Timmy (Tim_D) and newcomer Matt (MattChew) met at my place at 3.15am (I was awake this time). Launched from Scarby at 5am and headed out into what was a beautiful sunrise over an almost glassy bay.
Headed Nth of the Cape for some early morning trolling. Already a few boats around so we picked a path and deployed a couple of brand new Hexajet Skirts and an X-Rap 30. Within 30 seconds the Hexajet lure got smashed but didn’t hookup. Timmy wound in the skirt and most of it was gone except for the hooks, wire, metal head and a couple of strands of rubber. Bugger!
Trolled for a good hour and a half and the boat traffic was getting ridiculous for a Friday morning and we weren’t getting any strikes so made the call to find another spot away from any other boats. Went to a spot that had previously produced some Amberjacks and setup a drift. I setup the knife jig and the boys put out some SP’s. On the 2nd drift Matt got a big hookup on the bottom and his light outfit was buckling over big time. We called it for an Ambo and after several good hard runs and some serious fighting Matt had a 6kg Ambo boatside, gaffed and in the boat. First Ambo for Matt on his first offshore trip in Brissy. Next drift and this time Timmy is onto a big fish. Same sort of fight as Matt’s so once again we call it for an Ambo. Timmy gives it a fair bit of stick on the Daiwa Heartland 4000 and within 5-10mins he’s got a good 6kg Ambo in the boat as well.
Over the next few drifts I pick up a 65cm Rat Kingy on the Jig, we get a few juvenile Ambo’s over the 50cm mark on the jigs and plastics with some double hookup action. Then around 11am a 15-20 knot wind just blows in out of nowhere which was a relief as it was bloody hot!!!
Decided to make a move to some calmer water so head towards Comby Point. On the way we find a current line and some coral spawn with a bit of action on the sounder. Stop the boat and Matt throws out a SP. He straight away get’s hammered and line starts peeling from his Certate. The shaking of Matt’s head means that he doesn’t think he has a chance in the world of stopping what he’s just hooked up too and a few minutes later…Ping. Oh well. Probably a big GT.
On the way to Comby we throw some slugs into some bait action and pick up a few Macs and Bonito’s for the freezer. Had a quick look inside the bay at Curtain for nothing then call it a day and head across the washing machine back to Scarby. With five Ambo’s and a Kingy in the esky along with some fresh bait it turned out to be a reasonable day. Shame about the trolling but hey…you can’t win em all.
Some pics below.
Cheers
Dave