Back in time

The last time I was here was around 30 years ago. The target then as it was yesterday was the  Conger Eel. Back then my efforts  resulted in a a monster, still my best to date. I fed the crabs for five hours and might have another crack on the 1st of January if the forecast looks good. It would be nice to start the tenth year of my blog with a nice fish or two. I'm pretty sure they'll still be here, lets see...

Was it a fluke?

After yesterdays trip the boat was left on the roof and the kit in the car, straight in the shower and a quick change before the family arrived for a pre Christmas dinner. I even had 5 mins spare for a glass of  Malbec. I watched my intake but hit the road later than I would have liked with the boat covered in a thick layer of frost, destination Jurassic Pollack reef. 

The ride out was bumpier than I anticipated given the conditions on shore. I had a spin around checking the finder and it wasn't looking good. Back in November there had been a lot of solid marks in the 25-40ft depth range, thick yellow and orange lines rising off the bottom that normally mean success is on the cards. Today the returns were narrow yellow lines hugging the bottom super tight. On standard sonar view they were not visible but the down-scan view using the Lowrance FishReveal feature showed me there was something to go at. After about an hour drifting and casting I decided  to troll. As much as I don't really like doing it, some days it's the way to go and so it proved today. I started picking up fish on a regular basis, Pollack with some Coalies in the mix, nothing big but decent enough sport. Top lure for the day was the Bass Assassin Sea Shad in chartreuse, they just seem to love that thin wrist on the tail. I took four fish for the table before heading home to wrap some presents. I'll try here again at some point, maybe my first session here was a fluke? One of things that keeps us coming back I guess.

Pollack thumb, a sign of a busy couple of days afloat!

All work....

Not much play.When the weathers been right I've been too busy keeping myself in a job. I headed out today and rigged up under a full moon before pushing off. It was a relief to get afloat again, been weeks since I felt a rod bend.

A dozen or so nice Pollack, good fishing on mild December morning.Paddle tails, fast, fast, fast! 

I managed one session before today in a lull in the weather, one of those rare bright, yet overcast days. The sea was like liquid chrome and it looked like a day more associated with summer. I decided to try a mark from way back. If I can get up on time on Christmas Eve morning I'll head back there. I had  9  fish and caught what are my two biggest Pollack, nose to tail, the width of the Outback, really big and also a real surprise. The video footage has been well played in my downtime, one of the highlights of the year that's staying off the blog  for a while before the spot has drones on it and features on someones commercial YouTube channel being sold as the latest adventure.

I've got a new boat arriving in January. This Revolution 16 was supposed to be with me a few weeks back but the hull was damaged in storage, just behind the drive well in the picture above. It would certainly make tomorrow's  trip faster and give me more fishing time.Who doesn't need more fishing time?