# QLD - Murphy's 30th Sep



## Alby (Aug 21, 2006)

Hi Guys
I've been wanting to try heading out from Mooloolaba for a while but something has always got in the way. Well finally today was going to be it.
I set the alarm for 4:00am this morning with a view to hitting the water before high tide from the boatramp on the Kawana side of the river, near the mouth. All, good except the weather system was moving slower than originally forecast, and when I woke about 3am it was still raining steadily&#8230;..I reached over and turned the off the alarm thinking no need to get up early just to get wet. I had breakkie with the family and got there about 9:30 and rode the run out tide with a slight tail wind. The trip out to Murphy's took about an hour trolling a Rapala&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.no takers, no birds working, not a fish on the sounder and hardly any boats in sight actually&#8230;.save the cargo ships laying out wide &#8230;.oh, and the U-beaut Pilot boat! 15 to 20 knot S/E winds predicted may have been a factor. At that time it was about 5 - 8 knots from the south&#8230;..grey sky&#8230;.grey morning&#8230;. once out wide, the water looked black. 
Once out there I jigged softies and had a lucanus jig dead sticking&#8230;.not a touch. After an hour or so, I decided to head in closer as the bottom had looked interesting all the way out. I trolled two lures, the rapala and a RMG crazy deep.
I'd been trolling about 10 minutes when the RH rod doubled back and the reel screamed. I quickly reefed the sail and just as I started to reach for the rod, the LH rod did the same! Looking at them both&#8230;..a decision has to be made! The drag was set higher on the left and the rod stiffer, yet it was just screaming&#8230;..It got my attention. Things were suddenly happening fairly fast. Once I'd set myself with rod one, I tightened the drag on the other a bit hoping to keep whatever it was off the bottom.
Rod one was working well. The fish was having some good runs, but I was able to give it to him and let the drag do it's job. All good until I realized that the two fish had crossed over and I could feel the twisted crossover tangle moving up and down the line. F***!!
A big snapper? Nuh, that was discounted by what my fish did next&#8230;&#8230;..it came up close to the surface quickly about 50m from the AI. Now the knotted bit of line was above the water line. Somehow I managed to swap the rods over each other a few times and separate the lines. Now I settled in for the fight. The drag on the other rod was still running out and the line looking very low&#8230;&#8230;I pretty much just locked it up and made sure the rod was leashed properly and got back to the job at hand. Eventually it surfaced about 10m from the AI&#8230;..a Cobia! No wonder I couldn't see colour when it was under the AI. From there I got it up near the AI a few times, only for it to dive and just _take_ line. After what seemed like about 30 min or so I felt confident enough to have a go with the gaff. I shimmied out on the tramp as he came swimming up beside the Ama, I got him in one swift stroke, up onto the tramp. Woohoo! All smiles! No time to waste though, I did decided to bleed him though, so as quick as I could I took care of the business&#8230;stowed him, and then grabbed the other rod. It didn't seem to have that much pressure on it initially..... I was so buggered from the first fish I was hoping this one had got off. No such luck!....Well, some luck, this one was smaller, about 80cm. I got him on without much drama nd managed to net him. I released this one. I already had enough fish to take home for one trip.
The wind was now about 8-10 knots SSE, so I packed up the rods and set sail for home. 
length: right on 120cm
weight: unkown
Cheers
Alby


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Well done, Alby... two cobia in one session! not only that, but at the same time!

and don't the kids think dad's THE champion fisho of all time!

Cheers, Jimbo


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Brilliant Albert. Alby & AI ...... formidable combination!

Good to see you out again having a blast.

trev


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Good stuff Alby. I was out looking for the cobes last week but couldnt find any. Perhaps wider is the answer on the sunny coast


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## carnster (May 27, 2008)

Fun times, love the double hook up, enjoy the feeds.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

well done Alby, and the sort of action to make you want to return again.


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

Great read and fish Alby.
A great save with the 2 tangled lines as well, mate.
Cheers
Paul


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

Double hookup on cobes, awesome mate and a top report


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## Bogey (Apr 24, 2010)

What a thrill !
And two of them !!
Well done


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## richmond (Dec 20, 2010)

Great work Alby, especially untangling those lines. It always seems to happen hey?

Murphy's Law!

Enjoy the feed. :mrgreen:


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## Nanga59 (Jul 28, 2009)

Great catch there Alby. How's the shoulder, after such a workout?

Cheers John.


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## eth93 (Dec 17, 2007)

Who cares about the fish. Check out the kombi. 8)


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## AJD (Jul 10, 2007)

Solid fish Alby. Great work sorting throu the crossed up lines to land both fish mate. Top effort


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## Alby (Aug 21, 2006)

Thanks guys, great to be back out on open water&#8230;.and the shoulder is officially unfrozen&#8230;.for good I hope. Jimbo&#8230;.you mean grandad! LOL
Ethan, so glad someone honed in on the kombi. That's my son's dual cab ute&#8230;.yes Kombi dual cab ute! Not sure of the vintage, but lets just say it's appreciating in value.
That tangle!
I was really crapping myself when I saw that the lines were crossed more than once. I started to cross the rods over each other and initially went the wrong way! This only made the knot tighter, and I thought if I went too far the wrong way, one or both lines would part. 
Brad, I just checked the gps for the distance and had another look at my marks on GE. I have a few marks for Murphy's. I didn't want to head out too far keeping mind the wind forecast. So, really as I was exiting the river mouth I was thinking probably the Inner Gneerings. I just zoomed out on my gps until I saw some marks come up and when I saw a couple of "Murphy's" show up at about the same distance I thought I'd head that way. Better for the return journey should a strong S/easter come up. The two marks I aimed at were Murphy's Shoal, and Murphy's reef. Probably only about half way to the larger Murphy's group. I headed to south of the shoal, and the drift took me past it towards the inner reef mark. 
So&#8230;..9.26klm there, drift for 5.09klm, troll 1.07klm towards shore to the strike, drift 650m during the fight, and then 6.96klm back.
So, 23.03 klm total. I reckon the outer reefs would be about a 50klm round trip, by the time you took fishing into account. I did over 40klm on a trip off noosa one day, so I might give it a try. Paul, I think you've been out there? Any advice on distance?
Verdict&#8230;..still smilin'
Cheers Alby


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Albert

To avoid straightening of the trebles, try replacing them with 3 X strong or above, up to 6X strong. I've had similar trouble recently with the Sebile Koolie Minnow range, but their balance is _so fine_, it is easy to turn a floating lure into a suspending or sinking lure due to the extra weight of the heavier gauge hooks. For this reason, I have upped the strength, but downgraded the hook size, thereby maintaining the 'floater' as a floater.

Probably less critical with a Halco, which come with higher strength hooks as standard. BTW, Sebile have released a range called 'Salt and Sun' (SS), which has markedly upgraded hardware.

trev


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