I didn’t really want to write this report mostly because there is not much to say. I wasn’t even sure about going but since last week-end was the anniversary of the Bluefin turning up off Sydney last year I felt I felt it was necessary to give it a shot.

Saturday started as a beautiful day to be at sea, we caught some live bait and headed for 12 Mile where after a couple of drops and bite offs it became apparent it wasn’t worth staying. Listening to the radio it appeared the Kingfish weren’t playing the game anywhere. By now the Westerly had started to pick up and by the time we reached Browns it was doing 20 to 25 knots. To make matters worse there was a 2.5 knot current pushing South, really strange for this time of year, bottom fishing was out of the question. To cut it short we ended up trolling out to Heatons for no result and then we had no choice but to turn back into the Westerly. It was a very long arduous trip home.

Sunday also started out as a beautiful day but at least the weather reports predicted the wind would ease in the afternoon. Again 12 Mile was a waste of time so we trolled out to Browns.  By the time we reached the mountain the wind had eased enough to have a shot at bottom fishing and even though the Westerly was blowing at around 18 knots the current was still pushing us due South at over 2 knots.

Anyway, after several drifts, losing some gear and a couple of fish to sharks, a good indication for the upcoming ‘SGFC Monster Mako Tournament’,  we managed six good sized Gemmies and a nice Blue Eye. The wind had continued to ease so I decided to go wide to the thousand fathom line and have a shot at cubing until dark.

We spent a couple of hours cubing with no result, even the birds wouldn’t come into our trail. So with the sun setting and the moon rising behind us we headed for home. The Westerly had dropped off to just a breeze and with a monstrous full moon lighting the way ahead we enjoyed a comfortable cruise home, we had at least caught our dinner.

From what I gathered over the radio there was very little caught anywhere off Sydney however just an indication of how weird it is out there at present , one boat ,’Molly 2′ , caught an 80cm. Mahi Mahi on the shelf off Broken Bay and the water is still over 20 C. and moving South at a rate of knots.

Tight Lines,
Ivan