Easter Sunday Report - Dundee Offshore

It was a dark northern suburbs and a 3:30am start – uggggghhhh!

Then over to Pete’s, load gear, fuel truck and boat, drop my ute back at my place

And in the words of Shania Twain “Let’s go fellas!” 

(I so had the hots for that lady as a teenager and then some!)

We arrive at Dundee and only three boats at ramp when we get there just after 6am – Beautiful!

But while we were waiting the boat trailer line grew til it went way out the yard in a very short time with at least 15-20 plus + boats in the queue by the time we were tractored to the ramp

We are launched in no time – given our inexperience at launching here (first time) – quite amazing that we didn’t make ourselves look even more silly than we actually were

First port of call was Point Jenny and Blaze reef, a good half hour plus away – water moderately calm with glassy patches here and there. Nothing on the sounder worth dropping a jig or bait over the side for. we did find a heap of bait but not one predator harassing them - no birds or bigger fish. 

So with not much happening – the trolling for macks and sails was far too boring, we proceeded towards the Sail City GPS coordinates but along the way we found birds for the first time that morning

Under them gloriously were longtrail tuna – yeehaaah!!!! Just what the doctor ordered!

But Frustrating with a capital ‘F^%# yeh!’

Up….. down……Up.....Down.....

And usually Going, going gone! as soon as we arrive – but we keep at it enthused every time we would see a bird swerve and roll towards the water or a porpoising tuna attacking baitfish.

We get a few close calls, at times the tuna are right next to the boat. Once, one tuna happily, nonchalantly, and ever so slowly cruising past the rear of Peter’s boat without a care in the world. But at times other tuna were overtly aggressive with follows right to the boat and angry slashes at the last moment right next to the boat and still no hook up (other anglers (lure tossers) back at ramp told us similar behaviour and still no hook ups for them either)

Peter finally got one nice longtail much to his delight. He had been wanting of these for a while now.

I could not get anything right when we got close enough for a cast – line tangles, dropped lines, poor casting, fly tangled – it was not going to be my day. I had several touches for no return (just like my teenager years when I like Shania Twain)

We kept following birds and slashes till we were almost to Peron Islands. Then a knock, knock, knock was happening at rear of boat and after a strenuous investigations in the boat - we finally found out the transducer outside the boat had broken its mounting which also crossed out any bottom bouncing as we could never find reef fish hanging off reefs without the sounder. We use a couple of bungee  cords to stop it slapping and banging about but its function and benefit equalled nil!  When back at ramp later than evening- and if I say so myself – I quite cleverly used 6 small zip ties to reattach it to the transom – better than a bought one too@! Peter still has his doubts!

With weather crap and getting crappier, and no birds in sight after a small squally storm passed in front of us - we trolled our way back towards Dundee – I was so excited I had a snooze on floor of boat with a fly box for a pillow – bugger I hate trolling! So bloody boring!

The wind had been increasing from the west all day and the trip back was harsh and wet.

We were back at Dundee by 3pm which meant still time for fishing but the weather was very uncomfortable. Still we ventured further north past Dundee ramp despite the chop, wind and spray. Options were not the best - we almost went back to ramp - almost!

We ventured around the leeward side of a large rock platform (Roche Reef??) exposed by the low tide hoping for some sheltered water behind it.  Hoping for even just a few small fish in the shallows behind the rock platform during the last hour or so before the tractors stopped working at Dundee ramp at 6pm 

but no electric would make that fishing hard too (Friday arvo after I left Peter (see previous blog entry) his electric chucked a hissy fit and wouldn’t work – lucky it’s a warranty job – but inconvenient all the same, still you can’t help shit hitting the fan all the time!)

But given I have been a good boy lately (not really!) karma intervened and we find behind the rock platform a few hundred birds working over the top of a plethora of queenies marauding baitfish schools. Fast moving queenies, queenies vary wary of boat but if we got the approach right and the cast right we got hook-ups and at least Peter got them to the boat. I dropped four fish before I could get the net under them – I was getting pissed to the say the least – a very bad day for me.

We did have a few double hook ups – see video for the kafuffle and frantic antics of our crossing over lines and rods, and each other, and still managed to net our fish!  (mine was bigger!)

Now while its no epic-ally awesome Todd Moen video clip, it is a real time unedited few crazy frantic moments of a double hook up while fly fishing in rough seas, in strong winds and having the fish crossing over twice.

The wind was howling, every time we chased fish we got soaking wet with salt spray. But still both of us thoroughly enjoyed our time. Who would not want to be anywhere else than casting flies to fish even under such poor weather and water conditions. Bust ups, swirling birds, the chase, the cast, the hook up – given me more please! Peter even in the ugly seas and chop hooked up on a floating line and a surface fly (gurgler). Love that visual stuff!

We would fight a couple of fish, dry off, clean sunglasses, and then zip off to cast to some more – awesome fun!

Two approaching storms finally made us head for the ramp – dark and foreboding, heaps of lightning, massive amount of rain. But in the end we slipped into ramp just as a gap opened in the storm front.

Six boats waiting for extraction as we got to the ramp. Will be great when the new ramp is built and it will be self-launch and retrieve – hopefully with a protective break wall for the westerly winds that the current ramp gets hammered by like this time. Peter’s boat kept bouncing around on trailer with every wave hitting the transom. Peter handled the winch job but on hopping off boat got his pinkie caught in a small narrowing gap between front railing and the nav light. Talk about painful with his full weight pulling his hand into gap and unable to release it after getting of boat, Ouch! Plenty of blood but no stitches needed but almost. So many simple things can go wrong so easily - so be careful folks.

After when cleaning up boat and packing rods – all the other anglers walking past our boat about were quite keen to hear about the fly rods and how we went. Most had poor days, with only a few fish sinking lead weights to the bottom. While we had had a great day - sight casting to great fish - a few boring trolling bits in between yes but over all a great start with tuna and an exciting finishing time in atrocious conditions chasing countless 50-75cm queenfish.

Bring on tomorrow for more of the same. (but a better day for me is hoped!)