# The Heavens opened up and the Tuna God smiled...



## JTC (Oct 19, 2007)

I had the day off today and although it was predicted to be a little windier than the last few days (10-15 knots) there was very little swell predicted all day, so I decided to launch from Mooloolaba Beach and see if I could snag one of those pelagics that everyone else on the sunny coast has been getting into lately  .

I awoke to the sound of rain at about 4:30am. That's O.K, I told myself the weather report said possibility of 1-5mm. I checked the radar and it confirmed very little rain about. O.K, it's a go'er.

Got to the launch spot and it looked like a lake, and the rain had disappeared. Now I was really happy as my form with surf launches has been less than impressive 

The plan was to head straight out from the beach toward Old Woman Island at Mudjimba. That's about a 17-18km return trip, so I didn't intend to travel the whole way, just see how thing go. I threw out 2 lures for trolling, a shallow diving gold Bomber and a similar type deep diver by River2Sea. Within about 5 minutes of launching, it started raining. I put my spray jacket on, but wasn't too concerned, surely just a passing shower.... Wrong, it poured for the next 20 minutes or so. 









Still I thought it would have to pass soon... Wrong again. It wasn't very long though before the rod with the deep diver buckled over and I was on. After a brief, but spirited battle I brought my first ever Watson's Leaping Bonito aboard. 









It measured 39cms and after the few quick photos was sent on his way. I briefly considered trolling with it, as I have read in one of Billybob's reports they are great for Spaniards, but I really wasn't expecting too much now that the rain had set in. Just as fast as it appeared though the rain slowed to just a drizzle and the sun even made a brief appearance. I could see now in the distance lots of birds working baitfish.

I continued heading straight for Old Woman Island and it wasn't long before the birds were only about 150mtrs in front of me. I stopped to change the deep diver to a metal slug and just as I got going again the rod with the bomber went off bigtime. The first run almost took all of my 10lb braid and I could clearly see the backing. When it finally stopped, it must of turned and headed straight at me so luckily I was able to get back most of my line. The second, and then each of the successive runs were much shorter, and for the next 10 minutes or so we settled into a good battle where it was give and take, but I was slowly getting the upper hand. When I got it below the yak it started the circles that I have read so much about but never before experienced. Slowly I worked it to the surface and was thankful that for the first time ever, today I took a gaff out with me. My little environet or lipgrips would have been useless against this monster. After a bit of manouvering, I slid the gaff under it's gills and out its mouth and hauled it across my lap. WOOO-WHOOO!!! My first ever Longtail Tuna (first Tuna of any kind). It measured 96cms  . I was very lucky to land it as it was only held by 1 hook of the middle treble by the time I got it aboard.









By the time I was ready to get going again the rain was pelting down again. I decided as I had travelled about 3/4 of the way to O/W Island and the wind and current would be against me on the return trip, it would be wise to head back now. It had only taken about 45 minutes to get this far, but it would be much longer on the way back. I decided just to troll one rod for a while and leave the slug ready in case the opportunity arose to cast at a bust-up. Soon the rain was so heavy I literally couldn't see the shore. About 30 metres to the left of me I noticed Big Tuna leaping clear out of the water, but with the conditions getting worse I decided to bring the trolling rod in too and just head straight back in, satisfied that I had accomplished my goal. As I turned to grab it, it buckled over and the drag screamed off again on another huge run. NOOOO... I was truly torn between my desire to catch another of these brilliant fish and my desire to get back to dry land. I decided to try to get this one in as soon as possible and if I pulled the hooks, or it busted me off then so be it. Lift wind, lift wind, I gave this fish hell and with only 10lb braid and 30lb mono leader, I thought something would give. Before very long though I had it beside the yak. Forget the gaff, I grabbed the leader in one hand, paused for a quick photo or two :lol: , grabbed the tail in the other and heaved it aboard. This one was well hooked and it measured 92cms. I couldn't believe my luck 2 Longtails, when I really didn't think I'd get any.









Both rods were now staying out of the water, as I slowly made my way back to shore. It took about an hour and 45 minutes to get back in. I stopped about 500 mtrs from shore, once I was back in the relatively wind sheltered bay and gutted both fish. I then paddled back in to a lakelike shoreline and spent the next 20 minutes or so while trying to pack up, answering questions from amazed locals.









These fish were going to be more than I needed, as my wife and kids will eat very little, if any, so I sent an sms out to a few of the sunny coast yakkers to say the first to reply would score one. Greg (hardplastic) replied within seconds so we made arrangements for me to drop one off to his very grateful wife. I hope you enjoy it guys.

I grabbed a bag of ice on the way home, to throw it in the bath while I Youtubed the best ways to fillet and prepare tuna. I got plenty of beautiful thick fillets off it and used one of them to make myself a sashimi lunch. It's the first time I've tried it and I was suprised to find it was delicious. Heaps left over for the BBQ tonight... and sashimi again tomorrow... and BBQ again tomorrow night...

What a day. Stoked!

Cheers,

Jason


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

Awesome stuff Jason!
Way to start your tuna tally.


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## BJM (Oct 5, 2008)

That's one hell of a nice way to open the tuna account !


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

jason thats fantastic, was going to write a post about old woman island (which has another name i think) fantastic effort on 10lb braid, i would definitely have lost that. i hear longtails arent as fussy about the size of the lure/slug as other tuna so changing to a slug might not have been as important.

great photos as well

cheers pete


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

Well done Jason. What a way to crack your first tuna -- with a second, not long afterward.

Thanks for the well written report -- I reckon I know just how you felt. Stoked is the word. It's a shame you didn't get a chance to cast the slug, however, as the slashing strike and first screaming run, right in front of your eyes, are heart stoppers. Next time, eh, -- I look forward to reading about it...


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## Vikingfisher (Jan 31, 2008)

Great report, well done! Wednesdays are good for me if you would like company next time you go out the front.
J


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Superb report mate and that photo of the Tuna's head out of the water with the Bomber lure in its mouth is a cracker!

Mate good thing you reeled in the deep diver lure before the 1st tuna grabbed your Bomber.

You guys have it too good up there!

Unreal

Marty


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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.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWWIUZc4AACzfgAAQcCcAEBCgEAAv/9+gIABkNTJpMjQ0aIyMeppoViagzSGgYQDIaGMhpB6zdd0FFbZ2MMk4lnE4lfiZQAf2e3VgtThTpJxDvyVGU+6rBMQUTdleA0p0bVIKg0fc2fjJNrg8F2W1JV4GxYioSBjjMqtQDuT8XckU4UJBiFGXOA==


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## PalmyMick (Nov 22, 2007)

nice pair and share!!!!!! well done
cheers mick


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## deano199 (Nov 2, 2008)

Nice fish man, when my dad gets a yak ill be tryin hard to get up there.
Would you mind posting a link to that youtube vid you made?


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## ELM (Jul 14, 2008)

WooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooHooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Great report, great pics, great fish and the great rains.


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## bluekayak (Feb 5, 2009)

Insane!

That's it I think I have to look into moving to Australia!

Paul aka bluekayak
California USA


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

JTC,

Sensational mate 1 is good but 2 thats just showing off.
Congrats on the great catch and nice photos to.

Cheers Micka


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Congrats, great effort. Good report too,cheers.


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## joejoe (Sep 28, 2008)

HI jason 2 very nice tuna and what a great effort on 10lb .I bet your arms will be sore tonight.Look foward to catching up with you ,you will have braging rights at the next meeting.joe


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## JTC (Oct 19, 2007)

Thanks guys for all your comments,

After having sashimi for lunch, and watching my family's faces turning green when I explained to them that it was not cooked... At all... I knew if I was to have any chance of getting the family to share this great fish with me, it was going to have to be BBQ'd.

All together I made 8 steaks up out of the fish that I kept. I used 1 today to make the sashimi. So I selected 4 beautiful big fat steaks from the stash, fired up the barbie, gave each steak a light coat of olive oil and slapped 'em on the hotplate. Only left mine on a couple of minutes and the others just a little longer. I topped eack steak with a cold sauce consisting of chopped tomato, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and parsley and a side serve of beer battered chips. Yum, Yum... This is the first time I've ever had fresh Tuna steaks and they were brilliant!

The sauce wasn't my invention I found it on a website, but it worked a treat. I've got 3 steaks left and I'm not sure how I'll prepare them yet. If anyone has a favourite way please post them here. Below is a link to the sauce I made tonight for anyone who's interested. 
http://www.plaincook.com/tuna-steaks-with-garlic-lovers-fresh-tomato-sauce-Recipe-2006-08-08

Cheers,

Jason


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## LoboLoco (Feb 1, 2008)

excellent work!!!


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## pcsolutionman (Apr 9, 2007)

Been waiting to read this report after getting the txt from u at work today, Great effort mate esp on 10lb. I got tomorrow off might hit it up myself yet

Lee


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## Biggles (Jan 6, 2008)

Nice work Jase, now get back to work like the rest of us, lol. I wonder if I feel sick tomoz?

Regards

Al


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## JTC (Oct 19, 2007)

Here are a few more pics from today..













































Cheers,

Jason


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Jason some mighty fine fish there mate....congrats they are crackers


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## Pestman (Jan 14, 2009)

Thats Gold!!!!


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## pwr62 (Feb 10, 2008)

Hi Jason love reading your trip reports. Thanks for the offer this morning, sounds like Greg jumped in pretty quick. Looks nice and calm in the pictures now that is the kind of beach launches i like. I was hoping to get out this weekend but not looking too good and I want to get down to the tinny and tackle show on sat or sun.
Great report great pictures
Paul


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## Nodds (Feb 28, 2007)

Jason you ROCK!!!

Man how cool is that! and with surf conditions that even you and I are safe in......lol :shock: 

Mate fantastic effort, I wish I was ther with you to take some shots of that milestone ;-)

I can't wipe the smile off my face and Iv'e reread your report twice to soak it all in, I know how bad you wanted an ending like that but I bet it feels better than you thought it would???

cheers nodds


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## HardPlastic (Jul 2, 2007)

Hey Jas. What can I say? I soooo appreciate your kind gesture mate. Especially after you had to paddle over 1.5 hours to get back in. Phew!

Mate how easy was it to fillet after checking out that website? Thanks Azzaroo for that one.

I cut them into steaks like you did and whacked em on the barbie at the outlaws house. Mmmmm very nice especially with Dot's (MIL) special coconut chilli sauce on top. May have to try the one you used next time.

Thanks again mate. Especially for dropping it off at my house, some k's away from yours when you were wet and cold.

You the man! Hope I can repay the deed soon.

Cheers

Greg


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## action1974 (Sep 3, 2008)

1 small one would be great! 2 stonkers is very impressive. Making me hungry......


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Way to go Jason. After some of the launch beatings you've taken you deserved it mate. Good to see the tuna are still around.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

FANTASTIC STUFF,

.............. i want one


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## viking1 (May 28, 2008)

Top stuff Jason, very impressive! :shock: I had a look on Tues arvo from m`dore surf club with the binoculas, there was plenty of action out from the river mouth about 2 kms to 4 kms out roughly, and also some action all the way from carties to OW. I was tempted to go out that arvo but decided to give it a miss as it was already 3pm. Didnt think the weather would be very good for the rest of the week so gave it a miss altogether, but even this morning could have been ok? 
Anyway I`m home every day so if you`re heading out give us a call, I may just join you.

Tight lines,
Ken.


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## WayneD (Jul 11, 2006)

Nice. I am heading up there next weekend. Looks like I'll have to throw the yak on the roof racks.


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Sensational......  

Cheers Dave


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

So where do I get one of those? Looks like Gold Bombers catch anything and everything!


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## dunebuggy (Dec 21, 2008)

Good on you Jason. Well done.
I was content with fishing the incoming afternoon tide in the pelican waters canals with very modest results.
I will get outside for a fish one day, I swear. lol.
Congrats on your longtails.


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## Flump (Apr 17, 2006)

Well done JTC, seen the bust ups a few times sat on the beach, glad someone is out there catching them at last  :twisted:


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## HiRAEdd (Nov 12, 2005)

Great report, well done on the catches!


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## JTC (Oct 19, 2007)

Hey Guys,

It seems that the wind and swell are both getting up a bit over the w/end, so I don't think I'll be heading offshore. Probably just hit up one of the local lakes or canals early for a bit of wind protection.



dunebuggy said:


> I will get outside for a fish one day, I swear. lol.


Hi Stu,

Mate, I'm notorious for having a swim on surf launches, but as this report shows it pays to perservere. Honestly, I'm still smiling like a fool :lol: .

The southern end of the Beach at Mooloolabah is a very easy launch and you don't have to go too far to get amongst the fish. You don't need to go all that heavy on the gear either, I just use the same rods I would normally use around the estuaries and up the line weight to 10lb on one and 20lb on the other. I now use 30lb mono leaders on both after losing a good fish at noosa a few weeks back where it just wore through the 14lb leader. The only other advice is have anything you can't afford to lose leashed or stowed on launch and re-entry.

Cheers,

Jason


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## dunebuggy (Dec 21, 2008)

Jason, I will probably hit the pelican waters canals again this afternoon if you are interested. Launch at the powerboat club boat ramp. Mate, there are some big fish in there. I spoke to residents and heard stories but I also saw big (unidentified) things lurking under pontoons but couldn't tempth them out. lol. My phone number is in my signature. Give me a shout if you want to come and keep me company.


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## JTC (Oct 19, 2007)

Sorry Stu,

I'm at work at the moment, I have every Wednesday off, otherwise it's weekends.

Good luck in P/W canal. It's one of my fave spots. It's accounted for alot of my PB's (Jack, Diamond Trev, Bigeye Trev) also been busted off by a huge Queenie that after pinching my lure proceeded to jump clear out of the water 2 or 3 more times just to show of his new lip pearcing :lol: Also witnessed some huge splashes by unidentified beasties (me thinks Bull Sharks, but me also prefers not to think too much about that :shock: )

Not sure if I'll even get out in the morning now though as I'm going to the footy tonight (Go Stormers!), so it could be a late one...

Cheers,

Jason


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## lukec (Apr 16, 2008)

Champion. Just goes to show, most people would have seen the rain and went back to bed.


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## stitcho (Jun 29, 2007)

Top effort Jas, especially on 10lb. Well done mate.


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## DrJed (Sep 13, 2007)

Bud that is a great report - fantastic fish and a really entertaining read. Well done.

Cheers
Steve


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## V8rob (Oct 3, 2007)

Nice one mate, a couple of crackers there


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## Maddogmatt (Apr 30, 2008)

gee wiz you have some good fish up there. great report, great fish bloody impressive.


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## mattayogi (Feb 11, 2007)

A little bit late to read your post, Jason, but enjoyed it immensely. It takes a bit of courage to do what you did - well done! And fantastic reward for your effort.
Would you mind sending me down some of your mojo. Mine's all dried up at present. 

Matt


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## castawayperth (Feb 15, 2009)

Great fish.

A great story-telling effort as well. I was on the edge of my seat reading about the give and take.

Splendid Effort.

Dave


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