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Maiden Voyage For Quampie

Drop Bear

By Drop Bear
in Saltwater

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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Just gearing up for my first serious soiree. Plan is leave 4am pick up mate at adder rock 5.30am. Tow lures and drop baits at the group.

Can't wait. Carting 100ltrs of fuel with 2 x 10ltr ones I bought from Sam. 

Trolling paravanes with spoons and Western Swims and lazer pros.

Will try and find some live bait and perhaps tow some livies too. 

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aussie123 Newbie

aussie123

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Good luck mate and catch heaps.

The bar will be ok tomorrow but you will be crossing it on the run out  so just watch those pressure waves as you head into the bar itself.

We crossed the Amity channel yesterday at dead low tide and there was plenty of water over it and only some small waves rolling in but nothing to worry about.

Plenty of bait on the bait grounds too if you want any.

Have fun !!!

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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Haha thanks everyone. Yes I got home and yes all is well. 

It was a great first proper trip. 

I set the alarm for 3.30 but turned it off while making a coffee as I had woken up before it went off. The boat was all sorted except some Ice and bait so I got all that done and waited till my mate Mick turned up at 4. 

I have just put in a bait tank and straight away have realised it is in the wrong place. It makes it really hard to get into the boat from the back step. I didn't take many photos but you can just see it here on the right.

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I think I can turn it 90o and it will work. But the position was the least of my worries...

We pushed in at an unfamiliarly empty ramp at Wynnum Creek. Its normally tricky to get a park but not today. The boat launches easily and started like a dream. Rods in racks esky sorted and off. Not far along i noticed that the bait tank was over flowing into the boat. I was convinced to buy the bilge pump that has the little Stainless tube that points into the water. This pushes water into the tank as you go along. This has caused 2 problems;

1 the overflow is way too small and watter spills into the boat.

2 I had made a silly mistake and made the overflow go up to the gunwale before going over the side. I now realise this was dumb. So It should all be fine if I get a much bigger over flow pipe and ensure the water has to run downhill. 

it took ages for the bilge pump to get out all the water. I will have to upgrade this especially if I want to take it over the bar more. Any suggestions on a great bilge pump set up? The options I see are;

1 swap over the one I have to a bigger one and upgrade hoses.

2 Tap into the existing power and put a second bigger one on same switch. I don't know how this would affect amperage. 

3 Have a second, completely separate one with a separate switch. 

Anyhow that's for later. I cut the incoming water hose and tied it to the step and let it churn away. Fixed... for now.

There was a messy northerly swell that was washing machine-ing the water with the outgoing tide. It is a very comfortable boat when you drop the speed down. I sat on about 14-16 knots (from the GPS) and it took away any slapping giving us a comfortable ride in the nice chairs. As we got into the Rouse the wind picked up to at least 15 knots but we were now protected from the swell by Moreton Island and could open it up... 27knots yew!!!! It skips over the little waves. My old 3.7 would be smashed in this little chop but the 5m is superb and it wasn't long until we had rounded the stupid northern bend in the Rouse. 

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We caught up with another boat (yay) and a large plate boat that looked a bit like a 6.5m bar crusher appeared on our Starboard. It had taken a short cut from the Rouse straight at the bar. Nice to know. 

I followed him out past the wash at Amity then big dogleg right back to the beach then left along the beach a bit and out. There were no waves to contend with just a small swell that slowed us down. 

The swell outside was too big to smash into so we had to cruze at about 14-18 knots again all the way along Flinder's where we met our mate Richard. Because of the Northerly there was no wave-less gutter at Adder Rock so we just found a spot with the small shore break. We threw out an anchor and reversed back to the beach. The waves were small and not powerful so quite easy to do this, pick him up and head out. The anchor stuck into the sand hard and was really hard to retrieve but finally got it out... with a bit of a bend in it. Mostly this will be a good problem to have :) 

The wind had pushed up the swell a lot now and it was really uncomfortable. I didn't plane but slowly headed for the lee of Shag Rock. A problem with tiller steers is that at that, not quite planing speed, you are nearly blind. Not really a problem out here where there are no boats to worry about but something to think about. 

We set 2 rigs to troll from Shag rock to The Group. A paravane and spoon and a bibbed lure that one of my mates wanted to have a go with. It was an unbranded thing from BCF that seemed to dive ok with a test swim. 

Not far in both lines went off and we pulled in 2 nice Bonnies. A great way to start the fishing day and I had blood on the boat... yay.

We kept going like this for about an hour and did a couple of laps around The Group and Boat rock with no success. The wind had dropped and it was very pleasent now.

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The wind had now dropped appreciably and we dropped anchor at boat rock. 2 pillies out the back on balloons and a bit of bottom bashing. I got 4 snapper, 2 were legal and kept, 2 put back and a stack of cod. Sadly no Mosus etc. Nothing touched the floating baits and there were no dart or Trevely around today. 

My mates both got sick and neither had caught any fish. There was a lot of current this day. I don't think they had fished like this much in the 80 foot or so of water. It was a little tricky to get it to the bottom and the smaller fish were smashing the baits straight away so you had to be on your toes. So with them both green in the gills, we decided to tow some more lures. Hopefully that would make them feel better. 

Soon Mick got a nice spotty that went just over 70cm. He had not caught a large fish on a hand line before and was stretched a few times but did well and as it was well hooked I could just flip it over the side. 

This is my new trolling position. Throttle and steering locked. :)

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This was about the speed we needed to troll the BCF lure at. I think a bit too slow. What do you think?

I put out a Lively lures Blue pilly. The BCF lure haddn't been touched and couldn't be towed at more than about 4 knots or it would pop out of the water. This old lure has caught many fish including Spanish at the group before. 

With Rich a bit sick I stuck this lure next to me in the rod holder. Not long in it got smashed. I only had a 30lb line with my Sustain 5000 and a 7 foot Live fiber that I usually have for throwing slugs and jigs. The fish was huge and had many fast but not extremely long drag screaming runs. This was a good fish. We had too much stuff all over the boat. Bags, jackets, tackle boxes as well as my 2 eskis. This is something that I really need to take more seriously now. fumbling over all this crap made it really hard for Mick to get to the right spot to gaff. 

I'm thinking rod lockers on one side with lure boxes for tackle in front of these both sides. I will draw up a plan and see what you all think in the next little while.

Any way I had a fish on. It was huge! 

Big runs on a tight drag. After a while I saw colour and it was def a Mackerel but I couldn't see what type yet. I was pretty sure by the size and strength it was Spanish but it took off again before I could see the spots or stripes. 

It came closer soon and was definitely a Spanish and a thumping good one well over 1m. I got it close to the boat but it was playing up a lot. Screaming under the boat, forcing me to stab the rod into the water down to the reel a few times to avoid the line touching the boat or prop.

I got it to the side of the boat and for some reason Mick was feeling timid and didn't take the shot. It came in again, he hesitated and it tore off in the other direction... without the lure.

Frustrating! It would have been around the 1.3m mark...

I think Mick, poor bugger, was a bit giddy headed with sea sickness. He felt really bad about it and although it was a good fish we really did have a good amount of fillets and it was no great loss to not get this one. The biggest problem was that I wasn't thoughtful enough to have tidied up the boat making it hard on all of us to move around. Work to be done.

So the wind was picking up a little again and it was time to head home. We trolled back to Shag rock and around a bommie just north of it but no luck.

Dropped Rich back to the beach and headed back to the bar. the wind angle was good and made for fast going. The bar was simple. I pretty much followed the track back from this morning and easily found the short cut into the Rouse that had plenty of water in it and then home flat chat.

Back at the ramp. The trailer needs some help. The single rollers that run along the middle are not easy to line up especially in a wind. I have given up trying to drive it on as it bumps off to one side. It has a great walk on ramp making it easy enough. I was thinking of putting guides next to the rollers?

Back at home I started the engine to flush it with the hose attached. I know you dont need to start it but I did it for the sake of it and I'm glad I did. It made some beeping noises... 20 hours up and ready for first service. :)

In total I used 38ltrs of fuel!!!! Not even half a tank. Sooooo happy with this. 

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Ok Pro's and cons.

Cons

It's still a tinny. With a bit of wind at the wrong angle you still get wet. It's sooo much better than anything I have had before but there are no plastics to zip up when it starts to hit you in the face. 

The storage space is not set up. I really need to utalise the front hatch area and build Rod storage and tackle box storage. Could do with a few more rod holders on Gunwale too. 

Ok Mark 2 on the live bait tank should be fine.

The sounder is not perfect in a chop. It tells you pretty much all you need but some adjusting will hopefully make it better. If you have wet hands and try to use the touch screen it really wigs out and needs a dry off and reboot. Not a big problem but annoying all the same. 

It is a bit annoying not being able to see if you are half off the plane but I just need to work around this. 

Pro's

Shes fast, rides really well, is very comfortable. I love the throttle lock and steering lock and it is a key start! amazing. 

Very stable. All 3 of us fat bastards were on one side trying to gaff a fish. Richard was filming. I would actually like to see the footage... but will need tissues at hand :)

There is plenty of space if only I sorted my stuff out and plenty of scope for storage. 

I hope to have the electric working soon... 

Sounder is good and reliable

Very quick out of the hole if you give it stick so great for bar work. Going from 14 knots to 25ish is really fast so nice if you fall off a wave and want to get on the back of the next one. 

Sorry for no photos of fish. I know the rules. POIDH Pic Or It Didn't Happen so perhaps I didn't catch any fish... the fillets in my fridge will still taste great photos or no photos. 

So over all a very successful trip. I'm very much looking forward to posting decky spots and having anyone keen to come along for a cheap day out. 

Thanks

DB

 

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aussie123 Newbie

aussie123

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Good offshore maiden voyage and shakedown Robbie.

Personally I would fit a new 1500 GPH pump on a float switch and hook it up to a proper 3 way bilge switch to automate the system.

That way if you anchor the boat overnight and for some reason she takes on some water, the auto float system will activate the pump and clear the water.

The switch setup also allows manual pumping if needed.

Fit a inline tap onto the bait pump hose to regulate the inflow and use a min 25mm outlet running downwards out through the transom.

Game fishing or any offshore fishing in small boats or crappy conditions means clear decks at all times or you will get caught out like you did and at worse, people can get hurt when you have large fish being wrestled alongside so definitely work on that one.

After a few trips you will know exactly what you need to do or change but that is the fun part about setting up a new boat.

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Luvit Newbie

Luvit

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That's exactly what maiden voyages are for, to sort everything out and slowly improve them to your fishing style. Fish are a bonus.

 I concur with Lance on the live bait tank and bilge set up. The other thing is depending on the size of your overflow outlet from the tank. The bait fish always decide to poke their noses in there blocking the outlet and then it overflows back into the boat again. To avoid this you can fit a strainer that screws on like a round cage allowing the water to pass through and the bait fish can not block it. As Lance said regulating the amount of water coming in via a valve will help this also.

If you can sort the trailer and be able to drive on and off it will help you a lot at the ramp when busy. Because people that don't have the trailer set up for drive on or don't want to typically have to wait for the ramp lane closest to the edge to pull their boats up. If not, they have to pull their boat around other peoples trailers which in windy conditions is not an easy task either. The place you bought it from should have set the trailer up for you this way if it is a drive on trailer, you have paid a lot of money. Unfortunately they very rarely do it correctly and it's left up to the owner to fix.

Organisation is the key, a place for everything and everything in its place. I have found a very handy addition to my boat last trip out where I use reusable cable ties. They have a little lug that you push in and it releases the tie and can be used again. They don't rust, cheap and they hold my outriggers when traveling. I use them on the boat to stop the hand line for the teaser unraveling while moving and also to hold the cabin light to the canopy at night. They are a few uses and I expect I'll find more.

Ideally before putting the lures in the water; have the gaff & net in easy reach with tracing gloves on the cutting board, while wearing the rod gimble belt in case you get a hit. Above all have a clear deck and your tools in easy reach ie knives, dehookers and pliers in case of emergency. If you like capturing the action on camera, have them set up in position with clean lenses so they just have to be turned on.

It all comes from experience you will gain from using the boat, because each boat is different.

You will never stop thinking about how you can improve boat, if you are anything like me. Enjoy. 

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tugger Enthusiast

tugger

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Nice 1st trip Robbie a tip is i always get my 3rd deckie to sit on the opposite side gunnel to even the boat out as we gaff fish they will soon see the fish when its in the boat makes for a much more stable platform to gaff and fisherman to ease the fish alongside. You will sort alot of those boat room issue's out i am sure now you know how it effects fishing offshore. Enjoy the boat i can see you getting alot of use with this boat it is a really good size very economical and versatile. 

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kmcrosby78 Mentor

kmcrosby78

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Great write up of your maiden offshore voyage in the new boat Rob and good to hear you are already getting onto some fish. Not sure how many and what size eskies you had on board but an idea for your offshore voyages (and possibly in the bay too in case of large spotties, tooooona fish, etc) is to just take a smaller esky (big enough for your snapper, etc) and have a fish bag stored onboard that you can put larger/longer fish in when you get them.

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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11 hours ago, tugger said:

Nice 1st trip Robbie a tip is i always get my 3rd deckie to sit on the opposite side gunnel to even the boat out as we gaff fish they will soon see the fish when its in the boat makes for a much more stable platform to gaff and fisherman to ease the fish alongside. You will sort alot of those boat room issue's out i am sure now you know how it effects fishing offshore. Enjoy the boat i can see you getting alot of use with this boat it is a really good size very economical and versatile.

Yep nice tip. It is a surprisingly stable boat. we had all 3 of us on the one side and, although it was a little bid down on that side, it was really comfortable and worked well. If I hadn't fished with you out there I wouldn't have gotten the snapper so thanks for the snapper :)

 

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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12 hours ago, Luvit said:

That's exactly what maiden voyages are for, to sort everything out and slowly improve them to your fishing style. Fish are a bonus.

 I concur with Lance on the live bait tank and bilge set up. The other thing is depending on the size of your overflow outlet from the tank. The bait fish always decide to poke their noses in there blocking the outlet and then it overflows back into the boat again. To avoid this you can fit a strainer that screws on like a round cage allowing the water to pass through and the bait fish can not block it. As Lance said regulating the amount of water coming in via a valve will help this also.

If you can sort the trailer and be able to drive on and off it will help you a lot at the ramp when busy. Because people that don't have the trailer set up for drive on or don't want to typically have to wait for the ramp lane closest to the edge to pull their boats up. If not, they have to pull their boat around other peoples trailers which in windy conditions is not an easy task either. The place you bought it from should have set the trailer up for you this way if it is a drive on trailer, you have paid a lot of money. Unfortunately they very rarely do it correctly and it's left up to the owner to fix.

Organisation is the key, a place for everything and everything in its place. I have found a very handy addition to my boat last trip out where I use reusable cable ties. They have a little lug that you push in and it releases the tie and can be used again. They don't rust, cheap and they hold my outriggers when traveling. I use them on the boat to stop the hand line for the teaser unraveling while moving and also to hold the cabin light to the canopy at night. They are a few uses and I expect I'll find more.

Ideally before putting the lures in the water; have the gaff & net in easy reach with tracing gloves on the cutting board, while wearing the rod gimble belt in case you get a hit. Above all have a clear deck and your tools in easy reach ie knives, dehookers and pliers in case of emergency. If you like capturing the action on camera, have them set up in position with clean lenses so they just have to be turned on.

It all comes from experience you will gain from using the boat, because each boat is different.

You will never stop thinking about how you can improve boat, if you are anything like me. Enjoy. 

Some great tips there. I found out the hard way about being organised. All my stuff was stowed I just need to get better at communicating etc. A set of gloves will be good too. 

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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13 hours ago, ellicat said:

You might want to get onto @aussie123 for an anchor retrieval system too.

Is that a float or winch? I forgot to put it in but I ran over the anchor rope... my mates haven't done this before when you use a float and drive off and you cant see the float from the drives seat so I had them watch for me but they didn't understand so unfortunately I ran over the anchor rope. Again a good lesson for me but a bit sad because the anchor was a cracker that @Luvit gave me. Again a good lesson for me to learn. 

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Luvit Newbie

Luvit

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Yes you put the fish in the insulated bag and fill it with ice, then zip it up and keep it in the shade if you can. Fish ice bag it's called.

Sam and I bought ours when we were chasing the Longtails and an esky wasn't big enough. The ones we bought were on the low end of the quality but in saying that I have only used it a few times so didn't want to go the high end unless I used it a lot. The higher quality bags are nearly as expensive as a good esky of the same size.

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Luvit Newbie

Luvit

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38 minutes ago, Drop Bear said:

Is that a float or winch? I forgot to put it in but I ran over the anchor rope... my mates haven't done this before when you use a float and drive off and you cant see the float from the drives seat so I had them watch for me but they didn't understand so unfortunately I ran over the anchor rope. Again a good lesson for me but a bit sad because the anchor was a cracker that @Luvit gave me. Again a good lesson for me to learn. 

If you do a big arc it puts the float on to the side where you can keep and eye on the float to avoid running over the rope.

What I mean by arc is turn the motor 90 degrees to the where the anchor is and move forward slowly so the float starts to come alongside of the boat, when you have the float in sight you can straighten up towards the anchor, the rope with have begin to develop a big belly as you move forward due to the water pressure. Keep the boat in a forward motion and the water pressure forces the float down the rope as your boat gets in front of your anchoring position. The buoyancy of the float with the direct pull above the anchor pops it out and the water pressure pushes the float all the way to the anchor where you stop the boat and retrieve it across the surface with very little effort. 

Running over your anchor can be expensive but above all dangerous. I have heard that if the propeller does not cut the rope and the anchor is stuck fast the motor can basically wind the rope up and pull the transom under water. 

I don't know if that's true but best to be avoided.

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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33 minutes ago, Luvit said:

I have heard that if the propeller does not cut the rope and the anchor is stuck fast the motor can basically wind the rope up and pull the transom under water. 

eeek!

 

33 minutes ago, Luvit said:

What I mean by arc is turn the motor 90 degrees to the where the anchor is and move forward slowly so the float starts to come alongside of the boat, when you have the float in sight you can straighten up towards the anchor,

That makes sense thanks for explaining it. I had in mind that you need to basically run over where the anchor is but if I head out a little first its so much more controlled. Awesome.

Off to the boat shop and a text to sam.

5m boat 6m of chain?

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