# A Day I Will Never Forget



## Duran (Nov 19, 2005)

With seabreeze predicting good weather for the 18th we decide that that would be our gap for a good fish.
At 5:30am we arrived at out chosen spot and the wind was not as predicted, it was still blowing from the SE so now we had to decide if we wanted to go on as planned or change and fish a different reef to the south. The south it was, so off we went and after about a 2km paddle we arrived at our chosen spot and found there to be plenty of live bait for us. So we jigged up a few and sent them out, it all seemed quiet and there wasn't much action around then out of no where that beautiful sound zzzzzzzzzzzz and then nothing&#8230;&#8230; the fish had spat the bait, oh well out went another yaka not long after that Spottymac was on to a solid fish but that did not last as the fish parted him off it was really not going our way 2 hook up and not a fish to show for it - so on we went with not much happening except for a few whales out a little further out. Spottymac decide to get a few pictures and was able to get up very close to the whales. I watched from a safe distance and after they had left i suggested that we call it a day but Spottymac said we should do one more drift so we slowly paddle back to the reef for the last drift of the day. About 15min later we where at the end of the reef and Spottymac had just set up his sail and said we should head back, at that very moment i heard that beautiful noise again&#8230;&#8230;.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The hooks where set and the fight was on but the fish did not want to stop with his first run being around 150-200m, lucky as i did not have much more line on that reel the fish then went down and stayed down. About a hour later I lifted it within a few meters of the surface but could not see it because of the glare, I then asked Spottymac if he could see it from where he was as he had some sunnys on, he come a little closer and shouted that i must not force this fish as it is very big&#8230;&#8230; now i started getting very exited to see the fish, I wanted to see just how big it was. 5 minutes later i saw the fish out of the nowhere, a cobia appeared and it was even bigger then I had imagined, it was huge, well over 30kg&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..at this stage my heart was pounding and I was screaming like a girl&#8230;. The fight was not over as the fish dived and back to the bottom he when, I now knew it was a cobia and a big one- I did not want to force it as I only had a 7kg set up&#8230;about half an hour later I had the fish back next to the yak and it had very little left in him so it was now time to get all the other gear out the way so I could try gaff the fish which was a scary thought. By this time the fish and taken a dive without me paying to much attention to it, so back up I had to bring it but this just took a few minutes as the fish was almost dead - once again he was next to the yak and it was time to gaff him but at that very moment he gave a very small head shack in his last attempt to free himself and that's when it happened &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.. the wire trace I was using snapped and the fish slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean. The image brings tears to my eyes, I could not believe what had just happened after a pain staking 2 hour fight with this fish.
It goes to show that its not over until the fish is in the hatch because anything can happen. I was now left with a very long paddle back to the car - leaving me with plenty of time to think about what had happened - I think I will be moarning the lose of this fish for a very long time to come.


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## chrissy (Jul 7, 2007)

I feel ya pain dude, i feel it. Geez thats gotta suck. Oh well,ya can regain that fish at the 09SWR. :twisted:


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## CastAway (Dec 28, 2007)

Unlucky mate! Thanks for the great read, i felt your pain and I can imagine those final moments all happening in slow motion. And the wire trace breaking would have been the last thing that I would have thought to have broken, especially on 7kg. May your next trip out bring you something to ease the pain. ;-)


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

i empathise completely....mine was a tuna by the side of the boat....your story brought that picture and feeling straight back....and that was 15 years ago...


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## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

Great Story Duran.

Wish i had taken your invitation to go now, would have been a great introduction for me :lol:

Better luck next time Duran, I feel success is around the corner for you. 

Cheers


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## zipper (Feb 27, 2008)

:shock:  

that is all


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Spewing Duran,
After your effort today, hopefully all the sharks have sniffed out your cobe and made their way back up to the Goldie :lol:


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## breamingfromabass (Aug 22, 2007)

Brings tears to your eyes doesn't it??

Unlucky mate, chin up you will not make that mistake again.

Get back out there and catch his sister fish!

Ta,
Luke


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## stonecold (Nov 5, 2006)

Ahhh dont you hate that!...well mate look at it from the other point of view. If you had of dragged it in the yak it probably would of been like doing 5 rounds with Mike Tyson..possibly thrown you out loosing all your gear.....then you would of had to paddle it all the way back to the beach....you would of had to hold it up for heaps of photos...then cleaned it....blood and guts all over the place.....cut it up packed it away and then tried to eat it all....dam things better off in the ocean....hmmm doesnt quite make me feel better either! I feel your pain


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Bad luck Duran after such a long fight. Gaffing a fish over 30kgs is always going to be a challenge. Even after a long battle like that on a stinker I have seen them go off when they hit the deck. I cant imagine that kind of action in your lap. :shock: Not that I have had to yet but Id be hoping to get a good head shot with the bat before dragging that aboard.


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## Breambo (Apr 19, 2006)

Thats terrible. The gutted feeling will last for some time, or at least untill you bag another really good fish. Same happened to me a couple of weeks ago with a massive jewie so I know the feeling.


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## GoneFishn (May 17, 2007)

Bugga :shock:


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

my heart goes out to you mate !!!

I had the same thing happen to me ,beach fishing at terrigal ,midle of the day fishing for choppers [ bait for a jewie session that night ]when i hooked a jewfish and it was as big as they get but after seeing the fish 3 times and the fish was almost landed when the 12lb line parted at the joiner knot [ braid to mono ]and the fish swam away .DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

But i was going to release this fish anyway .

most people do not get this sort of expierience, so we learn from it ,and move on to became a better fisherperson.

You defeated a 30kg cobia on 7kg gear . THIS IS NO EASY FEAT .

BE PROUD [i would be ]

God help the next big fish you hook up to because NOW you have more expirience and have learnt a thing or two more .

thats fishing .

cheers
craig


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

Duran, I recall that you also lost a fish (big spanish mac) to a hungry shark at the side of the kayak at SWR this year. Not good to lose 2 fish like that, however at least you're catching them, and obviously that means you're doing the right stuff.

Its all lessons learnt - and you'll only get better as a fisherman (even though you're pretty damn good already!)

Better luck next time. Hows the arms?


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## chrissy (Jul 7, 2007)

Yes davey G, and i was there when it happened, was a bit of a shock when the big Whaler pretty much swallowed it whole and bit through his metre long wire trace :shock:


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Bad luck mate and after such a long haul to get it up to you deserved it...but that is fishing, and if there wasn't that same challenge, with hi's and lo's don't think we would all be as keen, as the next one is always going to be better ;-) .


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

You did a great job Duran and fished him like a pro, it turned out for the best I think, it would have been a nightmare loading him onto the yak and paddling in, and it was as good as slipping the hook out of mouth and watching him swim away.
Gee he was a big fish and I didn't get a pic of him thinking that there was plenty of time to do that.
In my book he was good as caught just don't have the pic for proof of size.
A few pics of the baby whale and Duran


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

spottymac said:


> A few pics of the baby whale and Duran


So which ones the whale? ;-)


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

Davey G THATS FUNNY :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## wobbly (Jun 13, 2007)

Im crying too,

its a bastard event that one does not wish to have happen. When a BIG fish pull like a train the body gets fully pumped on adrenalin and if the loss happens in the dying moments the feeling is stupifyingly #@##**##. Lost a massive mully last year off bear island and the playback still haunts.

Till the next time


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## efc (Sep 19, 2006)

i can see the event from a differnet point of view, 
you had a great fight, got the beast yakside and got a good look (almost as good as a capture) and released him to fight another day.
pretty good if you ask me


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## yakfly (Jun 8, 2006)

Great read Duran
mate its always depressing at the time when you lose a fish like that,but thats life.Did the trace part at the knot or 
just somewhere in the middle,small things like little kinks in the wire may not seem like weak spots but under sustained pressure can give way.
Mate if the gear and rigs were 100% OK then its just one of those things that happen that keep us going back for more.


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## couta1 (Sep 10, 2005)

i wish i was there...i would have swung that gaff as soon as i saw colour...to be honest...thats what you get when you ass around like that(just looking at the fish siting there...what u think its going to do...jump in your hatch for free!!!)...instead of fishing like a fisherman and follow it through right untill the end....sorry no sympathy from me there mate!!!

lesson learned for next time


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

couta1 said:


> i wish i was there...i would have swung that gaff as soon as i saw colour...when gaffing a big fish..you dont need to lift him...just sink the gaff and get his head out the water...he wont go anywere...
> 
> you can always tow it back


Ahhh... So if we use your quality gaff shots as an example, a fishes tail is actually its head and that big gouge in the middle of the flesh is as clean as a gaff shot gets. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## couta1 (Sep 10, 2005)

scenario 1)..no gaff=no fish
my scenario :..my gaff shot=i land my fish ;-) ;-) ;-)

i wonder what duran would have prefered in that scenario??


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Exactly! That's why I stole your gaff on Saturday and put it in my car ;-) :lol:


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## couta1 (Sep 10, 2005)

spooled1 said:


> couta1 said:
> 
> 
> > i wish i was there...i would have swung that gaff as soon as i saw colour...when gaffing a big fish..you dont need to lift him...just sink the gaff and get his head out the water...he wont go anywere...
> ...


scenario 1) NO GAFF SHOT=YOU LOOSE YOUR FISH...
scenario 2)MY GAFF SHOT=I LAND MY FISH

I WONDER WHAT SCENARIO DURAN WOULD HAVE GONE FOR?? ;-) ;-) ;-)


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## couta1 (Sep 10, 2005)

I HAVE BOUGHT ANOTHER ONE...BUT I WANT IT BACK AS ITS MY LUCKY GAFF :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

couta1 said:


> I HAVE BOUGHT ANOTHER ONE...BUT I WANT IT BACK AS ITS MY LUCKY GAFF :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:


I'll give it back Sunday but it isn't lucky anymore. I transferred all the power to my gaff and my rods using an ancient beer spell that I found in a pub. :shock:


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## Wattie (Apr 30, 2007)

Mate,

My heart goes out to you.....


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