Shot out early Friday, from Bent St boat ramp at about 4.45am, started putting out through the channel only to realise we had forgot the bloody bait (two of many occy we had accumulated during the ban)!!!  Not to fear, stopped off on the fives on the way out wide and picked up a few x-mas colored wrasse on soft plastics, and cruised out with with the wind looking very accomodating for the 4.8m Quinnie.

After many drifts, three hours and two good fish dropped after only seconds on the hook, things were looking bleak as the wind had started to hold a bit more of a southerly course and so the decision was made to try one more spot, a nice little ledge that had never turned out fish but sure looked like it would on its day, then head back in. On the first drift we were almost met with disappointment when a little Gurnard jumped on Skipper Croc's bottom dropper and convinced us to make one more drift. Lucky! 

As the lead hit the bottom and I flicked the lever drag on my new toy into action, I looked over my shoulder to see Croc hooked up solid on what was fighting like a nice Dhuie, it was on and I stared expectingly at the tip of my little Ian Miller designed beauty, then it happened my rod bent over and ... I had hooked the bottom. I waited until Tim landed what turned out to be a gorgeous purple/chrome 9kg Dhuie, and got him to swing the boat round over the ledge so I could heave my rig free, we swung round and I started winding up the slack and just a soon as I felt my tackle break free of the ledge I also felt the titanic tugs of a demersal brute at he inhaled the wrasse fillet just sprung out from the ledge he called home.

Six tackle testing deep runs later, I had broken in my new T.R.T (Tax Return Toy), on a 12.5 kg Western Australian Dhufish...My new PB!

All up a very satisfying trip, well worth the two month wait.