queensland Fishing "the Pin" NQ Style

[Orca]

The Pin may never be quite the same again after being subjected to my brother Nick last Friday (08/07/2011). Down from Mackay for a few days to take in Origin 3, I finally managed to convince him to go fishing with me. This is no mean feat as he has managed to resist my invitations to go inshore fishing for almost 30 years since he moved north. Spoilt by the Great Barrier Reef and its Red Emperor, Coral Trout etc, fishing for Tailor and Flathead just didn’t seem to cut it for him.

The first shock Nick got was when I asked him to help me rig up a Camo-Stik Baitcaster with some 4lb braid. Apart from the fact he couldn’t even see it, I don’t think he has ever fished with anything else other than 120lbs mono on a handline! Then when he saw me tying on one of our new colour Bonehead lures his mirth became almost uncontrollable. He has never fished with a hard bodied lure in his life before. We eventually spooled up 4 outfits and then convinced our wives they should get up at 5am the next day to come with us.

My wife Linda’s favourite saying is “There is only one 6 o clock in my day†so getting her to agree was a bit of a mission. She finally gave in to our pleading and then asked what she could do to help. Naturally, we asked her to prepare some delicacies for us to eat on the boat and Nick’s wife Gail was dispatched to the local pub to stock up the boat esky with some Stones Green Ginger Wine as we knew it was going to be bloody freezing when we arrived at the Jacobs Well boat ramp.

We were absolutely spot on about the temperature as we left the ramp next morning and the wind chill factor as we sped along at about 25knots made it feel like about -10degrees. We arrived at Millionaires Row around 6-30am and commenced our trolling pattern with 3 rods out the back towing Boneheads at 2 knots. The sun was just getting up and there was not a cloud in the sky. The smoke from the distant Sugar Mill chimney was going straight up in the air. My brother had to agree that it actually was nice to just be out on the water again and witness a perfect SEQ winters morning. Nick decided to assume his position on the gunwale and crack open his first Stones to try and warm himself up.

Nothing much happened for the first hour or so until the tide turned and then things quickly hotted up. Chopper Tailor had come in through the Pin bar and were smashing up baitfish bigtime. Double and even a triple hook up became norm but alas there were plenty of dropped fish as Nick tried to get used to this stupid %$#@*& way of fishing. Eventually he landed his first Chopper and became far more adept in handling the baitcaster outfit. I did not fish at all – I was quite happy to be the designated sober driver for the day and watch the other 3 catch heaps of small Tailor and Flathead. Eventually Linda landed a half decent Tailor and Nick caught a 51cms Flathead. Things were looking up. The poor old Bonehead lures were starting to look a bit second hand after the numerous tailors teeth had left their mark.

After almost 9 hours out on the water, we decided to call it quits and head back to Jacobs Well. A fantastic day on the water was had by all with plenty of fish caught. It didn’t seem to matter that most of them were undersize. The man from the north conceded that he had had a “fat old day†and would be more than happy to do it all again next time he comes down for a visit. Wonders never cease!

These are the only lures we used all day. For the 3rd week in a row they have proved themselves very attractive to Tailor and Flathead. We expect stock to arrive in 3-4 weeks time.

[mick2me]

Hi mate... great read, and nicely done report and photo's, might have to grab myself a bonehead lure or two...

cheers

Mick

[Jords]

Nice work mate, got to get myself one of those bubblegum lures, sucked not having one last time . The silver flecks on the other one would drive the tailor crazy!

[etran]

great day out, might need to grab a few new boneheads

[Scope]

Nice report mate, good self control to not fish all day!