Myself and Webby had not been out fishing together for quite a while and we where long overdue to hit it up in the Polycraft again before we get serious with the Barra season. I had just aqquired a second had Saltiga Dogfight loaded with 100lb briad i was dieing to put to use and load up my Monster Mesh rod as well. We planned to give the GT's a bash as it had been 6 months since we last had a crack at them and i really did owe Webby a trip to Legendre Is to find some big ones.

I had also received a mail order of McArthy SP's and was keen to see what the fuss was about so we brought the SP combo's for some fun if needed or we wanted a rest. All started well with a smooth trip out and then plenty of tide and a small swell bashing into the rocks and the locations screamed GT's, a few casts in and Webby connects but it didn't stay hooked, no probs the day was young, we tagged in and out with short, sharp bursts of 10mins of hard work as it was pretty warm and humid. Our hopes quickly dashed when around the northern point of Lengendre Is which looked very nasty and fishy just didn't produce.

We both checked out the sounder as we cruised around and there was activity everywhere on the bottom, heaps of bait and some nice big arches in the mid water and just off the bottom, we decided we'd have a crack and see whats down there, maybe the Trevally didn't want to come up from 20m to hit our offerrings.

I had to rig up but as i did off went a 7 inch Gulp pearl jerk shad from Webby's Shimano Raider rod and Daiwa Exceller 3000 loaded with 20lb braid, a few jigs on the bottom and Webby was loaded up big time!

Some big head shakes kicked off the fight then a searing run, we initially called it for a big Trev of some sort as Webby was attached to 80lb mono leader and we where still connected so we ruled out the tax man. The remained a stalemate for about 10 minutes until Web managed to coax the fish to the surface and then to our suprise a good 6-7ft shark appeared from the depths who was hooked in the lip, the call was made to just cut the jig off and let him go, it was either a Bronzie or some form or black tipped reef shark but not what we came for and not the rest Webby wanted.

we played around for a little longer, i managed to get a good hit that just pined my leader off, possibly another shark, we went for one more drift and then a little lapse in concentration almost cost me plenty. I had dangled my rod off the back of the boat with my SP hanging down and so i put the boat just into gear and went to turn and saw my Monster Mesh PE 1-3 rod and Daiwa Tierra 4000 reel went overboard. Me being the ninja i am popped the boat into neutral and leaped into the water, sunnies, hat and all to rescue the rod, grabbed it before it got out of reach and got it back in the boat. I unwrapped the line around the prop and checked it was moving all O.K. Those McArthy's sure can catch things!!

Went around to the eastern side of Legendre for another crack at the GT's, found some bloody nasty country and had another go but there was just no action what so ever! another solid hour was put in and some territory covered without a strike or even sighting a GT. We made the call to hit up the SP's again and we decided to have a risky play at Madeline Shoal.

Out went the SP's on our little PE2-3 combo's and it didn't take long to get some action, Webby hooked a nice bottom fish that was giving him hell, but due to our sporting nature and our light tackle nature it didn't take long for the tooth brigade to settle in and another fish was lost. We lost a few jigs to the reef and a few more fish before we had a decision to make, move elsewhere or do we piss off the twisted leaders and poppers and tie on the SP's and get some of our own back. We went with the big guns.

Popping gear is a challege to jig with and we found the going a little tough but once we settled the fish came in. We had both gone for the McArthy SP's in the bullhead design and the hot orange was running hot in the 7 inch size, definantly a good SP for the big jig heads opposed to the Jerk Shad which suit something around the 1/2oz size. Webby hooked a nice fish that shook it's head hard and we called it for a small shark, finally we got it up from 35m and Webby called it for a tuna, then i called it for a YTK/Sambo, it was so round and long it had us stuffed untill we got it to the boat for a nice size Trevally.

We were drifting at 1.2knts and moving quick, we had to put another small sinker on to get them to the bottom but we managed a pair of small trout whcih we put back and then i got myself a nice reefie which Mr Taxman found very tasty, the Dogfight put the fight up hard to shark and he let go so i wound it in for glory, my first Rankin Cod for a while and measured 57cm in length.

The Spaniards moved in and all it took was a flat out retrieve from the bottom saw them tearing from side to side to hook up, man the hit with power! Webby hooked up and so i joined the fun and cranked up from the depths and hooked up too! we got Webby's fish in and i dropped mine not long after trying to assist him with his but what a buzz, the best decision we made all day by far, fish went about 1m, we didn't measure it but it had to lose it's tail to fit in the esky.

The tide was really ripping in and the fish started to slow, i managed one legal trout at 47cm who is going to make a lovely dinner tomorrow night. The McArthy SP's proved very deadly and i think i'll be stocking up on a few more for my Onslow trip in two weeks especially the Bullhead Minnows and in the bright colours like the ornage and pink but i'm sure they are all deadly, but a sucessful trip none the same, The wind came in from the North and we made the drive back in 1 hour to Dampier, some nice fillets now in the freezer and a sucessful SP trip and a nice back up plan to have. Still need to give the GT's a flogging but it's getting a touch warm and i'm sure Webby wants to put his new tinny through it's paces very soon.