Brendan Monks Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) I was getting itchy to get out again after this big Southerly we've just had, I got a call up from a mate Saturday morning I’ve fished with a few times with to go chase Kings at Texas Reef off the Central Coast on Sunday. I was a bit hesitant though as I thought there would be a bit of leftover swell but he assured me he was taking a Skipper of a game boat we both fish on with him as well (He can read the weather! Haha). Long story short, the foot was down from the boss and I had to decline any chance of fishing. 🥺 Come Saturday arvo, I was really enjoying a few too many cold ones off Hawkes nest having a beach BBQ with the brother, sisters, and bro in law. As usual I couldn’t help myself and had packed a small rod to spin metals, hooking up a nice salmon only to lose him at my feet in the churning swell. 🤬 I got a call from the President of the CCGFC just after that asking me to fish on his boat ‘KillTank’, this is something I had always dreamed of! There were a few reports of Bluefin caught that day off Port Hacking. Nothing was stopping me from this opportunity, not even the boss! Lol. I finally got home at 11:30pm from Port and the plan was to head out off Gosford waterfront at 6:00am and punch SE of Browns Mountain. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise as we cruised at an easy 24 knots, the Northbank eating the choppy swell with ease. All that came to mind was ‘Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning – Red sky in the night, shepherds delight’ (Yeah, I’m a superstitious fisho! 🤣) We ended wide of Browns, dropped the riggers down and set the spread in anticipation of an early morning bite in the same area we heard they had got a few the day before! Water temperature was sitting around 17.9 to 18.5 degrees as we worked our way south along a canyon edge for no action apart from two sunfish and a curious albatross checking out the bullet in shotgun. We made the call to head wider and back north (Now 25-30km SE of Browns, and I can see we have clocked up 57 NM since launching) to where we saw a few birds in the hope to see some action! Spirits where quickly lifted at lunchtime when ‘Squint’ appeared from the cabin with hotdogs and a portable cooker 😋, these were quickly devoured although confidence levels remained low. We continued trolling another 5kms north before I saw a shower of sauries 300m off followed by a tuna of decent size. We immediately turned across the path marking bait on the sounder and working the area for the next 30 minutes for no joy! We continued trolling like this for the rest of the day for nothing, 10 minutes before we pulled lures in for the day I had a weird feeling it wasn’t all over and we may get that late arvo bite! 10 minutes came and went and we cleared the spread, packing down riggers etc. and preparing the boat for the big run home (Now up off Terrigal) and pretty p#*$ed off we couldn’t capitalise on the only fish we had seen earlier in the day. 15 minutes steaming in we come across a small patch of bait been harassed; I dive for the saury imitation stickbait that is always ready for these situations! A short lob across the school of sauries with a quick wind produced the goods. Hooked up!! Yeewww. A relatively short fight and we have a small 20-25kg Yellowfin Tuna boatside, a quick gaff and she’s on board! Would’ve been great to finish the day out on these beautiful fish, but the school went deep after the initial hookup. We were treated to an amazing sunset as we punched in hitting 34 knots offshore. Another amazing day in the deep blue, teaching me never to relax until your back on dry land (You’ll never know what you come across!) Yeeeww. Tight lines for the weekend! Cheers, Brendo PS: I heard the YFT have gone off off Swansea yesterday, and the conditions looked even better today…😭 Edited July 24, 2020 by Brendan Monks 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 One nice fish is better than none. That is why I always wait for that last bite to happen on a poor day.😴 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Great report and Super photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganguddy Goodoo Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 4 hours ago, Brendan Monks said: We were treated to a beautiful sunrise as we cruised at an easy 24 knots, the Northbank eating the choppy swell with ease. All that came to mind was ‘Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning – Red sky in the night, shepherds delight’ (Yeah, I’m a superstitious fisho! 🤣) Where I come from: Red sky in the morning, Shepherd's warning. Red sky at night ... barn's alight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croydon Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Well done one the late fish, nice way to finish off the day. What's your thoughts on the Northbank? After a shit year, I'm thinking of updating the boat and have been looking at the 650HT version of the Northbank, but never seen one in the flesh. Thanks for the great report, cheers...…. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 On 7/25/2020 at 7:38 AM, Croydon said: Well done one the late fish, nice way to finish off the day. What's your thoughts on the Northbank? After a shit year, I'm thinking of updating the boat and have been looking at the 650HT version of the Northbank, but never seen one in the flesh. Thanks for the great report, cheers...…. Dave Hey mate, only my first ride in it but couldn't fault it! Rides beautifully. 🤙 It's a heavy boat, not sure how much L we ended up using all day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croydon Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Thanks Brendan, good luck with the fishing. Cheers...…... Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sillek70 Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Mate of mine has a 650HT , been in it several times and very impressed with the ride and how solid the complete rig is , I would buy one if I had the room for it in the garage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croydon Posted August 2, 2020 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Thanks for the into much appreciated. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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