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Well on Saturday the boys in the Naki got out for a fish and with the news out that the reserve at White Cliffs was commencing on the 9th of October, there was bound to be a good turnout.
Wondaboy and I arrived at 7.30 to find that BH & GH were already paddling into the sunrise so we quickly set up the yaks. During this time Nubee and Jason had arrived.
We decided to head straight out as there was plenty of action and birds diving frantically. We pulled out the SP's and were instantly pulling in KY, with Nubeee and Wondaboy pulling in the odd snapper up to 5lb.
After 3/4 of an hour Wondaboy headed out to one of our spot X's and I followed shortly afterwards.
When I got there, Wondaboy had already dropped the pick and BH & GH weren't far away, so I decided to head out deeper to some clear un-burlied water. After about 3/4 of a K paddle I found some good structure with good fish signs and lots of kelp. I hadn't fished this reef before, as I didn't know it was there, so I was quite excited about it's prospects. Dogfish arrived shortly after and dropped pick behind me. The day dragged on, with only 300mm fish being caught, which were released, some KY and a nice blue cod. Dogfish had lost a 10lb snapps at the side of his yak, so the air was foul for a short time.
BH had paddled out to see what was going on, just as the line peeled out and soon a nice 8lb snapps was in the bin. With that BH dropped anchor and was soon joined by GH (In my burly trail of all places Grrrr ) However nothing eventuated so by about 1.30 everyone started packing up. As Dogfish came past I explained he was going to early as the big snapps would be on the bite in about 1/2 an hour. "NA bite times been" was his reply. Dogfish had paddled about a K when the girl at the WC super market checkout counter announced that they were having a closing down sale and snapps were on special. A work up started, so I quickly put fresh baits on and burled like F. My stray line peeled out and as I was reeling it in my ledger sang out, so I flicked the lever on it, set a tight drag and got back to the business at hand. During this my ledger my ledger was still screaming. After about 5 to 10 minutes a nice 17.5lb snapps greets me at the side of the yak. Eager to get to my ledger, as it was bent over screaming, I dragged it on board, taking out my FF mounting bracket (well it was heavy) I sat on the snapps and got down to business once again to deal with my ledger. Soon a nice 8lb snapps joined the 17.5 on the deck. Wondaboy had seen this and like a true professional, changed tactics, putting away his SP and dropped baits. Keen to get my lines back in the water, I sat on the two snapps, re-baited and after this I got back to dealing with my snapps. During this process the lines peel out again. I reeled them in and a couple of 7lb snapps joined the pile on the deck (I'm start to think I'm going to need a bigger yak) I bait up again and turn sideways on my yak so I can deal with the fish as I was in a bit of a dilemma as to where I was going to put the next fish. My stray peeled out, so I tightened the drag and left it screaming while I cleared the deck. My ledger bounces and screams, however my concentration was on my stray line, as the rod had quite a bend in it. The excitement was mounting and the adrenalin pumping. A 15lb snapps gets slapped on the deck and I instantly turn to my ledger and another 8lb snapps joins the 15lbder. It quietened off, which gave me time to gather my thoughts and get some sort of organised chaos happening.
My ledger nodded and gave a short burst, so I causally set the hook, which resulted in the reel screaming. This fish had gone 50metres in a matter of seconds. I played the fish for about 15 minutes. Then the biggest snapper I’ve ever seen popped to the surface. I thought he’d given in, but he gave a flap of his tail and peeled me back to the bottom. About 5 minutes later I once again had him at the side of the yak. He opened his jaws, bit down, going through 60lb steel trace, gave a flick of his tail and was gone. You can imagine the lyrics to the song that followed F, F, F, F$$&%@. A couple more snapps went in the bin to make my limit and it was time to go home. Wondaboy had also had a good haul, with 8 snapps from 6lb to 8lb. At one time he too was peeled out with just a few spools left on his reel when he was busted off.
News Flash, I have since heard that Nubee was up to his old tricks when heading back in. He jumped off his yak (so he said) letting his yak go, with BH ahead of him. Next thing BH is sitting in the wrong Yak
A great day, but a hard paddle back loaded down with snapps.
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Wondaboy and I arrived at 7.30 to find that BH & GH were already paddling into the sunrise so we quickly set up the yaks. During this time Nubee and Jason had arrived.
We decided to head straight out as there was plenty of action and birds diving frantically. We pulled out the SP's and were instantly pulling in KY, with Nubeee and Wondaboy pulling in the odd snapper up to 5lb.
After 3/4 of an hour Wondaboy headed out to one of our spot X's and I followed shortly afterwards.
When I got there, Wondaboy had already dropped the pick and BH & GH weren't far away, so I decided to head out deeper to some clear un-burlied water. After about 3/4 of a K paddle I found some good structure with good fish signs and lots of kelp. I hadn't fished this reef before, as I didn't know it was there, so I was quite excited about it's prospects. Dogfish arrived shortly after and dropped pick behind me. The day dragged on, with only 300mm fish being caught, which were released, some KY and a nice blue cod. Dogfish had lost a 10lb snapps at the side of his yak, so the air was foul for a short time.
BH had paddled out to see what was going on, just as the line peeled out and soon a nice 8lb snapps was in the bin. With that BH dropped anchor and was soon joined by GH (In my burly trail of all places Grrrr ) However nothing eventuated so by about 1.30 everyone started packing up. As Dogfish came past I explained he was going to early as the big snapps would be on the bite in about 1/2 an hour. "NA bite times been" was his reply. Dogfish had paddled about a K when the girl at the WC super market checkout counter announced that they were having a closing down sale and snapps were on special. A work up started, so I quickly put fresh baits on and burled like F. My stray line peeled out and as I was reeling it in my ledger sang out, so I flicked the lever on it, set a tight drag and got back to the business at hand. During this my ledger my ledger was still screaming. After about 5 to 10 minutes a nice 17.5lb snapps greets me at the side of the yak. Eager to get to my ledger, as it was bent over screaming, I dragged it on board, taking out my FF mounting bracket (well it was heavy) I sat on the snapps and got down to business once again to deal with my ledger. Soon a nice 8lb snapps joined the 17.5 on the deck. Wondaboy had seen this and like a true professional, changed tactics, putting away his SP and dropped baits. Keen to get my lines back in the water, I sat on the two snapps, re-baited and after this I got back to dealing with my snapps. During this process the lines peel out again. I reeled them in and a couple of 7lb snapps joined the pile on the deck (I'm start to think I'm going to need a bigger yak) I bait up again and turn sideways on my yak so I can deal with the fish as I was in a bit of a dilemma as to where I was going to put the next fish. My stray peeled out, so I tightened the drag and left it screaming while I cleared the deck. My ledger bounces and screams, however my concentration was on my stray line, as the rod had quite a bend in it. The excitement was mounting and the adrenalin pumping. A 15lb snapps gets slapped on the deck and I instantly turn to my ledger and another 8lb snapps joins the 15lbder. It quietened off, which gave me time to gather my thoughts and get some sort of organised chaos happening.
My ledger nodded and gave a short burst, so I causally set the hook, which resulted in the reel screaming. This fish had gone 50metres in a matter of seconds. I played the fish for about 15 minutes. Then the biggest snapper I’ve ever seen popped to the surface. I thought he’d given in, but he gave a flap of his tail and peeled me back to the bottom. About 5 minutes later I once again had him at the side of the yak. He opened his jaws, bit down, going through 60lb steel trace, gave a flick of his tail and was gone. You can imagine the lyrics to the song that followed F, F, F, F$$&%@. A couple more snapps went in the bin to make my limit and it was time to go home. Wondaboy had also had a good haul, with 8 snapps from 6lb to 8lb. At one time he too was peeled out with just a few spools left on his reel when he was busted off.
News Flash, I have since heard that Nubee was up to his old tricks when heading back in. He jumped off his yak (so he said) letting his yak go, with BH ahead of him. Next thing BH is sitting in the wrong Yak
A great day, but a hard paddle back loaded down with snapps.
