Yesterday I got my first run to the Maggie Island shoals for a few weeks. Weather was predicted all week to be good Saturday, and for once it was right.With all the freshwater running out of the rivers, and all the logs that it carries with it, I wasn't keen on leaving the dark! And with the rain that come through overnight it was still dark until about 5.30am. So we didn't go early at all. I think we left the ramp at about 6am. We had a good run most of the way to the North Cardinal, but it got quite lumpy and sloppy in the last few miles. Obviously it had blown out wide with the rain. Having the kids and Tania on board I though it would be best to stop here and have a fish while the sea settled a bit.
It was worth the stop, and over the next hour or so we must have caught over 15 Doggie Mackerel. All on high speed metal, it was a lot of fun. It was very difficult to convince Tania to leave and head wider. Most of the fish were under size, but we managed a neat half dozed fish in the 55cm range. There was bait and fish everywhere, and we definitely left them biting. But the promise of Nannygai on the shoals kept us moving.
It was still a bit sloppy heading out, but we managed a comfortable 20knots for the trip. On arrival there were bait balls and fish everywhere on the bottom. I put down a live bait collected from the cardinal, and in no time I was hooked up solid. This fish hugged the bottom hard, and I was expecting a nice Red to surface. But it turned out to be a BIG Coral Trout. A nice fish that would have to have been close to 15lbs.
We had the usual problems of Travalley and other small fish taking the baits. And the occasional fish taken by sharks. In fact, despite catching fish after fish, the morning quickly faded away with no further keepers in the eski.On a couple of our drifts we had some large schools of pelagics come through the sounder. There were some big fish amongst them, but we only managed a bunch of Travalley and a Tuna. We did see big Cobia and Sharks in there too. They were hard to keep track of, but while they were under the boat they were suckers for metal.
The last keeper for the morning Tania nailed on one of the drifts. A nice Cobia. The most unlucky fish ever. It came straight up and under the boat, went around the motor and was circling at the back of the boat. One quick run would have poped the line easily. But it just sat there, and Tania managed to get the line off. It was easily netted and brought on board. Not like a typical Cobia fight at all!! Lucky us!
The run home a 2pm was in near glass conditions. And the sea had backed off completely. Such a good run that Tania fell asleep in the chair!! A great morning with the Family. I hope others got out and had as much fun as we did?
