Fishin the Tropics

"Hey Shaun, the weather looks good for tomorrow, are you in", Shaun replies, "sure am, what time". I said "lets go about 3am", (there's a rather lengthy pause), then Shaun says" ok, see you at your place at 3am".

We launched the boat at some rediculious time in the wee hours of the morning and headed for an area about 8nm east of Fin Reef. This is about 32nm east of Cairns. (about 60km for those not wanting to do the conversion).

Well the weather man got it all wrong. Variable winds 5-10kts my ar*e!!. It was blowing about 15-20 knots, not too bad but definately not great. Anyway, we pressed on and 1 hour and 40 minutes later, we arrived at the fishing spot.

With the conditions so dreadful, it was difficult to fish. The depth of the water out there ranges from about 70 metres to 90 metres. However, it wasnt long before Shaun caught his first Green Jobfish. These toothy predators put up a good fight and are very good eating, they are real bruisers on the end of a fishing line. Smiles allround.

We continued with the difficult conditions and persevered for a little longer when Shaun caught his first Red Emporer. These fish were also known as Government Bream in the early days. A highly sought after and very good eating fish.

After a short time, we began taking the odd wave over the bow of the boat (thank goodness for a high flow bilge pump) and decided to head back in toward the shelter of the reef.

We punched our way back to some relative shelter behind Arlington Reef and fished there for a while and only caught small reef fish not worthy to be placed in front of a camera lense. It was now about 3pm so we decided to call it a day and headed back to the boat ramp.


Until next time....its a reef adventure

Not a Man Bag, Just a Wallet

My first blogging response. I will respond on this occassion even though my blogs are supposed to be predominantly about boating and fishing. Thanks to the delightful and energetic Vicki (ignorereality), I have been tagged to reveal the contents of my handbag, however, not being the custodian of such a fashion accessory, I will respond to this request, albeit, hesitantly.

Whilst trying to come to grips with being a SNAG (sensitive new age guy), yes I know, it is an old categorisation, but I still refer to it. I have'nt quite grasp the fact that perhaps I should also be carrying a handbag, or even a man bag to accompany the label. However, I will reveal the contents of what I call my equivalent to a man bag, my wallet.

No, there are no moths as part of its contents, simply because there is no room for such creatures. There is however, some interesting things that I too had forgotten about.

• Money - Naturally, this is what a wallet is for. A total of $30 in notes and $1.65 in coins. Oh, but wait, another note, its an American $20 bill. Why?, dont ask, its a long story. Also, a 1959 Australian Penny, no its not one of those valuable ones, unfortunately, however, everyone should carry a coin with them for the year of their birth.
  

• Plastic Cards - A vast array of those, including of course Macquarie Bank visa card. Dont leave home without it, no wait, that's the wrong company. (sorry American Express)
  

• Business Card - My own of course.
  

• Business Cards (plural) - 2 for the Barrier Reef Medical Centre, mmmm, maybe one for me and one for the ambulance?

Bats Boat Works, nevermind.
Frank Cardillo Electrical Contractor, ah yes, must ring him one day to repair the ceiling fan in mother-in- laws room........ or should I?
Club Diggers Dinning Discount card, next visit I can get 10% off, yippee.
Cairns Coast Guard membership card, RACQ for boaties.
All American Car Club of Cairns membership card.

• 3 Self Tappers (screws), never know when you need one (or three)!
  

• Photos - One of my son at age 6 months

one of my son age 11 years

one of my daughter aged 9 years

one of my father aged 26 years (in army uniform)

one of my ex wife (wtf!) holding my son and daughter

• One H&R Block embroidered badge, I dont know, its just there ok.
  

• 2 Disprin Direct, for obvious reasons, think I will take them now.

• Queensland photo Driver Licence

• Queensland Boating Licence
  

So that's it, seems like a large list of items for something that is supposed to fit into your back pocket. Well, it does'nt really fit in my back pocket.

I cant leave a blog like this to end a sudden death so I have now passed this on to livemorenow (the lovely Jacinta). Who knows what surprises will be found, although she is known to be a great collector of handbags (and shoes) so their contents may be spread thinly between them.

Until next time......its a reef adventure

Maiden Voyage

A quick check of the Bureau of Meteorology (http://www.bom.gov.au/) weather site indicates favourable conditions for our first trip to the reef. The boat is now fueled up, safety gear checked, batteries charged, lunch, sunblock and hats packed and we're ready to go.

Its down to the Smith's Creek boat ramp, (Trinity Inlet, Cairns) and into the water she goes.

Calm conditions are encountered as we make our way through the Cairns leads heading east. After a short time, Green Island appears on the horizon. I point this out to Jacinta and whilst doing so, I look at her to see if she is yawnng. Yes yawning. Apparently, she tells me that if she starts yawning it is the onset of seasickness. However, so far so good, no yawning.

Michaelmas Cay is our first stop to have a look at the migrating seabirds and to do some fish feeding. We then headed to Vlassoff Cay, another sand cay not to far away. We decided to have a fish at a little bommie I know of and it is there I caught the first Coral Trout from this boat. Jacinta also caught her first reef fish, although not a keeper, it was still very cute, and still not yawning.

We then decided to be a bit more adventurous and crossed over the top of ArlingtonReef (high tide of course) and made our way to Thetford Reef. We stopped there for a short time to fish before heading back home.

Our return trip home was without incident, however the clouds had moved in and the wind dropped even more making the sea oily and it became quite spooky.

We were soon back at the boat ramp and put the boat back on the trailer and drove home. The whole day was rather unevuntful which is what a "maiden voyage" should be. The boat has performed faultlessly and everything works as it should. With sea trials complete, it is now time to get some serious reef fishing done.

Until next time.....its a reef adventure.