A Month Of Mulloway Madness - Part 2

[ASJ]

Here contiues the second part of A Month Of Mulloway Madness

So came the 23rd of June, a week and a half after I caught my biggest Jewfish. The taste of the last bit of jewfish steak was fresh on my tongue and I was hungry for more. My arms were twitching again, and so I decided to go for another fish. It was a Tuesday and work committments did not allow for long overnight fishing trips. None the less I decided I would head out for a fish at a close beach for a few hours. My chosen location this time would be a bit of stretch located on the vast beach that is cronulla-wanda-elluora.

There was a north easterly swell peaking at about 1.5 meters. Although I have never had luck on a northerly swell, I was still eager to give it a shot. After all, water comming from the north is a lot warmer than the south, and we were heading towards the middle of winter.

On this particular day the moon was in its "new phase", and the high tide was at 7.30pm. I arrived just on 7.00 to find the beach crowded!??? "WtF? Why are there people fishing at night on a weekday? Don't people go to work tommorow?" Upon thinking this I had a good laugh at myself, seeing that I should be asking the same question about me. However all was good since I was among people who probably had the same aspirations as me. Further more if there are a lot of people fishing It is a good indicator that there may be fish biting.

Seeing as that there was not much of a choice for spots I parked my gear in a little bit of stretch along the beach, that "sort of" looked like a gutter. I cast out sat back and relaxed. The night was dark and the hours ticked by without a single bite. As the tide fell I realised that I was not fishing a gutter at all. In the absence of a bright moon it was impossible to identify a good gutter. I had run out of time. Without a single bite in four hours fishing, I packed up and went home. Usually one would get the craps with a dud fishing trip like this however, I had hope. I was looking forward to the next night where I would come out and fish again. Because I was certain there was fish there. During this dud fishing trip I had heard a whoohoo of success from a few people further up the beach. To me this meant that the fish were there for sure and all I needed was a gutter.

So came Wednesday, 24th June. Again I drove out to the same beach at the same time, to find the place totally empty. This was a good sign. I had freedom to roam the beach. The moon was still in its "new phase" and so the night was very dark. I realised that I had better not rely on my sight to identify a gutter. I had to rely on feel. I decided on a new tactic. I would comb the beach. This would be a tactic of perseverence. I decided to comb down the right side of the beach from where I started. I cast out and felt the line. Any movement of the line by the waves would indicate that I was not in a gutter. And the spot I had just cast into was definiately not one. I moved a few meters further down the beach and cast again. Another dud spot. This process I repeated until I was approximately 300 metres from where I started and there was not one single gutter. I decided to comb back up the beach since I could have missed a spot on my way down. I looked at my watch. A grueling 3 hours had passed when I arrived a few meters to the left of the spot from where I had originally started. And guess what I had hit a gutter. It was out of a 50-50 chance that I started out in the wrong direction and I was cursing the laws of probability for it. I was sweating and out of breath on a cold winter night as I sat and stared at my rod. All it took was 2 minutes. There was a couple of taps on the line so I decided to reel in and check my bait.

It did not feel like my bait. There was a bit of weight to it. I finished reeling my line in to find a new PB jewie! It was a monster 30 cm! I quickly threw it back in and threw out a new bait. Again the line sat deadly still and I sat down for another five minutes.

For some reason there was an eerie feeling of suspense building up. I could almost sense that something was about to happen. And then it did. There was the slightest of a double tap on the end of the rod then a second's pause before the rod suddenly buckled in half and the reel called me to attention. I grabbed my rod and gave the fish a two handed salute in the manner most fishermen do when setting the hook. The drag was tightened but the fish would not slow down. Again there was the familiar high pitched scream of my reel only recognised when fighting a jewfish. This one fought differently to any I have encountered before. It ran in a dead straight line to New Zealand, and three quarters of my spool was taken before it slowed down. Its head shakes were powerful enough to rattle my arms and for the first time in quite a while, I felt the fear of a bust off. But I was determined not to loose this fish. It was a fifteen minute battle before I could see the shadow of the fish in the water in front of me. But the battle was far from over yet. I still had to get the fish out of the water, and there was a steep sand bank. I still had no idea of how big it was as the fish was swept in and out with the waves. I could see the fish was so close yet so far from being landed. Another 2 minutes saw a big wave sweep the fish in and as the wash receded away from it I gaped at my new personal best jewfish. The brute gaped back at me as it bellowed from deep inside its belly. I had done it. I had achieved the goal that I had set out to do the night before. Quickly I packed up and drove home in time to measure and weigh the new prize and to get a good nights sleep for work the next day. All was good. I was happy but too stoked to sleep that night.

Stay tuned for Part 3

The stats

18 kg

124 cm

[ishuffle]

Well done!

I love reading your fishing reports! you can really tell a story!

[bongie555]

great reports ASJ, your keen for braving this winter chill,well rewarded ...looks like you got the bug bad. you've got everyone here drooling with envy

[arpie]

Terrific report there, ASJ! Great reading - felt like I was almost there, watching!!

Roberta

[xtosea]

Dude seriosuly well done, the way you write your reports is awesome in itself!! Very well written and a nice fish, what bait did the damage on all these fish???

[SNAP-ER]

Dude seriosuly well done, the way you write your reports is awesome in itself!! Very well written and a nice fish, what bait did the damage on all these fish???

you got them covered mate!!!

[sanger]

Great fish well done

[jewgaffer]

Geesus ASJ how many personal bests did you get in these sessions ...It seems that the regulars are catching 5 kilo school jew in the river instead of good size fish like these.... Did you do better at Wanda did you and how did you go at Eloura ?

Cheers

jewgaffer

[fibbo]

Wow!

Your report is as good as the jew that you caught, well done mate!

[yting]

That's the stuff dreams are made of. That fish is very dark however considering it came from the beach. Would be very interested in know what the bait was on this occasion?

Well done

[bangus]

good work bro congrats cheers bangus

[mako1]

Great report ASJ.

That's a top jewfish

[sleepy]

mate great report gotta love the rewards of commitment