queensland The highs and lows of Easter.

[benno573]

Friday - HIGH

Hit the pin with a mate, cracking day out, finished with 10 muddies, 4 sandies, a dozen whiting and a couple of flatties.

Sunday - LOW

Need I say more?

Boat waited until we were out off the cape before going on strike. Expensive tow back - VMR and coastguard memberships apparently not reciprocal... :evil: how good are the conditions we had to leave behind?? Managed to grab a few nice tuna on light gear before it all went down the toilet.

Monday - HIGH

One of my best sessions ever down the pin with viper83 (in his boat obviously). We both bagged out on flatties, all on hardbodies and in completely new spots I sussed out on Friday. Caught a few whiting on yabbies along the way as well.

All in all not a horrible weekend, will find out in a few hours what the issue with the motor was and how much more it will cost.

[waldo]

Yup they are a money pit alright, but catches like that ease the pain a little :side:

[Tybo]

Bad luck Benno, but then again some awesome hauls there. I remember when I was younger, that unless the fishing trip had some sort of drama that it wasn't going to be good fishing. Something used to go wrong with the fuel, motor, trailer, electrics, weather, and then before we knew it we were on. Funny how karma can work like this. Rules don't apply these days though, I have dramas with the boat and still don't catch fish.

Just out of curiosity, what's the financial situation regarding a tow back from the VMR? Do you pay for their fuel, or is it (highly)recommended donation?

[Luvit]

Thanks for letting me know you were chowing down on some crab sandwiches yesterday. :whistle: There some excellent catches over a couple of sessions.

Pity about the boat but at least it never put you in any danger with glassy conditions and making the tow home easier as well. You seem to fish with a few mates from your previous reports so while the boats off the water its time for them to pay back and take you out.

Be in touch soon and see if you can show me how do get a bag of Muddies again

[benno573]

Bad luck Benno, but then again some awesome hauls there. I remember when I was younger, that unless the fishing trip had some sort of drama that it wasn't going to be good fishing. Something used to go wrong with the fuel, motor, trailer, electrics, weather, and then before we knew it we were on. Funny how karma can work like this. Rules don't apply these days though, I have dramas with the boat and still don't catch fish.

Just out of curiosity, what's the financial situation regarding a tow back from the VMR? Do you pay for their fuel, or is it (highly)recommended donation?

Hey mate,

I am a VMR member so a tow with them would have been covered, a donation would have been asked for but not compulsory.

The only people available to tow me back in on Sunday were coastguard redcliffe. I am not 100% sure if the charge is a compulsory one, I was grateful enough to be back on dry land I just gave them the plastic. You can be a coastguard member as well, $70 per year which covers you for towing etc. I will be doing this moving forward strangely enough...

[benno573]

Soooo... The final verdict on the mighty merc...

Dead.

Gone.

Kapput.

Stuffed.

Etc etc profanities etc etc

- Computer / ecu dead

- Water pump needs replacing not just servicing

- gearbox cactus

These along with other servicing and labour costs bought the expected bill to some $4k...

Lesson here: regular servicing by someone expert is a requirement...

After a quick bit of research and budgeting, the decision has been made.

On Tuesday (or Wed) next week the boat will return home complete with a brand new 90hp tohatsu 2 stroke which will hopefully be good for many years to come.

So the 3 tuna caught on that fateful voyage worked out at around about $3K a pop. Good thing we only caught 3 I guess!

Anyone in the market for a new anchor please let me know...

Cheers,

Benno

[Luvit]

Give me a call, I might be able to cheer you up.

[Old Scaley]

That is really bad luck, Benno. Are you saying that you didn't get the merc serviced regularly by someone who knows what they are doing?

[benno573]

Well perhaps not as regularly as I should have. About an average of every 2 yrs or so. It was 20yrs old though so perhaps it was "due"...

[Damien2Rad]

Oh too bad Benno!

[ellicat]

An appropriate new motor for a bloke who gets a bit toey

Can't change history (unless writing a book) so good luck on the new beast.