On the water at last - a great day with Chris

Two weekends ago - I had the opportunity that instead of pouring a concrete slab for my new 25000 litre water tank - i could go SWOFFING on Darwin Harbour

So hard a choice - NOT!!

The initial plan was for 65km offshore to the oil platform rig doing routine maintenance and about to move according to the grape vine

But the local city harbour was chosen due to neap tides and timing for getting the boat in and out at the Darwin Trailer Boat club's ramp. and some decent fish (tuna and queenfish) caught in the harbour during the week by some fellow SWOFFERS

It was great launching so close to East Point - saving 20-30minutes of run time from either East Arm or Dinah Beach ramp - (Chris has a few issue with some of the negative cowboy etiquette of Dinah Beach ramp at times and rightly so given the stories he shared during our day on the water! - com'on guys be nice at the boat ramps!)

Within a few minutes from launching we had scoped out nothing happening at East Point and headed for Lee Point

What an awesome morning - first time in many trips that I had seen such calm awesome conditions for fly fishing

The dropping neap tide can go off at Lee Point on such conditions - but not today

Then we started seeing pods of Longtail tuna a few hundred metres away and with nothing much else about we started chase the sporadic pods of torpedoes porpoising in and out of the water 

The tuna were hard to get near!!

The tuna were flighty

The tuna were up

The tuna were down, and just as quickly

Time for a search around harbour to distract us from these maddening tuna!

But East Point not much

And 6 mile nothing showing (like the opposite of what it had been all week for some!)

Then a few hundred metres off Mandorah - BIRDS!!! Hold on let’s get there!

We almost got in a few casts to fleeing tuna a few times but no happiness of a tight singing line rapidly spinning off the reel under the pressure of a fast big tuna!

We start to chase another pod further in the harbour but funny motor noises and no power had us thinking the worst - blown head or piston?,  after a quick poke and prod of everything on the motor, particularly an electrical zap when touching a spark plug lead - we surmise spark plug issues more than anything major mechanically 

As still early we thought a quick trip to shore to get a new spark plug might fix the problem - we had to leave though it was extremely hard to see the large quantity of tuna splashing about and to leave them behind 

But without a means of chasing them down we really didn't have a choice

It was a slow ride with lots of bird action too far away to putter over to with no power

We did have a moment of power surge like the problem fixed itself but it was short lived

However it did ease our concerns of major work (like blown power head) and costs of such a repair 

We get back to the DTBC and have a more thorough investigation of the problem

All spark plugs out - all seemed good 

All leads off, one of the leads had a little corrosion and maybe saltwater 

Had the saltwater acted as an electrolyte and shorted out everything????

A blow (the plug lead only - you dirty minded individuals!), a dry and a refit - saw the problem gone 

Lucky a service is due shortly - !! 

So off we go back chasing those tuna off Mandorah hoping that fixed it

But the tuna are no longer there - maybe the lure tossers who were roaring right into the school before casting had put them down and out for the day!

We venture into the harbour chasing a few birds fluttering about

We find some tiny fish around the T rock bar south of the Mandorah Jetty but inconsistent and we head further into the harbour

At Talc Head where I have hardly ever seen fish activity (others might but I hadn't).......

We find several bait and lure boats working the tip

We then spot queenfish and little macks periodically attacking the tiny baitfish as they get pushed against the point with the flowing tide

We will be in on that!!

A rapid cast between boats to the frothing water - sees me hook-up almost straight away 

It’s a good fish, using the current well to fight away from the boat even got into the backing 

But there was a problem

I had earlier changed to a lighter leader – 10lb, this incase the very, very clear water of today’s neap tides made the usual 20lb leader easier to see – thus putting off the fish

So after a prolonged struggle to and for – of course the leader breaks.

Chris had another on during this time and he gets his to the boat

Well done for him – sweet bugger all for me – booohoooo!

Look at those conditions in the image background - fantastic!!

I hook another and lose it before I tweak to the leader issue and change my leader setup

This time of changing leaders is so extremely hard when all you have caught all day is tiny fish, chased tuna and now while the pressure is on and you are tying those special knots one needs to connected and stay that way – while the fish are going absolutely nuts hammering baitfish with abandon all around the boat – Uuuggghhh!!!!!!

The fish were doing a lot of skittering around behind the fly as it was stripped in.

No real commitment to attacking and thus eating the fly

So changed flies regularly, size, colour and type = but no real improvement

I did have one awesomely heart stopping moment when the behemoth of queenfish, that I first thought was a massive GT given its thickness through the shoulders and depth of body front on as I clearly watched it in the gin clear water as it nudged and chased my fly right to the boat, but as it turned I saw its extra long length and those tell tail spots and elongated body shape that easily identify it as a queenfish. 

It was massive, biggest I have seen in a while.

That nudge it gave the fly that transmitted through the leader to the fly line and to my fingers as I strip the line in - was like an electric shock - that and its size took my breathe away as the concept hit me of what could have been!!! 

Man, I love SOWFFING in NT waters!

Then as always with changing tides the action slowed - so we move off to chase tuna and birds

I think we did a few circuits of the mid harbour area – a cast here and there but no substance of consistency – neap tides?? – No, as I have caught plenty of fish on these exact tides – the fish really seemed sleepy on this day and not quite into it like at other times

We eventually get back over to Mandorah after visiting the esplanade area, the naval base rock wall, East Point and then Six Mile again

At Mandoarh the pelagic fish are working a tide line north of the jetty created by the now incoming tide, we chase, they disappear, but we keep at it

Working around the few lure tosser boats also chasing the schools - got a cast or two in the right place out of a hundred casts but no successful hook up

We move up the current line towards the front of Mandorah jetty....
Finally hook up to a fairly decent mackerel from one of the marauding packs of fish, at first it doesn’t believe it is hooked writhing about down deep and then it wakes up to its situation and puts down the accelerator – problem is my fly line whips around and double wraps around the electric motor control head (not one wrap mind you - it wraps twice locking on itself as it tightens)  – I quickly try to save the situation and unwrap it - 

But too late –ZING!!!! PING!!

And it was 'gonski', with a little hairy lip jewellry for its efforts

That was my day – out of practice and found three more ways to lose good (BIG!!) fish

BUGGER!

I did get a few species for the fishing comp we have at the school I teach - got to enter in two of the comp classes - the smallest and the most species for an outing - the students got a few laughs at me but its all part of the fun of the school comp. The 'ROCK ON' finger sign in each image changes each week to indicate we had caught the fish recently

Thanks Chris for the great day, he worked really hard chasing fish while driving the boat – I just got to cast at the fish and still messed it up!

Chris worked real hard to get me onto some fish as the day drew to a close but I wasn’t up to it this day!

Maybe the next one!

Been digging water and power trenches last weekend and most likely this weekend too for our house that is to start being built next week – will be hard finding fishing time for next few months as I do bits and pieces around the builders to save some money as why pay  tradies to clean up after them selves at tradies hourly rates – but time on the water will happen! As the boat will be back from the mechanic and its service by the next weekend! - on good spring tides this time

Bring it on!

Must tie a few more flies too!