zmk1962 Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 (edited) G'day Raiders, It's a somewhat delayed post as I was struggling to clear storage on my laptop for the video and photos but here it is finally ... With all the inclement weather lately, Thursday 15th November looked like a premium day to take devOcean on her first fishing trip. The rig is still very much a learning curve for Maria and I, so a day spent offshore exercising the simpler art of fishing for flatties was perfect to confirm the set up of the boat and gear, before we try anything more adventurous. The forecast was for low winds and slight seas .... well at least it started that way ! 4.30am final packing - since the running-in maiden voyage a few days back, I had been busy fabricating some small mods including side pocket rod holder racks for use during travel, and this was their first test run as well. 5.30am at the ramp launching - quite busy for a Thursday - though some boats were commercial carrying workmen, fisheries etc. The day started beautifully. We headed out to West Head to try for yakkas - all flat water hitting 75kmh with ease. It was also going to be the first opportunity to use the HelmMaster Fishpoint feature - sort of like spotlock - but using the outboard linked to GPS. The big concerns were would it hold us in position, and would the noise of the outboard idling and going in and out of gear affect bait fish. Happy to report Fishpoint did its job although it is not exactly like spotlock (it is less accurate as it relies on the GPS location, rather then working against the current wind/current conditions) BUT it didn't scare the bait fish. We had a dozen livies in the live tank in no time, a block of fresh IQF pillies in the esky, calm weather... it was seriously looking like happy days! We raced offshore to the 50m grounds - experimenting with the electronics and sounders. Again happy to report we were getting bottom read at even over 60kmh ... also here is an interesting FishEye view ... this simulates how fish see the waterway ... in this screen shot we are retracing over previously covered ground... you can see the fish symbols we passed: Now the reality.... or as @JonD said ... "Back to reality". As we approached the 50m grounds, there they were ... two trawlers carpet sweeping the flathead grounds off Broken Bay - hmmm. We motored around for an hour with down view and side view on and could not find a single bait ball ! Aaargh. Happy days NOT ! Eventually, came across a small pocket of activity at 50m and dropped baits and SPs. I was rewarded by a keeper flattie - that went straight into the kill tank with two frozen water bottles after a quick ikijime spike - so dinner was set and devOcean was christened ! Maria then hooked up ... and after a tussle, colour looked great, size looked even better.... but up came a decent sized banjo .... bugger. Back he went. Spent the next 4-5 hours drifting, changing locations out to 60m and back to 30m, criss crossing paths with the trawlers, trying for where they haven't been ... all for one dropped flattie at the boat, numerous pickers and sweet nothing extra in the kill tank .... also the wind and waves had come up as well (not in the forecast Jan!!) We called it and decided to head back ... then passing Flint & Steel came across this on the sounder: Too good to pass up, hit Fishpoint, and threw in a livie rig ...... hooked up almost immediately ... solid fight, peeling line, flashes of white colour .... wooooo 🤘 ... M's got the gaff ready ... king?...jew? .... Nope.... a juvenile hammer head about 3ft .... aaargh today was not the day for sure. Hung around for another 20min with nothing to show for it... so we cleaned up the rig and headed for the ramp. Here's a video which shows the highlights of the day : So no bag out or trophy fish for devOcean today, but nevertheless, a successful day in the end: everything worked, we had a feed, devOcean was christened with a fish 👍 ... and a scuff at the boat ramp 🤣 .... she's now a true sports fisher ready for the next adventure. Cheers and thanks for reading Zoran PS - The scuff: Edited November 21, 2022 by zmk1962 corrected location 25 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Brilliant report Zoran, sounds like a great initiation and orientation for Devocean and a big learning curve - darn those trawlers. Pity about the scuff mark, but looks like it will polish off.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Zoran and Maria. Fantastic ! great to see the boat finally on the water doing what it needs to do. Shame there were not more fish to be had but I suspect it was more about getting to know the boat than catching fish. Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 A great first voyage for such a splendid craft. No doubt now devOcean will witness many epic and successful days of fishing over the next summer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Ct Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Great report, well done. Hopefully more trips with bigger fish to come on the new boat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 5 hours ago, Pickles said: Brilliant report Zoran, sounds like a great initiation and orientation for Devocean and a big learning curve - darn those trawlers. Pity about the scuff mark, but looks like it will polish off.👍 Thanks Bob ... as soon as this wind dies we really have to schedule that offshore session we discussed - with yourself and Mrs Pickles ! Not too worried about the scuff, it was bound to happen. Cheers 4 hours ago, frankS said: Zoran and Maria. Fantastic ! great to see the boat finally on the water doing what it needs to do. Shame there were not more fish to be had but I suspect it was more about getting to know the boat than catching fish. Frank Hahaha... yes there are lots of electronic gimmicks to keep us busy. We actually spent 6hrs on the water the previous week just motoring around and running in the motor - this was the first with the fishing gear on board. Very few at the fish cleaning tables, and the chap with the 5.5m stabi that was having a yarn to me, had spent the whole previous day and overnight on the water for 2 flatties. Slim pickings all around.... Cheers 4 hours ago, Little_Flatty said: A great first voyage for such a splendid craft. No doubt now devOcean will witness many epic and successful days of fishing over the next summer. Thanks Mike ... I certainly hope so ... can't just keep posting about the boat .... or can I? Hmmmm 🤣 3 hours ago, Isaac Ct said: Great report, well done. Hopefully more trips with bigger fish to come on the new boat. Thanks Isaac ... yes as per above... I hope so... Cheers Zoran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Gorgeous, and congratulations on the christening. Really cool to see the photos of the sounder activity too. Thanks for sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Very nice there Zoran, giving the new boat a run, looks like it works well. The only complaint is in the first 2 photos - with all of those lights, you really need a bar and waiters/waitresses serving drinks and canapes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Now THAT’S a boat🚤⚓️🛥️ It looks magnificent and swordie is very jealous (me too) You can keep doing boating posts all day. We all know the fish will come soon enough 🎣👏 Well deserved Zoran and Maria 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 HelmMaster Fishpoint And Fishview look fascinating - love the technology 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Love the new boat! Im expecting a heap of fishing reports coming from you this summer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fab1 Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Congratulations on a magnificent craft mate!Loved the read and photos.Looking at the way technology is going fish are going to have no hope in hell against humans. Look forward to reading many more of your posts . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 What a beautiful vessel Zoran. I hope that she will serve you well in the future as your life is enhanced by each trip. The fishing can only get better as time goes on and we put all this crap flooding behind us. We will all ,no doubt, follow your posts with a degree of envy and admiration. Cheers, bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigHorse Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Far out thats a nice looking boat, lets hope we get some fishing reports out of that beast over the summer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordoRetired Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Great report and pic's Zoran. Good to see that you have christened the boat. Think you may need to upgrade the electronics to something with a few more features 🤣🤣🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burger Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 What an awesome looking setup!! I'm sure you both will get a HUGE amount of enjoyment out of it. Those sounder shots are just awesome. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 Looks very impressive, even noticed a proper toilet in the cab. I would be sleeping in it on the driveway at home😃 Does the Garmin have a heading sensor, which I would imagine helps with HelmMaster in fish lock (https://www.garmin.com/en-AU/p/572462). The boat I mentioned having it down here didn't have one of these electronic heading antenna's but I feel would of benefited more if it had. My point 1 from an older lowrance setup works with the Garmin via nmea2000 for faster and more accurate heading info. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted November 22, 2022 Author Share Posted November 22, 2022 (edited) 23 hours ago, Mike Sydney said: Gorgeous, and congratulations on the christening. Really cool to see the photos of the sounder activity too. Thanks for sharing. Thanks Mike, not many fish so I had to report on something of fishy interest ... The sounder reading of Flint and Steel was a classic ... bait being harassed by something fast swimming! 22 hours ago, Yowie said: Very nice there Zoran, giving the new boat a run, looks like it works well. The only complaint is in the first 2 photos - with all of those lights, you really need a bar and waiters/waitresses serving drinks and canapes. Dave Dave Dave ... if I provided THAT service you'd have your old buddies raiding my rig in NO TIME at all ... especially if they were not invited! 👮♂️ 🚓 🚓 👮♂️ 21 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said: Now THAT’S a boat🚤⚓️🛥️ It looks magnificent and swordie is very jealous (me too) You can keep doing boating posts all day. We all know the fish will come soon enough 🎣👏 Well deserved Zoran and Maria 21 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said: HelmMaster Fishpoint And Fishview look fascinating - love the technology Thanks Donna. We've been handling some health challenges since picking up the boat, and Maria has a day surgery procedure on her ankles scheduled for Thursday, which will keep us off the water for another 2 weeks (its windy anyway!) ... then it will be fishing time. Yup lots of interesting tech in the Garmin system, FishEye, relief charts, radar etc. The HelmMaster features Fishpoint, Drift point, auto pilot and Joystick control with a single engine outboard were really what swung me to Yamaha away from Merc. The Joystick gives precision control at low speeds like at the ramp. Maria was able to spin the boat 360 degrees on its axis using the Joystick ... gives me hope that somewhere down the track she can drop me at the wharf to fetch the car and she will drive the rig onto the trailer. 👍 20 hours ago, Larkin said: Love the new boat! Im expecting a heap of fishing reports coming from you this summer! Hahaha ... yes I've been shy on reports during the boatless period ... so lets hope ... BTW, you set the bar very high with your adventures keep it up. 15 hours ago, Fab1 said: Congratulations on a magnificent craft mate!Loved the read and photos.Looking at the way technology is going fish are going to have no hope in hell against humans. Look forward to reading many more of your posts . Thanks Fab ... fish have a lot of advantage already mate ... we are venturing into their terrain and I'm just catching up on the tech already out there. The sounder on my last rig was over 20yo. Cheers and best of luck with getting your rig back in the drink. I'm very interested to read that performance report. 11 hours ago, big Neil said: What a beautiful vessel Zoran. I hope that she will serve you well in the future as your life is enhanced by each trip. The fishing can only get better as time goes on and we put all this crap flooding behind us. We will all ,no doubt, follow your posts with a degree of envy and admiration. Cheers, bn Thanks BN, this is probably our forever boat ... yes enough of the flooding and winds. We need to find and stop whoever is doing that rain dance somewhere! 10 hours ago, BigHorse said: Far out thats a nice looking boat, lets hope we get some fishing reports out of that beast over the summer! Thanks BH, ... we'll TRY ! ... our passion is fishing everything from the headlands to the shelf .... the rig is spec'd for that ... we just need the weather gods to allow us to go and play. 9 hours ago, GordoRetired said: Great report and pic's Zoran. Good to see that you have christened the boat. Think you may need to upgrade the electronics to something with a few more features 🤣🤣🤣 Hahaha 🤣 Gordo, I have not got my head around all of these ... I already have to stop and think jumping between options and screen combinations ... and would you believe there is a power down procedure ... make sure to switch off all the transducers etc etc ... and did I mention the pie oven ... now there's a real electronics feature according to Maria. 8 hours ago, Burger said: What an awesome looking setup!! I'm sure you both will get a HUGE amount of enjoyment out of it. Those sounder shots are just awesome. 👍 Thanks Burger, we're already enjoying it, even doing the set up tweaks in the driveway. Agree on the sounder shots. The Sounder system has two thru hull transducers - a high Chirp GT51M (good to 300m, with traditional, chirp, sideVu and ClearVu features - and numerous tweaks that can be implemented on frequency, filters etc etc), and an Airmar B175L (good to 1000+m and again tweaks that can be implemented on frequency, filters etc). At some stage I have to work through the transducer/ Sounder features and combinations that are meaningful for the different styles of fishing we do. On top of that, because of one of @JonD's posts, I also included the Garmin G3 vision charts - which have relief shading. They look like this: This image is a screen shot of my iPhone ActiveCaptain app (which connects to the onboard Garmin ... I can actually plan trips on here and synch with the onboard system). But imagine these 3d chart images on the 16in display ... You can spend hours (and I already have), exploring the waterways without leaving your driveway! 6 hours ago, JonD said: Looks very impressive, even noticed a proper toilet in the cab. I would be sleeping in it on the driveway at home😃 Does the Garmin have a heading sensor, which I would imagine helps with HelmMaster in fish lock (https://www.garmin.com/en-AU/p/572462). The boat I mentioned having it down here didn't have one of these electronic heading antenna's but I feel would of benefited more if it had. My point 1 from an older lowrance setup works with the Garmin via nmea2000 for faster and more accurate heading info. Thanks Jon, you and your colleagues down south had a fair bit of input - thanks for that again. Yes that is a right proper porcelain toilet - the extra weight helps with boat balance and trim 🤣 ... and with those long days offshore. 😖 BTW, CruiseCraft seem to have thought of everything .... for instance here's the cabin privacy door ... view from outside ...and the view from inside .... Maria's reaction 😱 how distracting .... my reaction 👍 ... fishermen always like to keep an eye on their rod(s) ... thanks CruiseCraft !!! 🤣 The Yamaha HelmMaster came with its own GPS unit (probably a Garmin inside given the tight Yam/Garmin integration) - it's mounted right infront of the pilot position on the bow - the boat certainly know its ar$e from its head ... as one of the FishPoint settings is : Hold position Bow or Stern. TBH, I am not a 100% Fishpoint advocate after one fishing trip... it worked mostly ok in holding position, but it did lose boat orientation more often than I thought it should. In its defence, it's working of GPS signals, and as we know the location accuracy varies depending on the satellite positions in the sky and headland interference etc, ...also I did not play with any of the thrust settings etc etc etc. So the jury is still out on FishPoint. DriftPoint on the other hand was much more consistent. It maintained boat orientation while drifting with the conditions or on a preset track. That allowed M and I to fish off the same side of the boat while drifting 👍 ------ Cheers Everyone ... and thanks for all the positive commentary. Hope to be posting many fishy posts in the months ahead. Z Edited November 22, 2022 by zmk1962 content 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaxland Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 (edited) Looks like a fantastic set up yo have and in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Do you need a deckie? Edited November 22, 2022 by blaxland 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 This is mind blowing stuff. Maria’s pie oven just a fabulous idea. The toilet and that privacy cabin door 😎👏👏👏 By the way pass on best wishes to Maria for upcoming procedure. Keep the reports up Zoran!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted November 22, 2022 Author Share Posted November 22, 2022 8 hours ago, blaxland said: Looks like a fantastic set up yo have and in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Do you need a deckie? Thanks Blaxland. As with anyone that’s had a boat for a while, there’s a list of regular deckies … and as per my past posts I have often been accompanied by fellow raiders so yeah on occasions there is room for another. Send me a PM and we’ll have a chat. cheers Zoran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 Wow that privacy door is something else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 Fantastic boat @zmk1962, great fit outs. Boat technology has come along way and the creature comforts are next level, well done mate. Looking forward to your reports! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardgid Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 about the boat, WOW! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Well done Z - awesome write up. Boat is looking like an absolute machine. Bet you turn a few heads at the ramp and on the water. hopefully many more boating memories for you and Maria 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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