Great fish Billybob
Funny thing happened on the way....
Bit of a funny one this one.
Trolled out past the headland yesterday morning with yak buddy James. Pretty ordinary conditions; wind 15 to 20 knots (weather forecast 10 to 15), seas and swell 1.5m-1.8m... rather sloppy.
Only a few birds half heartedly working, more inclined to follow us to see if we could locate anything.
About half an hour into our troll pattern my rod (with a Gold Bomber on) went down but didn't peel any line. James called 'you're on' just as I noticed the hook-up.
My immediate response was "Just a small Mackie or Spotty", as the fish was just hanging there on the edge of triggering the drag and head shaking like you wouldn't believe.
After a minute or two I decided to load up a bit at which point the fish went deep, peeled a little bit of line then just sat deep under the yak, shaking it's head 90 to the dozen.
Couldn't budge it or get it to run for at least five minutes, it just hung under me and refused to budge. At that point I'd decided I had a shark on so tightened the drag and started pumping and winding.
Surprise, surprise, this 9kg Bluefin Tuna finally (after a lot of circling and diving) came to the surface and presented itself for gaffing. I would have thought it was a bigger fish by the way it pulled (eventually)... must have just finished breakfast.
I suppose if this thing we do was predictable it would get a bit boring so, no complaints here.
That was all the action we got for the morning, apart from the adrenaline rush of handling the shore dump on Main Beach later on.
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Trolled out past the headland yesterday morning with yak buddy James. Pretty ordinary conditions; wind 15 to 20 knots (weather forecast 10 to 15), seas and swell 1.5m-1.8m... rather sloppy.
Only a few birds half heartedly working, more inclined to follow us to see if we could locate anything.
About half an hour into our troll pattern my rod (with a Gold Bomber on) went down but didn't peel any line. James called 'you're on' just as I noticed the hook-up.
My immediate response was "Just a small Mackie or Spotty", as the fish was just hanging there on the edge of triggering the drag and head shaking like you wouldn't believe.
After a minute or two I decided to load up a bit at which point the fish went deep, peeled a little bit of line then just sat deep under the yak, shaking it's head 90 to the dozen.
Couldn't budge it or get it to run for at least five minutes, it just hung under me and refused to budge. At that point I'd decided I had a shark on so tightened the drag and started pumping and winding.
Surprise, surprise, this 9kg Bluefin Tuna finally (after a lot of circling and diving) came to the surface and presented itself for gaffing. I would have thought it was a bigger fish by the way it pulled (eventually)... must have just finished breakfast.
I suppose if this thing we do was predictable it would get a bit boring so, no complaints here.
That was all the action we got for the morning, apart from the adrenaline rush of handling the shore dump on Main Beach later on.
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The biggest surprise, I think, was the 14kg GT I hooked in Laguna Bay just before xmas last year.
It's the biggest Trevally anyone's seen around these parts for donkeys years. We were heading across the bay to try and get out of the murky water and into some fish. I had just got hold of the new River2Sea 'Arrow Squid' lure and thought I may as well troll it on the way. As you can see it worked a treat.
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The most satisfying was the 17.5kg Spanish Mackerel I trolled up out wide on Sunshine Reef in June last year. I took one troll bait with me, a huge Yellowtail Pike I'd caught earlier in the season and had been keeping for later in the season when the big Spaniards would be around. My plan was to paddle troll it until I got a strike, and boy, did this guy hit it hard. It was a 7km paddle back to Main Beach but I was grinning all the way.
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It's the biggest Trevally anyone's seen around these parts for donkeys years. We were heading across the bay to try and get out of the murky water and into some fish. I had just got hold of the new River2Sea 'Arrow Squid' lure and thought I may as well troll it on the way. As you can see it worked a treat.
The most satisfying was the 17.5kg Spanish Mackerel I trolled up out wide on Sunshine Reef in June last year. I took one troll bait with me, a huge Yellowtail Pike I'd caught earlier in the season and had been keeping for later in the season when the big Spaniards would be around. My plan was to paddle troll it until I got a strike, and boy, did this guy hit it hard. It was a 7km paddle back to Main Beach but I was grinning all the way.
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