G
Guest
·... except for when everything goes wrong as soon as you peel it on. I got up at 4:00 AM this morning to make it to Frankston in time (I live in Emerald) for a daybreak session for snapper. I knew things wouldn't go as planned when I reached the shoreline only to find winds blowing much harder than expected, with much choppier waters than expected. I sat in the car for five minutes weighing up if I'd go in or not. It didn't help when the radio reminded me that it was 4 degrees celsius in the city, which meant it was probably colder where I was.
Screw it, I told myself - I'm going in. So I unloaded the boat, got all my kit ready to strap into place and... wait a minute? Where's my damned paddle? I left the thing soundly sleeping in the warmth at home - bastard! Ah well... I have a Hobie Mirage Sport, so I don't really 'need' it I told myself.
A less than elegant launch followed and by about 5:45 AM I was on the water. I peddled some distance out where I just got that fishy feeling, anchored up, lowered a berley bomb (frozen minced salmon carcasses), baited up a ***** fillet on one rod and a ***** head on the other. Then I waited.
I didn't have to wait long, because that berley bomb started working it's magic pretty quick, obviously getting washed around nicely below. The ***** fillets were producing bites non-stop. But no snapper. No even pinkies. Just flatties, small ones at that and lots of them.
It was when one of my baits was gobbled up a little deeper that I went to reach for my leatherman to remove the hook. Argh... I'd left the damned thing in the car. Normally I would have let the flatty go (legal size, but probably only just) but it wouldn't have survived after getting the hook out anyway, so I bagged it and decided to head in and maybe try for some squid instead (no leatherman required).
It wasn't to be though - way too rough for that. As soon as I made this decision my fishing trip - one of the most unsuccesfull I've ever had - was inadvertantly cut short. And my re-entry was even less elegant than my launch. I was lucky not to do considerable damage to the turbo mirage drive. Today I learned that paddles are mandatory, even in a Hobie. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed :-/
The only upside to the trip was my new customized anchor system worked really well - better than expected, holding me safely and steadily in 1 - 1/2 meters in the little Hobie Sport no problem at all.
Screw it, I told myself - I'm going in. So I unloaded the boat, got all my kit ready to strap into place and... wait a minute? Where's my damned paddle? I left the thing soundly sleeping in the warmth at home - bastard! Ah well... I have a Hobie Mirage Sport, so I don't really 'need' it I told myself.
A less than elegant launch followed and by about 5:45 AM I was on the water. I peddled some distance out where I just got that fishy feeling, anchored up, lowered a berley bomb (frozen minced salmon carcasses), baited up a ***** fillet on one rod and a ***** head on the other. Then I waited.
I didn't have to wait long, because that berley bomb started working it's magic pretty quick, obviously getting washed around nicely below. The ***** fillets were producing bites non-stop. But no snapper. No even pinkies. Just flatties, small ones at that and lots of them.
It was when one of my baits was gobbled up a little deeper that I went to reach for my leatherman to remove the hook. Argh... I'd left the damned thing in the car. Normally I would have let the flatty go (legal size, but probably only just) but it wouldn't have survived after getting the hook out anyway, so I bagged it and decided to head in and maybe try for some squid instead (no leatherman required).
It wasn't to be though - way too rough for that. As soon as I made this decision my fishing trip - one of the most unsuccesfull I've ever had - was inadvertantly cut short. And my re-entry was even less elegant than my launch. I was lucky not to do considerable damage to the turbo mirage drive. Today I learned that paddles are mandatory, even in a Hobie. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed :-/
The only upside to the trip was my new customized anchor system worked really well - better than expected, holding me safely and steadily in 1 - 1/2 meters in the little Hobie Sport no problem at all.
My very first day out in my Sport I rolled her while releasing a bream portside. Haven't done it since though. 
