humesy Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 G'day, Had a bit of an epic yesterday. The new boat has been christened with its first decent jewie but it was only the consolation prize. Set out at 2.30 with a bad case of cabin fever. I have had two weeks off with school holidays and I am going to take some credit for breaking the drought around here: ever since I bought the damn boat! Anyway, I was heading out against some recent good advice from jewgaffer about the fish shutting down in a prolonged southerly. I went with the theory of "the best time to go fishing is when you can" and also reasoned that a bit of fresh would be stirring things up. Tried Seaforth for livies and had the famed and humble pillie out, just in case all for zip. Went around to Balmoral and caught some livies and was donated some as well by a bloke fishing the warfe who literally threw them at me (in a friendly sort of way. I though he was going to throw them to me). No worries and thanks for that. I thought I would head over to Neilson Park to hide from the Southerly but the trip across the Heads was pretty unpleasant and I didn't fancy a return trip in the dark. Tried Seaforth again for the top of the tide for just an eel (getting good at catching those) but did fill the livie tank full of yakkas. Now what? Some squidding. Picked up 4 nice squid and finally settled on a spot shown to me by Zenman. Its a hole lotta fun there Mike! Within five minutes, the rod with a live squid takes on a bit of a bend I pick it up and there is solid weight then a solid run. This is the one I have been waiting for. The 6500 is singing its sweet song but sadly, the 10-15kg rod it came with at a recent sale was bending with all the strength of a stick of liquorice! It felt totally powerless. It was all over in 10 seconds. The jewie found the mooring rope and managed to free himself and the night was filled with expletives (sorry to the young kiddies of Mosman I may have shocked). Baits went down again and an hour or so later, both livies (a squid and a tailor) show signs of panic. Here it comes says I and the tailor is the one to cop it as the rod loads up again. No escape for this jewie. He went 75cms and maybe 4kgs. Nice fish but I am guessing half the size of the other one. Not to much happening after that. I did pull a 50cm tailor who had bizarrely gone unoticed on a livie rod. Turned out he was throat hooked so wasn't really fighting and wasn't going to survive. So its now midnight on a windy and cold July Tuesday night. Most sane folks are tucked up snugly in bed and thats exactly where I am ready for. Go to start the boat and there is half a kick from the starter motor and then nothing. Hmmm. Few more attempts and the obvious conclusion was that the battery was totally flat. What the hell does one do other than call the good folks at Sea Tow. Now I can fully understand that when you take a call at 12.15am, your phone manners mightn't be their best but the bloke graciously agreed to head out from Drummoyne. He arrived in 40 minutes and for a non member, I had the best service you can imagine. Matt turned out to be totally friendly, full of good advice and of course saved my bacon by jump starting the boat. Absolute legend! Finally got to bed at about 2.00. This was a big learning trip for me and there are several points of debate that you guys might like to open up on. 1. All my accessories (live bait pump, fishfinder, nav lights) had killed the battery but the lights hadn't dimmed and the Navman's low battery alarm didn't sound. No brainer this one; be more careful next time. 2. Circle hooks; I am certain that the run from the big fish was the perfect scenario for a circle hook. There is no dilemma about striking. That fish would have been hooked from the weight, in the corner of the mouth. 3. The influence of the southerly wind/ barometer. It has been a good steady high barometer and not the spike that has been spoken of. I am not in any disagreement about these theories but the moral of the story is go when you can and don't discount other factors such as recent rains. 4. A low quality rod with no grunt will bite you on the arse at some stage. It was still a great deal for the rod/reel combo but the reel was what I really wanted. 5. My advice to all boat owners is to JOIN SEA TOW NOW! Cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilm Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 excellent report, sorry to hear about the one that got away. You won't get a better illustration of the value of SeaTow! BTW, was the rod a catana by any chance? cheers, neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Great report and some good lessons learnt... Mate i recommend you get a second battery...i put one in my boat and have never regreatted it..charge them both up once every few months....i roatate between the 2 batteries.... Also great work by seatow...a midnight call up and they were there in 40 minutes...and its a long hike from drummoyne to MH...well done Seatow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humesy Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 BTW, was the rod a catana by any chance? cheers, neil Sure was Neil. I was warned when I bought it but the price was good. Live and learn. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmoshe Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Great report Humesy and too bad the rod let you down. Well done to Sea Tow,,How good are they to get out of a warm bed at that hour to come to a raider's rescue. At least you now have the peace of mind knowing they will be there for you at all hours. Netic's suggestion of a 2nd battery is a good idea too. Glad you got a jew..even if it did cost you plenty, but money well spent in the end. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 At least you got a fish mate, nice size Jew that. Unlucky about the lost jew and battery. I dont think your battery should have gone that flat that quick. I run 2 pumps an interior neon rod light, my sounder and running lights and havent charged my battery in over 12 trips. In saying that I will now put it on charge tonight. cheers dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishyfingers Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I know Matt from Seatow, he's a gret guy! Regarding the battery situation, been there done that! I keep a jumper pack on board now. It's kept on trickle charge and I just chuck it in when i'm leaving. Cost about $80 from any auto shop. top catch and excellent read ... where's the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humesy Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 Mate i recommend you get a second battery...i put one in my boat and have never regreatted it..charge them both up once every few months....i roatate between the 2 batteries.... G'day, That was Matt's advice as well. Do you actually run both batteries or do you just keep a spare. He recommended using one for accessories and one as a starter motor. My problem is that I am out of space behind the bench seat. I am trying to keep the rest of the boat as clear as possible. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humesy Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 At least you got a fish mate, nice size Jew that. Unlucky about the lost jew and battery. I dont think your battery should have gone that flat that quick. I run 2 pumps an interior neon rod light, my sounder and running lights and havent charged my battery in over 12 trips. In saying that I will now put it on charge tonight. Cheers mate, I am sure glad I bagged one. The trip would have been a total disaster otherwise and would have put me off for a while. I am surprised at how the battery died. It is new and I had been running the motor on and off for over an hour. Maybe a factor was that I stopped and started the engine a few times, running it only briefly while I was squidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR@ZY OS@M@ Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 well done on getting a jew,pitty you lost the first,also top stuff for sea tow coming to the rescue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flygti14u Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 good job on jew bro im still waiting on my first are they good eating at all sizes i see people catch big jew just wandering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 $190 Jewfish Note to self: Must join Sea Tow 5. My advice to all boat owners is to JOIN SEA TOW NOW! Cheers all. i can relate to your costly episode andrew but the big plus is contacting sea tow and will be well worth it in the long run as my mate italian sam and i found when we were out in the rough in his boat in early june. last time i fished taren pt julius misjudged the boat on holt ramp as i drove it towards him for an up and onto the trailer for just a hit of the winch button for him. my prop hit a rock and ended up costing me near $500, a blade repair to qld of my spare prop and an extra $180 to my boat mechanic tan who had to destroy the freshly damaged prop to get it off (the splines were found to be seized by salt binding them in solid, and if that haddened had'nt have happened that prop was still repairable). proves if you don't do it right it costs you now i would recommend re-greasing the splines of a prop every couple of months and/ or at each service. regards jewgather fish on p.s just waiting on it getting itself together to fish hawkes with you and bob (bobfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen801 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Andrew, Mate sorry to hear about the battery and rod letting you down. It is a great spot that as you know i often rave about. Doesnt always produce but when it does it is pure PB material. There are some mother jews there at times. I would reckon the lost one was an entry into the 10 KG club. A 75cm is surely a great consolation to an otherwise problematic trip. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screamnlines Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Sorry to here about your trouble but at least it wasn't all for nothing.... Like fishy fingers, I keep a jumper pack in the boat at all time even with my duel battery setup... you can never have too much power or fuel.... They keep therre charge for a long time , I think I jumped my wifes cars about fifteen times before it needed another charge..... well worth the $80 from supercheap... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simondenic Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 It is also worth a mention that the Water Police are available if you are stranded and are requiring a salvage further offshore where Sea Tow are restricted. I have had dealings with the Water Police through work and it is not uncommon for them to travel much further than the continental shelf to provide salvage to broken down vessels (mainly run down trawlers). They can be contacted via the Coastal Patrol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnie Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Humesy The advice the boys have gave you re the second battery and at the very least the jump pack is the way to go...... These two batteries will be connected by mean's of a battery isolation switch allowing you easily to toggle between them both If however as you say the second battery is impractical you can get a simple electrical device fitted to the main power supply that will automatically cut off when getting to the stage of depletion saving a call to sea tow....... Humsey just a thought have a look just on the presumation the battery was not the blame .ie loose connection to battery use nylox nut's to the terminal's not wing nut's or some bad electrical connection in the motor so when you have a new battery you don't repeat the same thing again............oh and i'm presuming your motor is to big to use the emergency pull chord...... Hope that help's now go get em............tiger Cheers Warnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelxr6 Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 mate top reply but even thou you had bad luck ....bagging a jew was woth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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