# QLD 26KG Spanish Mackeral Caloundra



## Fihlips (Sep 19, 2009)

Hello all

My Friday started out driving to Kings Beach boat ramp & the headland at 6.00am to check conditions as was not supposed to be very good , had a look and is okay ( not glasses out like Tuesday but fishable )
A quick to call to Brian ( Paddlepara ) and the plan is to launch about 9.00am with Brians better half 
I get home and load the car and am all ready to go by 6.30 so not being the most patient person on our planet off i go and call Brian once both trolling lines are out and am on my way , Brian says he will meet me at our usual spot off Brays Rock

I start my usual troll a 5m diving RMG on one rod and a 8m RMG on the other and out to Brays rock up over the reef ledge where we get alot of snapper and sweetlip and all is quiet !!!!

As i am now back in 15-20m of water i think i may as well up the pace and get out to a nice little patch of reef i fish and start chasing snapper by this stage am past Brays and my calcutta 200 starts screaming , the adrenalin kicks in and its all systems go , turn the old revo towards the fishes direction of run and watch my little calcutta 200 line disappear , by this stage i am thinking i have got to get some line back so the pedals to the metal the legs are pumping and i am off after this fish to get some line back

About 5 minutes later i have got some line back from this fish and by now i know its not the usual snapper, sweetlip of small pelagic i am used to so i am thinking a big GT as i say a monster on Tuesday jump a meter out of the water

I have some line back and am happy with myself until this fish takes off the 180 degrees the other way and collects my other trolled line which i still have not had a chance to get in due to all the excitement , Murphy's law my other line is now over the line with the fish and the fish has another blistering run of about 150 meters i guess on the rudder and am off after it again , get some line back and by now the second trolled line is around my rudder and caught on the soft plastic on the rod behind me , at this stage i get that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think please dont let this end with me losing this fish

The fish is taking smaller runs now and i decide its time to get the second line out of the water which was not easy but all untangled and back in the rod holder with lure hard up against rod tip

Now i can really get into this fish and put the pressure on which i quickly learned was taking more out of me than this fish , we got at it for maybe another fifteen minutes with the runs getting shorter and more in circles than straight , i know i am winning and back off the drag a bit , i start to see colour below me and first thought is a monster black jewfish but then i think no mate you caught heaps of them in Darwin and they never fight this hard or for as long , now i am thinking shark as i get it up a bit further and my heart sinks thinking i really dont wont to lose my $15 lure , the fish heads south and i have to put a lot more effort in to get his head up , my arms are aching but i am pumped , and then i get to see him again and see the bar stripes along his sides and i go holy S###T that is one big spanish , by now we are both pretty worn out and i am getting him real close to the yak and am in awe at his size in the water , then the little brain kicks in and i think you idiot you left the gaf in the car !!! how the hell am going to handle this

Okay so i now have him doing small circles on my left side and every time his head comes around to face me i pray to god he does not get his tail going and launch into me with all those teeth , i decide well i have to get his tail or his gills and after nearly falling out of the yak trying to lean out to tail him i decide the gills and get my left hand in there without any hassle

I bleed him straight away to get the blood out of that lovely flesh and start worrying about sharks , i drag him in the yak his head under the left side of the mirage drive and his tail up on my shoulder and then think what am i going to do with him now !!
back deck is full i have no rope and really don't want him in the water after bleeding him , so after much balancing and stretching i get my front hatch open and spear him in there head to the very bow and tail is out about a foot , i put the bungees down on my hatch as far as they will go and sit back staring at this tail and start yahooing like a mad man

Time to get this fish in , Brian meets me at the ramp and i crash on the boat ramp but Brian saves me and gets me out of the water ( Brian also has footage )

Take a few pictures and i am one very happy camper

I did not measure him but i am 180cm and he comes to my shoulders so he is big

I take him to Caloundra fishing world and we weigh him there at 26kg

The rest is very fond memories and lots of mackeral eaten and in the freezer ( Alot of mackeral steaks )


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## breamfish (May 19, 2009)

Great Fish :shock: :shock:


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Great!. A very exciting report, brave man sticking your hand in those gills, but I guess there wasn't much choice. Cheers, Dave.


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Ahhh,

Breathtaking, and a great report. Well done,

cheers Andybear


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## Guest (Mar 27, 2010)

Great fish mate, really enjoyed your report 8)


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## FishFeeder (Jul 22, 2008)

What a fantastic fish, looks like the brother of the one Sunshiner caught! Enjoy the meals.


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## pwr62 (Feb 10, 2008)

Congradulations John that is a beautiful fish, and cant wait to see Brians video of the landing with that big tail hanging out of your front hatch. 
After hearing about this fish and the good bag you got earlier in the week, we all had high hopes for saturday but most of us came home fishless nothing on the troll, something did take my favorite battle scared lure I didnt even feel a hit, and too much wind to fish the bottom. Good sailing weather and a very easy landing on the beach.

Paul


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## ant (Aug 28, 2008)

Well done nice fish, love the story. Send the big ones down here   

cheers
ant


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## OBee (Dec 2, 2009)

Beautiful!


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## Bruyaka (Nov 12, 2009)

What a fish , any one would be rapt with that from the shore or on aboat let alone a yak. Well done .


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

excellent work, 20 bucks a kilo at my local fisho yesterday .....  
yeah, you really gota love those little calcutta 200's, best all-rounder for my money.


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## butterfingers (Aug 21, 2009)

awesome fish mate well done.


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Aweso


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## azzaroo (Aug 17, 2007)

crazy big mack there , well done.. :lol:


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## Redfish (Apr 25, 2007)

freaking awesome!!


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Beauty, what a fish!!

Do they have sharp bits near their gills , apart from teeth?


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## yaktopia (Nov 30, 2008)

Sensational read and a great fish....well done on the spaniard of a lifetime (or maybe you can improve your PB!)


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## madkeenfisher (Jul 24, 2008)

WOW! NICE WORK.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

A great capture mate.


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## paulthetaffy (Jan 27, 2010)

Congrats mate, what a superb fish and great report too!


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

Wow, nice Spanish John. Beats the hell out of my best. And without a gaff! I'll bet you never forget that important little item again.

It's been a hell of a season up here and I hope that's not the finale.


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## worleybird (Aug 31, 2008)

Top mack!!! You're a braver man than I, throwing your hands anywhere near the sharp end of a spaniard!!!!

Stephen


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

Thats a snodger John! 
Should I ask what the mean-looking, green thing in your right hand is?


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## Biggles (Jan 6, 2008)

Another bloody nice fish, well done fella. I hope there are a couple left for next week.

Al


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## joejoe (Sep 28, 2008)

A great fish well done .joe


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## Fihlips (Sep 19, 2009)

Mal

The mean looking green thing in my hand is paddlepara's gaff ( he met me at the ramp due to weather to help me in as he was going out as well )

Thanks all for your comments

Fishlips


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## Fihlips (Sep 19, 2009)

Joe Joe

that is an awesome looking spanish in your picture as well

Fishlips


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## Game fisher (Jul 5, 2006)

Great report.
Nice to see some big ones are comming out.


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