Macks, wrecks and sandhills

[kmcrosby78]

Belated report from a great family day on Moreton Bay last Tuesday. I took my two boys in my boat and my three brothers and their sons (3 of them) went in our dads boat (unfortunately dad had a pre-organised doctors appointment so couldn’t make it).

We set off around 8:00am from Manly (about an hour earlier than my bros) with the intention to fish the beacons for mackerel prior to going to Tangalooma Wrecks. That plan changed somewhat when we came across birds working and then tuna smacking baitfish in numerous small-medium bustups on the southern side of Mud Island. 
 

Long story short I first tried throwing the metal slug I had rigged up right into the bustups a couple of times for no love so we then tried drifting around with some lightly weighted pillies (the way I caught my one and only long tail tuna to date ..) but had no tuna love despite them popping up near us a couple of times. 
 

We ended up drifting along the eastern side of Mud as there were still more bustups coming and finally, after a grinner caused false hope, we finally had a proper hookup (or so we thought ..) and after pondering if it was a squire or cod, a 48cm school mackerel hooked in the stomach came up and was promptly released.

Happy that a desirable soecies had been landing we continued drifting and not long after George’s nominated reel begun singing and he leapt straight into it like a seasoned pro despite being 7yrs old and battling his first ever mackerel . He fought it well, letting it do a run when nearing the boat and his brother Liam managed to bet his 58cm schoolie. Yay!!!! 
 

 

Liam was on next with a 59cm schoolie and we had a very happy couple of boys (and dad …. ). 

Not too long after a rod went off again and I instinctively picked it up (can’t let the kids have all the fun … ) and soon knew this fish had a bit of size to it, evidenced more with a screaming run when still at least 10m from the boat. Catching a glimpse of it mot long after we were surprised at its size (I haven’t caught bigger schoolies before) and for a moment I wondered if it might be a grey Mack or small Spaniard. After some coaching from dad, Liam managed to get the net in the water enough for me to guide a 73cm (from memory) schoolie into the net - stoked!!

 

My brothers dropped my nephew onto our boat for some cousin time as they were about to head to the beacons (no love for them despite plenty of bait on the sounder) and then a snorkel at the wrecks. As we were on a hot bite we stayed for a while longer, with another run not long after which my nephew Darius latched onto. Despite winding in all the way to the swivel/sinker and some dodgy net work by his cousins we managed to net his 63cm (again, from memory) schoolie dnd he was one happy boy. We didn’t end up getting photos apart from the kill shot later as this one was bled in a bucket whilst we made our way to Tamgalooma Wrecks, not before passing through a glasses out section in the vicinity of the four beacons area - magic!! 
 

 

We found the others and they’d finished snorkelling so we went over near the shoreline in front of the sandhills and rafted up so we could have some hot dogs for lunch - gourmet!! .  After that all the boys swam into shore and took turns sliding down the sandhills on body boards (first time for my boys) with George (the youngest of the crew) going first and becoming a mess of tangled legs and arms flipping over and over for the last part of an extremely steep (and fast!!) slide. I didn’t realise it was him at first and must admit, was pretty relieved he was OK … . Liam was next and he was super fast also and came off right at the bottom but also lived to tell the tale. 
 

I had one turn from three quarters of the way up (it’s a jolly steep hill and quite a workout, particularly carrying two boards up …) and I was happy with my medium pace as it me  as my there was no xhance of a shoulder injury (getting old and cautious I know but I had a reconstruction when I was 19 and it hasn’t been the same since.

One of my brothers had an inflatable SUP which kept them amused also. So did watching all the fourbies roll off the ferry and make their way up the beach at varying speeds, with one going ridiculously fast, a couple very heavy/low at the rear and one getting bogged when turning for the first exit. 
 

At about 3pm I decided it was time to see the wrecks. The others were going to go do some more fishing so George opted to join them and another one of my nephews chose to join us. The wind had picked up considerably (as forecast to) but it was still fine to snorkel and still good visibility. If you haven’t done it before put it on your to do list. It was only our second time and the amount and variety of fish is fantastic with some massive bream that look snapper, some big flathead and whiting including one very large flathead (at a guess 80-90cm) along with plenty of other varieties of fish, a couple of cod and big blue parrot or tuskies and a massive school of pike.

The trip home was very rough (you realise how far grime home you are when you cop bad conditions) so I tucked in behind dads boat (bigger than mine). It played up towards the end (near Mud Island) so I went ahead of them and kept an eye on them to make sure they could still continue and met them back at the ramp. Motor was limiting to about 2000revs so not sure yet what the issue is/was. We got a bit wet in my boat (centre console) so we’re glad to have a warm shower when we got back to my parents place around 6:00pm. Big but rewarding day!  

I sorted the fish out the next morning, cutting the bigger one into mostly cutlets (except the tail end) and filleting the other three.

Looking forward to getting out again soon. Still need to extend our shed at our new house to fit the boat. Soon hopefully as we sell/settle our old house next week . Will be much easier to hook up and head fishing once the shed is extended- bring it on!!!

[kmcrosby78]

Forgot to add that George managed to wind in a squid that we netted - it was wrapped around a pilchard whilst we were fishing for mackerel. Squid entree sorted .

[GregOug]

Great report KM.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Awesome reportKM, sounds like a great day out! 

[Old Scaley]

What a great family day out, Kelvin, and a top quality report! Good to see you back on the water.

[The Mad Hughesy]

fantastic report and pics. cracking day out

[Kat]

What a fantastic day and great memories for the boys!

[ellicat]

Top report, Kelvin. Congrats on the PB mack and a great family day. The boys look well pleased.

The top of Mud and the Brisbane Bar are terrible when the conditions chop up. I think I was out there too (can't remember for sure) at Mud and couldn't raise a mack despite having a floater out for hours. Yesterday there were some small bustups around us - we thought they may have been tailor but could have been small tuna.

I remember old member Fishyman (Tom) breaking his collarbone doing the sandhills. Heart in mouth stuff.

I'd be interested to find out what the motor trouble was/is. Sounds similar to my intermittent problem (at 4000 revs). It would have been a slow journey home.

[tugger]

Fun filled day fishing and island time and all this on our doorstep 

[ellicat]

On 30/09/2022 at 9:16 AM, ellicat said:

I'd be interested to find out what the motor trouble was/is. Sounds similar to my intermittent problem (at 4000 revs). It would have been a slow journey home.

Any updates on the troubles, @kmcrosby78 ?