queensland Solo Fish Can Be Costly. Report.

[Luvit]

Sorry everyone, I know it was late notice for the deckie spot and for those of you that I called and the others that did not see that post till late another time.

What an absolute perfect day to be on the water yesterday. 

I only had a small run from Moreton Island in the morning to the Cape so I was there nice and early. 

(As a side note I am so sick of the amount of a$$holes on the bay at night with incorrect lights or none at all. Water police in one night would cover their wages and make considerable profit if they booked everyone doing the wrong thing.)

It was just breaking day when I placed 3 lures of varying sizes out the back. Within 5 minutes I had my first hit on the small 140mm lure, that turned out to be a nice 1m long Spanish.

Quickly placed into the ice slurry before resetting and heading off again. A little time passed and there was hit on the big 200mm lure, but no hook up. Shortly after a good hook up on the 160mm lure and line was racing off the reel and as I was clearing the other rods the fish found its freedom. This is where solo costs you, rather than being able to get to the rod, you have to hope the fish stays on while you clear the deck or risk a major tangle with the other lines. 

As the sun got higher I thought I would have a go at the Marlin and Dollies. A little way out you could see birds and splashing underneath so out I went. There were huge amounts of tuna out there, more than I've ever seen before. Everywhere you looked there were more hitting the surface. I thought to have a bit of fun I would throw out a SP to see what type of tuna they were and the first school I had a double hook up, one on a skirt lure and the other on the SP. I landed one fish however, by the time I got to the other rod the tuna had got away as well. Surprisingly they were striped tuna, so the one I got will hopefully be turned into a mud crab (Robbie).

I decided to only run 2 lures and a teaser so as not to get myself into much trouble if all hell broke loose. I looking behind the boat I could see both of the lures leaving a nice smoky bubble trail every so often and the water was a great color and the temperature over 28 degrees. While looking for bait etc I constantly looked out the back hoping to see a Marlin come up on the lures. Then I saw something behind the short rigger and within a millisecond the the rigger flexes momentarily until the rubber band breaks and the reel sings. I gunned the boat as Tugger suggested to set the hooks. I look out the back and there it was my nemesis, a big Mahi-Mahi jumping all over the place. I was stoked and quickly got the teaser in as they can be uncontrollable and a braid tangle is never good.  NOT AGAIN, It jump right off before I even got a hand to the rod. Other seasons I have used the same set ups with braid and one rod I have top shot with mono for the extra stretch, but I have never lost this many fish without even getting to the rod. 

Licking my wounds and thankful to this point I had not lost any lures I was still optimistic about getting a Marlin. Because I only had a choice of 2 lures to run I would typically run the lumo on the long rigger and a darker color on the short rigger. I decide to change things up a bit and run the Blue Crystal in lieu of the lumo because it had a better action than the lumo I had. Throughout the rest of the day I marked plenty of bait and along with another dozen boats we worked the same area. I saw 2 boats in close proximity hook up to marlin so I was in the right area, however I could not even raise one. I tried 3 lure changes through the day  and varying speeds but I could not raise a beakie.

The morning it was going off but the rest of the day was dead for me, but I would have not wanted to be anywhere else on such a magnificent day chasing the pelagic's. 

Can't wait to the social.

[Tybo]

I have had days like that with less lines in the water, and more people on board. Sometimes you can easily get the fish to bite, but hooking them and keeping them connected is another thing in itself.

Glad you got onto some fish. I'm spewing I missed your call and was busy, hopefully more and more spaniards start showing up off the Cape and we can all get out there again.Thanks for the report!

[ellicat]

Sounds like a bit of a frustrating trip for you, but well done on the table-fare and bait.
How many KM's did you clock ?

[Luke Landrunner]

Unlucky on hooking up a few more good fish during your solo mission.

Date night with the wife ( first Saturday night and Sunday off for her in months ) plus a badly sprained ankle (  the mountain strikes back ) counted me out of a trip I really wanted to be on.

Thanks for the report  

 

[Luvit]

1 hour ago, Tybo said:

I have had days like that with less lines in the water, and more people on board. Sometimes you can easily get the fish to bite, but hooking them and keeping them connected is another thing in itself.

Glad you got onto some fish. I'm spewing I missed your call and was busy, hopefully more and more spaniards start showing up off the Cape and we can all get out there again.Thanks for the report!

Early morning it was definitely alive out there. I could have headed home at 9am for the same result and a lot of fuel saved. We will get out together sometime and catch up at the social.

[Luvit]

1 hour ago, ellicat said:

Sounds like a bit of a frustrating trip for you, but well done on the table-fare and bait.
How many KM's did you clock ?

210km for the day and that was me not going wide. The fish have got a right to win sometimes.

[Luvit]

Just had the Spanish tonight. Definitely the best out of the mackerel family IMO. 

[kmcrosby78]

Bit of action for you Wayne and a Spanish to eat - hope you get revenge on the dollies soon and get back into the marlin action.

[Luvit]

So do I,

At the social I hope

[aussie123]

Looks like we now gotta teach you how to land your fish,lol

Top day out mate.

[Luvit]

1 minute ago, aussie123 said:

Looks like we now gotta teach you how to land your fish,lol

Top day out mate.

Well you could if you answered your phone. Rang 3 times but your phone must filter me out. 

[aussie123]

I just checked and I did have a missed call from you 5 days ago, lol

Sorry mate, somehow I missed it.

That was my first day back this year and things were insanely busy

[Luvit]

I rang on Saturday but it wouldn’t connect. 

Catch you at the social 

[aussie123]

My phone rang all day long so you may have tried while I was on it.

Def see you at Wavebreak

[Luvit]

14 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

Looks like we now gotta teach you how to land your fish,lol

Top day out mate.

You have already taught me a lot. But I was coming from a low base, so I still need more tuition. 

[MarkA]

I thought I might have seen your boat north of Hutchies late morning but I wasn’t close enough to make out the name just the font looked familiar. 

I trolled skirts for a good 6-7hrs for one dolly also. 

Whats your braid to leader setup on your skirts Wayne? Just asking as I’ve been playing with this myself. 

Was a great day to be out there for sure  

 

 

[tugger]

Nice spanaird i wouldn't fish solo offshore to many things can go wrong safety wise fishings comes and goes but my own safety is paramount.  I always have a big 1st aid kit onboard but you need someone there to help apply it especially game fishing your talking big hooks big teeth long pointy bills knives etc. Hope this doesn't sound to full on but i have worked and played on the water for a long time and a rocking boat can lead to mishaps.

[Luvit]

2 hours ago, MarkA said:

I thought I might have seen your boat north of Hutchies late morning but I wasn’t close enough to make out the name just the font looked familiar. 

I trolled skirts for a good 6-7hrs for one dolly also. 

Whats your braid to leader setup on your skirts Wayne? Just asking as I’ve been playing with this myself. 

Was a great day to be out there for sure  

 

 

Yes I spent most of the day north of Hutchies. 

I have braid to a 100lb leader then a snap swivel to attach the skirt lures that are rigged with their own meter of 100lb leader. 

[Luvit]

1 hour ago, tugger said:

Nice spanaird i wouldn't fish solo offshore to many things can go wrong safety wise fishings comes and goes but my own safety is paramount.  I always have a big 1st aid kit onboard but you need someone there to help apply it especially game fishing your talking big hooks big teeth long pointy bills knives etc. Hope this doesn't sound to full on but i have worked and played on the water for a long time and a rocking boat can lead to mishaps.

Thanks Mark

I understand your point regarding safety. I have on occasions turned around and not gone fishing if I feel it’s to risky. There is lots of things that can go wrong.

The way I assess it is that after fishing by myself for 20+years and never having a serious problem, touch wood. I figure I have been involved in more car crashes and near misses than I have ever had on the boat. So I guess based on my history, experience and taking precautions while on the boat, I feel comfortable in the minimal risk I’m taking. Others may not feel the same and each to their own. Ideally I would have liked to have raised a deckie but being such a perfect day I wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip past. 

Won’t be fishing until the social now. 

 

[MarkA]

21 hours ago, Luvit said:

Yes I spent most of the day north of Hutchies. 

I have braid to a 100lb leader then a snap swivel to attach the skirt lures that are rigged with their own meter of 100lb leader. 

I’ve been thinking a 7.5m 100lb wind on to clip to a 3m leader on the skirt.  Thinking being it’ll introduce a bit of stretch into the system and is good for leadering up a stubborn fish from underneath the boat. 

Ive been running all my lures tight to the boat and teasers as that’s where all our hits have been coming from. We had one one take the shotgun but he’d hit three other lures in the spread beforehand!

All a new game to me so still learning on the job though. 

[Luvit]

Good idea Mark.