Port Kembla

[Flightmanager]

G'day Raiders ,

What a weekend !! Sometimes you just never know what is going to happen in 48 hours.

Saturday Morning

Gongfisho ( Ben ) and I had planned to get together on Sunday , and fish his local waters down at the 'Gong. Mrsflightmanager and I had a few loose ends to tie up at Wattos , so after setting my rods out the back of the house for packing , off we went to spend a few hours getting some tackle and advice from Sean . Rang Hussar480 ( Albert ) , and organised to take his boat down so that he could join in the fun ! Returned home , and started packing everything , ready for a 4 am start from Sydney. Went to retrieve the rods and.....

They werent there!

We looked high and low , but there was no doubt , they were GAWN !

That really took the gloss off what was to be a great weekend. Finished packing ( fortunately I still had 3 rods in the house , but all very light gear) .

Had a PM session with Mallacoota Pete about the theft ,and put in a small post to let the other raiders know what was going on .

A short time later got a call from Ben , he was as crook as Rookwood , and I advised him to cancel the fishing and get to bed , which advice he took.

Not being in the best of moods , I took myself off to bed early , and carshed out.

Sunday Morning

As usual , as soon as I awoke , I checked out the FR site for new postings , and saw that there had been many replies to my post about the theft. Now , this doesnt happen often ( ask ) but I was at a loss for words.Your kind thoughts and generosity were astounding , and gave me a great lift !!

Packed the car , and arrived at Alberts , he was waiting , so without further ado , we hooked up his boat , and headed south!!

Had a great run , and when we reached Port Kembla , we decided to fill up the boat with fuel , as you do !

Now , the tank on Alberts boat holds 100 litres , and we were pretty sure that it was over half full last time we brought it home . So with Albert in the boat filling , and me at the bowser chatting , we watched the pump keep on going , 80 litres , 90 litres , 100 , 110??

Now , I am nobodies mathematician , but I do know you cant put 110 litres into a 100 litre tank! I said to Albert " It must be running out of the overflow or something?" . He had a look , and discovered that the main filling hose from the gunwale to the tank had detached from its fitting , and all 110 litres of fuel were now sloshing ariound in the bilge!

We couldnt believe it .

So , after a minutes thought , we devised a cunning plan!! We would drain the bilge , one 5 litre bucket at a time , until we had filled the boat , and any extra we would put in the car !!

This took a little time , but the weather was fine , the sun was singing and the birds were shining!

Arrived at the ramp , and put the boat in the water , and headed out to spot X . ALbert was first to strike , but sadly lost the fish in the last 10 yards. He also lost a packet of smokes overboard! Undeterred , he dropped the bait out again , and zzzzzzzzzzz ! Im on , he said !! Then ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ , his other rod went off . He asked me if I minded looking after it , as he was busy with the first strike . No worries , said I , and whatever was on the end of the line , was very disinclined to leave the water level it was at. I pulled and heaved , it was heavy , that I knew, but what kind of heavy I knew not! Lots of pulling and winding , ( we were fishing in about 100 feet of water) , and we had a flash of colour , just before it made a powerful dive for the depths. Nuh uh , not on my watch you dont , and in a short time we had him on board. A 60 CM KINGY

As the fish appeared to be on the bite , we tossed the 2 new cellmates into the bait tank , and set forth to do battle with their kin. I was next to strike , a very nice 47CM Flatty , which I think is a PB for me !! Things got little quieter after that , and we decided to put the kingy and the other fish Albert caught in the keeper net.

Tried a few more times , but the action had died down for the time being , so we decided to go back to spot X , and again@

Very shortly after , I was on again , this time a very fat sweep I think ( Ill post the pics tomorrow) . Then several more found their way into the Sin Bin!

Next time we moved the boat , albert retrieved the net from the stern , only to discover that the King has left the netting! We were amazed , gobsmacked and incredulous !! lbert was heard to cry " Oh You silly sausage !" . and other moving epithets.

Tried a few more times for not much action , so after about 6 hours fishing , we called it a day,We had a good bag of 9 fish , and we were pretty happy overall. The boat reeked of petrol but ran well as it always does.

Returned to the ramp , trailered the boat and cleaned the fish, I hope to have the photos up tomorrow .

Left Port Kembla ramp at 1415 , and arrived back in Mt Druittt at 1545 . Traffic was very light .

So , all in all , a great days fishing ,ok we had a few minor hiccups on the day , but nothing bad enough to stop us fishing!!

My thanks to Albert for the use of his boat , and for his fine company while we were together.

Looking forward to doing it again soon !!

Ross

[Guest claudia]

Great report Ross , Cant believe all the hiccups you guys had, but at least you both had a good time.

Cant wait to see the photos, I would like a photo for the board mate!!!

Ross you catch fish because i always wrap your bait for you. Lady luck you see, if Sean packs your bait you dont catch nothing.

Well done and i am glad you guys had fun

cheers

claudia

[mrmoshe]

Bloody marvelous Ross...What a difference a day makes eh?

So glad you went fishing as no one would have blamed you for staying home and

being in your cups after the previous day's unhappy episode.

I know that everyone I have PM'd and spoken with today was saddened by your loss and I know ALL Fishraiders

sypathised with you.

It's great that the Fishraider community and sponsors have made such generous offers to get you back to

what you had the previous day in terms of gear.

You are one of the "gentlemen" of the Fishraider family and deserve the admiration that you have received so far.

Great bag of fish there and i'm sure the fish Gods were smiling on you today.

Good on ya mate.

Cheers,

Pete.

Edited December 17, 2006 by MallacootaPete

[Flightmanager]

Ciao Claudia,

Penso che abbiate fatto appena un asta per il vostri propri indietro! Di qui sopra dentro, nessuno ma voi imballa la mia esca!!

Amore, Ross

[mrmoshe]

hahahha, just did a babelfish translation of that Ross..cop this:

"Task that you have made hardly an auction for your own ones behind! Here over within, nobody but you packs my decoy!!"

Either your Italian is crap or babelfish is buggered!

Buon Natale,

Pete.

Edited December 17, 2006 by MallacootaPete

[Flightmanager]

Here is what I actually wanted to say : Hello Claudia , I think you have just made a rod for your own back! From here on in , nobody but you packs my bait !!

Ross

[Davemmm]

Ross

Glad to see you got a decent days fishing after all that crap.

I just need to give one tip but. Buckets and petrol dont mix.

I used to work on the construction of service stations and the standard induction film contained examples of static in buckets setting fire to petrol as it was pumped in.

Up until then I thought you couldnt use plastic containers as they may melt but apparently its all about static.

Dave

[bastik]

Nicely written report. I enjoyed that. With the boat smelling of fuel, your probably lucky you lost the smokes overboard.

cheers

b

[Penguin]

Nicely written report. I enjoyed that. With the boat smelling of fuel, your probably lucky you lost the smokes overboard.

cheers

b

Yes i agree, good report and very lucky smokes were lost overboard

with all those petrol fumes about.

penguin

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

very good report mate