Snapper at Jew shoal and Little Halls 29sep14

TR by Tunny

Wind: variable, 0-5 knots
Swell: less than 1m
Current: slight NE at Little Halls
Launch point: MG
Participants: Eyetag, Diesel, Tunny

I arrived in the car park at 3.45 am to find Diesel already there. Eyetag
arrived shortly after and we headed out at 4am. The tide was close to low
and the launch easy. Diesel, in the mood for revenge, opted to head for
Jew Shoal where he planned to catch the tuna that broke his reel a few
weeks ago. Eyetag and I followed the coastline heading north, then cut
across to Little Halls, with both of us dragging hard bodied lures. There
were no signs of bird activity or any surface action. At Little Halls I
switched to jigging ½ oz 5 inch soft plastics. Shortly after sunrise
Diesel came on the radio announcing that he had caught a nice snapper on a
ganged pilchard. It measured 55cm, his biggest ever.


After an hour of jigging soft plastics I returned to trolling the HBL back
towards the river mouth then returning along the coastline to Little
Halls. Back at Little Halls I switched again to soft plastics and caught
two snapper within a 15 minute period, both just over 40cm. I radioed
Eyetag who was not far away, suggesting he switch to soft plastics but he
was on a mission to test his recently repaired arm by continuing to
paddle. The good news is that his arm held up well to what in the end
must have been a 4 hour paddle, so he is ready for the pelagic season!


Shortly after landing my second snapper, a boat fisherman about 100m away
must have spotted my catches and moved within 5 metres of where I was.
The noise must have scared off the fish as I tried for another 30 minutes
without a bite. Diesel paddled across from Jew Shoal, and tried the same
area of Little Halls, also without success.

We all headed back to MG around 8.30 am. With hardly a wave breaking, the
beach landing could not have been easier.

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