Off on yet another two weeks fishing up at Agnes/1770.
This time I invited TheOldLegend aka John for a couple of days and also Hookem Herby aka Herby, as well as his fiance'e Helen.
Our options were limited by closures but that doesn't affect a bit of mackeral fishing at Bustard, it is always a good standby when the reef fishing is out.
TOL turned up after lunch time on the 22nd, fortunately the weather prediction for the following day was good.
After he settled in, it was decided to launch the tinnie and head up the inlet to check on the crab pots. Sadly somebody had got to them before us.... not only does this person steal the crabs but he/she also cuts up the draw string and destroys the bait keeper as well. More about that later.
The next day we packed the gear and headed off to Bustard, the plan was to tow around for some fish then go into Pancake Creek to show TOL one of the most beautifull spots on the east coast.
The weather wasn't perfect up at Bustard and niether was the fishing but TOL still managed to finally land his first spanish, he did it with skill but sadly we lost more fish that morning than we landed, I suspected school mackeral were hammering out baits and after speaking with one of the pro mackeral fishermen, it seemed to be the case.
We steamed into Pancake for lunch and were not disappointed, the place is always magic. It was then back to home for the usual cleanup.
The next day it was decided to drive TOL up to Awoonga for a look see, unfortunately we came back empty handed but had a good time anyway, it was his first trip to the dam and my second.
Friday TOL headed off home to Brizzie, but will definately be back, he was great company and a very keen fisho.
Herby and Helen arrived later that day and as the weather was looking great we decided to launch Herbie's boat and try for a mackeral or three, we weren't dissapointed and ended up with four nice mackeral, the small ones were still a problem and we ended up running out of bait because of them, although toward the end I tied on one of two tuna I still had in the bucket, it didn't last long so I decided to rig up the last bait which happened to be a very large bonito.
Herbie did say it was around 2.5kg but I really think it was more around 1.5kg. Anyway, we were going to test the big bait big fish theory.
Didn't have to wait long, it took around five minutes for the rod to bend over to a good fish, Herby generously let me have the rod for the last fish of the day.... considering he trampled everyone getting to the hookups earlier, .....which actually back fired at one stage, as Herby now has the high distinction of probably being the only person in history to catch a moray eel on the troll
. Although I can't talk, as I landed a big long tom just before that.
It's a damn site easier taking the hooks out of a long tom than a moray eel!.Herbie... you should appreciate your deckie a bit more!!! back to the hooked fish.
After about 15 minutes we knew it wasn't going to be a good mackeral, but still held out hope it may have been a good cobia, after another five minutes or so it became pretty obvious what it was.
We decided to have a bit of fun anyway.... after 40 minutes on 80lb braid, fun soon became serious pain, I would manage to get the shark three quarters of the way up only to see it head back for the bottom.
In the series of photos you will see daylight become dark, and the smile on Herbie's face vanish after I handed the rod over to him.
To his credit, after another 15 minutes he managed to get it up to a point where we got a look. It was a tiger shark in the 200-300kg range.
The next day was us v's them, Helen and I in my boat and Tony with Herbie in B.o.B. Inspite of me hiding banana cake in their boat (which they found half way to Bustard) they did well.
The day sadly went to the fellas, I will be a good sport and congratulate them on their win. WELL DONE GUYS
Helen and I did not let the side down though, the toughest thing was losing the fish of the day at the side of the boat when the hooks pulled... but thats fishing, have to take the good with the bad.
I would also like to thank Helen for being such a good sport and her good company. Considering she is not a fishing tragic like me she did well.
At this point I will extend the challenge again for sometime in '06. How about it Herbie?
In finishing up I would like to say that I've had a great two weeks shared with some top people.
Cheers Roz
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