queensland A Day in the Bay

[GregOug]

Having decided yesterday was the best day weather wise over the weekend I headed out from the Port of Brisbane boat ramp into the bay with my son Alex and two of his mates. There was a little bit of chop and swell but it was nothing much so we sounded around and found some promising shows on the sounder, dropped anchor and berleyed. Despite different types of fish showing on the bottom all we managed to pull up were large catfish.

We decided to head northwards looking for whiting but didn’t get a touch so decided it was nice weather for trolling as the sea had calmed right down by this stage. We put two lures out and had only been going for about fifteen minutes when the lure further back was hit and the reel screamed off. It’s been quite a while since I have heard that noise and I had forgotten how nice it is! One of my son’s friends was closest to the rod so he picked it up and the fight began. At first we didn’t think it was anything much but we later realised he must have been swimming straight towards the boat because when Damon had retrieved maybe half the line, the fish suddenly took off. 
 

From that point on, any line gained took a fair bit of effort and it was probably twenty minutes or so before we got our first look at it. The usual panic stations set in as we realised it was indeed a decent fish, not just some vermin. The landing net was nowhere big enough so we located the gaff, raised the engine, yelled instructions and generally had a good time. The fish kept diving under the boat and going from side to side at the rear of the boat. After three failed attempts at gaffing him mainly because as soon as he saw it he dived again, Damon finally bought him close enough and I managed to get a good secure gaffing through the jaw. Then it took most of us to drag him over the side and the high fiving began. The green machine finally had a decent fish to its name!

We all had the obligatory photo taken holding him then went to put him on ice. However, we quickly realised there was no way he was going to fit in the esky so we covered him with as much ice as we could, put a wet towel around him and raced back across the bay, to get him properly on ice. We drove straight to BCF Virginia and saw my mate, Gavin and bought an ice bag to put him in. Yet another piece of fishing gear acquired! 
 

I think we’ll all be back out there next weekend trying again!

 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

GO THE GREEN MACHINE!

[ellicat]

Woohoo !  Great to see, Greg. That's a bloody good sized tuna.

[Another Wazza]

Nice work Greg!,  that’s a great longy, did you bleed him straight away?

[GregOug]

51 minutes ago, Another Wazza said:

Nice work Greg!,  that’s a great longy, did you bleed him straight away?

Thanks mate. Yes we bled him in the esky as soon as we’d finished the photo shoot. Made a complete mess but that’s what pressure washers are for! 

[GregOug]

1 hour ago, ellicat said:

Woohoo !  Great to see, Greg. That's a bloody good sized tuna.

Thanks mate. Yes it was! According to the Qld Govt website their max size is 130cm and we measured this one at 1.25m. Didn’t weigh it unfortunately but it was a struggle to pick up. 

[benno573]

Epic. Awesome mate. Tuna steaks for days!

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

2 hours ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

GO THE GREEN MACHINE!

Top job Greg. I am glad you have landed a huge fish on the boat, after lots of effort. I hope it tastes really good - tuna is supposed to be delicious!

If you don't mind me asking what rod and reel was he caught on?

Bummer that the other fish were just catties but the tuna surely makes up for it  

Cheers Hamish

[Ed.]

Congrats Greg, your patience has finally been rewarded. What are you going to do with that catfish?

Cheers

Ed.

[samsteele115]

What a good report to drop back in on... cracking longy Greg! There's still plenty being caught, but as the water cools they tend to stay down deep more often hence giving anglers a nice surprise. They can be a little tricky to target through the winter months but there are a couple of usual haunts

1.25m is usually either side of 20kg. It's a good one! 

I think persistence creates the best memories when that next good fish is finally caught. You won't forget that one! 

[GregOug]

32 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Top job Greg. I am glad you have landed a huge fish on the boat, after lots of effort. I hope it tastes really good - tuna is supposed to be delicious!

If you don't mind me asking what rod and reel was he caught on?

Bummer that the other fish were just catties but the tuna surely makes up for it  

Cheers Hamish

Thanks Hamish. That’s a really good question. Just had to go and look. I have a few trolling outfits in the boat so wasn’t sure which one caught it. Anyway, it is a Shimano Aqua Tip 15-24kg with a roller tip. The reel is a Shimano TLD25. Line is braid. Not sure of strength, but probably 25lb.

[GregOug]

20 minutes ago, Ed. said:

Congrats Greg, your patience has finally been rewarded. What are you going to do with that catfish?

Cheers

Ed.

Thanks Ed. We threw them all back except for one, which one of Alex’s mates took the fillets off of, to try.

[GregOug]

13 minutes ago, samsteele115 said:

What a good report to drop back in on... cracking longy Greg! There's still plenty being caught, but as the water cools they tend to stay down deep more often hence giving anglers a nice surprise. They can be a little tricky to target through the winter months but there are a couple of usual haunts

1.25m is usually either side of 20kg. It's a good one! 

I think persistence creates the best memories when that next good fish is finally caught. You won't forget that one! 

Thanks Sam. Yes, it certainly helps to make up for all the dud trips. Your comment re them staying down deep makes sense. The lure was a deep diver.

[The Mad Hughesy]

What a ripper! That’s awesome, well done lads. I’ll backdate for the Suburbs of Origin hahaha 

[GregOug]

45 minutes ago, christophagus said:

What a ripper! That’s awesome, well done lads. I’ll backdate for the Suburbs of Origin hahaha 

That would be good @christophagus. Except that the Southside Scoundrels have apparently already sold all the trophies!

[Old Scaley]

Fantastic result, Greg. Pretty sure you will be motivated to get out more often now. Congratulations!

[Allnighter]

Nice longtail Greg !! 

Great eating, and keep the frame to cut up into sections ( bones and all ) for great snapper bait.

Congrats 

 

 

 

[GregOug]

21 minutes ago, Allnighter said:

Nice longtail Greg !! 

Great eating, and keep the frame to cut up into sections ( bones and all ) for great snapper bait.

Congrats 

 

 

 

Thanks mate. Luckily I did keep the frame in sections. Thanks for the pro tip.

[jon]

Horse tuna mate well done. What lure did the damage? Also that very last picture is my fav it’s hilarious.

[tugger]

That will be 1 trip to remember I bet the arms are a bit longer now

[GregOug]

.

26 minutes ago, jon said:

Horse tuna mate well done. What lure did the damage? Also that very last picture is my fav it’s hilarious.

Thanks @jon. The lure was a Halco Laser Pro 190 XDD Crazy Deep 6m + in the mullet colour.

[kmcrosby78]

3 hours ago, christophagus said:

What a ripper! That’s awesome, well done lads. I’ll backdate for the Suburbs of Origin hahaha 

Haha - classic. Let me guess, the unique symbol will be a gaff through the fishes nose ......... .

Cracking tuna there Greg, well done team!!  Been a long time now since I caught my only one (still my profile pic, should probably change that ....) but I remember pan frying (BBQing would work well too) with salt, pepper, olive oil and thyme - yum!!  Oh and obviously sashimi if that's your thing .

[Tuna are fish]

thats a good tuna where abouts in the bay were you

[natang]

Awesome fish! That is such a great reward for persistence... Good fishing juju for the Green machine.

[GregOug]

10 hours ago, Tuna are fish said:

thats a good tuna where abouts in the bay were you

Northern end but where exactly, who knows. Lol.

[Drop Bear]

Cracking longy mate well done!! Persistence pays off. 

I hope you enjoy many good meals from that beast. 

[Kat]

Fan Bloody Tastic!  So happy for you all Greg.  About time

[Kat]

Did you mark the spot? Your gonna need a decline when your son and his mates are too busy

[Kat]

Actually on second thoughts I am never gonna get to deckie for you again - cause after that catch your son and his mates will never be too busy to go fishing again!

[GregOug]

4 hours ago, Kat said:

Did you mark the spot? Your gonna need a decline when your son and his mates are too busy

We’ll get out there soon Kat.