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I had a look at snelly's boat on Fri. night and he invited me for a run out of Hells Gates next day.
We left the boat ramp at 9.30am on a sunny day with about a 20-25knot wind.
The harbour at Strachan is huge,5 times as big as Sydney Harbour.
Micks boat handled the chop pretty good.
My sea-legs were a bit stale and I was grabbing a rail for balance.
I looked around to see how Micks mate Steve was doing and he was just standing there relaxed ,not holding on to anything.
And we were doing 30+knots.
It took half an hour to reach spot x and when we did Mick very generously said that I could use the rod with Shimano reel on the left in the pic.
He said to toss the lure out the back and he would start trolling.
Before he had time to turn the key I had a Couta snatch the lure.
At times it was possible to see several fish fighting for the lure.
As these fish pull like a runaway train,Mick stopped the boat while we wound them in.
Great service in Tassie,Steve and I did the catching ,and Mick did the unhooking
THe Couta just went at the lures like crazy,even jumping out of the water like marlin.
Nearly every time we tossed the lure out the fish hit straight away.
In half an hour we caught about 35 of these fish and the 200 litre drum was about 60% full.
The biggest were well over a metre long.
Then a fish that I had on the lure swam foward and cut the line.
On the way back Mick hit the throttle in a more sheltered area and we were doing 42knots.
That secondhand Merc. seems a very good buy.
We were back at the ramp at 11am.
To top it off Mick invited the wife and myself to come to their place for tea.
Thanks Allison,that seafood meal was scumptious.
After tea Steve called in and we all relaxed for a chat .
That was the most exciting fishing I have ever had.
Thanks Mick,really appreciated.
Some ofthe best cray bait you'll find - other than penguin of course
Crays are running pretty well over there Mick. Barry got a nice feed about two weeks ago.
Next time I'm over there and the weather is good - are you interested in doing a run down to snug for a ringing and diving day. Should be able to bag out pretty easy.
Hi BLOOEY,
YES.
But not up there with Flathead ,Flake etc.
50+years ago they were in huge numbers in Bass Strait and where caught by a fleet of small boats .
A bit of the history is available here http://www.google.com/search?q=couta...e=utf8&oe=utf8
They are probably so thick at Strachan because of the very light fishing pressure.
On the morning that Mick took us out there was only one other boat fishng.
A lot of them probably die of old age.
Just amazing,5 times as big as Sydney Harbour and only 2 boats out.
Bet you do not get that on the Gold Coast.
Regards
seabug
Hi Snelly
Whats with the new prop?
Are you trying for a ramp to Hells Gate speed record?
Would it have anything to do with burning off that big Cat a bit quicker?
No nothing to do with the big cat !!!! haha....motor was fitted with a 21 pitch prop and was only pulling 5400 rmp and was a dog in a big sea...getting 5800 rpm now and heaps more holding power...
Hell's Gates 'Couta Bonanza
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