RDO trip
Gotta love RDOs!!
Got the chance to try out my new custom built rod on Wednesday. I mated it up to a Stella 5000 SW so was keen to christen it on it's maiden voyage. I had a Tuna slug on so was over the moon as half way out to the first spot we hit a school of Bluefin.
To hook and catch your specific target fish first cast to Christen a new outfit was a feeling I'll never forget. The only bad news is I left the camera on Black and White after taking some baby photos the day before. The people behind the camera didn't check until the trip was half over!! My bad.
After 3 casts for 2 Bluefin my brother Mick said time to leave. Just as well as I could have stayed there all day and racked up a cricket score and been happy. He did let me have a go at some Mack Tuna a further Km aout so I was allowed three more casts!! Got 2 Mack Tuna so was even happier. Greg also got one.
At the first spot Mick got a nice Spanish Mack afer only a few minutes and a few Coral Trout and a nice Gold Spot Trevally came on deck from the bottom as well. Another Spanish was followed by a Shark Mackerel so the day was going well. I tried my light rod for Macks and had some fun on a big Cuda that jumped a lot and performed really well. I then boated a 6 kilo Large Mouth Nanny to boot before we moved to the next spot. This spot was dead so it was off to the third drop.
This is where the Macks really fired up but also where the trip turned a little bad. Mick had 2 TLD 20 outfits with 24 kilo mono on and 6 times in a row both lines snapped to good Macks before we re arranged outfits and put the TLDs away. Another Mack soon followed but the tally could have already been a bag out for 4 people. We also had the hooks pull on a few so Mick was tearing his hair out!!
I started this spot bottom bashing with a spin combo that was a little light for the area. 50 lb braid but too light was the call and sure enough something big smashed me and got me in the coral. I did get it out about 5 minutes later only to have the 100 lb mono trace give way due to Coral rub...spewing.
Out came the handline and just as well as next to me Greg pulled in the fish of the day, a decent Maori Wrasse. A quick photo and back she went. Theya re such an awesome fish and really fight hard.
Next spot and a few more trout hit the deck including a quality 76 cm Blue spot trout, a couple of Rosy Job fish and a Green job fish to boot.
For the 5th and last spot of the day I was content to be even more stupid and put the new light rod down t the bottom. we all predicted a big Trout would smash me and wouldn't you know it that's exactly what happened. The good news is after a while I managed to get it out and up came a 3 kilo trout for my efforts. Greg, Erica and Mick boated a few Spangled Emperor and a nice Purple rock cod to provide a mixed bag that included something like 20 different species of fish boated for the day. We didn't count but we got about 10 trout which was good considering Macks were the main target and we only fished 5 spots.
Enjoy the pics, a shame a lot are Black and White.
By the way if it were me I wouldn't have lifted the Wrasse vertically like this. I took some really quick pics. You really should lift them horizontally to look after their backbone etc.
shanedm
Posts: 153
Date Joined: 25/06/09
some great fish there mate!
some great fish there mate! good to hear you made full use of your RDO :)
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grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
bloody good trip out by the
bloody good trip out by the looks
well done
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
Good effort!!
Some good fish there, forgive me if I have not read your post properly, but where are you fishing?? Also you must be happy with your new outfit looks like a good fish catching machine, any specs on the custom rod?
Bunny
Posts: 678
Date Joined: 05/08/10
Yeah should have mentioned
Yeah should have mentioned that I was fishing out from the Daintree River area near Port Douglas.
The rod is a Sumurai NV8 8-10 kilo 7 foot blank. I used ALPS VX guides on it. The specific ones were a marine grade polished stainless foot and Titanium Nitride coated Zircon ring. The Titanium nitride is what is used on spool lips etc and is in gold so looks awesome, especially against teh poilished Stainless. They are a better guide than Fuji Alconites.
The reel seat is also ALPS and the Black and dark gold really go well with the Stella colour scheme. I gotta say, I could have got a rod for about 100 bucks less that did the same job but it would not have given me as much pleasure as this one did. Especially catching the fish I wanted to catch and first cast as well. It doesn't get any better. The rod also looks so much better than any factory rod. The guy that made it has made me a very happy man indeed!!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Can't beat that for a
Can't beat that for a christening!
STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
Nice
I've done a little bit out of Port Douglas, mainly chucking S/P's for trout on the reefs. 1st time I ever heard my 4500Z scream when a GT crashed the party. Good fun... wish I knew what I knew now!! Gods country!!
Rod looks pretty smick, should maybe post up some pics of it alone.
PilbaraBrad
Posts: 3628
Date Joined: 16/05/07
some nice fish there mate
some nice fish there mate well done!
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18032
Date Joined: 11/03/08
gotta be happy when a rdo
gotta be happy when a rdo turns out to be gold on the water. some great fish there. you cant complain about the way your combo was christened . well done
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Blackknightz
Posts: 55
Date Joined: 29/08/08
Awsome Mixed Bag
Great day on the water. New combo looks great and that has to be the best way to break it in. Nice work.