Well Finally got out out today. I've been kicking myself all week after missing out last saturday having to watch the beautiful conditions through the coast cams from the safety of my desk due to Jacqui working and my other deckie too incohernt from a big friday night. Today i redeemed myself!

We woke to the thunder and lightening around 5 am not worrying much we stayed in bed expecting it to clear out, soon eight o'clock came with 4knot north easterlies and we were up packin the boat, had breakie and hit the ramp by 9am. Got a call from mum who was on her way to rotto to drive the bayseeker all excited and encouraging us to get out as the water was dead flat "like a lake" as she said, get with the times mum we're already backing down the ramp!

Trip out was awesome, dead flat, opened up the throttle, got to stretch the motors legs at WOT all the way out to the 3 mile with the customary quick stop at little island to get into the wetties.

Once we got out there, out went the lures. We started with a spread of a 5m+ 150 scorpian in the prop wash a crazy deep 190 laser pro and a pusher way out back incase of any tuna around as has been reported. Found 3 big bait schools with nothing harrassing them except us so we motored a little further from bait school to bait school trying water from 12m to 21m. The only things interested in the lures was the local vegetation which got pretty annoying with the pusher so that was switched to a 125 scorpian in close.

It happened after about half an hour of motoring, my holy grail, this years target and weeks and weeks of northern fishing trips each year and me always missing out, the fish always goin to jacqui (as usual) or other fishers and the fact that i just seem to be a big eye tuna magnet much to my frustration. Bzzzzzzzzzz bzzzz bzzzzzzz lines in!, keep up the slack, then it came straight for the boat, winch like crazy, then i saw it and it saw the boat bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz its a mackie! and off he went into the blue again.... still connected... panic.... it's too good this fish'll break me off it's too good..... i coaxed it in close again and i could see the bottom hook hooked in the corner of its mouth, lets hope it holds i thought then bzzzzzzzzz second run and bring him back to the boat, this bastard better tire soon was the next thought.... nup.... Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz right for the leg of the motor after about ten minutes he started dancing in circles under the boat and finally he was tiring, soon we had him spent on the surface. With me almost pleading for my gaff and Jacqui cursing the amount of sh#t i have stowed in the rails of the boat after a minute or so of watching the fish trying to get the energy to get his head down and power off down into the blue i finally had my gaff in hand, one hand, one chance i took my aim and stuck............. my line snapped  ........... i lift the gaff ....... and it was heavy! the relief! i had just gaffed him through the nose and onboard he came! Then 150 scorpian just casually fell out of its mouth at my feet, my first ever mackie after years of persistance! spending weeks at an island even named after the fish and i got my first off hillarys of all places! i was chuffed, ecstatic, buggered and stoked with all 118cm of my first ever mackie!

We kept up the trolling for a little while with no luck but honestly we weren't at all persistant i had what we'd come for and we wouldn't be able to stow another fish in the icebox, we couldn't even stow this one it was a half in half covered in wet towel job, anyway it was time to get wet!

After ten minutes of washing off all the blood i'd managed to get over myself and my wettie (really didn't wanna dive covered in fish blood) we rocked up to an old spot nearby. I had only dived this spot once before about two years ago and we had bagged out on crays..... well today we didn't! would have easily counted 50+ crays. nests were chockers but nothin but kacka's, I still managed to get bag limit but 3 got a second chance as the gauge was loose maybe 1/2 a mil under so we kept 3, dive was awesome tho spent most of the dive being followed by a massive ray about the size of a small car, every time he disappeared and we put our guard down a minute later there he'd be right under a fin sneaking up behind us for a looksee, tail raised as if to say eeeh? eeeh? watch out! we got steve irwin ehh? remember eeeeh?

Also saw a nice dhuie, managed to loop a black ass but he out smarted me wen it was time to get him from loop to catch bag, noticed the crays had very soft shells too. Anyway soon it was time to make it back to the boat as we had ten minutes to be back and notify sea rescue. The vis was beautiful today and we had high hopes, while out trolling thru the glassy water we were watching the bottom in 18m.

After that it was back to little island for lunch and to watch one of the little pups scaring the crap out of the snorkellers by popping up right behind them and launching himself through the air,then back to the ramp by 2pm.

The frustration all week of missing out last saturday thinking i'd missed my best opportunity for good weather this year on a day i'm not at work, well it just seemed to melt away as we pulled out of the heads this morning opened up that throttle and it just got better and better. I keep getting the image of that first glimpse of that mackie through the clear water today dam its gonna be hard to beat today now 8)

Thanks guys!

Regards

Dave