What an awesome Day.

Palnned to fish with my neighbour who taught me everything i know around ten years ago.  He still only uses mono and the only lure he has ever bought  is a squid jig. Although his combos only cost slightly more than a good quality spool of braid  he is known as one of the best fisherman in my area.

The presented the perfect opportunity to put my lures to the test. I would use my Madeye Lures        5 Inch double drift. While he would drift down unweighted mullies.

Lures Vs bait: New techniques Vs Old Scholl tech

Who would win.

We arrived at our first spot before sun up and a berley trail was dispersed.  And baits and lures were sent down. I tied on a supe glow double drift  (these babies glower brighter than any other plastic i have used) hoping this would attract the fish in the low light. The first run on bait had us jumping to our feet as line peeled off the large peflerger. I hadn’t  had a touch and began to worry i would be down 0-1.

I needn’t have worried as it displayed all the signs of a “flying carpet”. Sure enough we soon had an eagle ray boat side. No points there.

My mate tied on a new rig and another 10min later his reel screamed again. “This ones a dhuey decent size too”. You can pick a dhu fish run as they have shorter smaller runs than a snapper and not quite as strong head shakes. With the fight nearly over disaster........the hooks pulled (very rare as dhu normally engulf the bait/lure) “&*^&*^&*”  “great one you have spoked the fish now” I teased. I had dodged a bullet there.

My turn now. With the sun coming up i changed to a pink double drift. Good choice. 3 cast a few knocks then “yep im on” i could feel the tell tale head shakes though the braid/graphite combo of a little pinky. “I thought it was going to be small but not this small” i said. Even small snapper put up a good account for themself.

[IMG]http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz355/madeyelures/IMG_0695.jpg[/IMG]

A few minutes latter the bait rod SCREAMED OFF. And i mean screamed. Straight to the top and we knew we had a shark. The shark made light work  of the 25lb combo my mate was using. “turn its head its heading for the anchor” “Im trying”  my mate replied. No good PING.

“thats 2 fish you have lost now i teased” “Ill show you how its done” As i sent out my spare ombo with an unweighted mullie i remembered all the times we had fished together and i was the one loosing fish.

I didn’t take long before my Team Daiwa Saltwater 10-17lb Daiwa Seagate 3500 30lb braid combo was humming like it never had. “Its headed for the anchor turn it” My mate teased. If he couldn’t turn it how could I. Sure enough i began to feel the line touching the anchor. Luckily it turned and screamed off into open water taking 100m of line with it. A long fight began that seemed to take for ever although it was probably only 10-15min. I finally had a 2m hammerhead boat side. I was keen to get it on board for a photo but we both knew how ballistic these things go in a boat.

In fact only a few months ago a friend brough a slightly smaller bronzie onto his boat with hope of s feed. In his haste to dispatch the shark he lost control of his knife and in a freak accident the shark flicked it into his wife leg. They raced to the  hospital and she recived 9 stiches.

We cut the line and discussed how many hammerheads we had landed using only mono. In only the last 2 weeks we had landed 2 and lost 2  with a similar record in years past. For some reason you often lip hook them??? Dont ever keep one though as i have heard they have lost of ammonia plus they are a sight to behold as they swim on the surface on a hot day.

Damn the score was now 0-1 and it was my fault. Oh well i had a ball fighting it. Things had quietened down because of the shark and we discussed moving. Decided to give it another 10min. Im glad we did. As i jigged my lure back to the boat using a standard yoyo technique i felt a good hit and set the hooks.  About time.  After a short tussle i had a just sized black arse on board. Althoiugh it was it was legal we took a few picks and sent him back. 1 all

By now my mate also had a paranoster out but was getting harassed by pickers. I kept using the same technique and felt the rod load up. I attempted to set the hooks......no good....Wait im on.......No not again. ........Yep.... what the hell is going on. I held the lure mid water and felt the pulsating of a squid. I loosned the drag. Set the rod in its holder and set out a squid jig on a hand line that i always keep nearby. By now the squid realising my plastic couldn’t bhe eaten had let go. But has the squid jig sank i saw a dark blob come up from the depth and nail the jig. Its amazing how many squid we get out deep when chasing snaps. This guy was a nice size and we now had fresh baot on board. “Im calling that”  “but you didn’t land it on your plastic” “too bad” 2-1 Lures.

With things abit quiet and pickers smashing my mate bait i tied on a smaller 3ich double drift in pilchard colour to see what was down there. After losing 1 plastic to it getting chewed i was pretty sure it was wrasse down there.  They can be a pest but they are still good fun and they hit lures. The next lure hit its mark and a wrasse was onboard for a few photos. No points here though.

I changed back to a 5ich super glow plastic and changed up my retrieve. I began to “jiggle” the lure back to the boat. This involves keeping it on the bottom and giving the rod tiny fast jigs. This gets the tail wriggling like a octopus tentacle. A few Mins went by and my mate had fianly got past the pickers and with his heavy gear landed a 35cm skippy. Although it wasn’t as big as we often get out there it had broad sholders. Before i could get the camera out. My mate had necked it and thrown it in the esky (fresh skipy is very underated). “I wanted to get a photo” “well you still can” as you can tell he is as old school as they come. “not with it looking like that”. Oh well. The score was now tied at 2 all

I had been a while since i had a hit but i persisted with the same technique.  Something took a liking to it as it sat on the bottom wiggling its tail. “that looks a bit better” my mate pipped as the fish took some drag. “yeah but theres not much weight”. I had no idea what this was and by the time it was near the boat i had called it for every fish that lives in the ocean.

To my amazement i had cracked another fish on plastic........A whopping 48cm King George whiting. Only a few min earlier we were questioning if it had been worth getting up at 3.45 but with the monster Geordie on board it was all worth it.   

[IMG]http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz355/madeyelures/IMG_0702.jpg[/IMG]

With the score at 3-2 Things quietened off again so we pulled stumps and moved to another spot.  Fish on the sounder

“Are you sure we wont be to close to that cray rope” “na ill make sure ill put the boat in a good spot. Plus thats where the fish are”. I overestimated anchor skill and we ended up right onto of the pot.

 I was right about the fish though and my rod was soon buckled over with the tell tale head shakes of a snapper. I called it for legal as it was putting up a very good account for itself. As we caught the first glimpse of colour we were both in awe of haow beautifull they look. Its blue dots light up in the water as pink hues glistened n the sunlight. A we watched it get closer to the boat 2 dark shapes rose from the depths  before darting back down as they spied the boat. “we got Samson”. With the snapper on board it was clearly undersized and only went 46cm. A few happy snapps and back it went.

Less than a minuete latter my mates rod got hit but the fish missed the hooks. I sent out my floater with a fresh squid wing. It wasn’t long before my reel was once again screaming. I was under gunned as the Samson headed straight for the cray rope and i felt the line beginning to fay. “Crap its in the cray rope” Luck was on my side as the fish turned and headed for deep water. With no obstclaes i began to win the fight. Once again 2 samsons followed their mate up. “quick grab this” I handed the rod over and droped down my plastic. As my neighbour boated my fisrt fish one of the followers turned spied the lure and engulfed it. My plastic rod is lighter again and i didn’t stand a chance. Dejvu strait for the cray rope. This time i wasn’t so lucky. Ping.

By now my mates floater had screamed off and he was on as well. Once again the fish headed for the cray rope “**&*^ i  told you we were too close to the rope look its wrapped it self. I was now retying another leader and plastic. I poked me head over and could see the Samson 8m down wrapped in the rope. “it might come out” i said knowing full well the fight was over. I continued to tie my rig. “its out” “what no way” i said as i peered my head back over the side to see the fish in clear water. “that would be right i lose a dhuy to hooks getting pulled (which never happens) but manage to untangle this Samson”.

Even on heavy gear sambos go hard but with the fish now in open water it wasn’t long before it was boat side. By now i had my new rig ready and droped pilchard coloured lure right in frount of one of the followers nose. Gulp. I locked  up the drag but i still couldn’t keep it away from the ropes and within seconds my braid was flapping in the breeze. In all the excitement i hadn’t had time to get a photo and as we didn’t want to risk them going belly up my neighbour had measured my first one at 81cm and sent it back and necked the other at 75cm respectably.

I know this site is mainly catch and reaslse how ever Samson taste beautifull as long as they are under 90cm and cooked fresh. Samsons grow fast and arnt under threat like many demersals. I promise you this fish wasn’t wasted and we both enjoyed fresh deep fried Samson tonight.

Bait was now in the lead 3-4. And the school of sambos now went quiet. This allowed the baits to sink deeper and the undersized snappers came in thick and fast.  More fish were falling to bait at about a ratio of 4-1 however i belive this is because of the size of the fish and the fact i was using 5inch plastics. The wind had swung around and the cray rope was no longer an issue.

I was again to what i though was an undersize snapper.  “I got colour.....silver.......Crap look at these sambos”. 2 new fish larger than before at an estermaited 1.5m charged up and smashed into my fish. As  my fish neared the boat the Samson headed back down.  With my fish near the boat i could see it wasn’t a skippy like i thought, but a small dhu fish. To say i ws stoked was an understatement. “Im counting that even though its only 47cm.” “fair enough thats a good effort on a jig” replied my mate. Back to 4 all

Another fish on plastic cracked. I had caught them on lucanus style jig but never a plastic. With a big grin we quickly took a few photos (crap low battery) and put the fish on the release weight.

[IMG]http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz355/madeyelures/IMG_0714.jpg[/IMG]

Now if you don’t like sad stories scroll down to the next paragraph.

As i watched the dhu fish plumet back to the ocean floor. The 2 samsons returned. I watch as they charged my little dhu and smashed it knocking it off the release weight. The Samson charged again and we can only assume one of them devoured the little dhu fish. I flet a little guilty however thats nature.

I once again sent the plastic down and soon felt the tell tale suck of another dhu fish. “crap i got another one”. I had a decsecion to make. Crank it back to the boat and risk barotruamer or wind slow and rish the samsons returning. I decided to crank it in. Luickly it was smaller than the  first and with my mate hooked up to a snapper the samsons were kept distracted. No time for a photo. Realese weight was tied on and down went the dhu fish. This time it made it to the bottom safe and sound.

By now we were down to our last mullie. “Last bait you know what that means” chirped my mate. “i have never had luck on  the last bait” i said. My neighbour then began to recite the many times he had caught fish on his last few baits.

You wouldn’t belive it. After waiting about 2 min his line peeled off. This time the head shakes were larger and i laughed to myself knowing this was a sized pinky on the line. Sure enough it went 57cm. I reached for the camera. NOOOOOOOOOOO i had left it on after that little dhuy and now the battery was dead.

With all the good luck we had all day i couldn’t complain. And to top things off we were greeted with flat sea for the return trip home.

In the end the score was 4 good fish on lures to 5 good fish on bait. However the score no longer mattered. We had both just experienced a great day that wont soon be topped