The other day I received a link to a site that gives you the best fishing days according to moon phase and tidal predictions. It said Sunday the 25th of October would be no good for fishing. Being my only day off to fish I decided it did not matter I was still going out. Sometimes you have to buck the trends.
The wind is blowing like hell (25-30) and the tide is starting to fall.
With Captain Charlie at the wheel and Rosie at the stern and myself on the bow, we start the routine of casting and retrieving.
It is not long before I hook up to the first fish. It gives a good accounting of itself and soon is in the boat for it's picture.
I then proceeded to get rocked by another big Bass. Although I managed to get my lure back it won its freedom.
Things go quiet for a little bit then I hook up on something different. This time on top of the reef. I see the flash of white and then my line pulls tight. As the beast shoots through the water I am still wondering what it is. Then it exits it's water home to show off its aerial prowess. Low and behold it is a Greater Barracuda. A big one at that. After a spectacular display out of the water Rosie leaders it into the boat for a nice photo session.
Well, after a bit of a forced break from fishing we finally got out on the water. It was a beauty of a day, blowing like hell but still gorgeous. We got a bit of a late start but still made it on the water by 9 am.
I decided to fish a spot that we had not fished. Charlie was at the helm Rosie at the stern and myself up on the bow. With the wind blowing a good 20-25 knots the bow was a bit tricky but manageable.
With in 10 minutes I had the first fish on board. A nice Emperor. Standing on the bow you get a great view into the water. This Emperor was fighting 3 other fish for my lure and won. This was a sign of things to come.
Now at this point Rosie is none to happy. She has yet to get a strike, but that is about to change. Suddenly the water around her lure explodes and she is onto a really nice fish. It is fighting like a GT but when it comes to the surface surprise surprise, it's a big pig of a Red Bass.
Now here is a lesson about keeping your eyes on the prize.
I see what I think is a large turtle and cast my popper to the left of it by maybe 30 meters. As I look back to Charlie and Rosie and yell for them to see the turtle, Charlie yells back at me and my rod loads up and is almost pulled from my hands. By the time I compose my self maybe 50 meters of line is already gone and my line goes slack. I reel my popper back in and ask Charlie what the hell was that and he say he has no idea. He thought it was a turtle also until it toreout after my lure. Here is a picture of my lure when I got it back.
Notice the front split ring and hook are gone and the rear hook is opened up. We still do not know what it was.
Oh well back to fishing and Rosie catches a nice Job fish. For those that have never caught a Job fish, the fight a bit like a trevally, hard and dirty.
You can tell by the way she is holding it that fatigue is setting in on her. After so many fish she was getting tired, but not slowing down.
I want a break and am getting hungry so I give my rod to Charlie to have a bit of a fish. What happens next is what fishing dreams are made of.
Charlie hollers out that there is a big GT on his lure. As his rod loads up and 50 lb braid melts away he is hooting and yelling for joy. Then from behind me I her Rosie yell GT and then hear here drag start to scream in protest to the speed at which line is being taken. We have a double hook up on big GT's. Rosie makes her way to the front of the boat with Charlie and I start filming.
