Well it’s been a while since my last report due to uni, work and a lack of fishing but thought it was time I put up a few pics of our latest project as I know there are a few out there like myself who get off on rebuilds. Anyway an upgrade for the old dinghy had been on the cards for a while as we seemed to continue to push the boundaries of what a 3.7m boat was capable of so it was only a matter of time before we got caught out. Something in the 4.5-5.5m range was the only option and I wanted bit of a summer project after uni had finished. A 5m brooker CC came up for sale and we decided it would do the job. The hull and trailer were in pretty average condition but the new yammy on the back was rather attractive. First thing was the strip down and clean out, it had been a creek boat from the NT and the one inch thick dried mud in the bottom of the hull proved that.

 

After the boat had received a strip it was the trailers turn, the trailer is a Mackay trailer that wasn’t actually that old but I didn’t like the roller set up so a full overhaul was he only option. Sourced all the components (harder than one may think), made up the hanger brackets, welded up the guard brackets and she was ready to hit some hot galv. This boat will predominantly be used up north and I’m sure she will see more beach launches than concrete so I decided to go a bit overboard with wheel size.

With the trailer done next was to tidy the hull up and get some welding done before painting. First I wanted to change the center console lay out, sized up the dash to fit my electronics and got the welding done. Bit of cutting/drilling for flush mounting and it was ready to start my most dreaded part, PAINT PREPPING!!!!

After the last refurb I knew how much time and effort must go into prepping/painting. My brother and I committed four days to prepping, sand a section then prime it before it oxidised until finally the whole boat was primed and ready for undercoats.

It was the first boat I have done with a gun but it didn’t take long to pick it up and we ended up with a pretty good finish, much smoother than the previous boat that we used rollers. Once the boat was painted and back on the trailer it was finally starting to look like a boat I would be happy with. Flush mounted the electronics and wired her up, a few bits of marine ply and carpet made up an attractive cover for the batteries and cables. I got some decals made up and she was finally finished after a solid month on the tools. Now to get her wet…..

First trial was a quick run over to ratnest Ise for a cray dive, handed a soft offshore well and gave us a taste of how much of a weapon she would be.

Next was to drag her north, my brother, a mate and I headed up around Jurien for a couple of days for a predominantly diving trip but a few lures were thrown around also. Got up midday and used the arvo to dive an old cray spot I found a while ago as the vis was very AVG, didn’t dive deeper than 5m and found a few fish floating around amongst the roaches.

Next day we were greeted with a glass off and headed straight out for a fish. Found a good show on the 587, you can see a jig and a SP being worked. Didn’t take long to get a few fish onboard.

Decided it was time for a dive so put out a few lines and started heading in to the dive ground. We had been on the move no more than 10mins when both rods went off and we managed to land some sashimi.

We didn’t have much room in our bag so a quick dive to top it up and we were on our way in. This is my PB baldy at 690 which was the last fish for the day.

The last day we headed out for another dive and found a few fish and quickly had our bag and headed in to pack up the tent and hit the road, a quick pic of the day’s offerings.

Next trip was a metro night fish off woodies, as seen from the following pics the fish were on the chew and we only needed an hour to max out our limit.

A couple of weeks went past with nothing but work, bad weather and Abrolhos trips. Finally I managed to line up some good weather and my dad and I headed out for a metro bash. Originally I said I wouldn’t use this boat for metro dhufish but the big rig was in getting some work done so we had no choice. Left the ramp at 1pm and after an hour steam we dropped lines and it didn’t take long for a few hook ups. A few solid pinks hit the deck then I got blown away on PE2 to what felt like a big buck. Next pass my old man set the hooks in a donkey, a few big runs and his new PB bream hit the surface. The sunset lined up well to make for a pretty good pic.

Salty was getting neglected a bit as Brolhos was copping a flogging so last week my brother and I decided it was finally time to put her to the test and drag her up to Ningaloo.The forcast for last week was looking good so Saturday night the call was made. Sunday we packed and hit the road for the big steam. We more just wanted to get out of the wind and rain but secretly we both thought it would be a good opportunity to tick off Salty’s first billfish. Tuesday we trolled for a few hours and went 5-3-0 on the bills, disappointed we spent the arvo in the water soaking up the 25 deg water. A few mates flew up Wednesday morning and we quickly got out and deployed a spread, 10mins in and two rods went off. Half an hour later we had both fish up, dehooked and back on their way.

Few high fives and we suited up for an arvo of diving. The following day after a slow morning we got back out and again within 10minutes had two sails hooked, both again landed.

The rest of the trip saw plenty more bills raised and hooked but non converted. Anyway back to reality and the cold/Brolhos trips.

Thanks for the read. Until the next time I get enough time to put up a report….

Miles