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[salty fil]

Most may know that i went up to Banana land for a couple of weeks. Well sort of. I was based at Tweed Heads there on the border. Staying at a mates place who was overseas, so we had it to ourselves. The house was right on the Tweed River.
The main reason for going was for my cousins wedding.
It rained for the first 10 days, but still a balmy 29 degrees.
I towed my boat up there, leaving on xmas day and stopping at night at Nambucca Heads to meet up with family and spend the night.

We all took off in the morning and made good time North.
Most of the extended family rented a house on the canals in Broadbeach so i left my boat up there tied up to the pontoon for easy access.

Fishing wise, the river was terrible. I put it down to the huge amount of boat traffic.
The upper reaches were meant to be producing, but my boat was too big to get up there.
We did manage to get heaps of mud crabs which went down well every day for lunch.
The seaway was crossable but my uncle and cousins werent to keen on going outside.

After the wedding my missus, sister, and rest of the family all headed back to Sydney while i gave myself an extra week solo to do nothing but fish!

The 1st 2 days it was blowing a gale and the bar at Deebah was a washing machine.
All i did was stay at home all day on the lounge and watch the cricket, then head up the Tweed River on dark on the high tide and get me some Mangrove Jacks.
Got a few, but nothing massive. Great fish on 3 kg line.

Finally after 9 days up there my holiday was about to begin!
I done heaps of research before going out. Bought the correct tackle and spoke to the right people.
One local fella i bumped into at the ramp helped me out heaps. Threw my 38 LB wire trace away and gave me a roll of his 90 LB
"This is what you need for the Spanish and Spotted Mackeral up this way mate"!
He showed me a hook that a Spaniard bit through a few days before.

The bar smoothed out and the night before my new mate Jarrod gave me a call and told me will be at the ramp at 4.30 a.m. and for me to be there if i wanted to follow me out the bar and onto some of the grounds hes been getting the Mackeral.
I already seen some 20 kg + fish on board so i made sure i was there at 4!

The ramp was only 1 km away so everything was simple.
I was surprised at how many people were there at that time.
Before launching the guy showed me how to rig up whole dead Bonito for towing behind the boat, then i followed him out.

My new chartplotter was like having the hottest chick in the world in the boat giving me any service i wanted!
Bloody amazing thing. Dont know why i didnt buy one earlier.
The problem was that i forgot to bring the manual, but it was a blessing in disguise cause i had hours to play with it while towing my baits and i learnt heaps about it!

After getting some Bonito for bait i headed to a ground call Fidos and started this new type of fishing for me.
After a couple of hours of nothing i went out to the Tweed 9 Mile reef and a few of my Bonito came back in with the back half missing, meaning there were small Macks around.
The tide was changing at 9 a.m. so i had to head back through the bar before it got nasty!

At the ramp Jarrod had 3 10 kg+ Macks to tease me with!
We spent abit more time going over more of the technical stuff so i can get me one tomorrow.

Next day i was back at the ramp at 4.30 a.m feeling confident.
After trying Frodos again for zeros i started heading to 9 mile.
On the way there the sounder made me stop and throw a lure.
Good decision, Stripe Tuna were under the boat.
After 5 of them on my 3 kg rod i was buggered. They came back to sydney for Snapper bait.

I towed aroung 9 mile then i saw a good reading on the sounder so i threw a slug on my small 3 kg rod with 14 LB braid over the boat to instantly see line screaming off my 2500 Stradic.
While the fish was peeling off line i managed to stop the boat and bring the other 2 lines in with one hand. Not easy!
Then i started to chase this bloody fish before he spooled me cause i was onto the mono backing!
After a few minutes i saw what i was fighting when a the beautiful golden colour of a massive Mahi Mahi started leaping from the water.

The current was screaming and trying to fight this thing while driving the boat, while creating space on the boat and while trying to reach for the net in the cabin was a skill in itself cause i was alone.
I had this fish by the boat for most of the 45 min fight.
It was within gaffing distance, but not netting distance.
I knew that i wasnt going to gaff no fish cause anything i caught was going to be released due to my travels.
Also, this thing wouldnt fit in my 167 L esky anyway!
Just as id get him within netting distance hed go for a big run again. Lucky i had wire trace (expecting Mackeral) otherwise he wouldve shredded the trace on his back after all the leaping around.

With the light gear he was taking me round and round the boat like a merry go round with a crowd of other boats following round and round, waiting to see it landed.

To have a quality fish like this 3 feet away for so long is frustrating. The end of the fight came when i went to reach for my phone in the blovebox to take a picture. The rod released that tiny bit of tension, just enough for him to spit the small treble hooks.
He was exhausted and im glad he won, seeing as i wouldve released it anyway, and i dont know how i would fit a fish the size of me in my net anyways...

A few other Mahis were caught and back at the ramp a guy who was beside me watching me fight my one had a big one that went just over 18 kg.
Even he said mine made his look like a baby, so it was easily over the 20 kg mark.
They couldnt believe that i had it by the boat for so long when they saw the dental floss i was using to fight it, but they did respect why i didnt gaff it.

The rest of the day was spent towing Bonnies and hooking up Mackeral after Mackeral.
For some reason i didnt land not one in the boat, but the time spent fighting them and watching them leaping was the best fishing ive had.
In hindsight its better i didnt put one in the boat anyway cause they have to be bashed over the head instantly to quieten those teeth.
One fella showed me a scar on his thigh from a Mackeral which was DEAD and slipped out of his mates hands as he was passing it to him out the boat.
That dead fish left a 4 inch scar!

As i told Jumpy and Bees that night on the phone, it was the best days fishing ive had without landing a fish!
Sounds strange, but you had to be there!

The next day i was out there at 4.00 again. My last days fishing.
The wind was up and the surface fish were quiet so i drifted some reefs i saw on my chartplotter and nailed some Snapper, Pearlys and Kings.
Nothing massive, but good fun.
All released.

The plan was to stop at Coffs Harbour to fish 2 days on the way back down, but i was all fished out, so i made the trip back home in one hit.

The only regret i have is not having any photos.
I have several cameras at home and i took the wrong charger with me for the camera i took.
I realised after my missus went back and it was too late to keep her camera with me.

[Jumpus GooDarus]

That's the prob when going away to a new area to fush Tis not till he last day or 2 that ewe finally ge the feel of a place & the fushing by then it's time to cum home

Was sorta thinking about driving up meat ewe @ cooffs but then I thought about the drive home

[Bees Knees]

Top Report Salty.. Kudos for not gaffing for a photo mate... Love your work

[boris]

Good one mate, you had a very good holiday.
I'm going to quinsland for a week for work, hope i can find some time for fishing.