Stormin's Longtail, 7 September 2015

TR by Stormin

Trip date: 7 September 2015

Participants: Jimbo, Stormin, Tunny

Launch Site:  MG

Conditions: Wind NW less than 10 knots, falling to zero mid morning; then picking up after 10 am. Low Tide 9.25 am; very little drift at Little Halls and Halls Reef.

Keen Angler Program: Nothing donated

I had no plans to go fishing this morning as I had spent the weekend on the Gold Coast with my girlfriend. We arrived home at around 7 pm last night and half an hour later I was in bed snoring.  I woke up at around 3 am and could not get back to sleep. Hmmmm what should I do?  I checked the freezer for bait and found a kg of small slimeys and a few pillies.  A couple of hours later I was at MG talking to Tunny and Jimbo. Jimbo opted to head for Jew Shoal while Tunny and I planned to go first to Little Halls then on to Halls Reef. I was keen to try my new paddle, a full carbon Wermer Shuna.

Sunrise at Little Halls (view from Tunny's kayak)

Tunny and I bottom-fished Little Halls without success.  I used bait while Tunny used soft plastics.  There was plenty of bait fish on the surface but we had very few bites.  Tunny caught one undersized Flathead which was released.  We then continued on to Halls Reef where I caught some small Cod, four Grinners, an undersized Snapper and a 40 cm Grassie using slimeys and pillies as bait.  We radioed Jimbo who said he had not caught anything at Jew Shoal.  The wind died down completely at about 8.30 am and the sea went flat and glassy:

Glassy sea.  View from Tunny's kayak with Stormin in the distance

Tunny decided to head back to fish the area around Little Halls where we had seen the bait fish.  I stayed a few minutes longer at Halls Reef then also headed off towards Little Halls.  I was concentrating on my paddling when my trolled slimey got hit.  This is the first time I have heard my Torium HG scream that long! I announced my hook up to Jimbo and Tunny and put the radio next to the reel so they could hear it scream.  I was a bit worried that it could be a big shark but after 10 minutes I retrieved my line so that I could see the Longtail Tuna.  But then it took off again.  I can't remember how many times I retrieved my leader and thought the fight was over.  But the fish kept just would not give up and it took another 35 minutes to land it.

The wind was now picking up so I paddled back to MG without trolling.  The new paddle is awesome - very light and stiff.  Back at MG I was congratulated by Jimbo and Tunny as well as Sunshiner who kindly came down to take photos and provide some cake for morning tea.

The biggest Longtail I have caught

Photo by Sunshiner

Longtail went 109 cm

A good day out.  See you next time.