Byron 5th Nov

One word to describe the wind conditions this morning - Perfection.
Trolled around for nearly four hours inside the bay. Water was cold but it was pure glass and pretty clear.

After a while I brought out the substitute handline downrigger while I'm waiting for the real US ones to arrive.

I rigged up the dodgy weight, then clipped on the Halco Laser Pro 190 and dropped it down about 8 metres. After a few minutes trolling, BANG. The fish hit the lure but didn't connect with the trebles.

A big flock of birds then started working and on cue, the freespool mechanism broke on the Tica Caiman. Ten minutes later the birds were gone and the reel was still stuffed but was still able to wind line in and drag line out.

I hung around downrigging with a dud reel and let out mainline on zero drag, then tightening a bit when the lure hit 6-8 metres. I got nailed five more times but somehow couldn't connect with the fish.

My theory is that the fish were either cobia or kings. I reckon the drag was set a bit light on the Tica and the downrigger gave too much flex before the tension hit the reel. Somehow, I reckon rubber bands are better than release clips but I'm just not experienced enough at downrigging yet.

No fish but perfect.