :)

[Great_White]

Well done guy's :o :o :o Wish I could have been out out there with you both :P :P :P but had to work.

Andrew I know what you mean those sea anchors put up a good fight ;D ;D ;D


Let me say Brian if you used my leader and fireline instead of your cotton floss that snapper wouldn't be on holidays right now kicking back in Tahiti ;) ;) ;)


Until next time Peter :) :) :)

[Poodroo]

Thanks guys. Yes I know that it could have been worse and we could have come home empty handed so we did okay considering.

Peter don't worry. there is light at the end of the tunnel as they say and the silly season will soon be over and you will be working more normal hours again. We need to get out on the water with you again and show you how to use "cotton floss" to it's best advantage. ;D I think the fish can see the winch cable that you use. ::)

Poodroo

[marlinqld]

How did you get a plate so bloody small to make the fish look so big????????????? ;D ;D

PS: Finga said to say that ;D ;D

Mike

[Poodroo]

Haha Mike. I thought someone like yourself or Scotty would come up with something like that which is why I put the tiny novelty tape measure in behind the tiny plate. ::) ;D Nah actually it was a real tape measure. ;)

Poodroo

[T1]

Yeah, good effort to get the feed you did in the conditions!

I think i'll give Wello (& fishing) a break for a few weeks and let them rejuvenate for a few sessions over christmas!!

Take Care T

[moondancer]

Well done! Specially in the blow!!

T - maybe worth giving it a rest for a while./...go chase mackerel! Give me a yell when you're ready!!

L

[Barra_Hunter]

Scalem and Poodroo,

Well done guys you are braver than I.....


The river fished well but there was no sign of the freight trains that you guys encountered.

Ollie

[mickstar001]

Poodroo & Scalem well done, every time i have been out in terrible conditions the fish are really quiet around Peel/Mud, guess it must just be my fishing! Well done for taking the risk and getting out there!! :)

MickyD

[Scalem]

I see poodroo is holding his own ground against suggestions the plate was the smallest he could find. A message for Great White is that yes, on this occasion I was outfished 2 to 1 - literally, so the tables can turn in your favour even if your name is Peter !! It can happen! ;D ;D

I remember once being told by my boat mechanic that he really enjoys fishing when it blows bigger than 15 knots. You get most of the bay to yourself.... But he did have a 20 ft boat with a 200hp Suzie on the back ::) ::)

Mickyd, I never felt unsafe in those conditions. It's when we saw a big wave splash very near the top of the transom that things got a little hairy, but that's why I make sure my bilge pump is working!! ;) ;) Nah! Only joking, I don't think it even got close to coming over the back.

That's another good part about drifting SP's. If you get to the point you feel unsafe, you don't have to wait until the anchor is pulled in, you just bug out quickly!

OB1, the Brissy is an interesting alternative. You will have to describe conditions on average there, because the day I went, I should have taken a bucket and some washing with me. Would have been able to do a few loads ready to hang out when I got home. ::)

Scalem