Fun day to test a new boat

Jewies, big reds, macks & more - tell us how you went. NT, FNQ and Norwest.
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Agent86
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Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Agent86 »

Looked like good tides for a cruize on Sunday, and hopefully the weather was going to hold till we could get back in, after checking the BOM during the week a few times, we decided it might be worth a look.

sleep in on Sunday too was good, didn't get up till 7.30, sent a text message to make sure the skipper was awake!! Got a reply yay, c u at 8.30.

8.50 came, was about to call when he rocked up, all good, threw the gear in and off we went. Came over the hill towards buffalo and the water looked great, nice n calm, got to the ramp and the tide was still coming in, great, off we went, cruised over towards Gunn Point, nice little chop but the big 5.8m Formosa rear side console with the 150hp Suzi on it handled it easy.

As we neared the point and the channel it chopped up a bit with the tide ripping through and the light wind against it, no worries, kept heading accross past the NW Vernon out near Smith reef for the high tide. When we arrived there wasn't much action at all, few birds circling, we noticed a couple of little bust ups from small queenies, after half an hour there was a bit more action and, we chased and the young feller, Lachlan, managed the first hookup, nice little mack, as he was battling it i hooked up as well on a slightly bigger model, screemed off, then the skipper Darryl hooked up using his kids tackle rat outfit, had it for about 10 seconds and it started jumping, you guessed it, 1, no3, hang on i reckon 6 sharks attacked it and shredded it on the surface!!! :banghead:

quick i yelled to Lachlan wind like mad as i locked up the drag and tried to do the same, he got his to the boat and darryl leaned over to gaff it, the lure fell out and he didn't think he had it properly, went for a quick reposition of the gaff when out from under the came a good sized bad boy and ate it off the gaff!!! :( i managed to get my fish up to the boat at the same time, was dead sure it had been sharked twice the way it took off, quick i yelled, get this one, there was no way i was going to stick my hand in and grab the tail, didn't want to lose a hand.

The little grey was superbly gaffed and brought on board, 1 from 3 first round!!!! :roll:
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I drove the boat for a bit trying to get them on another one, there were a few around, Lachlan hooked another, got it half way in before it got annihalated by a pack of angry whalers, dammit, :| we got a bit of good vid of the sharks, they were coming up to the boat when we smacked our lures on the surface, just wanted to jump in and have a swim :rofl: not!!
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we gave up on losing lures and went to the eastern end of the Northwest Vernon for a look, as we putted over the shallow reef and into one of the numerous little blue holes we found a good school of Queenies that slammed the lures we were casting, Lachlan hooked a good one around 90cm, played him to the boat, gave him a bit of curry, unfortunately the leader broke when they tried to lift it on board, i was pulling one in at the same time, managed to get him up, a smaller one around 75cm, got that one aboard, mmm nummus.
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Darryl hooked and lost a couple and we got a coupla small reeffish, had to keep moving as the tide was dropping, made it accross the reef, had a few more goes where weve caught some before but nothing happaning much so we headed back to the blue holes on Gunn Point for a go.

Passed a couple of other fffrs as we headed into the inner blue hole and said gdday, then headed for a little creek to try for a barra, the water had dropped a little too much to try some of the other usual haunts, had spent too much time with the sharks!!! As we came up the little creek we saw a coupla small Barra swimming in the mangroves, but didn't have much luck with landing a good one, water was still a little dirty, Wednesday it will be great!!!!

I had a little Jack slam the softie and managed to haul him from the snags
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then another queenie inhaled the softie and gave a bit of a scuffle, had to thumb the spool in the narrow creek to stop him getting in the mangrove roots.
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Darryl had another little jack slam his lure and do the same and he dragged it from the roots into the boat, we let them go to hopefully catch in a few years!!
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We headed out around and into the outer hole, didn't see much action, there were some good sharks cruising the sandbars in the shallows. We cruised along throwing poppers and slices along the edges, got a few more small reefies but nothing exciting.

Lowtide was on us so we moved up to the western end and there were some small trevors and queenies busting up, spent an hour having a ball catching them, didn't matter what you thre in it got eaten, we managed a couple of better ones that were cruising with the pack, :fishy: but the little ones were fast and attacked the lure with gusto, if we had been on the North Mole in Freo we would have thought it was a great feed, but we let em go and maybe in a few years when they are a bit more chunky :naughty: will get a few of em!!

we must have landed at least 25 between us, and left them still biting.

The tide started rolling in a little faster and we headed back to Buffalo, went through a couple of small showers, looked like Palmy was getting dumped on, just made it in the creek about 5pm and putted slowly up the creek, saw a few good fish feeding on the way, some good swirls from big salmon, and a couple of good boofs.
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Had to wait a little while for the tide to rise a bit to get the boat out, wasn't too much drama but had to have a good go before driving the boat on with the tide ripping in, i didn't want to scratch the mates new boat by giving it too much, but got it on quite easy in the end with the tide ripping in past the ramp.

A great day out, some good fish and great company, and just finished 99's baked mackerel in spices with pumpkin, chickpea and spinach salad mmm
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it was great!!! :D
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If there is water and it holds fish, then it is fun trying to fool them into eating what you offer!!

Especially when you can see them!
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by nomad »

Good report 86.
Didnt realise it was you til you pulled up
Nice boat you got yourself onto
\We stayed inside the holes all day for very little.
We got jack other than small stuff. Got smashed on the way back in.
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by passenger279 »

Awesome day out.

You've got that place on a string 86. Every time I went there after you showed me about we came home with a bunch of queenies and trevally landed and released. Queenie Corner, what a spot! And cruising over the shallows of the smaller holes and spotting fish like in an aquarium.

That place is magic.
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Quinntreximon »

great report mate. You are the vernon specialist I think. Do you still get spaniyards out there all year round?
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Mud »

Great work ........top read!
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If there is blood around......well its a police matter...
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by sarrge »

Sounds like a top day out - and good to read a fishing story :)
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Agent86 »

nomad wrote:Good report 86.
Didnt realise it was you til you pulled up
Nice boat you got yourself onto
yep nomad, don't usually see too many people out there, especially people i know :-)
The boat is Darryl's new Formosa, top ride and plenty of power, girls will be using it in the Secret Womens!
I helped him break it in by landing the first fish in it, the nice little Mack.
passenger279 wrote:You've got that place on a string 86. Every time I went there after you showed me about we came home with a bunch of queenies and trevally landed and released. Queenie Corner, what a spot! And cruising over the shallows of the smaller holes and spotting fish like in an aquarium.

That place is magic.
SUSIE Q wrote:great report mate. You are the vernon specialist I think. Do you still get spaniyards out there all year round?
thanks guys, definately magic 279, don't know about on a string or the Vernon specialist as SUSIE Q sais, just been going there for a fair few years and am still finding spots to catch fish.
Best part is, if i can't find any new spots, i know a few that will always produce :D
Mud wrote:Great work ........top read!
sarrge wrote:Sounds like a top day out - and good to read a fishing story :)
thanks Mud and sarrge, could have added a few bits to the story, but there's enough people on here doing that already so just told it as it happened.
Even left a few good bits out!!

Got some great video as well, will try and get around to editing some of that if i ever get some spare time and post a link up!!

cheers
If there is water and it holds fish, then it is fun trying to fool them into eating what you offer!!

Especially when you can see them!
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AM
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by AM »

Happy new year 86 good to see you back on the water and posting another great fishing story well done. Are you retiring one of the boats by the look of things. I have a mate who is in the throws of getting into a 5.2 CC Formosa at the moment
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Agent86
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Agent86 »

AM wrote:Happy new year 86 good to see you back on the water and posting another great fishing story well done. Are you retiring one of the boats by the look of things. I have a mate who is in the throws of getting into a 5.2 CC Formosa at the moment
Happy New year as well AM, we only got back from a trip last Sunday, Adelaide, Perth and back round the top, had a ball and caught a few fish too.

definately not departing with either of my savages AM, was just out with a friend in his new boat, it goes well!!
Its a 5.6 side console Formosa, plenty of fishing room.

Planning on taking my old girl to Dundee in a couple of weeks, hopefully the weather will be ok!!

cheers
Last edited by Agent86 on Tue Feb 05, 2013 11:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
If there is water and it holds fish, then it is fun trying to fool them into eating what you offer!!

Especially when you can see them!
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Lats
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Lats »

Yeah nice report 86. Yeah, tricky ramp when the water is racing
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Pecheur »

Hi there,

Great report!
I went to the Venons, only twice, but liked it every times.
It is a great place to fish.

Have a good day,
Pecheur
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by smartypants »

well done looks like you had fun 8)
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by jeffish »

well done 86 & crew,another good trip mate ,always good when you can leave em bitting :catch:
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by Mac »

Yes the new boat went well, very impressed by it and only got a bit of misty spray on us a few times on the way back to Buffalo, had a few funny looks from everyone at the entrance to Buffalo as we idled in with .3M below us.
I have been fishing with 86 for about 16 years now and have had some amazing trips to locations including The Vic, The Limen and the Roper to name a few plus the odd Saturday afternoon trip along the banks of the Katherine River in his Hilux with a couple of rods, tackle bags, Carton of beer in the esky and a packet of chips but thats a whole heap of other stories.
He knows Vernons very well and its not very often we dont come home with a feed but it is one of those things, find a spot and just keep working it until it starts to produce, then once you have enough for a feed you can go exploring and find other spots. I will have to get off my bum and start putting more stories on here I think and see if we can out fish the other Smarts for a change.

Tight Lines All
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Re: Fun day to test a new boat

Post by nomad »

Gday mac. Thats a good looking boat youve got there. sits beautiful
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