Me and the misses watched the John butler trio on Saturday night and there was no way I was going to be in a fit state for an early morning session but I was so keen to get out.

I came up with a rough idea on Saturday for Sunday afternoon/evening instead. The plan was to hit a mark over low maybe hit a couple Wrasse if the Bass where slow or hopefully save a blank early on with the good chance of a schoolie or two then move to a mark that I dragged Tim to a couple of years ago. Fish in the light for an hour and then over the high in the dark to see if there was anything lurking about and hopefully give us a chance of finding some better size fish…

The forecast was a light onshore wind and after a week of relatively no wind the sea should be clear and looking good. The first mark certainly looked good and Tim was a little late and had to meet us down there. Me and Dean plugged away and he got hit by something on the Patch 2 but the hooks hadn’t set. We plugged away in the sunshine hoping to get a rise on the surface but no takers…

We moved to our chosen spot and Tim finally joined us. We hit a couple Wrasse while the tide was still low but nothing of any size and then proceeded to see if we could snag a Bass. Dean thought he spotted a nice fish lurking in the weed but other than a couple Pollack we missed out and when I mentioned the next mark to Tim his reply was ”What the hell are we still doing here!” Fair comment I thought and we rushed back to the cars and headed off…

We finally got to our chosen mark around 8.30 so we had an hour or so of light to see if we could try and pull something of the surface (what I was hoping to do). Dean and Tim headed off to one area and I went straight to the place I wanted to fish the most. I started working the surface with the Gunfish 115 as it was pretty choppy but nothing doing. I switched to the never failing 14gm SGE. 1. It was probably what I was going to be fishing when it was dark and 2. If there’s some fish about it will normally get there interest and save a blank. I was pleased with the way It was fishing but I had no sign of interest. A lure that I’m really starting to like is the Seaspin Coixedda 100. I had some interest in the BRZ the other day and it is the kind of colour I would normally go for. So the other day I had some interest from Bass working this lure on a really slow straight retrieve as I was playing around. With my normal kind of retrieve it doesn’t seem to swim the way I like so I started just doing a slow straight retrieve, just enough to get the lure wobbling and this lure really rolls and wobbles…

After a few casts the inevitable happens… I get a follow… Wow! A pretty big Bass is hot on the tail of the lure there’s probably a metre left before I’m at the rock i’m standing on… Will it… Is it… F*** me it has… Crystal clear water, clear as day I watch as this Bass opens up it gob and sucks the lure in… BOOM! This thing was like a fricking Tarpon… It really wanted to get it’s head down but it couldn’t work it out and proceeded to do 3 jumps flapping it tail left right and centre before it managed to get it’s head under and power off… My drag was a little loose as I hadn’t had it set properly from getting out the car and I took a good run as I tightened the drag. I short tussle ensued and I managed to slip the fish into a gully and lift the fish out.

67-68cm? I shouted over to the boys but they couldn’t hear me. I needed a selfie so turned the camera to video mode and shot a quick vid so I could take still from it later.

They eventually came over but the fish had already gone back and the look on there faces when I said it was 67… They started fishing the same area as me and I gave Deano my perch. The action was still very slow, Dean had a schoolie follow before landing one and I dropped and then landed another schoolie to a Fiiish Minnow body.

The light was starting to fade sharpish know and I switched to the SGE. I so hoped it was just going to go off when the light went down… I think we all had a little bit of buzz about us. It just felt so right… It was basically dark know and was just stood next to Tim when I just stopped the lure at my feet and I mean under my feet… The water erupted as a fish nailed it and pretended to be a Tarpon… Me and Tim just laughed at this fish going mental in front of us. It got it’s head and went some… Haha These things are on steriod’s! Didn’t realise it was a nice fish until I got it to my feet… It ain’t a schoolie mate… Quite nice actually…

61cm

This is where it just went off the scale… We had a quick smoke to let the darkness settle. Stuffed our pockets of our chosen softies and assumed the position… I think it was clear at this point that there was definitely a few nice fish around to be had. Me and Tim opted for the Pearl EVO redgill and Dean ignored our choice and stuck on a Standard SGE.

First cast for me and BOOM… another 61cm fish…

Really excited know…

As I was releasing the fish it started… Dean… then Tim… fish after fish… I became the gilly and since I’d already had a few fish I thought it was right thing to do…

They where flying in and I really wanted to get back out there…

Finally I got back in and after a few casts I got another hit… Dean was in to and Tim went over to help him. I just stood there watching my rod bend and bend… ZZZZZZZZ this really was fun fishing as this fish took a fair few yards off my reel on two straight runs… I could just make it out in the moonlight a long way out splashing around. I just played it and took my time, really loving the moment. These fish where proper mental!!!

64cm…

After all the enjoyment of that… Another 60 and an awesome fight. Deans in again… Do you need a hand I shout… Tim just goes ”His reels screaming, he probably needs a hand!” F*** it… I hope down the rocks to land his fish…

66cm and the smile says it all…

The action only lasted an hour or so and slowly died off. A few surprise Pollock followed and Tim managed another 50. The bites thinned out and a few where missed. But we where happy, really happy. It’s been a long wait for a session like this and this was a PB session for all of us.

Final tally was 5 fish 60-67cm and 9 fish 50-59cm along with a few schoolies and Dean and Tim both dropped a nice fish each too… Bad angling… mmwwhahaha

Lets just say the walk back to the car was made a lot easier…