A weekend of fishing the bay

[samsteele115]

The start of the year has also meant the start of my working week going back to working 5 days, so I made the most of it and went out both days for a tuna hunt.

Saturday I went by myself after doing a few chores and was greeted by a flat bay. It was so good to be out in awesome weather.

There wasn't much to report, I did a quick 100km round trip of the bay in search of birds, fish and bait. Came across stacks of bait but no fish feeding on them. It was a bit disappointing but I was still so keen for the next day fishing the run in tide in some cleaner water. I had a good feeling….

Sunday I went out with my dread locked mate  @skegzay for another look around the bay but this time I was keen to give it a real good crack. We got on the water about 3.45 so we were out there just before dawn. It took us a while to find the tuna but when we did we got pretty excited… these fish were massive. Probably the biggest longtail I have ever seen and in the glassy conditions they really created a spectacular visual display. It almost felt like we were driving towards some hungry bluefin they were all 20-30kg fish from what we saw.

Unfortunately there were no birds on them and it was just one school that popped up 4 or 5 times. We managed to track ahead of them once and came within casting distance but no joy.

When it went quiet we decided to give the spot a break to look elsewhere and visit the same spot later at the change of tide.

When we came back to the original spot after not seeing any more we were greeted by 3 schools actively feeding in the exact same spot. We spent hours tracking these fish without birds on them which made it difficult, but I was pleased to get within casting distance half a dozen times. Keep in mind this is not driving straight up to them (which spooks them) but rather trying to track their movements and wait ahead of them. Unfortunately we got no hookups which can happen in this crazy game. On another day we might only see one school of feeding fish and hook a fish out of that school.

Oh well, not to worry there is always next time and it was still awesome to watch what they do best and just get close to them.

After 11 hours and 170km on the water we decided to call it quits, but not without going past an area I have seen mackerel the last few trips.

We got there and found stacks of birds on a few different schools. Surface feeding mackerel are usually a dream to target compared to their thunnus friends as they tend to feed in a straight line into the wind. I picked up one casting out a chrome straight away.

The next school we came across stopped feeding towards us, so we drove up to them and discovered they were on a big bait ball with sharks in on the action as well! I hooked up straight away, then left the fish on the deck, picked up another rod and repeated the process until all 4 of my rods had been used and had spotties attached to the end of each line creating a murder scene inside my boat.

The funny thing (not for him) was Aaron could not hook a single fish!!! They would follow his lure and bump it before turning away. Very strange. I said to him just to use his other rod, but he was determined to blood his brand new combo. Not wasting any time, I picked up his spare rod and cast out into the melee. Guess what, I hooked up straight away and had a nice size spotty at the boat after a spirited fight on 6lb. At this point Aaron was yelling and swearing whilst I was in a fit of laughter.

It was some of the best fishing I have ever experienced whilst Aaron has never been so frustrated in his life!

What a day. The things you get to see when you put a lot of time on the water make it all worthwhile. I don't really believe in luck being a big part of fishing, just by spending nearly 12 hours out there I think we made our own luck; well at least I did anyway.

Thanks for reading. 

P.s I think Aaron has some go pro footage which should be entertaining  

[bersim]

Haha can't wait to see the footage.  Oh and is that a Stradic FK I see?  Yours of Aaron's new combo?

[samsteele115]

8 hours ago, bersim said:

Haha can't wait to see the footage.  Oh and is that a Stradic FK I see?  Yours of Aaron's new combo?

It's Aaron's. Nice combo. 

[Angus]

Hahaha good effort!

 

You put the hours in that is for sure!

Angus

[Luvit]

A nice feed and report. I hope you gave Aaron a few for the table. Got feel for Aaron, there is nothing more frustrating than watching someone next to you land fish after fish and no matter what you do to imitate what they are doing you can't get a sniff.

Time on the water teaches you more than anything. There are things you learn on the water that are not written in any books. The fact that you have a good memory for where the fish have previously been and revisit those spots puts the runs on the board.

Not long till Summer camp at Hervey Bay, catch up with you there.

 

[Skegz]

Nice post mate, Yeah it could be called bad luck, bad fishing, bad technique... whatever you call it, its terribly frustrating!!! 

Was stoked to see the big longtail busting up, felt like a kid in a candy shop. Even without hooking one, they are spectacular fish. Can't wait to land, tag and release one with you.

It was awesome to see the spotties on for you, and to see you get some serious fishing done REAL quick! Footage should be good besides my yelling/cursing/crying/praying... will post soon.

Looking forward to next time mate. 

[kmcrosby78]

Great work Sam - that's some serious km!!!  All in the bay? I've now had three straight donut sessions chasing them - once in Dad's boat Saturday week ago going up as far as Curtain (was the first day the winds died down and we saw NO surface action at all apart from near Green Island on the way in), last Wednesday at Green Island (although admittedly although I could see for a long way -very clear day, could see the boats at Harries and had a good view of a very large section of the bay - I didn't go searching for them, and then today down around Peel (no surface action) and then went up around the Hope Bank Beacon east of Green where there were lots of birds but I couldn't get within about 200m of the mackerel - flighty buggers but not surprising with the number of boats zooming around!!  Looking forward to upgrading the boat to something a little bigger, powerful and fuel-efficient so I can zoom around more. Anyway, enough about me ........

[kmcrosby78]

Forgot to mention that all three days everyone we saw was struggling - don't know if it was the northerlies or just luck (or lack of it ...). Spoke to a guy (with a nice looking 575 Surtees Workmate) at the ramp yesterday and he went out the bar to a spot they'd bagged out on pearlies and snapper 3 days earlier and struggled (not sure if they caught any at all or just not many). Said they trolled and had two big Spaniards come to the back of the boat so then floated a pilly and threw lures to no avail, and also came across spotties just outside the bar but they were flighty also.

Where you go Sam is there much boat traffic or is it quiet? Am thinking the spotties in the middle of the bay probably get very cautious with the number of boats chasing them - particularly when they zoom over straight away when they pop up. Speaking of which - roughly what distance do you try to stay away from them when approaching/chasing them?

[samsteele115]

15 hours ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Great work Sam - that's some serious km!!!  All in the bay? I've now had three straight donut sessions chasing them - once in Dad's boat Saturday week ago going up as far as Curtain (was the first day the winds died down and we saw NO surface action at all apart from near Green Island on the way in), last Wednesday at Green Island (although admittedly although I could see for a long way -very clear day, could see the boats at Harries and had a good view of a very large section of the bay - I didn't go searching for them, and then today down around Peel (no surface action) and then went up around the Hope Bank Beacon east of Green where there were lots of birds but I couldn't get within about 200m of the mackerel - flighty buggers but not surprising with the number of boats zooming around!!  Looking forward to upgrading the boat to something a little bigger, powerful and fuel-efficient so I can zoom around more. Anyway, enough about me ........

I checked my gps and it was actually 177km. I only used about 55 litres which helps too. Yep mostly within the bay. From Scarborough, then up to the top of Moreton, then halfway along Bribie, then back down to mud Island, then up towards the Cape again then back towards mud, then back to the ramp :). Not in a straight line either, doing big zig zags so I am able to cover most parts of that section of the bay. Do the miles get the smiles.

Two of my mates were out there in their boats and didn't have much success unfortunately, but I did double the distance so got to see more than double the action . Chasing the big longtail and seeing them up close a few times was still definitely the highlight for us. 

Last weekend the mackerel were flighty and I couldn't get close often and didn't get a hookup, but the weekend just gone they had no problem with swimming around the boat with the motor on. In fact I don't think we could have spooked them if we tried. I don't know why they become flighty like that but I wouldn't worry about it too much, it seems like it can just happen sometimes. 

The further away from them the better chance you have of not spooking them. Sounds obvious I know but it is very important. Pelagics feed into the wind most of the time and mackerel can be really easy to target as they don't tend to change direction like tuna do. They literally push bait into the wind in a straight line more often than not. I usually drive ahead of them maybe 60m or more (hard to tell on the water) and wait for them to come to me with the motor in neutral. When approaching try to slow down very gradually so there are no sudden changes in pitch from the motor. The change in sound or turning the motor off is what can spook them. Tuna and mackerel become used to the sound and can actually hang around the boat for a while when the motor is on. Maybe the vibration from the motor makes them think there are baitfish in distress.

You may need to change your approach on the day if it is not working. If they are extremely flighty try staying clear of them even further but if they aren't you may be able to drive up closer to them. Just trial and error. As a last resort if you just can't catch one (and providing there are no other boats you could ruin it for) you could drive straight up to them and try to get a cast in before they go down haha. But this doesn't usually work. 

Lastly, the past 3 pelagic sessions I have not had another single boat approach the same school as I which has been welcomed :). Most people sit on the beacons 

I hope this helps a bit 

[kmcrosby78]

1 hour ago, samsteele115 said:

 I don't know why they become flighty like that but I wouldn't worry about it too much, it seems like it can just happen sometimes. 

 

Cheers Sam, although I'll continue to worry about it until I get one .......... as I'm still a bay spotty virgin!!!  That's incredible fuel economy - gotta be happy with that!!!!  Not sure if I'll get out again before our school pupil free days start next Wednesday but otherwise I'll be with the hordes on weekends chasing them whilst they're still around. Cheers for the info. Oh and I hadn't really thought about your point about not stopping suddenly - makes sense!!