Brassies, goldens, queenfish and macks at Lee Point.
Early start at Peter's to hook up boat and load the gear.
We were on the water just before the sun broke the horizon.
We did notice a familiar red ute at the Dinah Beach boat ramp carpark, so we might run into other fly fishers on the local harbour today - thought they were all at the tying day out at Humpty Doo.
We are determined this time to head straight to Lee Point, no distractions and focus on the longtail tuna - so we zip along at a fair pace once out of the 5knot zone out from Dinah Beach Ramp.
However.....
Busting up fish are busting up fish and just before East Point we find queenfish going absolutely nuts all around the boat.
no time for photos or video - just cast cast and cast some more there's fish about.
I di View more...Brassies, goldens, queenfish and macks at Lee Point.
Early start at Peter's to hook up boat and load the gear.
We were on the water just before the sun broke the horizon.
We did notice a familiar red ute at the Dinah Beach boat ramp carpark, so we might run into other fly fishers on the local harbour today - thought they were all at the tying day out at Humpty Doo.
We are determined this time to head straight to Lee Point, no distractions and focus on the longtail tuna - so we zip along at a fair pace once out of the 5knot zone out from Dinah Beach Ramp.
However.....
Busting up fish are busting up fish and just before East Point we find queenfish going absolutely nuts all around the boat.
no time for photos or video - just cast cast and cast some more there's fish about.
I did send off a phone message just incase someone else wasn't catching any.
Peter gets a good one, I get a few smaller ones before we remind ourselves of today's main task and keep moving towards Lee Point.
The wind is up and the water rough but we don't get too wet on the rest of the way to Lee Point.
But horror of horrors on arrival at Lee Point - there are 7 boats, that's SEVEN too many boats at our favourite spot.
We find a pressure wave a few hundred metres west of it and sulk till we start catching grey macks one after the other- unlike the lure tossers, 'offs' and 'jack' were their names (think about it!), who are crowding our new spot when we start catching fish. They actually drove trolling lures right through the area we were casting into in their total misunderstanding our how to catch the fish or favourite fishing spot etiquette .
We cast across the current to the side of the boat and as the fly sinks we pause and as it nears the pressure wave we start a fast staccato a strip the flies of the silicone surf candy (me) and a 'no see um' (peter).
A few phone messages back and forth sees one boat pull out of the seven and head our way.
Its Jeff and Michael in the new blue boat - they too are soon into fish.
As the action slows Peter and I move towards our favourite spot now devoid of other boats.
We find a patch of bait from 15-24 feet down - such a large thick blotch on the sounder it covers most of the screen.
There has to be big fish around it.
Remembering the golden trevally Jon White got last week by sinking the fly down deep.
We too sink our flies down beside the tight school of bait.
Peter hooks up a strong one.
I do too.
I muscle mine too hard and it breaks me off at the knot - directly under the boat 25 feet down.
We chase Peter's 300 meters north from the hook up point and he get a 72cm Brassie for our troubles.
That's two good and very strong Brassies in two trips!
But again he is casting into the right places, at the right times, applying the right methods and using proven flies - it all adds up to successful fly fishing.
I then sink the fly again and hook up to a feisty golden trevally - which I muscle towards the boat but not quite as hard as previously - so no connection breakages this time!
The day is turning out magical - but no tuna yet!
We use the electric to move about and find the bait schools - we find them hit the anchor button on the electric.
(a most marvelous invention without a doubt!).
But the schools are nothing like the massive tight pack of bait fish that we found at first.
The schools of bait are more like columns in the water now.
Again we sink our flies near them and come up tight - casting across current, letting the fly sink and begin a fast staccato strip of the fly.
Sadly the wind is howling and as I change mid cast towards another direction and pin my self in the back with a 'no see um' fly - one of Roger's.Whom it seems doesn't crush his barbs sufficiently. It has penetrated my shirt and skin layers below the left shoulder blade with the barb caught under the skin.
Peter does the necessary dehooking by wrapping some leader material around the hook bend and pressing down as you snap the fly backwards out of the flesh (not too much blood but the barb did have a tiny chunk of my flesh on it - is that bait fishing if I didn't take it off the barb before I next cast??
After that medical procedure - we get back to casting and catching more fish.
Later, the fish start to get tentative- swarming the flies we strip in but not hooking up.
I change flies from a 'no see um' about 5-6cm long (the very one that was stuck in my back earlier) to a skinny silicone surf candy about the same length, we get a few but are still being rejected by the countless fish following the flies to the boat, I then change to the tiniest white clouser I had in my fly boxes - 3-4cm long and anorexic.
Jeff and Michael have moved over to join us, and it is a good omen for me as I get four fish in four casts now that I am using a smaller white clouser.
It is still hard fishing in the wind and chop mostly with many casts being made between fish but we are regularly catching fish with slight variations in fly, strip and line type as the conditions and fish reactions change. We even get a few on poppers despite the choppy conditions.
Both boats with fly fishers in them then see some tuna 300metres north and we head over but no luck - gone by the time we get there.
As we search and move back to our bait schools we find the water frothy from a thousand queenfish hitting the surface at once.
The current is forcing the baitfish against an outer reef line and we park ourselves within casting distance of the reef and start catching fish after fish again. Again casting across current, letting fly sink and then fast stripping as it sweeps along.
No major size but so much fun it should be illegal - see Jeff's video on his facebook page.
So visual, so exciting!
We move about in between these two long lines of reef chasing fish and catching a few at each spot.
Jeff and Michael head back to the ramp - and Peter and I despite the continuing rising wind and wave keep casting in the hope of something big amongst the average sized grey macks and queenfish.
As we moved up current along the reef the pods of aggressive fish seem to stay that hundred metres ahead of us - like always!
Then almost within casting distance, we have this mass of predators absolutely mercilessly swathing their way though a school of baitfish with utter abandon - and lo and behold in amongst them were these massive metre long (at least) longtail tuna! so fat and so round - porpoising their way into the fray.
One longtail attacking the bait so fiercely, shoulders a small queenie, cartwheeling it through the air .
a metre out of the water - where is my lost sports video cam when I need it.
We get more macks and queenies but the longtails stay always that three to four cast lengths away.
We target the queenies in the middle of two parallel reefs that run east to west
The water is about 16 feet deep.
If we cast towards the reef we get the macks, towards to middle we get queenfish.
We want the tuna but when they are not there or close enough we get the macks and queens.
I cast towards the middle and come up tight - very tight - whats this?
A few strong head shakes of confoundment and disbelief and then the after burners kick in - TUNA at last!
It takes 150m in seconds is heading towards the reef but with only a meter of water over it - I try to slow it down and dissuade it from its intended direction
I lose it - bugger! Bugger!!! ---- BUGGER!!!! (pissed me off for quite some time!).
We are still catching fish after fish in the average sized macks and queenfish
All the double hooks ups and bend rods attract three boats of lure tossers.
They crowd us and the water is getting really rough now and wind above 10knots - Peter had trouble standing on front casting deck as it is quite high given the up and down of the wave action, and line control difficult in the growing wind too.
Despite the lure tossers closeness, we hook up fish after fish - them nothing (yes!).
I get 9 fish to hand and even lose four or five right at side of the boat while the three lure based boats get nothing.
GO THE FLY!!!!!!!! It reigns supreme! like always!
Both us play up the hook ups and the fight - to piss them off further- just couldn't resist.
Their lures are too big, they don't allow for the concept that bait don't swim against fast flowing tidal water - (go with the flow please).
The wind and wave action eventually gets too much and we head back in towards Dinah Beach Boat ramp.
What a day with at the very least, 70 plus fish to hand, for our boat.
A few good ones mixed in too.
So much visual fish porn, we both need an extended rest or we might burn out.
Using the poppers saw five or more fish slashing at our surface flies - so very exciting - love it!
Also as soon as we went small (unlike last week when they took bigger flies) - hook up after hook up.
The trip back was a little wet but Peter was real happy with the new prop he had installed - made the boat travel heaps better in the following seas.
He even enjoy putting his feet up and was checking Facebook (see below) - where Jeff had already up loaded a few pics and a video.
You know how about this time last year I wrote about getting soft not wanting to go out unless conditions were perfect?
Well, I think with all the recent poor weather fishing we have done lately, we are toughing up.
Big seas, strong winds, wrong tides - we are still getting out there and most times getting into fish in numbers and in size.
Both Peter and I are really enjoying our SWOFFING lately.
Without a doubt, we so need to diversify our targetted species like changing to milkies instead of queenies and so too to go after the species up the harbour creeks - like barra and threadier.
But hey, you can't knock a 70 plus fish count on a day outing within sight of a capital city, can you? - heaps of fun today!
Who wants some?
