G’day lads,

A fortnight had passed since our last run offshore, and the two successive days of great fishing then had the crew hankering for more. A mix of busy days and rotten weather out wide meant the regular crew was keen as mustard to get out and into it again. But as the weekend drew near a series of bad reports from friends cast a pall over proceedings. Carolyn and I went to the Jervis Bay GFC dinner on Saturday night (thanks Simmo!) where we had a ball. On the way back we stopped in to visit some charter clients and various noteworthy spots en route, one being the Greenwell Point boat ramp. Talking to some keen jiggers who were putting their boat on the trailer there we were informed that the sensational kingfish run of the last few weeks had cooled off. An SMS from Greg K confirmed that, then a message from Scrat told me things were quiet off Sydney too. But the thought was that given the good weather forecast for Monday, it was worth a run.

Sean, Jay and I launched at Roseville around 7.00AM and picked Keza up at Watsons Bay wharf soon after. Straight to the Nine Mile, where the sounder showed the bottom was swarming with fish although none of the distinctive blue blobs that indicated kingies. Nonetheless, down went the jigs. After 15 minutes the only fish boated was a solid bonito, so on we went to the Twelve. That was dead too so we set a fresh course for Browns Mountain. On final approach the wind started to pick up and by the time we cut the motor we were dealing with a 10-15 knot wind and a solid chop. As always, a few good fish on the deck would cheer up the crew so we opened the innings with a drop to the bottom, 470 metres below. A steady procession of solid gemfish came aboard, although we had issues with more than a few dropping off the hooks half way to the surface.

A short video of two being boated can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlIIfh2MtaU

With reports from Sunday that the mako fishing had gone very quiet and the murky green water uninspiring, things weren’t looking good for a shark session. Staying positive, we baited up a 12/0 with a fresh bonito fillet and fed it back down the trail. The drag clicked a couple of times and then picked up volume as a solid fish took the bait. Jay pushed the lever to strike and a big mako hurled itself out of the water behind the boat:

Some great video of it swimming underwater here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObatHWK6-bw

It then crashed dived, nearly spooling Jay on 30 pound line.

We chased after it and soon had the spool looking healthier. Being unsure of the weight we decided to wait until the shark was boat side – if we could get it boat side – as to whether to bring it on board. There’s not too many a tastier fish dinner than barbequed mako steaks, but having left the flying gaff at home I knew a big one would be hard to manage. After eighty minutes the tired shark was swimming boat side. Jay had done a great job with the fight. Sean put the gloves on, Kerry got ready with the camera, and I grabbed the fixed head gaff – usually used for kingfish and Spanish mackerel. A gaff shot into the mouth of the mako, and Sean held on gamely to the wire. It went wild, smashing into the hull and removing a lot of the paint (although I admit it’s hard to notice on the battered old hull) and twisting the gaff like a pretzel then biting through the wire.

Mako 1, Crew 0. We got the boat squared away for the long bumpy road home,

consoling ourselves with a tuna bag full of tasty chilled gemfish. We will be out there chasing another one as soon as the weather permits.

Cheers,

Andrew Hestelow