On Sunday 3 rd December 2023 at 4:30am, we launched ABF out of Cleveland. This was the first trip
that my Dad was joining us after moving to Australia. Carl and I were hoping to show him some of
the good fishing that the area had to offer.
There was a light SE wind blowing but not enough to make the run across the bay eventful. The low
tide was at around 6:20am, but with the small tide difference, there was no surf to speak of on the
bar. We headed straight to the artificial reef off Cylinder beach and found masses of bait. It took us
all of 20mins to fill the live well with slimies.
We had our usual arsenal of light tackle gear on board so that we could accumulate club and
Queensland points. The idea was to run to the Fads and tag a few dolphinfish. There was currently
an internal club competition for the highest scoring dolphinfish, so we were hoping to get a few
contenders. With the SE wind, the most comfortable run was to fad 4. As we ran out, we noticed
that the water was blue out to 70m but then turned a bit green. When we got to the fad, there were
already 2 boats there, but it looked like there was not much happening. After livebaiting for 20 mins,
we made the call to run 12km north to fad 16. It would be an easy run with wind behind us. When
we approached the fad, there were again 2 boats there. We put out 2 livies and made a pass by the
buoy. I had a dolphinfish chase my livie and miss it a few times before it faded off. We were hoping
that we had found the shoal, but our excitement quickly turned to despair when after an hour, there
was no more action. Being in the are we were, there were not too many alternative plans. After
checking a few options, we opted to make the long run back south, into the wind, to fad 15. This was
not the first trip I was hoping to show my Dad. After over an hour of bumping our way to the fad, we
made our first pass with 2 livies. Carl had a pull on the 2kg line and hooked up to a dolphinfish. This
fish was determined to cut him off and we had to do some fancy foot work with the boat to stay out
of the barnacles. After a few minutes, the leader came up and, in an attempt, to control the fish, I
grabbed it, but it went mental and pulled the leader through my hand and the double line popped
before I could let go. We would need to settle for the leader and release points.
While Carl was sorting out a new leader, I put my livie out and soon had a pull. I hooked up and
luckily the fish played fare, giving us a quick shot on the leader where Carl lifted a 71cm dolphin into
the boat. It was quickly tagged and released. With 2 quick pulls, we were hoping to get a few more,
but alas the bite shut down.
We decided to head toward the bar but on the way, have a quick stop at sevens reef. On arrival ,the
water was blue and quite a bit of life on the surface. We put out 2 livies and soon Carl’s reel smoked
off. Unfortunately the 2kg line popped during the initial run. I suggested we up lines and make
another drift. A few minutes in, Carl went tight on a small longtail tuna on 3kg line that he measured
and released. With there being some action, we made another drift and this time my Dad caught his
first longtail on 4kg line which was also released. On the last drift Carl released another longtail on
3kg before heading home.
We used 75lt of fuel and traveled roughly 140km.
