Measured Mile shenanigans ....... :)

[kmcrosby78]

G'day all. My brother Michael and I hit the two Measured Mile beacons yesterday in hope of some decent mackerel. Have just installed a Raymarine Dragonfly 4 DVS (Downscan and sonar) and am very impressed so far, with it showing up bait schools quite well. I just need to work on identifying predators now. After a 4am depart from the ramp we dropped some pots in and then made our way to the beacons - decent bait on the first one but decided to continue to the second one as my previous experiences had been better at it and I figured we could then come back to the first one. Only one boat at the second one and he was sitting about 30m off the beacon and pleasingly we nailed our anchorage first go being about 10m up-current of the beacon.

Unfortunately we could only pull a couple of undersized schoolies on slugs, with the best going a meagre 44cm, and had no luck on pillies (or whole dead poddy mullet) as the little peckers were wreaking havoc.  Whilst there we were entertained by a clown in a large-ish fibreglass boat (I won't mention the brand as I don't want to name and shame the poor bloke) whose anchoring skills (and later it turned out, his common sense levels .....) were rather questionable. He dropped his anchor between us and the other bloke, about 15m from the beacon, and then floated back with the current until his anchor held with him now sitting 10m on the OTHER side of the beacon. This pleased the other bloke no end but he wasn't able to get him to shift. His anchor rope didn't interrupt us and I chose not to speak up on the other guys behalf, mainly because if he anchored closer than 30m from the beacon this bloke wouldn't have been able to do what he did.

Soon enough, the first bloke snags his lure on the guys anchor rope (old mate pretends to be oblivious .....). Then another boat comes and drops there anchor next to us, yep - right on top of the other guys anchor, start fishing and get snagged on his rope. They anchored too quickly for us to let them know about it and once they knew they weren't happy, so he finally gave up and rectified the situation, employing the electric winch to drag himself back up-current towards his anchor. He had to stop when 5m past the beacon to remove the two slugs from his rope, at which point I was sure he was going to bash into the beacon but this didn't happen. Instead he motor over to the last boat to arrive and hand them the two slugs as they worked hard to push his boat to stop it banging into them .......... The other guys up-anchored and moved out of his way so he could finish moving, but then he sat there about 8 metres beside us with his anchor chain in the water (I assumed the anchor must have been JUST in the water - I was wrong ........).

Next second our boat turns and our two boats are coming together - AAARRGGGHHHH he had his anchor in and now we are tangled up. Brilliant!!! Quickly advise Michael to move his rod and get ready to push his boat to stop a collision. Somehow no damage is done and we decide that we've had enough fun at this beacon and head back to the first one. 

I will note that there's no crime in lacking confidence/ability in a boat, particularly a larger one (his was probably 18-19ft) when by yourself, but you've got to realise your limitations and not willingly get into situations where you can't manoeuvre as successfully as required. A beacon with 6-8 boats all in a confined space is not the place to be .........

Back to the fishing and more of the same - undersized (and some quite small) schoolies so we beacon hopped back to the river mouth, collected our pots for 2 good sandies (a couple more were about 1mm under) so at least we went home with something. Took a look at the sunken wall near the poop schute with the Downscan and will enjoy looking around more next time.

Dribble over - merry Xmas everyone.

[Luvit]

You are for me patient than me. I would just up and leave and leave them to there own fun. Once you work out the sounder you can find better schools in the channels and will have them all to yourself. 

A couple crabs added to some prawns would be be a nice way to celebrate Christmas.

[samsteele115]

I have a pet hate of anchoring. Absolutely hate it. Only done it once and that was enough to turn me off haha. Drifting or electric motor all the way! 

Sounds like a frustrating trip, hope you have more success next time. 

[kmcrosby78]

Yeah Sam I'd like to add an electric to the tinny at some stage - although I plan to upgrade in a few years so don't want to spend too much on 'extras' on this one. Wayne it read at more speed than the previous one although in hindsight I should have had it lower. I need to become more willing to spend more time searching for spots rather than always going to previous spots - part of my conservative nature I suppose.

On a sidenote this post puts me in the 2k club - yippee!!!!