Doing it tough at Mud - but still a good day

[Scalem]

Out of the 3 boats that went out in convoy this morning, I am not sure who was supposed to put up a post, T1, myself or Poodroo Because I have a very good photo of my deckie for the day - For Steve ( Brad) it may as well be me.

This trip all started when my new found fishing partner Anthony had such a great time spending money on a new plastics rod and reel, he pinned a booking in my fishing calendar for the 11th August, but the only trouble is, something else came up, and at short notice, I was without a deckie. I had mentioned to T and a few people that today was going to be the next trip out, a few weeks planning and here I was with no deckie Doesn't really worry me, I love going solo, but it had been since Anzac day I had met up with Brad ( for Steve)
So a quick call Friday morning met with an enthusiastic "Count me In!!"
Throughout the week brother Poodroo and I exchanged Text messages, T1 also compared plans with me by phone, so all up we had a cosy little convoy of 3 boats headed out to spot X at Mud. Because my GPS remembered the last trip out there, navigating in the dark from 5.00am became my lead, and off we went.
Our fears were realised when Poodroo noticed a fair amount of wind when we were still in the car park, and ploughing through a 1 meter ( occasionally bigger) westerly slop was sssslllloooowwww going. By St Helena, I was expecting Poodroo to turn back, having the smaller of the boats. We had a small breather and check on each other at the half way mark, and when I asked how he was going, I could not believe the response " Yeah, I'm fine!" Criky, an occasional wave rattled my rig as if she cound break in half with the impact, but T1 and Poodroo's spirits were not dampened in the slightest. If T cound have dug a 4WD track through the middle of Mud to get where we wanted, he would have!
This would have to be rated as the worste Mud trip I have had in a long time, we had a look at the mouth of the Brizzy, but did't see anything going on so returned to Mud for a final throw of the dice. We had all boated fish, but only one 35cm fish stayed in the esky until ..... Brads' Shimano straddic sang that musical tone we all love to hear!! Talk of self dicipline!! I am doing cartwheels while Brad is fighting the fish, but he hardly raised an eyebrow!! A quick pat on the back from me just to make sure he was alert, and the fight neared its final stages. Sorry to have caused a bit of a heart palpitation with my netting skills Brad, but several times your fish saw either myself or the net, and took another dive just out of my reach. A PB of 59cm to a guy who has not fished since Anzac day has to be celebrated in a big way. I trust your wife enjoys the fruits of our labour, that being the only decent fish for the entire trip, but as I said, I couldn't be happier as being there for the experience.
Scalem

[Poodroo]

Well first of all I have to agree with Scalem on that it was not one of the better days at Mud in fact to have headed out there this morning was DUM. Secondly there was an opportunity to hang sh!t on me for requiring a tow home complete with pictures but Scalem refrained from doing so. Thanks. Until that little mishap I didn't think anything would slow #2 down but I guess that's what happens when the propeller spline chews itself out and the prop free spins on the shaft. Could have been worse I guess, I could have lost the prop all together. Was a nice day out on the water and I did have a lot of fun but the fish didn't seem to want to come into the boat. Cast several types of placcies at them all day and only boated one squire which measured 36cms. It was released to do some more growing. We did some serious ground covering to no avail and it was decided to head back to Mud because at least we were getting bites there however small they were. I decided that I would try a new type of secret weapon placcie toward the end of the day/ It barely hit the water and it just took off at a rapid rate of knots. In no time flat I was down to the backing and not looking like slowing this fish down so I tightened up the drag just a little bit and breathed a sigh of relief as I felt it turn but the sheer weight of this fish was mind blowing. This was probably the largest fish I have ever felt on this outfit of mine and I was slowly winning and playing it cool. I was determined to get it in the boat and I was winning. Just when I was feeling confident it suddenly let go and the battle was over. Here is a picture which is self explanatory.

I rerigged with a new jighead and put on a new secret weapon to try again and once again it was instantly smashed but by something considerably smaller. This time I boated a 38cm estuary cod and decided he was going to be dinner.
Thanks for the tow home Scalem. Nice meeting you Brad.

Regards,

Poodroo

[plaztix]

One of those days hugh guys, Another PB snap is a worthy reward.

That sucks poodroo. I can handle losing fish to broken line, but when a hook bends i cant help but feel ripped off. Sounds like luck was against you.

[chief]

Congrads Brad on the fine fish and the P.B.Poodroo,mate what can you say.Bugger and that looks like one of the heavier gauge finesse jigs. DAM

[Scalem]

Congrads Brad on the fine fish and the P.B.Poodroo,mate what can you say.Bugger and that looks like one of the heavier gauge finesse jigs. DAM

Actually, so that the finesse hooks don't get unfair attention, it is a hook Poodroo and I should not have made. At the tail end of our last hook making sesh we had run out of Gamakatsu hooks, so we had a few Mustad Aberdeen blanks which are not anywhere near the strength. I have ordered more Gammys Poodroo, so we will ensure this sort of thing does not happen again. Sorry you lost the fish.

Because you mentioned it Poo, here is a shot of your scenic ( all expenses paid) tour of the Manly area.

Scalem

[Silent]

I was there yesterday early morning and it was so bump boating but I'm glad on Hanies hunter seawasp...didn't stay longer there cos no bite for almost 2 hours so went back to river for more explore...

Congrat's to Brad for PB and more to come!

Poodroo - isn't jig head 'squidgy'? I alway use them at the moment and had second thought to upgrade!

[Poodroo]

Actually, so that the finesse hooks don't get unfair attention, it is a hook Poodroo and I should not have made. At the tail end of our last hook making sesh we had run out of Gamakatsu hooks, so we had a few Mustad Aberdeen blanks which are not anywhere near the strength. I have ordered more Gammys Poodroo, so we will ensure this sort of thing does not happen again. Sorry you lost the fish.

Because you mentioned it Poo, here is a shot of your scenic ( all expenses paid) tour of the Manly area.

Scalem

I wasn't broken down really, I was merely conserving my fuel. Oh well, at least I wasn't losing my hat at that speed.

Silent as Scalem mentioned the hook that didn't stand a chance against this speedster was the Mustad Aberdeen. Not a bad hook but as you can see by the picture it didn't stand a chance. I am kicking myself because I should not have chanced it and gone straight for the heavy wire Gamakatsu hook and I most likely would have landed that fish which I know would have been the fish of the day. We live and learn and I am keen to get back out there and rig up with the best jigheads. There will be a next time for sure (once I fix my prop issues)

Poodroo

[For Steve]

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement on my PB. I hope it's not too long before I improve on it.

It was slow fishing but it turned out to be a nice day to be on the water. The wind dropped down around 8am and conditions became a lot more comfortable.

Big thanks to Brian for putting me onto another PB.

Cheers
Brad

[haggis]

good fish brad , hope to get one that size soon ,
poodroo at least you had a good time & the money saved on fuel could go
to stronger jig heads .
cheers fae haggis ...................................

[T1]

Well Done Brad and nice to meet you mate (albeit for a short time)!!

Yes, that was pretty washy that ride over and i did my best to get there asap let me tell you! My deckie SMERDO provided some burley on 2 occassions throughout the morning (sorry SMERDO if i laughed too hard but it was in sympathy... really it was!)! Nonetheless, we tried a few spots around Mud with ALB78 throughout the morning before we ended up at Green and added a thumper Sole to the 43cm Snap we had in the esky. Back in by midday to ensure a prime seat for the Lions match at 2pm.

I still remain without a decent catch at DUM and i think it's time to put the sunglasses away and bring out the nightlights for a month or 2. I've experimented quite a bit over the past few months and now i'm going back to basics for a while - anchor, burley and bait sessions at night... Need a feed!

Thanks for the morning out guys and sorry to hear about the breakdown and the lost fish POO! Could've done without the breakdown but the lost fish, that's another story!!!

Take Care T

[Scalem]

Well Done Brad and nice to meet you mate (albeit for a short time)!!

Yes, that was pretty washy that ride over and i did my best to get there asap let me tell you! My deckie SMERDO provided some burley on 2 occassions throughout the morning (sorry SMERDO if i laughed too hard but it was in sympathy... really it was!)!
Take Care T

Sorry to hear that SMERDO, all I can say is your skipper is a cruel Ba$#^! for having a laugh I said to Brad that in days gone buy I would have fed the fish too, but it's true that after a while you find your sea legs and becoming crook is a thing of the past - unless I am offshore in a 2 mtr swell with 1 mtr slop. That's why I don't risk booking on a charter, at least you have the option of turning for home when you are the skipper.

I Don't know about the night time thing at DUM T, bait there attracts big catfish and sharks. You just need a decent day according to the weather, and stay put at the favourite mark. I am sure it will happen. Poo hung around as long as I did and look what ...... Nearly happened.......

Scalem

[finga]

Well I read this report and the first thought is why the hell did you fellas go fishing at Mud when the slop is up and your concerned about the wind before you leave the carpark???
How far is it to Mud over how much open water of the bay that can blow up in 5 minutes???
What happened to assuming the conditions are going to get worse not better during the day??
If I remember yesterday was a red sunrise and I always remember the saying "red in the morning shepherds warning...red in the evening shepherds dreaming"
But I suppose it's pretty dark at 5am so the sunrise wouldn't have been an indicator...but the view of what's happening around isn't there as well in the dark.

Poo mate, I don't want to sound as I'm picking on you as I would say the same to anybody that did the same thing.....your boat is not a boat to go over to Mud in the better days considering how the bay can blow up and in in a slop like that to start with something can go really wrong really quickly.
All the weight is down the back...your down the back, a heavy motor is down the back. All it would take is one wave under the front and you would be over (and possibly out) as quick as lightning...no time to think at all.
It's a bloody long way to Mud. And to do it with concerns to start with is just plain dumb in my books.
It's a tiny tiny tinny and with low gunnels and all. It's not a 6.8m Fisher maxi.

If Brian says things like "Criky, an occasional wave rattled my rig as if she cound break in half with the impact" that doesn't sound like conditions to be out in in a 13' tinny in the middle of the bay when you think Brian's boat is a 16' fiberglass job and getting hammered like that and also seeing there were two other bigger boats to put a rod in.
Bloody hell by the sounds I personally would not have been out in Brian's boat either.
Now if the day had of got worse and not better how the hell would you have got home with a broken prop??
If the condition had of got worse yourself, Brian and the decky would have been placed at risk during the tow on the return journey.
And all for what??? A couple of fish???
What about the wife and kids if something had of gone wrong??

Sorry if I sound peeved but I am. I'm also horrified in the same breathe.

I'm not afraid to say what I think and when somebody does something that could easily put others at risk then I say so.
The VMR are full of stories like that where everything goes to sh-t as quick as a blink of an eye in conditions a lot better then those given by the description given above.

[Poodroo]

Ahhhh good old finga. Can always trust you to come out with negatives. Firstly we were 3 boats which is the only reason I soldiered on because if I had trouble there was help available apart from the fact I have a bilge pump and all the safety gear. Secondly the waves weren't giving the old tub that much of a hard time so I was still quite comfortable to press onwards and thirdly if I had any doubts as to how safe it was to be on the northern side of Mud I would have gone to the eastern more protected side to fish. Also I followed seabreeze and it predicted the winds to flatten out throughout the day anyway which it did. Now as for the prop issue that can happen to anyone which is why I have a radio onboard but once again I would not travel to mud without a convoy or at least one other capable boat. As luck would have it the prop didn't cause a problem until I was just short of the Manly leads. The only waves that were rattling us were the ones we were heading into in the early hours of the morning trying to get there. Once the sun came up it all flattened out and was quite a nice day to be out there. You will notice all my "solo" trips are never any further than Wello. So pull ya head in and put your happy face back on will you.

Poodroo

[finga]

I go back to this quote
"Criky, an occasional wave rattled my rig as if she cound break in half with the impact"
That is a 16' fiberglass boat.
You have a 13' tinny.
If there was 3 boats and 4 blokes why take 3 boats in unfavourable conditions at the beginning of the day on the premise that the day was going to get better??
A bilge will not work when the boat is upsidedown.
A radio will not work when the boat is upsidedown.
How much open water has to be covered to get from any part of Mud to Manly if the conditions went to poo and not have become better??
Everyone knows that the internet predictions can be and have been wrong.
If I was you Poo I'd have a yarn to some of the blokes associated with VMR and rescue about the dangers of boating in the bay and how quickly incidents happen.
As for pulling my head in...well that isn't going to happen and as I said I would have said that about anybody if I know the boats concerned...not just because it's you matey. That's why I did not say a thing about T1's boat...I don't know it.

As for coming out with the negatives there weren't too many positives in that trip was there??

I think you put it quite well when you say "As luck would have it" because personally I think you were lucky all day.

If any doubts about how quickly things can happen read the thread about going overboard in the boating section...doesn't take much at all to end up in the briney. And some of these are guys with extensive experience not somebody with less then 6 months with a boat license.
I may be a bit of a nancy boy but as I said before these are my opinions and is my appraisal of what would have been going through my tiny brain during that morning given the descriptions of the morning conditions, knowing the boats concerned and knowing a little bit about the way the bay can turn to crap.

If you think my opinions are excessive then forget about them..easy as to do

[Heath]

Nice fish guys!