Nice family day out last long weekend from Palm Beach ramp. Was not an early departure (0730am), but still managed to park in the normal bays instead of the overflow ( I guess the snapper hunters were already returning form the sunrise catch)

Took heaps of time cruising out to spot X, and as per usual someone else on it- so decided to sound around a bit further afield. found a pro pot and the ground looked promising. Nothing big showing on the Lowrance Elite TI9, but needed to set up as when I take the Wife and 2 kids 7 and 10 out I am Skipper/Deckhand/Chief Steward and bait boy (and sometimes guidance counsellor and MMA referee!)

I guess it was about 7 minutes before miss 7 was "feeling sick", and that rod went back in the launcher. By now I had 3 lines in the water and the Wife and other child were looking a bit green also.

A bit of excitement came on the backup rod/reel, an old Okuma 20 O/head on an even older Ugly Stik. It's got level wind and some braid on it, but you wouldn't make it your go-to outfit (note-it's the Wifes setup and has not seen too much recent action) . To make the odds even further away from our favour, the leader on it was a bit naff (Lesson number 1 for the day- always renew leader and retie swivels etc!)

So, as I was saying, I have the you beaut Daiwa Dogfight 6500 and the brand new Saltiga 4500 expedition out the one side and the busted arse Okuma/Ugly stik buckles over instead. Wife is "asked" to pick up rod and fight fish. Fish appears to be winning (read: is winning, and stealing line at a fair rate of knots) Wife starts to win after I push the drag lever up to the stop, but wife loses a bit of confidence when rod has more pressure on it. Rod gets handed to me hurriiedly. I do one pump and wind and POP. fish gone-leader parted. My best guess by the fight had is a small/medium Dhu (bummer)

Wife looks at me to say "it s not my fault" and the 4500 Saltiga outfit buckles over as pointed out by Miss 10. Now this outfit is actually for slow jigging, so you may know these are really "bendy" rods and it may look like it is a bigger fish than it is to the untrained/inexperienced eye. Wife says "You get it". I say "You get it" and I get it out of the rod holder and pass it to her. Now this rod/reel combo is just beautiful to use- light and balanced and easy to tire a medium size fish. Wife is winning the fight, but here comes lesson #2- "Always pre-set your drags" at home correctly. fish makes a run for the rocks. Wife hands me back the rod and now its up to me. I tighten the drag marginally, and pump/wind the fish and get colour. Now it's "Get the net please" babe, which is code for "get it NOW~!~"   and luckily the fold up net I purchased is not too hard to retrieve from the side pocket and unfold, and Miranda manages to scoop the Queen Snapper as per photo 1 up nicely. Kids come alive and we are now cooking with gas! Fish dispatched onto salt ice slurry and high fives all around.

I turn to get some pre-made rigs and re-set to go back over to try to retrieve the Dhu. Once set up, I steam back up and sound over the lump again. cannot see much action. The action onboard is turning more "When can we go". sum total of 30 minutes fishing I guess.

It's starting to look like a Mutiny is on the cards...Not sure how to avert it just yet. As many (even I) can attest, the sea-sickness is killer once it sets in, so I promise "one more drift, then we can go in behind Carnac island for some whiting"  (all lies, but hey you have to try I guess!)

Drifted the spot again, one wrasse only. Youngest is on the passenger seat prone, wife is on the rear lounge with oldest child giving daggers.

So, decision is made- Wind up sea anchor and retrieve lines. Hammer down and all the way back to Palm beach from north of GI. Unloaded family and they went on to have a nice beach day and lunch on the foreshore.

I went back out- and I am GLAD I did.

This time I went south after going under the causeway. To spot Y, which has produced some Breaksea for me before. Tried and tried various drifts, long drifts and short drifts to no avail. By now I had eaten lunch and the "bite time" was well and truly gone. I was beginning to lose a bit of interest, when I got broken off on the big rod. I thought it was just the bottom (to be fair I wasn't really watching) but the sounder was lit up! 4500 expedition buckled over and yeeha! now this is a fish! only in ~8meters of water too. this fish was pulling drag and I could tell it was VERY sizeable. It had several nerve-wracking runs before I managed to get it to "colour". now I was really nervous because I saw it was a big Dhu and it started to head towards the sea anchor lines. a few nervous moments later I forgot the net and gill grasped it aboard. WOW, it was heavy and as they do it cut my bare had a little when it thrashed.

Adrenaline pumped, I let out a WOOHOO that I reckon people on the beach could have heard. It's been such a long time between drinks for a larger model Dhu for me. elated to say the least.

Time to roll lines, and steam back (not before messaging the Wife to bring the car and trailer back to pick me up) 

A happy day, some fish for the family and a memorable fish~ my motto- Never give up! The fish was nearly 900mm and ~11.5kgs. I think I may invest in some proper scales as it was weighed on bathroom scales and I do believe it was a few KG at least heavier.

The last picture is from the same area 3 days later. I believe I hooked the big one again, but pulled hooks on it. The double header again happened way away from the bite times from Tides4fishing (weird?) and I released both fish to grow some more (they both swam away strongly as it is so shallow, and the Pink was caught in the no-take zone)

This fishing stuff is addictive!

Tight lines :)     

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