North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

The willyweather forecast was for 20km/h winds but windytv said 4km/h winds..
I couldn’t sleep on Sat last night so I loaded the Rascall11 up and headed out to the Oil rig. The last time I went out the sea state was so bad that I couldn’t stand up without getting smashed
I hit the water around 2am and as I headed out of the harbour, the sloppy chop almost made me turn around. Not again, I thought
I decided to give it ½ hr to see if things got better. The further out from Darwin I got, the flatter it got until I was soon sitting on 50km/h.
I was on the right track but I could see a very bright and well lit object in the distance. Maybe that mark I put into the plotter last time must have been a bit off?
Anyway, as I neared the object, what I thought was the rig turned out to be a cruise ship heading for Darwin.
Back on course and when I arrived at the rig, there was only one other boat around. There were hundreds of long toms smashing the surface.. The odd big maccie could also been seen busting up as well. I had several casts at them but did no good
So I dropped a jig and within 10 seconds I hooked a good Spaniard and after several blistering runs he finally came over the side. This is more like it – well over 100mm. I had to top/tail it to fit it in the esky
I was sick of losing gear to the macks over the next few hours so I tied on some wire to stop the carnage but not another one was hooked. I had numerous takes but nothing hooked up. There were bite marks in the metal jigs. I added a 2nd hook to the bottom of the jig but still missed them
The sounder was almost blacked out with fish from top to bottom but they turned out to be tea-leaf trevors. The only ones willing to take the jig hook were near the bottom in 40 m of crystal clear water.
I pulled a few Trevors and they just kept getting bigger - they stretched my old arms.
As the sun rose, a few other boats arrived but I didn’t see anyone else get a fish. The vast majority of people just trolled around at various distances from the rig.
I found it really strange that the fish also disappeared from the sounder. They must have either ducked right under the rig or headed out to continue their hunting using the rising sunlight.
There were hundreds of batfish visible in the gin clear water.
I decided to head back and stopped at several marks near the Fentons. I drifted over my marks and hooked several spotted maccies using jigs. I also did some trolling but nothing took my offering.
I pulled several spotted macks from the bus stop but they were released and swam away. Everytime I dropped the pick on a new spot, the tuna would bust up just out of casting distance. They were just mocking me by staying out of range. Of course I had a go at them but the old arms cant get anywhere the 150m distance required. I was flat out getting 70m on the hope that I might jag a straggler.
Another boat that had been to the oil rig also came and dropped the pick around 100m away. They were fishing out the back of the ½ cabin and obviously couldn’t see the tuna busting up right in front.
By now I was buggered and needed to lay my weary head down. (Cant do all-nighters anymore). The beauty of fishing alone is that you can please yourself when/where you go or stop.

The sea was flat for the entire run back with the odd total glassout here and there and I sat on 50 plus km all the way back.
As I returned to the harbour I saw several good schools of mixed tuna busting up but as soon as I got within 200m of them, down they went in typical fashion. I could see them on the sounder so I dropped several marabou jigs down but they didn’t like the way I was holding my mouth!
They then popped up and popped up hundreds of m away.
Anyway, I had a ball and have the odd feed for a while now..

It sort of makes me think twice about selling the old Rascall11.

Ripper story. Those tuna are bastards. Go fishing with only handlines in the boat and they'll come up around your gunwhales!

Only half joking, have had it happen.

Yeah great weather out there on the w/end Mark , we must have just missed you got delayed chasing tuna
about 10K's short of the rig . All we could manage around the rig were tea leafs in there 100s .

Great trip and story, you have to watch those Tuna they are employed by the oil companies to make you burn fuel .

Yeah those tuna are frustrating. A mate finally hooked one on Sunday and had a shark grab it just as I was netting it - got his heart racing a bit. It was the biggest fish he had ever hooked too...

Yeah from all of the stories ive been hearing about the rig, I thought the maccies were fighting each other to jump in the boat.
Those bl..dy tea leaf trevs were a nuisance at times but they pull like all tuna. . I thought if I could get past the schools, then the maccies would be everywhere. Funny how they all took off when the sun rose.

i still cant get to put a piece of tuna in my mouth without gagging. just the cat food thing

It still amazes me that people up here just don’t use their radios.

Good post!

Matt Flynn wrote:Ripper story. Those tuna are bastards. Go fishing with only handlines in the boat and they'll come up around your gunwhales!

Only half joking, have had it happen.

That reminds me of the first time I finally got one. I hooked up after chasing them around for hours and I had gotten broken off. I tied a new leader and jig on and just as I finished the water erupted around the boat with tuna. Fish on!

Great story Nomad, sounds like a great day out there. I can relate to deciding to just have a lay down, because why not?

Hi Nomad,

It was great to see you at the ramp, even if very briefly.
Well done on the good trip.


Have a good day,
Pecheur

Good to bear you got a few Mark, great to hear the old Rascal ii is still getting used a bit and catching fish

Cheers