Report 027 Something different for the taste buds... 15th January 2010

After the big Kingfish caught on Thursday, I decided to try one more time at the hot spot at Mayor Island. It was Friday morning, I left the Bowentown ramp about 10.00am, admiring the great day to be on the water. On the way out to the bar, just past Lead Point I spotted another Jetskifisho who was also sporting one of my "Ultimate Rod Holder" kits.

I had a quick chat with him and continued my journey out to Mayor. I could not resist taking a quick stop at a boil up along the way... This trip out, took 25 minutes to the pinnacle, where I had been catching plenty of fish in recent weeks. I have included a map below showing the complete route, also with the detour back, via Penguin Shoals.

Once at the 36 metre pin, I was appreciated the height of the increasing swell forecasted of 2 metres, gets a bit hairy that far out alone... I tried a few jigs and foul hooked this fish on the purple 200 gram jig. Last time I caught one of these, I threw it back to regrettably find it later they are lovely eating. This time, I wasn't so foolish and kept the Pink Mao Mao of 400mm. I decided to confirm with my own taste buds having it for following mornings breakfast and found it up there with the John Dory I normally favour.

I continued fishing in the general area with no real success, apart from losing my new 300 gram red Daiwa jig to a solid Kingfish at a 100 metre pin I was trying! Next destination was Penguin Shoals, a new spot for me. This was a fair hike from Mayor and on arrival, there was plenty of fish activity, with Trevally boil ups in large numbers.

I soon had three Trevs in the bin, all caught with the 7 “ Gulp/Nuclear Chicken.

I then tried some more jigging, only to come up with some rat Kingies. After an hour of fishing there, I next headed closer to shore, trying Steels, only be side tracked by another large boil up of fish.

This time the session was short, I was the victim of some minor gear damage to my prized soft bait slaying rod and reel. I had to switch to my jigging rod from there on, so continued to the destination of Steels Reef to try my luck. After a few days of jigging and plenty of time on the water the body was feeling fatigue, with arm cramp etc. With this, the easy option was decided, so I tested the theory of trolling from a jet-ski. This worked a treat, especially using the feature of cruise control on the Waverunners. First hooking up on another rat, was a day of them, this time using the Rapala. Next troll I was on another and before I knew it a Mako took the rat and was off with my line like a rocket. The Mako was some challenging territory on jet-ski, all I really wanted was to retrieve my gear! After 35 minutes of playing around with the shark, I cut my losses… I got the fish close enough to ski to cut it at the leader, reducing the gear loss to a minimum.

After this action packed session and plenty of fish for dinner, it was time to head it home.