The weather was beautiful so we took the boat out for a day fishing. I am pleased to say that the boat launch and retrieve went like clockwork. Partly because we were using a boat ramp, but also because we have slightly changed what we were doing. Col reverses the trailer near the waters edge then jumps into the boat to drive it. I reverse the boat and trailer into the water then go park the car and trailer and the same process when we get it back out. It is working well while I continue to develop my trailer reversing skills, which I am slowly improving at. I did have to reverse and slam on the brakes to get the boat off the trailer, a little unnerving but it all worked ok.
It is a challenge for Col working out where to fish in new areas, for those fishermen and fisherwomen, you would understand it. But I had no idea there was any science behind it. I thought there is a large ocean and you pull up somewhere that looks nice, throw your line over and you’re set. This is not the case. Col drives around with his Sounder analysing the sea bed and trying to maximise the chances to catch fish. The other interesting thing is you don’t know exactly what you are fishing for in a new area, so you don’t know what size hooks to use etc. So a bit of trial and error is involved. Col definitely got it right this day.
We started fishing and caught some Bluelined Emporers (Trickies or Black Snapper), unfortunately they were just undersize. This was the main fish that we were pulling in, but it was pretty much as quickly as you could bait up and cast you were getting bites and landing fish. Often two at a time. We also caught some juvenile Pink Snapper, Snook, Western Butterfish and Western Trumpeter Whiting. I was finding it difficult landing two fish at a time, so decided not to bait my second hook, but still managed to pull up two fish on my next cast – only one hook baited! These fish were keen!  We noticed when bringing the fish into the boat that some bigger fish were chasing them and trying to catch them. So Col quickly changed rigs and used a live bait to tempt them. He landed a 67cm School Mackerel, a very beautiful and impressive fish. We continued to use live bait and caught a couple of Tailors that were also good size.
It was just a fantastic day out on the water and good fun to be catching so many fish and come away with a good feed. We headed to the fish cleaning table located in the main street, and Col went to work filleting the fish. We then headed home and cooked some up for dinner. Video to come.
Excellent work
Thanks Jo
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