Hey Guys this is my first full report so here go's,

 After a 6:15am start we headed down to the ramp (CPBA).After spotting numerouse crabs in the water under the jetties we headed out and started our trip towards rotto and averaging 28 knts we were there within 30 minutes. Because of the demersal ban we were in the hunt for skippy. After some sounding around in 17 metres which appeared to be holding bait, i dropped the jig down, unfortunately i didnt get a strike so we decided to set anchor on  reef that we knew would hold skippy and hopefully some big sambos   . As soon as we set anchor we saw the tell tale sign of a big whale with a waterfall like blast of air and water, The whale was heading straight for the boat and we were concerned the beast was going to go straight through us lol. However as soon as the big boy noticed the boat he dived down and we never saw him again after that.Dad and I resulted to "ah well back to fishing." First few drops resulted in nothing but then as soon as the burley bucket went over the side the skippy started nailing the our baits left right and centre, after some fun catching skippy on the light gear they completely shut down with the baits coming up untouched (thats skippy for ya')

With the bite not improving we decided to sound around again when the boat stopped, Dad checked the motor and couldent see anything obviouse that was wrong.We were starting to toss up whether to get toed home now when dad makes an annoyed sigh "the kill switch key has come off" sure enough we plugged it back in and the honda 115 started like a beauty and we were back to fishing,THANK GOD.

We new of another spot only not far from the first where we decided to try for some king george because in the past some real kidney slappers have been caught there. As dad was sorting out the burley bucket i decided to drop my line over and lucky i did because not long after the bait hit the bottom i had hooked a nice KGW after a short tussle on the light gear up came a nice 43cm specimen so i was stoked. Dad soon stopped what he was doing and dropped his rod over, as soon as his bait hit the bottom he was on and thinking it was a big skippy by the way it fought we were both suprised to see a stoinker 49cm KGW hit the surface into the esky he went 2 king george in 5 minutes wasnt bad and we thought we had hit a patch but unfortunately it was just the pair.The bite slowed and I still hadnt christened my new combo ( Daiwa emcast sport 6000 matched to an ugly stick platinum 8 - 15kg) So i threw out a whole snelled mulie and within 40 seconds of the bait hitting the water i was on big time with the first run being massive, this fish took me all around the boat and at one point i thought i was going to lose him to the anchor rope. I got the fish up and it was in the net, almost!  Dad had to grab the tail because it wouldnt fit in the net completely and he lifted it into the boat ( gee those things fight hard in the shallows). A new PB sambo and it was extra special because it was the first fish on the new combo. after a few snapps it was time for release, the fish probably didnt need it b ut i swum him for a little while just to be sure he survived but after a few kicks of his tail he swam away strong. This sambo measured pretty well smack bang on the metre mark i didnt want to weigh him as his survival was the number one priority.We decided to wrap it up because we were happy with the days catch and from 17m made it even better. on the way home to top off the day we saw 2 more whales, a mother, and her calf near the shipping channel.

All in all it was a great day and it should get me through school this week until i can get back out on the water.

Cheers,

snapper_seeker

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