This is my first fishing report so here goes…

I came home Tuesday evening and decided that I would hit the beach for a fish with my housemate as the fishing was supposed to be good. We fished for a few hours and I got three great runs,  I missed the first two runs as the fish just picked the bait ran a metre or so and then dropped it again, which I thought was strange, and lead me to believe that it could possibly be a Mully. I then finally hooked a fish which felt a good weight and my line snapped. I was not a happy camper to say the least so I packed up and headed for home.

I have just purchased a new rod (Nitro 13ft) as my old rod had a damaged eye ring which must have frayed/damaged the line before I noticed it. The next evening and purchased some new line on my way home from work, spooled my overhead and we were off to the beach once more, this time feeling a lot more confident. On the way I stopped by the fish shop and picked up some fresh bait. We arrived at the location just as the sun had set and the horizon was turning amber, and there was hardly a breeze. There were three or four other guys fishing the same beach when we arrived but the spot that I had the runs from the night before was free and the surf was low, perfect fishing conditions. I tied on my pre made rig, baited up and cast out into the gutter. I then tied a rig for my housemate as he has just moved to Australia and this was his second time fishing.

By the time I had this done I had just sat in my chair and my reel started to scream I quickly picked my rod from the rod holder flicked the leaver, engaged the drag, struck, and the fight was on. The fish took a good first run of probably a hundred metres followed by lots of head shakes, the sound of my reel screaming attracted the other anglers from down the beach as the rushed to see what was happening. I could feel the head shakes which assured me that it was not yet another ray, I knew this thing had a tail!!! I called it as a small shark or a Mulloway at first and said “I hope to god it’s a big Mully”, after a 10-15 minute fight and the fish began to tire, I walked closer to the waves, my headlight was nearly out of battery’s and with the faded light it was hard to see, I pulled with the wave washing up on the beach, and as it receded low and behold there it was my first decent size Mully. I could not believe it; I had fished this stretch of beach hundreds of times before and never got a Jewy.

The pictures from the beach didn’t turn out too good as my I phone screen is smashed. So the picture below was taken when I got home, which is a pity. The other anglers left the beach about an hour after I caught the fish however the fun was not over yet. We got one more run each and landed two decent shovel nose rays (one female and one male). We called it a night and headed for home both of us with our heads held high. My first decent Mulloway and my housemate’s first decent fish not to say he is truly hooked!!! After four year chasing the big Mully prevalence has paid off!!!

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