crazywalrus

9 hours ago, Bretto77 said:

Bugger about the sharks. Between sharks and Crocs it might soon pay to check the throne really well before you sit down... Glad you managed to get some tucker past it all .

Yes, it makes you think twice before jumping in to cool off. 
 

yeah there is no shortage of sharks up here and hear from @ellicat that is the same in the Bay as well.  So hard when you are struggling to find the fish and get a bite , only to have the first one smashed 2m off the bottom.  No point putting another bait down to waste another fish.  I think the only reason Alex got his red up was that I had a shark on the line in the rod holder as he brought it up. 

We got out on Monday, which is probably the last chance for Declan this trip north. The weather for the next week is not looking good unless you want to wind surf.  
 

We head out wide off Cairns.  It was lumpy at first and only got better from there. We have been testing the fishing against the almanac. The day was set to be a poor day with one bite period which was average.  We fished the morning bite and we did manage some activity but like the last Wednesday the sharks where insane. 
 

I have never seen sharks this bad.. normally you get taxed after a fight. This trip they where onto our fish a few metres into the fight.  We had several sharks that managed to hook themselves and 45min fights ensued trying to get our braid back, fighting them and driving them off.  I had 2 such fights and Declan had 3.  Has to be said we where spent after. Personally I can not imagine why anyone would choose to target sharks. 

We worked and moved around trying to get away from the sharks and not waste to many fish to them. We managed 1 Red and 9 Robinson’s Sea Bream, 2 trout and  a milf and a spangled.  
 

On a positive note, I really rate the Robos as an eating fish. Right up there with Reds.   Such  lean flesh.  I got my PB with the largest going 67cm.  
 

My boys came up for Christmas. They where supposed to fly into cairns the day Jasper hit the coast but they managed to fly in on the Thursday before the airport flooded.  
 

We sat around the house for a week watching the rain and the mould grow and we head out on the first day we could get out. The almanac was telling us it was going to be good and boy we could not go wrong. We hit the known grounds for the first two days landing several Nannies and an awesome dogtooth tuna on a light 20lb outfit. 
 

For the  third day out Declan wanted to chase some Reds. Not having any ground off Cairns, we went prospecting and we found some incredible ground  

Head out with my Neighbour, David and his mate, Joe. The weather models where conflicted coming into Friday but they seemed to align and we head out early Saturday to try and fish the early morning bite period and what a period.  We tried to hang around for the second period but the wind picked up and up and we had to cut and run with 22knots beating down on us from the side. 2.5 hours and we where back in the safety of trinity inlet.  

We head out today with Declan to make the most of the fortnight he is up.  The forecast was somewhat confounded for Wednesday. I got up at 3.30am and checked the live readings and the Bom Radar and nearly called it. I stayed true and we head out. It was a little lumpy going out, but that was the worst of it and it was a beautiful day and a lot better then the forecasts.  We fished in a lot of depths and the bite was difficult, the almanac did say it was going to be a poor day.  When we did manage to hook up, the Taxman took his cut very quickly which gave us a lot of frustration.   

Anyway Declan caught his PB Red Bass and pulled out of 135m, manually. He was puffing a bit when he got it up.  It is a pitty that we can not eat these fish on the East Coast.

Good stuff Benno, always good to get out with the @ellicat

On 31/12/2023 at 2:26 PM, ellicat said:

Object required to be in the pictures to qualify for entry is - 

Your little finger. If you don't have a little finger, then your smallest finger.

 

NB Even though the photo issue has not yet been fixed, please still take pics, as hopefully the issue will be resolved prior to 31 Jan 24. Pics can be posted anytime in January. It is possibly a strategy to withhold in any case.

Do you have to prove it is your finger? DNA? 

some reports from when the boys were up for Christmas.  The first week was dominated by cyclone Jasper and the rain after, but we managed to get out 5 days including Xmas day. 
 

I have added Facebook links while the photos are down on the site. 
 

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/p/NQBNUEpbTMVXK4Fp/?mibextid=K8Wfd2
 

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/p/wPVWfHAxrETokbCS/?mibextid=K8Wfd2
 

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/p/nmbrZWJ35thVAqbS/?mibextid=K8Wfd2
 

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/p/KVYcc8rSX99rKArT/?mibextid=K8Wfd2
 

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/p/5td1rTE5j9mB7Kmq/?mibextid=K8Wfd2
 

The boys came up for a few days on Friday and the moons and stars aligned so we head down to Mission Beach to make the  must of a rare weather window in winter up here.  

We started the day battling with Bludger Trevally, chinamen, spangled emperors and of course sharks , so by lunch after a 4 o’clock start we had little to show for it.  Jacob learnt the hard way about having Two baits down at once getting a double of nearly 1m bludgers on, it nearly pulled  him out if the boat. He handed the rod to Declan and he managed to get them up. With the fight  we where hoping for a legendary Red. 

We kept working and looking for ground and started to pick up a fish or two at each spot before the sharks shut us down. You really have to drag these fish up, any delay and the Taxman takes it all 
Jacob hooked up to a big Nanny and handed off to Declan to skull drag it up, to be followed up by a 4 metre hammerhead who was not happy Declan beat him and then swam around the boat for a couple of minutes giving us the stink eye. 

We hit the final spot on dusk and managed some red throat and trout in shallower water but even there we struggled with the sharks and head in earlier which was good with it blowing up. Very lucky to get out with the boys this time of year.