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| Travgrundy's tinny trips | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 13 2013, 05:43 PM (11,494 Views) | |
| TravGrundy | Oct 13 2013, 05:43 PM Post #1 |
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Black Bass
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Figure i'll just make one thread and keep updating all my fishy adventures in it. |
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| TravGrundy | Mar 19 2018, 03:21 PM Post #841 |
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Black Bass
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Went out again saturday arvo to an isolated creek south of town for an overnighter, shouldve stayed home instead with a 8km trip into 20knot winds and 1.5m chop before getting to the creek. Unreal amount of bait around and a some big barra smashing mullet off the surface thoughout the night but just couldnt fool them on baits or lures. Picked up a 50cm fingermark around 3am before getting a couple hours sleep, woke to a solid run on a 25cm live mullet that id guess was a mulloway by the scaled bait then dropped another run soon after. Shifted to the rivermouth for the last of the incoming tide for the usual catfish and sharks while a mackerel hounded schools of herring. Finished up by pulling the crab pots for two big empty muddys and 6 just undersized ones. Think I might stick to the local rockwall this weekend |
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| SnappaDan | Mar 19 2018, 03:23 PM Post #842 |
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Black Bass
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Getting closer To that magic number Trav, most people would be stoked with that one though. Nice fish 👍 |
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| TravGrundy | Mar 25 2018, 12:43 PM Post #843 |
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Black Bass
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Another weekend and another couple fishy trips down. Headed out Friday evening with Emily along to the spot we got the barra last weekend, dropped a couple of good runs before a couple little sharks, a 10kg catfish and 2 big pike eels (nasty buggers) saw us call it a night. Then today after a late cafe breakfast we decided to have a crack down the main harbour for a hour or so, a few casts with the net saw us loaded with herring, mullet and prawns from the main boatramp and 5mins later we were set up along the grassy banks of the rockwall. had both lines go off at once which resulted in a solid golden for me and a smaller gt for Megan who then had the hooks pull on a good queenfish next cast. missed a couple of alright runs and i got dusted off by a big cod up against the rocks before we decided to call it a day. |
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| TravGrundy | Mar 25 2018, 12:44 PM Post #844 |
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Black Bass
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golden |
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| TravGrundy | Mar 25 2018, 01:41 PM Post #845 |
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Black Bass
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looks like the weather might just play along for easter here. Think it may be a chance to hit up some deeper ground out from town |
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| Lefty | Mar 26 2018, 07:36 AM Post #846 |
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Administrator
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Not a bad spot where you can have breaky, fish and land good sized samples like that. |
| Fish, Brag & Post Pics | |
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| SnappaDan | Mar 26 2018, 09:01 AM Post #847 |
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Black Bass
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That's flash comfortable fishing Trav good stuff. |
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| TravGrundy | Mar 30 2018, 03:58 PM Post #848 |
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Black Bass
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forecast changed to 20-30knot winds from midmorning so headed out to some shoals roughy 30km from town instead of the reef. Very very slow with only the one trout kept for dinner, lost a couple of good fish on the bottom and a mackerel boatside on jig along with the usual sharks. Just to top it off conditions were beyond perfect with it being pretty much a mirror out there all day. |
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| Lefty | Apr 3 2018, 07:23 AM Post #849 |
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Administrator
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Predicting weather with cyclones about can be difficult at best. Same issues over here. Forecasts changing daily. |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 14 2018, 02:17 PM Post #850 |
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Black Bass
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Had a small window to get out today so headed out from a creek just north of town with the plan of heading out 13km to a couple of islands that the raaf use for bombing from time to time. Left all bait and hooks at home to focus on finding some ground and have a troll, picked up four alright trout from 35-55cm in the shallows from 3-5m before loosing my two diving minnows to what i think were either gts or big trout out a little deeper. So heading back into the shallows and chucked on the stinger suit for a quick spear, vis was pretty average due to the big tides and wind we've had so ended up spooking a lot of fish before being able to get a shot out, missed a big trout and tuskfish but picked up a moses perch and found a big eel that was guarding its cave before the outgoing tide made it hard to see further than 6ft. Hopefully we'll get a run of good weather soon with the neap tides to get back out there. |
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| Lefty | Apr 16 2018, 09:34 AM Post #851 |
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Administrator
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How deep were you spearing? New Lures on the way?? |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 16 2018, 02:20 PM Post #852 |
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Black Bass
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Was only spearing in 2-3m of water, wasnt game to go any deeper haha. The smaller barra classic lures were doing the damage on the troll so might have to stock up on a few extras |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 16 2018, 02:21 PM Post #853 |
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Black Bass
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Wouldve been a decent trout if this lure had held together |
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| SnappaDan | Apr 18 2018, 08:56 AM Post #854 |
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Black Bass
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Bugger Trav never seen or had that happen before. Should've bought a bigger more expensive lure lol😆😜 |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 18 2018, 04:08 PM Post #855 |
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Black Bass
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haha they werent interested in the bigger lures, fine line between buying expensive 20 dollar lures and loosing them on the reef or cheaper 10 dollar lures and running the risk of this happening. |
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| SnappaDan | Apr 19 2018, 09:02 AM Post #856 |
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Black Bass
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I'm a bit like that with braid line aye, I lose quite a bit to big bite offs or mostly reefs etc, so ebay line it is for me. When you can buy 2000m for around $70. In general it's slightly thicker but otherwise no complaints on its performance. |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 21 2018, 04:09 PM Post #857 |
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Black Bass
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Shot back out to the island from last weekend armed with some new hardbodies and a few plastics. Picked up two just sized trout on the troll early on before deciding to have a swim with the speargun, didnt have any luck at this spot besides coming across a little shark and ray so shifted a km or so and pulled out the plastics. Found a couple of better trout for the esky along with various cod, grassy snapper, under sized macks and metre something longtom before noticing what i thought was a cobia cruising along the surface. had a cast and straight away had a school of 5 or so 15-20kg gts come out of no where zoned in on my plastic. Had no chance of ever landing one on the little 5000 sustain but still unreal to watch. Finished the day with another spear in 3m, still got to work on nailing the trout as they like to look at you dead on rather then swim away side on. Missed all 2 out of my 3 shots and had my final shot glance off its head. |
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| Lefty | Apr 23 2018, 07:41 AM Post #858 |
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Administrator
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Doin it tough as usual. |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 25 2018, 05:07 PM Post #859 |
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Black Bass
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With a day off and 10knot variable winds we had the tinny hooked up early for a day out island hopping. Had a troll around for a bit with only undersized trout and cod coming aboard, so we shifted and switched over to the plastics in glassy conditions. |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 25 2018, 05:13 PM Post #860 |
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Black Bass
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A couple of drifts in with more cod coming up I decided to suit up and go for a swim around some bigger bombies in 5-6m while Megan stuck with the plastics. Spied a probably just sized red emp that i left alone and instead picked off a mangrove jack and a few bream things for bait this weekend, had my usual crap shots at a couple of trout but made up for it by scoring a cray from the back of a cave. After that it was time to pull up for a bbq lunch and a rest for Emily. |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 25 2018, 05:17 PM Post #861 |
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Black Bass
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With Emily having a nap onshore I shot out for a hour of luckless stickbaiting before loading up again for one last troll and plastic session. Megan hooked up to a decent longtail tuna on plastic that had the sustain screaming, she managed to beat the sharks and soon we had it safely onboard |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 25 2018, 05:19 PM Post #862 |
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Black Bass
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Called it a day after that and cruised back home flat out. Only down side is that tomorrows and fridays forecast is even better |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 25 2018, 05:20 PM Post #863 |
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Black Bass
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more horrible condition pics |
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| Lefty | Apr 26 2018, 09:26 AM Post #864 |
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Administrator
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Haven't seen a glass off like that for months. Can you send some our way? |
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| TravGrundy | Apr 28 2018, 03:37 PM Post #865 |
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Black Bass
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Went out for an island overnighter last night before the wind was due to pick up this afternoon. Again perfect glassy conditions greeted me as i headed out 20 odd km to some reefy patches in 15-20m, anchored up on a spot with some good bait showing and started fishing. Struggled finding anything worth keeping with the odd small reef fish coming up and a complete lack of squid, shifted a few times ending up close to an island fishing the outgoing tide as it flew past. Picked up a sized spangled emp around 1am and dropped a few good runs before tiny reds and sharks moved in and I called it a night after 3. Had a few casts with the plastics at dawn picking up a 5kg gt and a keeper trout before starting to make my way in. spotted a heap of birds working the corner of one island with some big splashes which ended up being 3 big 3.5m tigersharks smashing bait amongst tuna, cobia and mackerel. Ended up having three casts which saw me bitten off, reefed and sharked before the school vanished so rigged up a couple of trolling lures to drag along as i kept heading home. Picked up a longtail tuna and dropped another before shooting back to the ramp |
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| Lefty | Apr 30 2018, 12:20 PM Post #866 |
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Administrator
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Those little reds are pretty. |
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| eziliving | May 2 2018, 04:22 AM Post #867 |
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Shark
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Good stuff trav. Looks like great weather over there atm |
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| TravGrundy | May 14 2018, 02:21 PM Post #868 |
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Black Bass
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Headed out yesterday to try for a macky or two, winds made for a fun trip out surfing down metre high chop but soon had the trolling gear out and ready for a lap around the islands. Very slow going with only a small trevally coming aboard and bait schools were no where to be found, so not keen on bouncing my way back to shore before the tide became too low, i decided to anchor up out of the wind and fish the edge of a island with the tide rushing past. Picked up a keeper trout along with a bunch of random undersized reef fish before it all died down, my strip of trevally under a balloon went untouched and apart of the odd small cod it looked pretty grim. With still another 4 hours until the tide was high enough to get back to shore I set off on another lap with the lures for again nothing. threw plastics around for nothing and was ready to pull up on a beach for a nap when the sounder lit up. dropped a plastic down and so began 30mins of non stop action, with just sized nannies, red throat, and trout coming up along with a few unstoppables. Went dead after that so with the wind dying down I headed off after a few tuna schools in the distance. Managed to land five long tail on stickbaits, keeping two that I'd hooked in the gills, for their size they go hard even on the heavier gear. A look at my watch meant the tide should have risen enough to get home so with a few feeds for the week I called it a day. |
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| SnappaDan | May 14 2018, 03:15 PM Post #869 |
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Black Bass
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Still killing it Trav good stuff, that'll keep you fed for a few days. |
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| Lefty | May 16 2018, 07:06 AM Post #870 |
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Administrator
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Longtails are good fun to play with. Bait or eater? |
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| TravGrundy | May 16 2018, 02:02 PM Post #871 |
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Black Bass
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Had a feed of longtail that night and have another fillet ready to go in the freezer. Frames became dog food and the rest will either be bait or burley for my next trip out. Forecast is 20-25knots for the next week so may have to chase a barra and crabs instead |
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| TravGrundy | Jun 4 2018, 05:35 PM Post #872 |
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Black Bass
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Had the weather line up perfectly for an extended reef trip over the weekend, so very early Saturday morning saw me cruising out from Townsville in glassy conditions with 130litres of fuel and a load of ideas on what to chase. Reached my first reef just before sunrise so decided to pull out a stickbait to cast up onto the reef, hooked onto a big spanish mackerel a few casts in that i thought I had beat until it decided to go for another run straight across the reef busting me off. Tied on another lure and got back casting but hits were few and far between, so swapped out for the trolling combos as i made my way along to another reef. Came across a small lump in 60m that was full of fish so had a quick jig resulting in 4 chinaman fish (no take list) and a small shark mackerel that i kept for bait before moving on again. Couldnt buy a hit on the trolling lines so swapped over to bait and drifted over the endless ground in 30-60m trying to find a keeper but instead found small cod, chinaman fish and the odd shark. Did have a marlin come up around the boat for a look, had a few casts at it with the stick bait which got it fired up but I took too long rigging a bait to throw at it and it swam off. went back to trolling close to the reef picking up an undersized mackerel and a big longtom. While trying to unhook the bloody longtom I drifted up onto the reef, knocked the engine in reverse to get off when Bang I hit a bit of reef and the engine shut off. Went to start it again but soon realised Id stuffed something as it wouldnt turn over, quickly anchored, lifted the outboard and confirmed that the second worse thing that could happen (sinkings number 1) had happened as the prop spins by hand with some grinding in and out of gear. Had a bit of a swear at myself then a quick scan around the area for other boats, spotted one about 5km away and another further out. also noticed some baitfish being hounded within casting distance so had a cast and pulled out a 55cm trout so at least i had a keeper. Using the anchor I was able to pull myself off the reef into deeper water and set a flare off, had the other boat make its way over (old 7.5m cat) with three guys on board. Told them what had happened and was greeted with 'no worries, we can tow you back in tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime jump onboard and lets go fishing' So anchored up the tinny, turned the anchor light on, radioed the coast guard giving the location of the boat incase anyone came across a tinny with no one in it and jumped onboard the cat. Was a bit of an upgrade from the tinny with a hot dinner, beers in the fridge and even a spare swag to roll out across the deck for the night. Fished until around midnight with a slow but steady stream of red throat and spangled emperor coming up along with the odd undersized red emp and shark to liven things up. Checked on the tinny in the morning then hit some wider reefs for some quality trout, a cobia while I got a big red bass of around 15kg. Came back in near the tinny for a few more drops when we noticed that it was drifting right up across the reef, had a prick of a time dodging bombies to catch it again and found the anchor rope had rubbed through. Got it ready to tow and after a bit of playing around with distance until we were able to cruise the 80 odd km back to the ramp where they flat out refused any cash for their troubles even though they had another 20 odd km back to magnetic island, couldnt have managed to flag down a better crew to rescue me if id tried. Legends. |
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| SnappaDan | Jun 4 2018, 06:27 PM Post #873 |
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Black Bass
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Now that's an adventure and a half, lucky you didn't lose the tinny completely though. So as soon as the motors fixed you've still got enough fuel to go again😉 |
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| Lefty | Jun 5 2018, 07:10 AM Post #874 |
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Seriously.... You stuff the boat and still managed to get 2 days of good fishing in. Only you Trav....... |
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| TravGrundy | Jun 5 2018, 02:42 PM Post #875 |
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Haha dont know what megan was more annoyed at, me stuffing the outboard or me being being a day late home and having a few beers. Least we still got some feeds out of it all. |
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| TravGrundy | Jun 8 2018, 12:07 PM Post #876 |
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Black Bass
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better fix the boat up this weekend |
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| TravGrundy | Jun 8 2018, 06:02 PM Post #877 |
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Black Bass
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Pulled the outboard apart tonight, turns out i did a decent job stuffing every gear in there. Just going to buy another lower unit and bolt it all back together |
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| eziliving | Jun 9 2018, 06:21 AM Post #878 |
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Shark
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Good bit of luck there trav. I know it’s an old clesha (spelling) it’s to know that there are good people still around. Top effort on the fishing. |
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| SnappaDan | Jun 10 2018, 11:43 AM Post #879 |
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Black Bass
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Hope you get it fixed quickly. The fish are sighing with relief that you're not out there for a bit though. |
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| TravGrundy | Jun 10 2018, 05:12 PM Post #880 |
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$400 for a complete workshop tested lower unit with new gearbox oil and new water pump, so not too bad. From memory I paid 300ish for my last service back in albany on it without replacing the water pump so should be good for another 1000hrs |
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| Lefty | Jun 11 2018, 07:45 AM Post #881 |
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1000hrs so about 3 months then? |
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| TravGrundy | Jun 17 2018, 06:19 PM Post #882 |
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Black Bass
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Didnt get my parts for the tinny by the weekend (typical as saturday was a glass off) so caught up on a few jobs around the house, serviced the falcon and rounded up Megan and Emily for a drive for an ice cream. Just so happens that there was a fishy looking creek nearby so pulled out the bream gear from the boot, found a stickbait in the glove box and got casting. Missed a few hits from little queenies before the little lure vanished with a boof off the top. Had to do some rock hopping back and forwards along the bank with the little 1000 symetre singing but eventually managed to land a solid 68cm barra which Megan wasnt too thrilled about having in the boot for the drive home. Not bad for a 15min session |
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| SnappaDan | Jun 18 2018, 08:32 AM Post #883 |
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Not bad at all, I think you'd find fish even in a bathtub. |
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| Lefty | Jun 19 2018, 09:29 AM Post #884 |
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Nice fish on the 1000. Poor little reel would have been smoking. |
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| TravGrundy | Jul 8 2018, 07:53 AM Post #885 |
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Black Bass
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Got out yesterday for the first time since replacing the gearbox, had intended on launching between down towards mackay and heading across to the whitsundays but a google search saw that the ramp i wanted to use was wiped out by a cyclone last year. Could have launched off a rock bar but with the forecast for 25knots late evening I didnt want to risk it incase the wind picked up early. Instead headed down to my childhood home town of Bowen arriving just before dawn to misty rain and 15knots. Waited until daylight to launch as i remember there being some rocks on the way out. Deployed a high speed diver out the back and cruised over the chop at 25kph on my way to Gloucester island which is roughly 20odd km away and at nearly 30 square km in size provides plently of shelter from the winds. Half a hour later and my trolling rod gets nailed and 40lb mono starts screaming at a serious rate of knots, spun the tinny around ready to give chase and got stuck into gaining some line back. Got a glimpse of it about 10min later revealing a good size spanish mack before it took off on another 100m run then sulked down deep until finally getting it boatside a good 20 plus minutes later. Once there my first thoughts were along the lines of bloody hell thats a monster as what id estimated as a 10kg fish grew into a pb that once gutted, headed and tailed to fit the esky was 25kg. Without a gaff on board and the fish just about done from the fight I looped a rope over its tail and only just managed to drag it onboard. Deployed the lure once more and motored on towards the island, picking up 6 small spotted mackerel between 50 and 70cm from the thick bait schools. Arriving at the island I sounded around in the 40m mark but couldnt get a hit on anything so shifted right up close to the shore in 3-5ms and anchored up. Picked up some bait rigged up an unweighted 6/0 and dropped a chunk over the side, straight away a solid 50cm trout nailed it and with a nearly locked drag dragged it out and into the esky. Rebaited and dropped again, this time a undersized tusk fish came up, followed by more and other various reef fish including red emperor, scarlet sea perch, moses perch and red thoart. While under size they go hard in the shallows. Shifted a few times scoring another keeper trout before having a big trout have a go at a small tuskfish i had hooked, rigged up the tuskfish and stayed conected to the trout a whole 5secs before being buried into the reef. Probably should have just put the mask on and shot the bugger but I know where it lives now. With the day getting on and a two hour drive home to townsville I started making my way in, stopping at one of the smaller islands to throw some poppers around as there was a heap of bait showing. Had big queenies fighting over the popper but couldnt get one to stick, then hooked onto a good sized longtail tuna that had me doing laps of the tinny before boating and releasing it and shooting back to the ramp at 40kph. Been nearly 20years since Ive been on a boat out from there and the fishing is still unreal. definitley wont be another 20 before im back down there again either. |
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| TravGrundy | Jul 8 2018, 07:53 AM Post #886 |
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Black Bass
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longtail |
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| TravGrundy | Jul 8 2018, 07:55 AM Post #887 |
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Black Bass
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Gloucester island |
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| TravGrundy | Jul 8 2018, 07:56 AM Post #888 |
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Black Bass
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bit of bait |
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| SnappaDan | Jul 8 2018, 01:18 PM Post #889 |
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Black Bass
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Sounds and looks like real fishy waters there Trav, nice Mackie and Tuna👍. Doesn't look like you're missing the cold southwest Wa. |
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| Lefty | Jul 9 2018, 07:14 AM Post #890 |
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Good to hear of some great fishing without the mention of any grey coats. Great mixed bag. |
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| TravGrundy | Jul 9 2018, 04:11 PM Post #891 |
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Black Bass
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Not a shark to be seen all day which is a welcome change, made for a cheap trip out without donating a ton of tackle. Reminded me a fair bit of southern wa with the rain and fishing right up against the island cliffs, drops off to nearly 50m a couple hundred metres offshore. |
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4:36 PM Jul 11