Sharks 5... Fishraiders 0

[jim77]

Yesterday i was lucky enough to go on my virgin trip to Browns with fellow fishraiders Mike191 and Sean (sorry sean don't know your fishraider name).

We met at the most leisurely hour of 7:30am at Port Hacking and were soon underway on what looked like a beautiful morning. First stop was Shark Island to get some livies. Doing most of my fishing in the harbour where winter livies are somewhat hard to come by i was amazed at how many there were and how easy they were to catch! Once the burley went in within about 20 minutes we had more than enough to cover us for the day.

Next stop was Browns... i knew it was a long way but i didn't realise quite how far until we were underway. We were really lucky with the weather and surface conditions - very little wind which actually dropped through the day and minimal swell which made the trip out there pretty quick and smooth. After what seemed like forever Mike informed us that we were pretty close to Browns so out went a spread of 3 lures. We trolled around for about an hour with no action whatsoever so the decision was made to find a suitable patch of water and start cubing.

By this stage the wind had dropped to virtually nothing and it was a beautiful day out there. Over the course of cutting up pilies we exchanged fishing stories and generally tried to convince ourselves that we were in for a huge day on the fin... even though there didn't look to be a lot of action on any of the other boats out there and the water was on the cold side. After about 2 hours of nothing suddenly there was a tentative take on one of the rods and Mike was into a solid Mako. It duly put on an aerial show for us and then it went deep and just kept going. It took a lot of line but eventually Mike managed to put the brakes on it. For about 50 minutes he wrestled with this Shark and the longer the fight went for the more confident we were getting that we had been lucky and hooked it in the corner of the mouth away from his teeth. It got closer and closer to the surface so much so that we started rigging up ropes to get ready to tail wrap it and deal with getting it in the boat. Just as it seemed that we had it beaten the shark broke the surface and then PING - he cut the line and he was gone!!

I'm sure you can imagine the expletives that came out of all of our mouths but on the upside at least we had had some action! Not to be put off we kept the cube trail going and about and hour later we were rewarded again. Unfortunately this one was a little more short lived. Sean took the strike, the Shark hit the surface and within 2 or 3 seconds he had cut the line

Still we kept the tube trail going confident that we would eventually hook something and get it in the boat. The next run that came was the longest so far. After another tentative bite but as soon as the hook was set whatever it was (we are guessing another Mako) went straight down. Sean had a lot of pressure on the fish and it was still peeling line off at an alarming rate. This went on for about 10-15 minutes and then the line went slack. Presuming the trace had been snipped again we wound in to find that the hook had partially straightened!

By this stage it was about 4:30pm and the light was started to dim. The decision was made to carry on cubing in the hope that the bite would continue. We weren't to be disappointed as about 1/2 an hour later one of the rods went off again - unfortunately we had the same scenario. After about 5 mins of battling the trace was snipped again. By this stage it was getting pretty dark but we decided to continue until our supply of pilies ran out. We had one more take which didn;t result in a hook up so at about 6pm we pulled up stumps and headed for home.

If it seemed like a long way out in the morning it seemed twice as far on the way back in! Travelling back in the dark was an interesting experience but Mike was a great skipper and we made good time back into the ramp.

So at the end of it all - close to a 12 hour day on the water with no fish! But it was a great experience and it was good to meet some fellow Fishraiders.

A huge thanks to Mike for getting us out there and i'm looking forward to some future trips on your boat mate.

[Kiwi Dan]

at least you had some action fellas, well done.

[mikeh191]

Yesterday i was lucky enough to go on my virgin trip to Browns with fellow fishraiders Mike191 and Sean (sorry sean don't know your fishraider name).

We met at the most leisurely hour of 7:30am at Port Hacking and were soon underway on what looked like a beautiful morning. First stop was Shark Island to get some livies. Doing most of my fishing in the harbour where winter livies are somewhat hard to come by i was amazed at how many there were and how easy they were to catch! Once the burley went in within about 20 minutes we had more than enough to cover us for the day.

Next stop was Browns... i knew it was a long way but i didn't realise quite how far until we were underway. We were really lucky with the weather and surface conditions - very little wind which actually dropped through the day and minimal swell which made the trip out there pretty quick and smooth. After what seemed like forever Mike informed us that we were pretty close to Browns so out went a spread of 3 lures. We trolled around for about an hour with no action whatsoever so the decision was made to find a suitable patch of water and start cubing.

By this stage the wind had dropped to virtually nothing and it was a beautiful day out there. Over the course of cutting up pilies we exchanged fishing stories and generally tried to convince ourselves that we were in for a huge day on the fin... even though there didn't look to be a lot of action on any of the other boats out there and the water was on the cold side. After about 2 hours of nothing suddenly there was a tentative take on one of the rods and Mike was into a solid Mako. It duly put on an aerial show for us and then it went deep and just kept going. It took a lot of line but eventually Mike managed to put the brakes on it. For about 50 minutes he wrestled with this Shark and the longer the fight went for the more confident we were getting that we had been lucky and hooked it in the corner of the mouth away from his teeth. It got closer and closer to the surface so much so that we started rigging up ropes to get ready to tail wrap it and deal with getting it in the boat. Just as it seemed that we had it beaten the shark broke the surface and then PING - he cut the line and he was gone!!

I'm sure you can imagine the expletives that came out of all of our mouths but on the upside at least we had had some action! Not to be put off we kept the cube trail going and about and hour later we were rewarded again. Unfortunately this one was a little more short lived. Sean took the strike, the Shark hit the surface and within 2 or 3 seconds he had cut the line

Still we kept the tube trail going confident that we would eventually hook something and get it in the boat. The next run that came was the longest so far. After another tentative bite but as soon as the hook was set whatever it was (we are guessing another Mako) went straight down. Sean had a lot of pressure on the fish and it was still peeling line off at an alarming rate. This went on for about 10-15 minutes and then the line went slack. Presuming the trace had been snipped again we wound in to find that the hook had partially straightened!

By this stage it was about 4:30pm and the light was started to dim. The decision was made to carry on cubing in the hope that the bite would continue. We weren't to be disappointed as about 1/2 an hour later one of the rods went off again - unfortunately we had the same scenario. After about 5 mins of battling the trace was snipped again. By this stage it was getting pretty dark but we decided to continue until our supply of pilies ran out. We had one more take which didn;t result in a hook up so at about 6pm we pulled up stumps and headed for home.

If it seemed like a long way out in the morning it seemed twice as far on the way back in! Travelling back in the dark was an interesting experience but Mike was a great skipper and we made good time back into the ramp.

So at the end of it all - close to a 12 hour day on the water with no fish! But it was a great experience and it was good to meet some fellow Fishraiders.

A huge thanks to Mike for getting us out there and i'm looking forward to some future trips on your boat mate.

Hi Jim,

That was a great report and thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed yourself i had a good day too. Shame there was no fin around on the day but as you saw those Mako's are great fun combined with good weather and great company it was a sensational day and your more than to come out again anytime.

Cheers Mike

[Stav]

Top reading,

Thanks