Was just going to add a few pics to Pauls post but seeing as we went about it quite a bit differently to him I thought I might type out a brief trip report.

Had been quite a few years since I'd had the chance to get over that way so kind of felt like a homecoming of sorts.

We headed off on Thursday morning and arrived in Gero around 3pm. Got a bit of rain on the way up but a fairly quiet trip. We were nearly tempted to launch the boat straight away and camp behind the Hummock as conditions were awesome but decided to go with the original plan and catch up with family for the evening.

A little bit of regret as we watched the sun go down I can tell you.

Launched around 6 am and was a nice quick trip over. Made contact with Paul just to let him know we were in the area as we came through the top.

First drop with a placcy in one of the channels and I was straight onto a nice Dhu. Put back and then got one a little smaller next drop. That got me out of breakfast chef duty.

Headed out past Gee Bank for a look without too much action before heading out behind Half Moon reef right down the back. Picked up a few Macks on the troll and quickly gave that up and jumped in for a freedive. Lots of very large Baldies hanging around that would of been very welcome if it wasnt for the ban. Got painful very quickly watching them swim past.

Moved behind the reef and found packs of pinkies destroying everything that came past them. Few nice Baldies mixed in and a solo Sambo that gave Pauly all kinds of grief on PE2.

Cruised back in between the islands and found a secure anchorage as it was suprisingly breezy through the evening. Few rums and the handlines came out for a little hand to hand combat with the local bronzies. Best was around 2.5m and rather pissed off about being skull dragged to the boat.

Vis around the anchorage was awesome with lots of big Baldies clearly visable as we drove along the drops.

Headed back to Gee Bank for a look while Paul was having his dive. Picked up a few Pinkies and mixed bits from around the edge of the bank before he headed North and we went back around Half Moon area. Played for a couple of hours in the surf but really needed a bit more swell to get it working properly. We found tow in worked better for my way out of shape body.

Worked our way all the way around to Boiler Reef and just couldnt get past the pinkies.... or Baldies. I reckon we released probably 20 over 4 kgs.

The next morning we headed back to Gero and fished a few spots along the way. Couple of little Dhus and Reds and finally some Baldies we could keep for the esky.

Boat went back on the trailer around 4 and the warm shower felt so good.

Had a couple of mates in town that wanted to go for a quick morning fish off Gero so headed out straight into a 25 knot Northerly on Monday mid morning. The fish didnt really play the game but put together a good mixed bag for them. Lots of little trout around making a nuisance of themselves.

Marcus with a Gero Pinky.

Im starting to question why it has taken so long to get back there after all these years. Next trip is already in the pipeline.

Image Upload: