Old Scaley

I’ve been on Straddie since Monday morning. Blowing 20+ knots so far. Still managing a feed.

Great fish Hamish!

Great report, @AUS-BNE-FISHO. You are getting closer to nailing that spot.

Off topic, but are you doing a report on your Cape trip, @kmcrosby78?

I saw the second half of that game. Some big boys and some good skills coming through for both teams. The real SoO game on Wednesday looked like the teams had swapped attitudes for the night. NSW played like they should have and Qld played like NSW in the first two games. Still can’t understand why Cody Walker wasn’t in the team ahead of Luai For the whole series. He is a real footballer while Luai is a show pony. Looking forward to the next series already!

Well angled and well described. You will be dreaming about that one for a while.

Good to see you have taught @Kat the “catch fish with a durrie hanging out the mouth technique”...... Good luck tomorrow.

I do see what you mean @Angry51. I think we start by making them feel welcome and encouraging women to take part. Women in Recreational Fishing provides a place where women can learn from each other and share experiences just like blokes do.

I met a couple of women from this group at the World Recreational Fishing Conference in Melbourne this year. Nice down to earth people trying to encourage more women into the sport.

Surely the Titans were robbed by the Bunker today. What a joke.

Looks like a nice break with the boys and Jazz, Brian. A word of advice after watching the first video - slow down on the roads mate. You are going to kill someone at that speed. And stop giving your passengers helium balloons!

Hey Damo. It’s a 24 foot aluminium longboat with a 140 Suzuki on the back. Soon to be based in Cairns for easy access to remote trips in the Cape and Gulf. Rides so nicely.

Amelia looks pretty happy with herself, Ray. And why wouldn’t she. I would be pretty happy if 80 fish were were caught!

Went out with a couple of mates on Tuesday in my mate’s new boat. He wanted to get some hours up on the new motor. So the plan was to tour Moreton Bay and drop a line every now and again. Left Victoria Point at the gentleman o’clock (8.30am) to a moderate SW breeze and did a bit of running around the southern Bay Islands. Stopped at one of them for a fish around the last of the run out tide, with a few undersize squire coming over the gunnel and lots of pickers. Moved to Peel where there were more unders before finally boating a legal squire. Only 40cm but we were off the donut. Did a lap of Peel, then headed to Blakesleys for a lunch stop and stretch the legs. Then up past Dunwich for a cruise to check out the bar. No intention of crossing, just sightseeing. Saw some dolphins working in the shallows in the exact spot where I saw dolphins herding a school of snapper a few years ago. On the way up we saw a few boats circling around an area in the Rainbow Channel. We thought why should they have all the fun, so motored over and started trolling hard bodies. No luck. I had one paravane in the tacklebox so threw that out and had instant success. Caught 2 decent macs in quick succession, then handed the rod to my mate who dropped 3 in a row. Just unlucky, I guess. Then as he was dropping the paravane back into the water it was hit before it went more than 10 metres. Fish on before a strange thing happened. The rod tip started bouncing in a weird way for a couple of seconds before the line went slack. The 40lb almost brand new braid had parted just back behind the boat. We can only assume, there was a fish on the spoon, but something else hit the braid accidentally and did the damage? In any case, my only paravane was gone and didn’t float to the top, so if you catch a mackerel in the Bay and there is a paravane attached, let me know. Shame because there was not shortage of hits to keep us entertained. We headed for home after that. My mate was happy, s few hours up on the motor and some blood in the new boat. We each had a fish for dinner and it was a great day to tour the Bay. Thanks for reading.

Plenty of options to replace him and not lose too much. Personally I think this will be a good learning opportunity for him. He has lots of talent but could use a bit of attitudinal adjustment. Go Qld!

We have had the trawler ban discussion before on AFO. So we don’t detract from Hamish’s Stirling efforts, let’s comment on that issue here:

Even if you don’t catch another fish over the holidays, Hamish, you have had a fantastic break! Great Jew! I have noticed the prawn trawlers working around the city reaches lately so the must be fish throughout the system at the moment.

Great stuff, Charlie. I’m not jealous - well, maybe a little bit.

Love the teamwork.

Pretty sure there is/was a plan by the State Government in Qld to bring Coast Guard and VMR under one umbrella and add some funding so that you would be covered everywhere in the state no matter which one you signed up with. Not sure if that is still happening or how far off it would be. @Thorbjorn Hale, I would highly recommend doing a marine radio course. Lots of great info that might save your life one day. VMR run courses at Manly and Raby Bay.

Afternoon delight!

Welcome back, @Angus. Aurelia looks like a chip off the old block. Hopefully she will be outfishing you before she finishes primary school. Special times.

Good to see you back on AFO, @Angus. I see you haven’t lost your touch! That cobia would be a rare catch in that spot.

Never in doubt. Certainly didn’t get the rub of the green with the decisions. Who needs 13 on the field and playing 1 down most of the game to beat the Blues.......

Great read, Hamish. You are a bit hard on yourself - I would rate a bag out on snapper from the Brisbane River more than 70%. You hVe comes long way in a few short years.