JonD

I think bar crossings would be a tricky thing actually get good experience of from a course. I remember water police coming here a few years ago to get their bar crossings endorsements . They had picked a weather period where the bar was flat but in and out they went over several days, they would of experienced far worse wash from boats in Sydney or Botany Bay. Rescue training from what Ive ever seen is also in pretty flat conditions and I believe the rescue boats dont go out if the swell is above 2m, it then becomes a rescues from the safer harbours north or south of us. The best experience is going out on boats with people who have gained lots of experience but even that can be tricky as some people who have done it for years also get in trouble and lose their lives. Im amazed how many people head out in the dark in order to get live bait or reach the best spots first. Its rare for me to head through the bar before 9am, by that time the word is out how sketchy the crossing was. I must admit though that I like rough conditions, it just seems to do something to me which I enjoy about being at sea, maybe its just adrenalin.

It can be like boating and riding a moto x bike at the same time. Everything is happening fast, so you need to react quickly and know how the boat handles in a constantly changing situation. You can have wind waves from one direction, swell from another and tidal pressure waves all thrown into the mix. Simply waiting a while for an incoming tide direction change can completely change the bar to being far safer. Engine power plays a big part as you need to constantly work the throttle, adding a 4 blade prop can also help with grip and keeping the stern from bogging in to much.

Unfortunately another life lost and one in hospital after capsizing in the bar yesterday. At the ramp is a large led light warning sign stating wave height, yesterday it was 1.1m. Im not sure exactly where the wave height is calculated from but having crossed the bar myself with three onboard just before the accident, I can assure people some of those waves were double, if not three times that size. I can see how some people might see the warnings and think 1.1m waves are small, which most small boats could perhaps handle. However the reality for us was waiting for a lull then full throttle to the first wave then backing off as we drove up the face then full throttle to the next again and again until through. Coming back later in the day from 500m in front of the bar I paused to allow a set of full breaking swell across the bar before picking my wave and committing. I do like how responsive my 445 is in such conditions picking through chop and pressure waves. Once through a quick glance back revealed a wall of white breaking waves which was easy to see how the boat had gone over. This was a 1.1m day at the bar. I feel inexperienced boaters will picture in there mind a tape measure with 1.1m on it and simply have no idea what that means in bar crossing conditions. Even parking up and heading out onto the break wall can be very misleading for people, firstly looking down from high up on a break wall makes the waves look smaller. Time periods with waves can be very misleading too. I headed onto the break wall and watched several boats big and small head in, with what looked like nothing more than chop. I also saw the large police boat come in where the nose went down low and keeled over a fair amount. On their run out they had to pull back on a couple of waves which certainly woke the people onboard up. 1.1m waves, I feel I have to keep saying it as people simply don't get what that means. The day my daughter lost a person overboard was 1.8m and conditions much like the past few days where there were 20-30mins of good water followed by nasty stuff. As far as the fishing went, couldn't fit anymore good sized dolphin fish in the cooler bag and boats all around were into the marlin. Police boat sitting pretty. Sitting not as pretty. My daughter bringing her charter in behind the police boat. Police turned back around to head straight back out. I called a friend I often fish with who's boys were also out wide in a larger boat advising them to consider Bermagui harbour over ours, which Im pleased to say they took the advice and the dad happily drove the trailer down to the safer harbour to pick them up. Its always good to have enough fuel for an alternative escape plan. Stay safe people and remember this is just 1.1m.

Fabulous, not just the fish and destination but the connection you both obviously have.

Im using a Sony RX 10mk4, one camera that can cover most things without any need for lens changing etc.

Wow thanks for that 😊 Also thanks for all the comments everyone.

Hopefully this report ticks more boxes in regards to location and tackle etc.

Few more.

A few more shots.

Had a busy couple of weeks with my youngest daughter and her boyfriend visiting from the NT. So far managed to get her boyfriend some pretty amazing beach catches and 5 marlin, not to mention the light tackle bream, bass and flathead stuff. The marlin have been going pretty crazy from Merimbula to Jervis Bay and we are smack in the middle at Narooma. Marlin are being seen from land jumping and caught in the shallows to the shelf. Our last trip out from Narooma we had a large black marlin free jumping straight at us just after passing through the bar. Water temps have been extremely high, so even a few cobia and wahoo have been caught down this way. Some days we are in 24'c where we encounter blacks, stripped and blue marlin all in one day and others just black marlin in the hotter water up to 27'c. Finding any bait schools either at the surface or down deep is often key to getting among the marlin, even if you don't see them on the sounder its worth putting a live bait out as you catch bait as most of our fish have been instant off the first bait we find. Two of the kids onboard got to do the driving and leading (lining) the fish, which added to the the release time but was good experience for them. Live bait works best trolled with the boat in gear at its slowest speed, working over the bait schools. Outfists can be anything from heavy tiagra gear to spin outfits. Personally I prefer heavy spin as Im able to get fish in far quicker with this gear. A decent spin outfit for me is used with the rod in my dominate hand, meaning I have more power and control of the rod in that hand. Also not being strapped into all the awkward harness gear works well for me but others like all that stuff. The striped marlin have been the quickest to get alongside the boat with the black and blue marlin doing more deep fishing battles which involve moving off the fish to try and get them to come up. This method works but they soon head back down if you give them chance. Been seeing plenty of albatross and Risso's dolphins out wide, which I must admit to getting very distracted by.

Must admit mine have been lacking as Ive been hitting the water early chasing marlin for the past week or so followed by beach sessions until around 11pm each night and feel generally to shattered. Its all becoming a blur now!!!!!!.....making the most of having kids home.

I use canon gear and Sony, must admit Ive never messed with HDR even doing commercial interiors in the past. I simply use raw images and expose for the areas where I know I can pull enough detail around that exposure from a raw image to get a decent enough image. I should use HDR and layering but find Im to lazy to spend much time at the computer, or should I say if people didn't want to pay for that time they are simply going to get what they pay for.

To be honest the inshore waves weren't to bad and those bigger ones would of been very hard to judge from closer to shore. Once they committed closer to the last few sets, they didn't have much choice to keep punching through. The little signature sliced through the first of it pretty well but even with the speed pulled back the steepness of those last waves had them reaching for the stars. I enjoy the challenges of bar crossing, especially when its just me onboard.

Thats how I saw it too, made me come home and look at videos where they were tiny little chaps trying to pull bluefin in with rods in holders. They are my mates lads and seeing them pull together when they need to was pretty special.

A few from Saturday. Kids catching fish. Kids skippering for hooked fish. Kids lining fish. Kids releasing fish. Adult capturing a few snaps. Seven stripes for the day.

Good to see the boat in action, though it did look a little hectic with all those fish.

Seven marlin today, bit to worn out to get a report going yet!!!!!

Just gotten home from an exhausting beach session on salmon, tailor, rays and sharks at midnight and back on the water at 6am in the morning. To many nights with chocolate and Netflix are catching up on me, Im buggered!!!!!!

Just clicked the post about the tidied up rules and the link wouldn't allow me to view what these changes are.

Just getting confirmation as it seems the bigger fish could possibly be a blue and not striped marlin. If so the lucky bugger has had black, blue and striped in two trips.

Stick with the cold, people are chasing yellowfin in it down this way. Nothing quite like stick baiting tuna off the surface,

Been hitting the water hard since my youngest daughter turned up with her fishing mad boyfriend from the NT. The beaches have been on fire with fish and the offshore scene much the same. Yesterday first bait being put over the side was snatched by a small striped marlin before we could get the line to the outrigger. This little one was pretty small so brought onboard for a photo. Second fish came later in the day, again on a bait being dropped back onto a bait ball. This fish gave a good fight on the spin gear and needed chasing a few times to get line back on the spool. Also got to see my eldest daughter at work out there skippering a charter on the marlin. Hit 58 yrs old this week, starting to feel my age when the kids come home!!!!!

Gee I wish I hadn't looked at that hook in your leg again🤕 Top dangling guys.

Still 24'c yesterday, had a couple of striped marlin out of Bermi. Inshore water has gone cool though and a few yellowfin have been taken form Batemans Bay in the 50-60kg size.

If you wanted to keep the cost down a bit, add a penn battle to the list. I picked up a 6000 battle mk3 two years ago which I use and lend out to friends wanting to chase bigger shore species. The drag is smooth and powerful and has landed numerous sharks to 90kg and big rays, not to mention all the smaller species. The reel is still performing like the day I purchased it unlike my Shimano's which very soon need servicing on those sorts of species. Not knocking the Shimano reels as I have plenty of them and find the lighter weight of them more preferable, its simply that they don't seem to handle the hard life as well. I haven't had a slammer or authority penn but would be keen on trying those to know Ive experienced how good the budget end has been.