Our destination was Sunshine Reef where we were targetting reefies. The wind was quite strong out of the south, we were expecting it to die off as predicted.
Just as we started fishing, we get a radio call from Pedro who was east of Hells Gates. He said there were some large Tuna jumping out in the vicinity. 30 seconds later Pedro calls again and said that he's on. He was tied up for a while so Ian and I presumed that he was hooked up to a Longtail. We were correct. Pedro had landed a nice Longtail that measured just over the metre.
Meanwhile, Ian and I were getting thrown around and taking the occasional wave over the side. We both had our big drogues out as the wind was pretty strong although there was hardly any current on Sunshine Reef. Ian landed a just legal Squire which was thrown back, I wasn't getting a touch. It was pretty quiet out there as both of our prawn baits were coming back to the yaks unmolested most times.
I wasn't really enjoying myself out there. I was getting a few tangles from the bait spinning in the water, and after the second wave came over the back of the stealth and filled my seat, I'd had enough.
I didnt feel 100% safe out there with the drogue out, I was cold and the fishing was slow. I told Ian I'd had enough and decided to do some trolling. I also felt pretty bad about leaving Ian out there on his own, but I was assured by Ian that he would be fine.
I tossed out the LaserPro shallow runner and headed north. I was going to head to Jew Shoal where Jaro was soaking a bait in a lot better conditions than where we were. I crossed paths with Pedro on the way, he was fishing a live mullet down deep, he also had live prawns out. I trucked on to Jew Shoal. It was a great paddle with the wind and swell at my back, it was pushing me along nicely. My GPS recorded a top speed of 13k's an hour, definitely recorded whilst going down a sizable swell.
The wind was abating as I got to Jew Shoal. I met up with Jaro and had a chat. Just as I started to paddle off again I had a big strike. I fish a pretty heavy drag and this fish was towing me backwards! Line was peeling off, I reckon he took about 100 metres before he slugged it out deep as usual.
Jaro was keeping me company and taking some pics as well as giving a running commentary to Ian and Pedro via radio. After 20 minutes or so on 20lb braid, we had colour. I thought the fish would have been bigger the way it fought and especially after that first blistering run.
(pic by Jaro)
After some serious circle work, the Longtail popped to the surface where I pinned him with the gaff. It's a great feeling when you have a tough fish laying across your lap.
(pic by Jaro)
The sporadic surface bust ups we had been witnessing an hour earlier had all but gone. Pedro and Ian had had enough and were heading in. Jaro and I had decided to do the same. We landed on the beach around the same time with no dramas for anyone. We were also met by a curious lot of onlookers as they asked us all about the Tuna we had caught.
Another satisfying day on the water, even after a 22.4 kilometer paddle!
(pic by Jaro)
