Guest bluecod Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 After dealing with neverending problems at the office for the last few weeks, it didn't take much of a decision to accept a ride to Browns Mountain and back on Friday. As we came out through the heads, the sun was just peeping over the horizon and revealed a slightly bumpy ocean on approx 1 to 1.5 metres of swell with a slight westerly of about 5 knots just creating a little bit of chop against the set of the swell. In a 6 metre Signature we backed off a little bit to a comfortable cruising speed of around 20 kms/hr. 1st stop was 12 mile to see if there was any action there - there wasn't much bird activity and no bait was seen there or on the way out. The lures went out the back anyway and we trolled for about 30 mins for zip. We decided to run out to the shelf and troll from there to Browns. By the time we started our next lure run, the wind had dropped off to nothing and although this picture was taken late in the day, these were the conditions that we had for most of the day. Absolutely beautiful ocean conditions, almost the best I have seen it. All the way out to Browns we didn't sight any birds working and didn't pick up any bait schools either, so after trolling around the mount for a while we decided to drop a rig or two over the side for a bottom fish as the current was coming in from the south-west at around 2kms/hr. 1st drop saw a Gemfish and a reddish cod of some description come up and into the fish box for dinner. 2nd drop saw another gemfish come over the side and it was then time to start the drift again. I dropped over a fillet of oversized yellowtail on a two hook 9/0 rig and was only using one 1/2 lb snapper lead. I'd only just respooled with braided dacron so that in deep conditions like this [1500 ft of water] I could stand some chance of detecting a bite. The bait had only just hit the bottom and I was still in free spool when another 10 ft of line peeled of the reel as we were coming off the back of a swell. Good enough to call that for a hit so I threw the reel into gear and lifted back on the rod, heavy weight was felt so I start the retrieve. About 25 minutes later a few large air bubbles surfaced about 30 metres behind the boat followed a few seconds later by a blue-eyed cod surfacing belly up. The gaf is slipped into its mouth and my PB blue-eye of 35 lbs comes over the side, weighed and hoisted for a few photos. We also got a large nannygai - biggest I have caught - the fillets of which went down a treat for dinner Deciding to troll on the way home we left Browns at about 3.00 pm, picked up a couple of striped tuna on the way and nothing else. All up we had a great day on the water, good company, good food, great weather and were met by a brilliant sunset coming back into the harbour. That's when things started to go pear shaped. Absolutely atrocious traffic conditions saw us crawl from Northbridge through to Chatswood and then whilst stopped at traffic lights on Epping Road, the idiot behind us in his four wheel drive with bull bar had a brain snap, he must have thought the lights had changed green and decided to hit his accelerator. Well we got a substantial jolt in the car as he rammed his bull bar into the outboard - lower leg is now stuffed and will require a complete rebuild and a $1,000 propeller looks like a pretzel. With a great deal of luck the Cap'n may have it rebuilt in time for the hairy night, but if not, we may have to go out in my open tinnie which is not the most enjoyable thing you want to do in winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipernut Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 That sounds like a top day out on the water. That cod is a monster. Shame about the outboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jocool Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Nice Bluecod...Bluecod!!! There is always an upside to a bingle. Was he ever thinking of changing prop pitch? Nows his chance. The last bingle I had saw me get a full respray for my Patrol at no extra charge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluecod Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Nice Bluecod...Bluecod!!! There is always an upside to a bingle. Was he ever thinking of changing prop pitch? Nows his chance. The last bingle I had saw me get a full respray for my Patrol at no extra charge! 50816[/snapback] Was a good one Joe, Ta! No upside in this case - was a four blade stainless Solas and matched the boat beautifully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashir Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 You might want to get the transom looked at too for any damge. Nice Blue eye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jocool Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Yeah...Bash just made a very valid point! And while your at it, check the post up the front. Damn it....just get the whole boat checked. Thats what insurance is for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narralakes Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Thats a huge bluey George, congrats! Sounds like you and Trev had a good day apart from the d***head in the 4 wheel drive, hope he is going to pay for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluecod Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Thanks Narra, it was an obsolutely brilliant day to be on the water. With the weather forecast to hold like this until Wednesday, the Cap'n had planned to get out tomorrow and again during the week in his quest for a 100 plus y'fin, however those plans have now been put on hold. Boat, trailer and motor were checked out today by an Independant professional at Arndelle Park and have been given the all clear other than the lower leg. Insurance has got it covered, so all going well it'll be back on the water in no time. Believe me, the Cap'n is meticulous about his boat and it won't go out if anything is amiss, particularly when insurance is paying the bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajun Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Great report George Mongrel of a way to end then day though. I hope it is all fixed quickly. Cheers Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robthefisherman Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Great bluey, hope all goes smooth with the repairs Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Excellent report, pity about the wanker running into you. must be hard not to get out and throttle him. As Iain said, how do you go winding fish up from that depth? Must be a helluva exercise! Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluecod Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Iain, You're not having much luck lately with the Brown Hornet - I hope it all comes together for you before the warmer weather Peter also asked about winding up from that depth - without a good quality gimball and kidney harness, life is very difficult. With the right gear adjusted to suit, as long as you pace yourself, lock your knees under the side coamings and use all your upper body to do the lifting, its not too bad - though you do raise a good sweat and you certainly know about it the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
changa Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 I took some NEWBIES out for a day in seach of FIn and a spot of bottom bashing browns pretty poor results. The bottom fish were not on the chew and the fin were very very scarce. The newbies had fun on some striped tuna and some nice bottom fish. We managed a nice blue eye, and 3 nice gemmys and a couple of perch. thats about it. Not too exciting, hopefully the fin will be back soon. changa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aero Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 That good looking bloke in the top pic doesnt look like a newbie to me ! Nice Fish Changa and Crew Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
changa Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Chris, you are right, but he was new to bottom bashing browns...........lol changa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 That good looking bloke in the top pic doesnt look like a newbie to me ! Chris 51224[/snapback] Aero, describing me as good looking is a worry mate . It was an interesting day out indeed. Bashed the bottom at Browns for the first time......an interesting experience. It's always nice to add some new species to the list, especially such tasty ones Cheers Red Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluecod Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Aero, describing me as good looking is a worry mate . It was an interesting day out indeed. Bashed the bottom at Browns for the first time......an interesting experience. It's always nice to add some new species to the list, especially such tasty ones Cheers Red 51396[/snapback] to the site Red, definitely tasty species Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Thanks Bluecod, Looks like a pretty cool site with some familiar names. Feels like home already Cheers Red Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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