Jimbo, SR and JS, 19Oct10

Subject: Fishing Report - Tues 19 Oct
From: "Jim Thompson"
Date: 21/10/2010 10:59 PM

Hi Yakkers,

Apologies for the delay in sending the following.

Weather:
Cloud Cover: Scattered, 3/10ths for most of morning.
Wind: SSE ~10 knots, swinging to SE later in morning
Sea State: SE swell ~1.2m

I launched at 0545 in very calm conditions, and after setting up headed for Sunshine Rf, hoping to emulate Eye Tagg's haul there on Monday. I also thought the water there would be clearer than at Jew Shoal.

Once at the inner mark off Alexandria Bay (my SR 4W) I cast my light line with SP attached and parked this rod in my newly mounted rod holder while I started setting up my heavier trolling line with a trailed pilchard. Before I had completed the latter task my light rod was suddenly bent double with the drag ratchet letting out a couple of short screams. This turned out to be a nice keeper snapper ~40cm. Buoyed by this good start, I reset my position to drift over the same spot. The combination of a steady current flowing to the SE but a slightly stronger SSE breeze produced a nice ~1.0 kph drift towards the NE. However, another hour of fishing over this same spot produced zilch.

As it was only 0800, I decided I would paddle the 3.5km to Jew Sh as I would be assisted by the SE wind and swell. Upon arrival at JS Pinnacles it was apparent the water was clearer but the lack of current set up a much faster drift to the NW with the prevailing steady SEly. After an hour drifting across the Pinnacles without a bite (and being snagged twice!) I decided to try another mark about 150m to the ENE. Bingo! The first cast of the SP produced a good hook-up but annoyingly this good sized snapper (I'm fairly certain) managed to bite through the line after about 2-3 minutes (possibly an argument for always using a wire trace). I quickly re-baited the line with another SP but on a lighter 1/4 oz jig head and reset my drift over the same mark. On about my second cast with the new bait another solid hook-up occurred and this time the line remained intact and after a short tussle I boated a nice ~45cm snapper. I also had a brief hit on a trailed blade on the heavy trolling line (having used up my three pilchards) but a continued hook-up didn't occur.

Again, buoyed by this sudden flurry of activity, I fished over this same mark for about another 45 min but no further action occurred. As it was now 1050 I headed back to MG 3.9km distant. It was a good outing with 17.5km covered.

Cheers
Jimbo