Hard yakka, Woody Head

Author: josh

Category: Trip Reports

Created on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 19:52

Written by Josh

'Lumpy' was a word I heard a fair bit this afternoon, before, during and after putting in at Woody Head. Conditions were borderline today and I spent a good few minutes surveying the waters in close and beyond and I very nearly decided to give it a miss. Steve seemed willing though and it didn't look like getting worse so eventually I talked myself into it. Once on the water it looked even lumpier than at waters edge (as it always does) and I wasn't at all surprised to hear Steve tell me that he'd been smashed by a wave and almost capsized when he finally caught up to me after a slow start.

By the time Steve had reached me some km and a half to the north I was reeling in my 3rd fish, the 2nd of two tailor. The other was a flathead, far too small to keep. All of them caught trolling, the flatty on a Halco Poltergeist lure, the choppers on an RMG crazy deep diver, both lures rather loud in pink colour patterns. Both were intended for snapper, neither of which produced. Even my new favourite snapper lure - the Daiwa bay rubber jigs - failed me today. It didn't help that the wind was roaring in from the Nth west like it was, too heavy for drifting and the water was too sloppy for comfortable trolling. This is the best I could manage: dinner, for Steve & family for the night!

As I launched today I thought that it might not be coindedence that this was my first trip out armed with an LBP. With strong off shore winds blowing erratically and rough unpredictable waters it was one of those days that typically I'd be happier being solo, free of concern for fellow companions. But Steve is pretty well equipped and most of all, has a waterproof radio (a lot like mine) that makes communication much easier and makes me feel a lot better about being out there. We put those radios to good use today and were once again reminded why they are so handy to have.