Today had a same time-same place feel about it being the second day in a row putting in at 'Spot X' with Alby, this time joined by Doug. One of Alby's fellow holiday-makers joined us briefly to, but he didn't last long. Conditions were better than Saturday, with slightly smaller seas, marginally less wind (this time coming from the Sth) and most importantly, hungrier fish.
The group of 4 quickly became 2 groups of 2, as Doug and I were using our Islands as trimarans, Alby & co using vanilla kayaks. So when we spotted humpbacks on the horizon, naturally I sailed out to take a look and Doug followed suit. Without getting too close we were able to fit in a nice whale watching session, footage of which will appear online soon. We then concentrated our efforts on fishing and soon chanced upon what is now known to me and GPS as waypoint 35. It is here that Doug and I pulled up a couple of good pan-sized snapper each in just a couple of minutes. The action was particularly fast on the Daiwa Bay Rubber jig, which (as the footage will show) was especially attractive to the snapper, hooking themselves without any coercing on my part at just a few metres depth under my yak.
As we trolled our way back to Alby's position I had a solid hook up on what felt like a pelagic fish from the moment it chomped. I'm sure they get bigger, but this wasn't just the biggest bonito I have hooked - it's also the largest I've seen. Falling for the Predatek Hyperviper, it gave me a pretty good fight.
I only had a few more bites after that but from then on it was all Alby, who hooked another 3 - 4 fish as we slowly and not even surely made our way back. Another whale swam past as we passed the headland, not as big as most, but probably a keeper for a filthy Japenese whaling boat.
- Where: Spot X, somewhere on East Australian Coast
- When: 6:30AM Launch, 10:45AM Land
- Conditions: Fresh Sth winds, moderate seas
- Tide: High 9AM
- Moon phase: Full
- Fish caught: Snapper, bonito
- Lure of the day: Daiwa Bay Rubber jigging lure
