The title sums it up aptly.
Three nights, four anglers and a pastry chef, 18 barra, 1777cm total length, 10 metreys, two little 60s fish, 98cm total average, two PBs.
It can get better, obviously, but add in some Group 1 company, loads of laughs, lots of p*ss taken out of the author (aka the pastry chef) and everyone else, and you have the ingredients of a magic time away with great mates.
I’ll break this report into parts (Lyndon style) so it is easier to read. If you don’t enjoy longer reads, look no further.
The Crew
Ben, Josh, Vin, Navi and Paul.
The Reason
A last minute cancellation of an eagerly awaited offshore charter chasing reds of the top of Fraser with the same mob of recalcitrants plus three others meant Plan B was swung into action.
With 24 hours’ notice thanks to a woeful offshore forecast, we hastily readied our gear and this time decided to camp instead of lounging around in our usual Gin Gin base station. Perhaps also because I had myself a new Oz Tent (thanks for the advice Brian R – it was a dream).
The Air Temperature
Throw in one 37 deg C day and two others shaving high 20s and low 30s and you could have sworn it was summer.
The Water Temperature
It seemed much higher than the seasonal average – varying between low 23s to a max of 26.4 deg C.
The Wind
Warm to hot northerlies, nor’easters and westers certainly helped our cause – sometimes gusting strongly, but mostly ideal for what we planned on doing.
The Barometer
Generally hovering between 1005 and 1010, although Navi confirmed a spike from 1010 to 1020 within a 30 minute window – coinciding with an escalation in barra activity.
The Moon
A waxing crescent, not more than a sliver on night 1 but becoming a handy visual aid by the last night.
Moon set started around 9.00 to 9.30pm and by the end of the trip was around midnight.
For the lunar lovers, it coincided with some hot action.
The Water Current
The northerlies pushed some nice water into the areas we fished. It was distinctive, changed direction favourably upon contact with structure, and was easily seen.
The Successful Lures
Hard bodies – Long Bombers and B52s
Softies – Slick Rigs and Storms.
Most lures were tricked in some way.
I must have fished with a black bait and it showed in the end.
The Areas Fished
Two Mile and B Bay.
The Fish (for the stat lovers – in cm)
123, 121, 119, 110, 110, 108, 106, 102, 102, 100, 99, 94, 91, 90, 89, 84, 66, 63.
The PBs
Navi’s 123cm pig and Ben’s 121cm log.
The Dropped Fish
Only 7 in total – which was a bit of a surprise to us all.
The Outstanding Efforts
Vin’s uncanny knack to regularly hook quality fish, this time chipping in with 7 barra – 4 over the magic mark.
Navi’s PB – he could hardly lift it being such a skinny bugger.
Ben’s new PB – we chased it all over the bay on a lighter drag but persistence won the day.
Josh’s two metreys and his commitment in making the long trip from Melbourne and also fishing most of one day with a bad bug.
My donut cooking, tour guiding (I obviously wasn’t there to fish) and new found ways of losing fish – jumping back on itself towards the boat, landing on the braid and snapping it like cotton.
The Summary
Everything came together when the weather gods smiled for us, some PBs were smashed along the way, and perhaps the most interesting snippet was the unseasonally hot conditions – we had to fish it like summer time.
I’m sure the boys will add to this but I wanted to put it down while fresh in my mind.
Awesome trip, awesome company.
Cheers
Paul
The Pics
Here’s a few, no doubt the boys will add more.
Josh 99
Josh 110
Ben 91
Vin 119
Ben 121
Ben 110
Josh 110 release
Ben 121 release
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with the pending event at arms length.
Originally Posted by DEANO68
Speak for ya self Wobblehead 
