G
Guest
·I haven't been posting as many photos from my trips recently because I've been failing to reel-in anything noteworthy of late. This post was supposed to be different. And it almost was. Almost...
Zigging where I normally zag, I launched from Sorrento and decided to explore waters northeast of there (instead of the obligatory salmon-bound south). After a lengthy and fruitless troll (1 x Yozuri HB, 1 x 4" Power Minnow) pushing about 4km into some pretty strong headwind and a strong outgoing tide, I then threw out a drift sock and drifted back. Bottom bashing SPs most of the way with 2 rods, I managed to land quite a few flatties (2 worth keeping) as well as a couple of couta.
I did, however, get onto some damned big fish in quick succession. And as is the luck I've been having lately, was unable to land them. The whole thing stank of snapper dammit!
First one took me by surprise. After catching so many flatties and couta, I wasn't expecting a strike as big as I got, so I was pretty reactionary (ie: too quick) to try and set the hook, but it seemed to work regardless. This fish was big... strongest run I reckon I've had with a SP in the bay all year. For a while there I was kinda powerless to prevent it from peeling line off the reel the way it did. I managed to get it to pull up a bit and made some ground winding it in before it got busy again and then artfully spat the hook somehow. Smartarse!
So I paddled back upstream to the same area, threw out the drift sock again and sure enough, only about 30 seconds after I started working the lure, bang. The next few minutes were 'interesting' in the Chinese curse kinda way. This fish was probably bigger than the first, and it came very close to spooling me on the first run. I put on some pressure when I realized that I was quickly running out of line and from there the fight was on. I did manage to gain some ground after it's first run, but not enough to do anything but hold tight when it went on a second run, this time towing me at a noticable speed for a short distance. I reckon it would have towed me further, if not for the reef it swam my line into.
What was a fight with a fish was quickly replaced with being snagged. Goddamit! If the sun wasn't going down (still miles from launch), the tide not so strong and I wasn't alone, I probably would have dived after that damned fish with my hunting knife. Alas, I let it go, pulled out my GPS, took a mark and then let nature (for the most part) suck me back to where I started from. I'll be back...
Zigging where I normally zag, I launched from Sorrento and decided to explore waters northeast of there (instead of the obligatory salmon-bound south). After a lengthy and fruitless troll (1 x Yozuri HB, 1 x 4" Power Minnow) pushing about 4km into some pretty strong headwind and a strong outgoing tide, I then threw out a drift sock and drifted back. Bottom bashing SPs most of the way with 2 rods, I managed to land quite a few flatties (2 worth keeping) as well as a couple of couta.
I did, however, get onto some damned big fish in quick succession. And as is the luck I've been having lately, was unable to land them. The whole thing stank of snapper dammit!
First one took me by surprise. After catching so many flatties and couta, I wasn't expecting a strike as big as I got, so I was pretty reactionary (ie: too quick) to try and set the hook, but it seemed to work regardless. This fish was big... strongest run I reckon I've had with a SP in the bay all year. For a while there I was kinda powerless to prevent it from peeling line off the reel the way it did. I managed to get it to pull up a bit and made some ground winding it in before it got busy again and then artfully spat the hook somehow. Smartarse!
So I paddled back upstream to the same area, threw out the drift sock again and sure enough, only about 30 seconds after I started working the lure, bang. The next few minutes were 'interesting' in the Chinese curse kinda way. This fish was probably bigger than the first, and it came very close to spooling me on the first run. I put on some pressure when I realized that I was quickly running out of line and from there the fight was on. I did manage to gain some ground after it's first run, but not enough to do anything but hold tight when it went on a second run, this time towing me at a noticable speed for a short distance. I reckon it would have towed me further, if not for the reef it swam my line into.
What was a fight with a fish was quickly replaced with being snagged. Goddamit! If the sun wasn't going down (still miles from launch), the tide not so strong and I wasn't alone, I probably would have dived after that damned fish with my hunting knife. Alas, I let it go, pulled out my GPS, took a mark and then let nature (for the most part) suck me back to where I started from. I'll be back...
