I stuffed it up

[bugman]

Fellas,

Armed with my new found knowledge of mackeral two hook rigs I ventured out into the northern part of Moreton Bay early Saturday morning looking for some mackeral.
I had lined up a deckie for the trip but at the last minute the 15-20knots SE-NE seas 1.8 metres put him off. He shall remain nameless hey Phil.

Left Bribie at 5:15 heading for M1-M2-S1 beacon area. No schooling fish in the rough conditions (yes it was rough Phil) and no birds working.

It took me until the fifth beacon before I found baitfish. Anchored, jigged up some yellowtail and sent one straight back down. I still had the rod in my hand when it screamed off. Ran for about 50 metres before it slowed enough for me to kick it into gear. Another sprint saw me lose 20-30 metres under full drag on 50lbp spiderwire with thumbs on the spool. Started making headway - got back in about 30-50 metres when it ran again towards the front of the boat - and yes it wrapped me around the anchor line. Lost fish gear etc.

Re-rigged - dropped down another livie and 15 minutes later smashed again. Smaller than the first - two big runs before getting it back to the boat about 3 metres way. A nice spottie I would put in 5-7kg mark. In attempting to get the gaff it dived under the boat and came to the surface on the other side. I had the rod under the water but the bloody fish then swam around the back and around the motor - wrapping itself around the prop and busting off.

I threw stuff - I kicked stuff - I swore at the seagull on the beacon - I re-rigged and started again.

No more mackeral but landed a 96cm grinner (measured).

Got too rough and headed home.

Lessons learnt - When chasing bigger fish take someone with you to help with clearing rods gear etc from the boat after hook-up - or pull the bloody anchor and lift the motor.

- If fishing alone don't be too anxious to put rods in the water but rather make sure thr boat is organised so when hooking a good fish you've got room to move around and gaff is in handy position etc.

In the words of someone famous - "I'll be back" (said with accent).

Bugman

[mackmauler]

Bad luck brett its great fun fishing solo check these out, from a double hook up, nearly got spooled from one of them, the line wrapped the aerial and ripped it out, certainly needed a coldie after this effort.

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Brave stuff Bugman. Poked my head out around the corner Sat morning also - NASTY was a word. Had another look at around 12pm - thought the wind had dropped a bit - still very ordinary.

[Lucky_Phill]

Where's a good deckie when you need one ? ???

Home in bed, out of the wind.

Next time Brett

[Touchy - R.I.P.]

Phil,Give Brett ya home location gps marks & he can come & get you out of bed(as long as you live in NZ.HAAAAAA! ,)give it another shot bugman ya can only get better or better still I can come along & tell you were you are going wrong,I'm bloody good at that eh!!.Cheers Touchy.><> ><> ><>.

[bugman]

The worst part about it is my life is orgainsed for the next fortnight and I haven't got a spare second to get another trip in.

Look at the bloody weather today - 10-15knots seas under a metre and I'm off to Sydney for three days.

Someone is playing very cruel tricks on me.

JB sell that bloody boat of yours.

Bugman

[Jeremy]

Hey Bugman,

pretty dissapointing eh! Lost two nice fish.

I often fish solo offshore. I have a 10'' poly ball on the end of my anchor rope so when I hook up to a good fish, I just thorw the lot over the side and came back for it later. I'll often get the motor started up also to control the boat positioning relative to the fish.

There is no question it is more difficult to clear lines etc. by yourself and in particular when gaffing a fish a buddy is usefull. Last year I lost a large longtail tuna after 1 hour 45 mins due to busted line after my third attempt to gaff it as I just couldn;t hold it close enough to the boat when I reached for the gaff.

Jeremy

[seqfisho]

Hey Bugman,

If ever you need a reliable deckie give us a call, Im at Redcliffe so not that far away and dont ever get seasick (just lucky I guess) and Im always up for a trip, especially if your catchin fish

Plus I can tell the missus that Im just helping a mate out

Glen

Eat Sleep FISH!!!!!!!!