AUSTRALIA - 2 Guys, 2 PB's And A First Set Of Stripes

THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN AROUND THIS TIME LAST YEAR AND PUT UP ON SOS. SEEING AS IT'S A BIT QUIET OVER THERE LATELY AND I'M ONLY NEW ON THIS SITE, I THOUGHT I'D SHARE IT ON HERE TOO.

This trip has been a long time coming. Brett (Rogue Hooker) and I have been texting and emailing back and forth swapping tip sand tricks for about 6 months now and after multiple failed attempts and even a busted ankle, the gods were finally willing to let us finally meet and line up a trip.

Brett picked me up at about 4:30am Saturday morning and we headed 4 hours north to the lovely warm waters of the Hervey Bay. After a quick stop off to pick up some gear and bait we are on our way to our location. It was in between moon phases so we didn’t really know what to expect but with the great forecast we were looking forward to a nice weekend regardless.

We arrive at our spot and are met with great conditions. The sun was shining and there was a lovely mild inshore breeze to keep us from sweating our bums off in the high humidity. We quickly set up the gazebo for shade and work on getting some baits in the water. Brett whips out a couple of nice mackerel and a huge tuna to start defrosting for that night, while I pull out some less attractive freshwater eels and a catfish. Brett gets his baits out there nice and quick (the advantage of having rod and reel permanently set up), while I’m still setting up my rods, reels and traces. In less than an hour later I finally have everything sorted and my baits are also in the water. The configuration is a total of 4 rods out, 2 out long and 2 just out past the drop-off.

It was less than an hour later when my rod with the short drop and catfish bait was getting a nibble. A couple of light tugs, a little run, then drop. Another little play and dropped again. This goes on for a little bit then suddenly a 4WD comes out of nowhere heading straight for my line! I crank the handle as fast as I can and the line gets up high enough just in time for the 4WD to pass under! That was a close one! At this stage I don’t even know if I have hooked the shark or it’s gone. The line lays lifeless for a little longer until it starts to tighten again. It must have dropped the bait at the time of the 4WD incident. After another little run I set the drag to strike and give the rod a few good jerks to set the hook. I am met with weight but not a whole heap, so only a small shark.

A few minutes later and after a little surface action, I beach my very first tiger. It’s only a little guy going 7’4” but still good to get a set of stripes under the belt.

The rest of the afternoon went without much action with maybe a couple of touches here and there but nothing serious, so new baits go out just before dark. Brett with a lovely tuna split between his rods and me with another eel and catfish combo for my rods.

There wasn’t any action until close to midnight when one of Brett’s rods goes off. The hooks are set but sadly again not too much weight is felt on the other end. After a couple of minutes a very green whaler hits the sand.

This shark is so keen to get back into the water it was hard to keep him still. After some playing around, the hooks are removed and he powers through the wash and is off. Brett then decides that it’s flat enough and there’s enough light from the moon to drop another bait back out. I hang around for a bit and once I know he’s back on dry land safe and sound, I head back to bed.

It wasn’t too much longer when my rod dropped out deep with eel bait goes off a little quicker than any of the other takes so far. He continues to take line and once the pace picked up a bit I set the hooks home with a short running man. I am happy to be met with a good amount of weight and then off it goes for a good run. This is the first time my Makaira 80W has had a good amount of dragged pulled and was stoked with the feeling. Brett then holds the rod while I quickly harness up. I clip in and get a few cranks of the handle before he goes again. After this run he gives in and there’s the typical dead weight of a bull. It’s not too long before I have him on the beach and I have myself a very fat male bull going 8’4”. This equalling the length of my largest shark (a lemon) but would have weighed a heap more.

The rest of the night gave us nothing exciting, so when the morning came a fresh lot of baits were deployed on all rods. Most of the day goes by with not a touch until something starts to have a play with one of Brett’s baits. Nothing serious but something is definitely there. After a while of this very mild nibbling Brett decides to crank up the line and set the hook. He is met with a weight but that’s just it, weight. It just sat there and nothing happened for a while. Just like Brett, it was like the shark had dug its heels in. Eventually the line then starts to slowly head off to the left but it just seemed like it didn’t know it was hooked at all. I run up and grab Brett’s harness but by the time I turn around I see his face and I know it’s gone! Hooks pulled! This is pretty much the action for the day, so new baits are set out just before dark. With some time to kill, we light ourselves a fire out of the wind and after a few hours it puts us both to sleep, so we head to bed.

We are woken again around the midnight mark by one of Brett’s rods going off with a nice constant run. Brett jumps out of his swag and goes straight into setting the hook. He is met with a good solid weight but unfortunately no run. A few seconds later my rod goes off too but I soon realise that Brett’s shark has gone over my line. By this time Brett has powered his shark in, so I run down to drag it on the beach. This turns out to be the biggest shark for the trip, a lemon just shy of 9’. This lemon was not happy. With a few death rolls and an annoying shore dump to make it even harder, we finally un-hook him, photos are taken and back he goes. This is the only action that we see for the whole night.

Morning comes and the baits are left out there while we have breakfast and start to pack up camp. I run down to the water to wash out an esky to find my line lying loose on the sand. I run up to find the same little nibbling and run as I did on the first day with the little tiger. He finally starts to pick up some pace and just before my lever is set to strike he drops it and doesn’t come back. The lines are left out there a little bit longer while we finish packing but he doesn’t come back and nothing else shows any interest. After the rods are brought it, we call it a day a head home.

So in the end it wasn’t the most productive trip but with the highlights of a first tiger and a PB bull for me and a PB lemon for Brett, it was pretty good anyway. It was great to get back on the beach after a dry spell of 3 months and even better to hit the sand with a new mate that I finally got to meet face to face. Look out sharkies, this is a duo you do not want to mess with!

Tight lines everyone!