PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant VBA_SCRIPT - assumed 'VBA_SCRIPT' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in ..../includes/functions_navigation.php(802) : eval()'d code on line 1 Surf SPs - the obsession gains momentum
Went for another soft plastics off the beach expedition today, having updated my gear from a 1989 K-Mart special rod and 6lb mono to a Reddington 8'6" graphite financial disaster teamed with 6lb black fireline. The reel remains unchanged, but seems to have lifted it's act in order to keep up with the rest of the outfit - drag mysteriously ran a bit smoother today (nice hint of things to come).
I've been hitting Narrowneck a bit hard, so for a change I pulled up a few towers short: parking the car at about tower 42 (Southport SLSC). I then walked North and found the first good looking patch of water. I was amazed at the performance of the fireline, which gave me amazing control over the 1/2oz (14g) 2/0# TT jig head and attached gulp 3" (8cm) pogy/swim shad/mullet. Anyway, I felt a few sharp thumps, which I was almost sure were fish, but hadn't felt anything like it when fishing with the mono over the past couple of weeks. A second cast and I knew they were fish as the drag was singing and the thumps kept on going as the fish ran and headshaked at the same time. It put up a really good fight, although I did give it way too much respect. I was pretty disappointed to pull in a bream because I'm not a huge fan of the humble silver shit-eater. Either way, I decided to release it and hastily (because I always panic when I release a fish and try to get it back in as quickly as possible) measured it at 36cm.
The next cast saw lots more bumps and bangs, which set the tone for the next fifteen or so minutes. I had a really difficult time connecting to fish, often they would take a metre or so of drag before the hooks pulled, although I also missed plenty of hits. Was I being too harsh with the strike? Too soft? Too slow? The next fish I hooked didn't get anywhere near as much respect as the first, using Lefty Kreh's principle: if the fish isn't running you should be pumping and winding with as much force as you can. Consequently a greenish bream was running around in the wash causing all sorts of problems. That one was 36cm as well, and just as fat and healthy as the first. Is it unreasonable to call that for a kilo of fish? It was certainly very fat, so it must have been close.
More bumps, hits, runs and curses saw the remainder of my pumkinseed pogy/swim shads all destroyed beyond reckoning. Two had their tails amputated and the other one was pulled on and off the hook so many times, and had so many bite marks in it, that I couldn't even keep it sitting well on the hook for one retrieval. I was using a 2/0 14g TT jig head, with killer sharp hooks, so why was I missing so many fish? Hook too big? Too small? Any opinions valued. Maybe I just have to get used to slow hook up rates with this style of fishing.
After that I headed South again, as I could see that there were no more good formations on the beach all the way to the Seaway rock wall. I found a couple more patches of bream, finishing with five bream in all, but nothing to match the quality of the first two. There were an amazing number of people out there chasing tailor, probably standing one person every 10 metres for about 500 metres. Not my idea of fun, but I did manage to cheekily pull a 45cm flathead from among them, which satisfied the trip's objective.
I finished the catching with a 20cm flathead that I skull dragged up to the surface after I mistook it's crocodile rolls for a bream's head shakes. When I got back to the car I pulled out the big rod to cast lures for tailor, but my heart wasn't in it as I'd just walked past 50+ guys who between them had landed a shovelnose ray in two hours. I did chat to a Korean girl about the full moon and the truly extraordinary number of fishos out there.
I'm tempted to head down for a spin at Narrowneck on Monday morning, although the moon will be just about as wrong as it can get. One of the big reasons for me getting so addicted to this beach SPs game is that you can do it in banking hours, which is a big plus as lack of sleep leads to migraines for me. Then again, I haven't caught any tailor since April/May.
No photos, as I like to travel light and I'm just too damn cheap too buy a camera.
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