Early Session on Tuesday

[kiwicraig]

After a frustrating weekend weather-wise and another forecast for this weekend I decided to get out for an early session before work yesterday.  I prepped the boat the night before ready for a quick get away.  I was up at 4:30, threw down an espresso and out the door as quick as I could manage.  

At the boat ramp I encountered my first challenge of the day.  When I pulled up to the side to prop the boat for launch there was another guy there who looked to be coming in - in that he had an empty trailer pointed in the general direction of the ramp and was trying to line it up and back in.  When he was still trying when I finished I wandered over to wave him in.  The tide was dead low so he has to back a fair way down.  By the time I got there he had finally managed to line it up and was backing it down the ramp but too quick.  I shouted "stop there" and he hit the brakes.  He did to a stop with his wheels just inches from the right angle edge of the ramp.  If he had gone over I reckon his 2wd van might have struggled to get it out again.  I don't think he realised how narrowly he dodged a bullet.  I gave him a hand to get the boat on trailer.  First boat, had not had it long.  No problem with that - it was me not so long ago.  

But then he stood next to his boat still on the single lane ramp and launched into a big (and fairly one sided) convo about why he only just got the boat, what he likes to fish for, different kinds of hosts he considered etc.  Dude just get out of the way!  I don't mind helping out, but what should have delayed me 5 or 10 mins cost me 25 and that is a big chunk out of a session before work.  

Eventually I got it to West Reef and started drifting across one end of it.  I put a couple of paternoster rigs out the back and tried casting out soft plastics.  The drift was too quick and my jig heads too light. Even with the drouge out I could not keep in touch with the plastic.  When the bait rods started going off I decided to put the softies aside and focus on them.

I was running a combination of tailor cut baits and pillies.  One of the rods had a basic 2 hook rig I tired and the other had a black magic Snapper Snacher which is basically the same thing with some bling added.  

I landed and released several rock cod and when I pulled up a Sergeant Baker I added him into the bait mix, including putting a fairly big chunk of his tail on the bottom hook of the snatcher. 

At some point I hooked something that reefed me and I lost the bottom hook and sinker from my plain rig. In the interest of time I just tied a loop, added a sinker and made it a single hook rig.  Then my rid with the snapper Snacher snagged up and was pulling line it with the drift.  I was at the end of the drift so I decided to open the bail arm and do a wide circle around to see if I could recover the rig by pulling from the other side.

This worked and when I started pulling it in the was weight on it, then it started pulling back.  After a short fight and a couple of good runs I pulled in a Port Jackson shark a bit over a metre that had taken the SB tail.  There was also a small red rock cod on the other hook - bet he had a wild ride!

I sent the cod back and started trying to unhook the shark.  Somehow he had managed to hook himself and then bite the hook closed. While I was inspecting that my single buckled over and I stopped to pull in a nice little Trev that went 33cm and became lunch.

Getting back to the shark I decided I would do less harm cutting the line and sent it back with a stylish new fashion accessory.

No pics from the boat as my phone had fallen out of my pocket in the car.

Didn't catch any snapper, but given I was only in the reef for about an hour and a half, there was a fair bit going on and it was good fun.  Lunch was fresh as Trev sashimi and it was awesome.

Edited October 10, 2018 by kiwicraig
Typo corrected

[masterfisho7]

Great report will have to try the Trev sashimi 

[recurve]

Good report. It is worth the hassle helping others out. Heartbreaking to see people in strife. 

2 weekends ago at Bellambi I was launching solo at dead low 6am. Ramp was busy as with long queue, looked over and saw a guy with his kid launching on the dock side where it gets really shallow and sand builds up. I thought I had better get out and go over to tell him about the depth issue + possible consequences and to come over to the far side. 

In all the rush I carried on and I saw him backing in further, but was in the boat trying to find a chance to tie off to get my trailer out. ( Always feel so rushed when in my own)

When I eventually walked past him I told him to launch far side. Too late, he was already in deep trouble. Both his dual axle trailer and his rear wheels of his truck were in sand and he was going nowhere. 

I felt so bad. 2 minutes of my time to stop and give him a run down would have turned his awful morning into a great day on the water. Not sure what happened to him. I assume a tow truck or maybe someone had an even bigger truck than him  

Better to help out and lose some time than have a fellow boater come completely unstuck. Although when it’s game on and your  ready to launch it can be bloody frustrating. 

[kiwicraig]

2 minutes ago, recurve said:

  Better to help out and lose some time than have a fellow boater come completely unstuck. Although when it’s game on and your  ready to launch it can be bloody frustrating. 

Totally and happy to do it.  I was more saying that after I helped him the decent thing for him to do would be to get out of the way

[recurve]

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