Brendan Monks Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 (edited) PM: With the weather looking alright for a fish Saturday morning before the wind was meant to come up around lunch, and it been way too long since I’ve soaked some baits for a jewie, I decided why not do it all! We launched from Gosford wharf at 8:00pm with a mate that fished with me frequently, the bacon & eggs and sleeping bags loaded. The plan was to fish the low tide in the Hawkesbury, snapper at sunrise, and a flattie drift just before the wind hit. We were in a rush to try make the end of the low tide change but had a quick crack at trying to get some fresh squid in Paddy’s channel. The new green light I had recently purchased on fleabay worked wonders and we quickly had 4 perfect Jew baits in the livie tank! An uneventful run out through Brisbane Waters and back up the Hawkesbury saw us anchored over the cockle beds near a well known jewie point. With the rods already rigged, it was just a matter of looping on the sinkers and baiting up. With rods in the water it wasn’t long before we got an enquiry on a strip of squid…sure enough it was only a shovel nose shark, but expectations were still high. With the tide slowing right down another rod with fresh yakka fillet went off, after a brief fight, and tangling all the other rods in the process the biggest stingray I had caught come to the surface. 🤔 We gave it another hour or so, the plan was to move into a small bay for the night around 2/3:00am ish, the two full squid we had out were still untouched! About 30 minutes before we were due to leave, the rod buckled at last! With telltale headshakes and a good first run, we immediately called it for a jew, after a quick fight we had a small one on deck for a few quick pics before swimming away strongly into the rising tide. Mission almost completed! – Shortly after that we pulled up anchor to try and get a few hours sleep, even though we both had multiple layers of clothing the temperature was freezing, and I was definitely looking forward to my sleeping bag! AM: We woke up a lot later than expected, and cooked up some B & E rolls – Nothing better then a fresh brekky as the fog slowly cleared off the mountain, we pushed out past Barrenjoey Head and checked out the seals on the way. It was already a lot windier than forecasted, and with the sun already up, the plan to fish the washes changed to fishing the 20-25m reefs that are plentiful north of Broken Bay. After a few drifts and with the wind increasing, we decided to anchor off the back of the reef and cube up, it wasn’t long before we had a pan size snapper on board that had taken a liking to an unweighted pillie that had been wafting back through the trail, and a 50cm model jigged on a plastic (Almost my PB). The luck didn’t stay with us and the next few fish were only small pickers or Sergeant Bakers. We ended up pushing out a little wider to do a quick flattie drift but for nothing! With the wind now pumping and the rigs hardly holding bottom even with the sea anchor out, we pulled the pin and headed back for home. Can now remember why I haven’t slept on the boat for a while 🤣 but a good trip all in all. Had her all cleaned down by lunchtime with fresh whole snapper for dinner! 🤤 Cheers, Brendo Edited September 21, 2020 by Brendan Monks 20 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 (edited) Fantastic report Brendon 🤘 I so look forward to eventually getting a boat I can spend a night on while exploring the great fishing areas we have. Your living the dream mate at such a young age, Im envious Then again at your age I was to busy spending my money trying to ski as many resorts around the world as I could. All good memories but think that would equate to a house not a boat. Thanks for sharing your adventures 👍 Edited September 21, 2020 by kingie chaser 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Worth the effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Great trip and great report Brendo. You certainly managed to fit it all in. The snapper feed a bonus. top stuff cheers Zoran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 15 hours ago, kingie chaser said: Fantastic report Brendon 🤘 I so look forward to eventually getting a boat I can spend a night on while exploring the great fishing areas we have. Your living the dream mate at such a young age, Im envious Then again at your age I was to busy spending my money trying to ski as many resorts around the world as I could. All good memories but think that would equate to a house not a boat. Thanks for sharing your adventures 👍 Thank you mate! 🤙 When all this settles feel free to organise something, dunno about living the dream but fishing is a great escape from reality 😑 - I just try get out at any opportunity I have! The plan is to eventually tow up the coast a bit more for longer trips (QLD 🤤) Haha plans are underway for a house so I guess all the fishing time will be disappearing soon, just gotta fish Marlin season first 😆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 14 hours ago, Yowie said: Worth the effort. Cheers, you don't catch them at home. haha 👍 13 hours ago, zmk1962 said: Great trip and great report Brendo. You certainly managed to fit it all in. The snapper feed a bonus. top stuff cheers Zoran Thanks Zoran, tasted great! 🤙 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Great report. Super photos. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cogo44 Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Well done! The Roosters are also winning on the water! Surely you must have pulled up a triple header as an omen for 2020? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 (edited) 33 minutes ago, cogo44 said: Well done! The Roosters are also winning on the water! Surely you must have pulled up a triple header as an omen for 2020? Cheers @cogo44 🤙 I hope the 4 way hook up we got a few months back on Bluefin Tuna is a good sign of things to come then? 🤪🤣 We actually had this discussion the other day, I don't know what I'm going to do if they don't make the finals again!!! Too used to them winning 😝 Edited September 22, 2020 by Brendan Monks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Signing Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Amazing how cold it can get on the water at night. Only takes the slightest breeze and it can be freezing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrone07 Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Good stuff mate, I definitely need to explore those reefs a little bit more, my boat always seems to have an auto pilot north to Port Stephens though 🤷♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 On 9/22/2020 at 9:29 AM, Brendan Monks said: Thank you mate! 🤙 When all this settles feel free to organise something Sweet, that would be cool 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 2 hours ago, New Signing said: Amazing how cold it can get on the water at night. Only takes the slightest breeze and it can be freezing Yeah, when that wind comes out of the Cowan!!! 🤪🥶 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 2 hours ago, tyrone07 said: Good stuff mate, I definitely need to explore those reefs a little bit more, my boat always seems to have an auto pilot north to Port Stephens though 🤷♂️ Yeah sweet mate, I didn't know you were from the Cenny Coast (Thought you were from up there). I really don't have a clue where to fish out of Broken Bay aye, we just marked some good ground and bait. I redone the bearings on my trailer over the weekend so I guess mine will be heading back north again more often! 😝👐 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Monks Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 (edited) Cheers mate, Nothing beats it! You can literally watch some boats that have been out early start heading in when they can smell it 🤣 Edited September 28, 2020 by Brendan Monks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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