# QLD: Up, down, up and up - my arms are sore



## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

I needed a decent paddle and that meant Woody Pt, and as Jimbo wanted to try for whiting down that way, a plan was hatched. We launched from Scarborough (Scarby) beach in perfect sunshine and into 4 knots of SW'er.

I was trolling a 5" Z-man on an 4-8 kg rod, with a HB on the other lighter rod. Jimbo trolled a HB, and approaching Osbourne Pt his rod bent over nicely to reward him with a 40 cm snapper. By the time we got to Redcliffe Pt my Woolie's bladder was crying for relief, so I reeled in the HB and left the Z-man dangling down a couple of metres, while Jimbo paddled off ahead of me. _Relief at last_. Container in hand, I was just set to 'syphon the python' when the 8 kg rod bent over. Bugger! Have you ever tried to stop just as a pee is one millisecond away from happening?

I called Jimbo, "I'm on!" Jimbo turned in his tracks as I turned the fish for the first time. A rather spirited tug-a war began....no big runs, but a fair bit of power from the fishy end of the rope. Jimbo arrived to witness me netting a decent estuary cod (no monster ...they get to over 300 lbs), but my best by far from a yak. Yum yum cod. Things were looking decidedly *UP*. (BTW, do not put your fingers into the gills of a cod! They have gill rakers like teeth, Use lip grips only.)



















*Gill rakers like teeth .... Use lip grips only*










We headed south for 4 kms to the whiting grounds. We baited paternoster rigs using # 4 circle hooks and over a few slow hours Jimbo hooked 3 decent winter whiting, AND a 38 cm school mackeral on whiting gear! I hooked a dismal whiting speciman, and things were looking decidedly *DOWN* (for me).










We trolled north and tried for whiting again for zilch. That is until north of Redcliffe Pt when my light rod zinged, for a pan sized snapper. Looking UP again.










Further north Jimbo deployed the whiting rig again and scored one more whiting for a delicious dinner, then a 40 cm flattie, again on the whiting rig. Having dinner, and a good paddle, he elected to go home, while I decided on one last drift, so I headed seawards for a couple of kms into the light ESE'er.

No sooner had I turned to start the drift when the heavier rod buckled right over, with a blistering line loss rate. Instant heartbeat ..





.

But the words in this case should be more like ....

Heartbeat - why do you miss, when my rod bends so freely?
Heartbeat - why does the reel scream, stay in my memory?

I knew this was no ordinary fish.   But could I land it?

Grabbing the rod I endured the first run of 50 metres or so, then cranked the drag and set the hooks, only to have more line stripped relentlously against a serious drag drag setting. Oh crap! The other line is still out. I lightened off the drag, replaced the rod in the holder, and frantically began reeling in the other line. Safe! This was a fish I had never encountered from the yak....could I land it? I made a quick call to Jimbo, who was on the beach, getting out..." I'm on with a big fish!" He replied, "I'll come out to give you a hand."

The battle between man and beast had only just begun. Or is it child and beast? I was so excited, I was like a kid with $ 20 in a candy store, and this could have been my undoing. The fish seemed to have unlimited power, and would run freely for a while, then I would recover 20 metres, only to lose it again. There was a lot of line out, and I started to worry about a shark terminating the battle. To and fro for another 10 minutes, thinking, adjusting drag, concerned about line or knot failure, and heartbeat. Heartbeat.

Eventually, I finally began to win some line, but as it got closer it started diving deep, even under the yak several times. If it hadn't been for the 'snapper like' head shakes, I would have called it for a longtail. Eventually I glimpsed colour! Glorious pink and silver, and big, and time to back the drag off a bit. I grabbed the net, then realised it may be far too big for the net, so I dropped the net onto the fish hatch. WRONG! I might need that hatch open. Fumbling for the gaff (the gaff was forward mounted) proved difficult, cause my gut is too large and I can't bend in the middle (how did that happen?   ). I rarely catch a fish that requires a gaff, but I finally got it and unsheathed it. So I now have a net covering the fish hatch, which I am about to need, an unsheathed gaff on top of the net, and here comes Jimbo (the resident snapper king).

A couple of minutes later I have a floater (almost), and I am bug eyed and dangerously excited.....heartbeat 180 +. Can't think straight. Here comes Jimbo..._*don't stuff this up!*_ He'll never believe me!

First gaff shot is successful, but when I lift it tears out, and off it flips. Holy crap...theres line wrapped around every part of the reel. If it runs now I'm stuffed. Here's Jimbo. It floats again. One more gaff shot on the floater, and its deep and secure! *Hallelujah!* Jimbo's here. The lip grips are in, the camera is clicking. There are tangles everywhere, like a birch broom in a fit, but I have my PB snap on the yak and am a tad excited. But only for 5 + hours. Settle petal.










Jim reckons I short-cutted protocol. It's supposed to take a few years to get from 59 cms to 82 cms. 
Beginners luck only. (No skills were employed in catching these fish).

Thanks for the support yesterday Jimbo, and the advice and encouragement to persist, and of course the photos to record the lucky moment.



















So as it turned out, it was 'Up, down, up and up - and my arms are sore.










Trevor


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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

Woohoo! Stroke away K1, solid fishing.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

dru said:


> Woohoo! Stroke away K1, solid fishing.


Woohoo was exactly what I was thinking too! Well done, that's a stonker!

I'll have to go back and watch the video now.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Great fish, Trev...

however, you've just buggered up my mystery fisho thread... I was enjoying that one.

Well, I'm glad that's over... now I won't be plagued by, "How come you always catch bigger fish and I always get the littlies?"

Now you've felt the power of big snapper, you'll become another addict. Welcome to the club, young feller!

Bend them rods... Jimbo


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Nice report & great fish Trev. I liked you better when you couldn't catch them ;-) .


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## grant ashwell (Apr 24, 2007)

What a happy man.. I really liked hearing about you having a pee.. Oh, great fish too.

Onya Trevor.

Grant


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## Guest (May 10, 2012)

Well done Trevor. It's been a while coming but that is an excellent fish. One definitely worth skiting about for quite some time.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Lazybugger said:


> My as well give it away now Trev, you probably won't get a better day than that :lol: ;-)
> 
> Congrats!!!


Hold on young fella. There's life in the old dog yet.

Trevor


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## Kahuna (Aug 9, 2010)

Great fish & great report Trevor! Well done.


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## Bretto (May 23, 2010)

For a guy who says he can't catch a thing, those are some cracking fish. Nice work Trev. Great Report.


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## Safa (Aug 4, 2006)

Hey Trevor,
Great Snapper and in the end it's about having fun out there and enjoying the experience with good mates ,sometimes we just lucky to be in the write place at the write time ........today was just my day!


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## DrJed (Sep 13, 2007)

Cracking fish bud - that whiting is a stonker =P


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## bruus (Aug 27, 2010)

Awesome work Trevor, your setting the bar pretty high for this winter. You definately deserve it, Congratulations


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Holy crap. I thought you were having the day of days BEFORE the big one. I'm glad I don't live in Qld. I'd need a bigger freezer. Well done and and excellent write-up K1.


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## bushwoodboy (Oct 5, 2006)

Nice one Trevor, cracking fish & well deserved.

Cheers Mal.


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

well done trev,

there is a new rule however that you have to divide the length of the fish by the number of rods you were carrying, so that one comes in at 12 cm.

no, seriously, good fish
congrats


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

A session to remember Trev, well done.


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Brilliant work there old son!

Keep 'em coming now!

Cheers andybear


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

So, what's for dinner?


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Wow Trev!

You sure you're face isn't aching too? A smile that wide would have to hurt after a while.....


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## ben123 (Jan 24, 2012)

What an awesome days fishing. Well done Trevor!

It seems everyday I have to work is the day that you blokes catch all the fish out at scarby!! One of these days I'll get me a nice snapper like that.


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## Guest (May 10, 2012)

Zed said:


> So, what's for dinner?


Wrong question Zed. When are we invited for dinner is the right one.


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## sweed (Oct 1, 2011)

Well done Trevor thats a nice fish,they never give up easy eh.Yer on a roll at the moment,hell your even catchin seagulls!!GO TREVOR.


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## AlexHobie (Dec 12, 2011)

great fish, what did it weigh?


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## ant (Aug 28, 2008)

Great read and beaut fish I love those snaps   
Cheers
ant


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Lucky I read on, when I got to you having your old fella in your hand and Jimbo coming over to help out, I was going to move it to the DIY section.
Great fish mate and a story well told.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

yeah baby that's worth celebrating for sure, what a top fish!


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

AlexHobie said:


> great fish, what did it weigh?


The snapper measured 85 cms freshly caught, and shrank to 82/83 cms. Weight was 6.1 kgs (close to 13.5 lbs).

Trevor


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## tonieventer (Jul 27, 2009)

Well done Trevor! Great fish and report.

Tight lines
Tonie


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWRiIi80AABLfgAAQYKUACAEhEAA+79+gIABkRTepoRqe1NTxBo0GhFHsqNNNqAAGRoDBN6tVUzpeoLYtwUeXvPvSiOTNc/6jDKnEIcCi3CvKhaTXHg4e6O/Mxt1LzJ5JCl1Ah5BmLQvJ675yndLgO3KEzML3MAj2fChRMyBRmC1LzMhDTxj+LuSKcKEgMREXmg==


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## LittleSalami (Feb 13, 2011)

That's an envy fish. They are tasty and sort by many. Well done -


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## Nanga59 (Jul 28, 2009)

g'day Trev

That was a fine morning's fishing for you and that other young fella.

Jimbo must have been cranking to get out to you if he was on the beach when you called him.

I would have liked to get out there on Wednesday but alas, work commitments got in the way.

I'm heading out later this morning with my son to see what we can see when two yakkers go to sea.

A great read Trev, congrats on the PB. 

John


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

For you Nanga... John... the trouble with being retired is that you don't get a day off!

I'm thinking of getting a "one day a year job" so I can call in sick!

Get that inta ya!

You keep on working, and I'll sort the fish out for you... heh! heh!

Cheers Jimbo


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## YakAtak (Mar 13, 2006)

That's a session you won't forget in a hurry mate, top stuff.


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Great report and awesome fish Trevor. Well done.


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## Bogey (Apr 24, 2010)

Bloody Beauty !!
Well done.


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## paulsod (Dec 28, 2008)

Congrats on the new pb Snapper Trevor. I have yet to hit the magic 80 mark.
cheers
Paul


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

Nice fishy Trev. Good on ya they go hard at that size.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Would you believe, two days later I undid the line tangle from that big snapper outfit before we went out at Woorim?

The line was well and truly wrapped around below the base of the spool, and if that snapper had made another lunge, it would have been just another "almost landed a huge snapper today" stories.

Trev really looks after his fishing gear, eh?

Jimbo


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