Wet and Windy Western Port

I have always bragged that my boat is the driest center console I have ever been in and many others have also made the same comment, however, when you dont have a cab there is no way of staying dry in the rain. This weekend was testament to that, most folks know that I am not a fan of pants, for some one who lives in Melbourne this can prove a challenge. I left home at about 0530 along side my mate Dan, the tell tale signs of moisture on the windscreen had me convinced that today was going to be a wet day. We arrived at Hastings ramp and I started to get the boat ready for launch, Dan was AWOL. I walked to the other side of the car and here he was dressing in full Stormy gear, bib and brace and jacket, at this stage I had a chuckle because things did not look that bad, I thought my shorts, crocs tshirt and jacket were going to be just fine.

Was not long before I was proven wrong. We exited the Hasting Channel and all looked fine with the exception that we could not see Yaringa harbor through what I thought was mist, oh dear that mist was in fact a heavy thick rain. Traveling at around 70kph those small rain drops felt like extreme acupuncture and the cool wet wind running up the leg of my shorts was no consolation. I turned to look at Dan who was snug and dry in the Stormy outfit. Not to be deterred I was only wet a little bit as my Jacket was water resistant I figured I would be fine. Well the rain kept up and we made our way to our fishing location, we arrived to find fellow squid fisher Peter Ferguson sitting on the exact same drift line that I had planned so after a quick chat we headed further east to give him some space.. I thought that the rain would have made the water clarity bad but with the king tides that the port had experienced during the week must have seen a big change over of water and I could see my egi working in 5 meters in the top end of Western Port, that is exciting as it is not often that this occurs. Did not take long for the squid to come to the party. As predicted the squid were just starting to gather to spawn, this meant that the average size of the squid was bigger than normal but not quite 3kg yet. Within 30 minutes my live well was over flowing with both squid and ink and a few crackers averaging 2kg amongst them, we did weigh one that was the 3rd biggest and it came in at 2kg on the dot but the scales are not water proof so they stayed hidden for most of the trip.

Soon enough we also discovered that my jacket and I were not water proof and being in the top end of the Port we decided that a coffee was in order to dry out a bit, so a quick dash into Warneet Bait and Tackle to see Dom. It was tough to leave the warm heated coffee filled tackle shop at Warneet but we had squid to catch so after a thaw out and a quick dry up it was back out into the rain to do it all again. The fishing had quietened down some what but still managed a few more crackers and some smaller models over the next hour or so. The wind had a strong pick up from the west so we headed to he western side of Western Port to seek refuge and shelter, we managed a few more and I managed to cop a big spray in the face from a nice squid so decided we had enough of the cold and wet so back to the ramp.

We got back to the ramp and I decided to get the scales out again and to weigh the bag. We had 14 squid in the bag of which 8 were less than 600g, the total weight of the bag was 14.6kg. I took 6 of the bigger models and weighed them separately for a total 12.66kg so a thumping bag at the end of the day, I am sure that in the next few weeks the squid will only get bigger with some expected to gain about a kg extra on top of the 2kg they are at present. Another cracking day on the water even though I was soaked through to the bone, suffice to say that may day today was spent trying to find a new water proof jacket.

Post Wedding Squid

After a big day of marital festivities what better way to wind down than grabbing your best man and going for a squid fish in Western Port in Victoria (yes I am blessed to have a wifey who is very supportive of my fishing passion), tide was less than ideal wind was bigger than predicted and from the wrong direction but hey you cant catch them sitting on the couch in front of the TV so off we went in search of some bigger squid that should be floating around at this time of the year in Western Port. We launched at Hastings in gentleman's hours at about 1030 and headed toward the south, we only ventured about 5 km from the Hastings channel before our first stop. It was then we realised things were gonna be tough, water was dark and dirty, heavy weed lining the area's where squid normally abide and cross wind. Not to be deterred we started casting with the intention of picking a few up on the first drift but we struggled to find any. It took a second drift but we managed to find a lone squid holding on the back of a weed bed near the mud in about 3 meters.

A move was in order and it was decided that we needed to find some clearer water so a trip much further south nearer the entrance was needed for water clarity, we have had substantial rain fall over the past week and we were hoping to get into the faster tidal water where the water is changed over more often and more of the salty stuff would be. Now it should be noted at this point that my best man Dale had not yet been in my boat and was not sure about how dry and smooth the ride was. We packed up and headed south, I was not going too hard with the boat cruising along at about 45 kph when a bigger boat came past me at full noise, I sat in their wake for a while until.............. we poked our heads out past Sandy Point and the straight south wind hit us with its full strength swell had come up to approx 2 meters with a further meter of chop on top, all I can remember seeing was the bigger boat come to a near stop, keen to show Dale how well the boat rode and how dry it was I told him to hang on and hit the first one at about 45kph and past the bigger boat airborn landing nice and soft in the trough doing the same on the next, the look on the faces of the blokes in the bigger boat was priceless. Needless to say we did not quite make it down to the southern end of the bay with waves crashing on the area I intended on fishing so I spun around and had a look look at some virgin water I have never fished and decided to try an old faithful spot.

Dale decided to conduct a boat review on my tub while we were out, here it is and the link to the full review:

having owned a few boats and ridden in a lot guiding or mates boats etc every time a get the opportunity i will post up a little review (have done so in the past on here) and have been hanging out to go for a spin in Ecos black bullet LOIS
Lois is an 18 foot Carolina skiff centre console >>> black over white with the Gancraft livery and is fitted with a 115 optimax and magic tilt trailer
she is fitted with 40 odd litre live bait tank and HDS 7 and HDS 5 networked as well as some other features
Seeing the boat on the trailer the 2 things that stand out are the flared bow and the deepish Vee and the size overall
typically well made and finished American boat with a fully moulded liner complete with casting platform and rod lockers and gear hatches etc
Beamy and stable looking an on water ride was a drooling proposition
Yesterday we launched at hastings in gentlemens hours and she slid off the trailer with minimum fuss and stepping abaurd the stand out feature was the stability with both paul and i on one side in the rear corner she didnt even dip
the driving position is via a bench seat about the size of a 100 letre esky directly behind the console and it easily acommodates 2 people as well as a shotgun seat forward of the console for those that like their eyes to water head long into the breeze
I poked her out the channel and i will be brutally honest on its drive and ride from here
At low speed she doesnt track well and a bit of left and right turning to keep her going straight is required until you get her up to about 6 to 7 knots then she runs her lines niceley
from here on in it gets interesting
the 115 opti has plenty of poke but needs a re prop to get her up quickly or trim down hard until she pops then trim her back (this works well) and i soon had her running at 45 ks an hour over about a foot of chop head on wind against tide and about 12 knots of breeze >>> and i couldnt believe how dry it was
the steering wheel is left of centre (bit like bob Brown lol) so the best drive position is left postion on the seat with the throttle about dead centre >> great view of all guages and electrics and no thumping to speak of
after a quick squirt we had a fish >>> stability is amazing >> like fishing on a pontoon with carter up fron and me mid ship she sat like a rock in about 2 feet of chop
then a squirt to cat bay
nearly flat out up the channel she danced across the top with no whacking and no spray >> yes i was col woithout a cabin blockin the wind but the ride was fantastic
as we turned the corner to head towards cat bay we had a Tournament 2000 bluewater pass us until we hit about 2 metres of swell with a metre of wind abgainst tide pumkin on top
now it gets interesting >>we are now sitting on 47 ks an hour (my boat would struggle at this speed in this slop) and we pass the Tournament and pop clean out of the water and that familiar prop scream tells us we are airborne >> we land like on a big pillow >>> no whak and suprisingly no spray >> and again and again >>we leave the Tournament guys hooping and hollering and shaking their heads in disbelief and continue on
Then paul turns her at 45 degrees to the se oncoming waves and she dances across the top with no fus at all and again no spray >>>
i am actually at this stage dissapointed >>> how can a centre console be so dry in what is basically offshore slop but she is
Then after a quick explore we run back
A following sea and i thought here we got >> we have to get wet here >> 45 to 55 ks an hour on sloppy 2 direction following sea and we get 1 tiny bit of spray
we run all over the place easily and efficiently asnd even have a good look and a bit of a snigger at the new Evolution 550 Centre console when junga calls down to us for a visit
all up this is a beast of an 18 footer and a lot morte like the ride of a much bigger boat
all up we would have racked up 70 odd ks on the water for about 15 litres of fuel

Points for
ride is excellent and incredibly dry for and open boat
stability at rest rivals anything i have been in
cost effective option that would give the bream guys a scare if its windy
great looking and easy to clean with a fully moulded floor
incredible amount of fishing room

Points against
anchor layout needs some mods to accomodate an electric motor up front
you are exposed to the elements
no outriggers LOL
restricted on electrics display size purely by size of the console
lowish gunnels if your fighting a big fish (although sitting in the shotgun seat would be a great option)

the full review and other comments can be found at  Victorian Saltwater Fishing

So upon the arrival at our next spot we found the drift to be perfect and the water fairly clear and not a lot of weed in the water column. However some one forgot to give the squid the script because they were not here. By this stage we only had one squid in the well and things were not looking any better, time to head to Tyabb bank on the Eastern shores of Western Port, Tyabb bank is a known producer of squid but they can be very hit and miss, running out of options it was an easy decision to make. A quick run back past Hastings and start another drift, a quick color change and a few casts later we found some squid, they were nice solid squid but again not the bigger ones we had been chasing. A few drifts and a few squid later we had a visit from the new boat from the Evolution stables and a great looking boat on the water and quiet well thought out design by the boys, this one will be one to watch at the boat shows and looking at the heritage of the boats from the Evolution group I am sure it will have a few awards to its name before long.

The new Evolution

A couple more drifts and it was decided the next move was to Dales Lounge room for a coffee. Another great day on the water even if the squid did not play properly, one thing we

 did notice was the squid that we did catch seemed to be fairly aggressive with only one gentle take, even when an egi was covered full in weed it was snatched, so with a bit of better water clarity I am sure this spot will fire in the coming weeks an I will be there to catch them, I did see a pick of a nice 2kg model that came from Warneet that Dom at Warneet Bait and tackle posted so things are defiantly looking up.

The wedding of Mr and Mrs Kuma

It has been a long time in the making, I have been with my beautiful wife for 12 years and engaged for 8 of those years but on the weekend just gone she made an honest man of me as we wed in Melbourne finally. On the day as most brides are she was stunning, we had a very quiet ceremony with only a small group of people who are very close to us with no fuss and no formalities that come with most weddings. After the ceremony we had an informal reception at the Corner Hotel on the rooftop garden with friends and family before heading home for beer and pizza. What can I say other than it was a day suited to us and reflected who we are as a couple. Massive thanks on the day to me best man Dale McClellend and the bridesmaid Jo Smart, they were a great help to us both before and on the day. Dan Stanilovic one of my closest friends was kind enough to offer to take photo's and offer help with anything we needed in the lead up to the day, Nathan Smart was also behind a lens being the wedding papparazi so a massive thanks to all who were here to help.  Now onto the important things like fishing.

Port Fairy Tuna

Bluefin busting under birds

It was decided a few weeks back that instead of me having a bucks party for my wedding next week that a few mates would just head down to Port Fairy in the hope of finding a 100+ kg Bluefin Tuna, I was joined by my best man Dale McClellend and my best mate Daniel Stanilovic, for this weekend it was decided that we would take Dales boat a 6.5m Freedom Sport, this boat is know for lots of line class records and its skippers all round knowledge offshore. We left Melbourne's South East at 0230 in the morning hoping to get on the water by about 0730. I managed to get a bit of sleep in on the way up but earlier in the week I had some surgery on my teeth and jaw and with a little infection I was too busy popping pills to get much sleep, it was going to be a testing weekend with the pain in my mouth but pills and persistence would get me through. We hit the water at about 0800 and after a quick setup of the boat (should be noted I just stood by drinking coffee and talking to people at the ramp LOL)

Bluefin

We headed due south of Port Fairy in 45 to 50 meters in an area that is known for big bluefin tuna. Dale was on the wheel and Dan was working on the lure spread and again I was doing stuff all, We found some isolated patches of birds working nearby so made a bee line for the area the birds were in, in all the years I have been Tuna fishing I can say with confidence that I have never seen the fish so flighty. The bust ups only lasted a matter of seconds before they pushed deep again, it was clear from then on that it was going to be a tough weekend. We continued chasing the birds and bust ups for another hour or 2 when the first scream from a reel occurred, coming from the long rigger a small black and gold tuna bullet style lure got smacked, I was on strike so set the lever drag forward and got stuck into the fish, this fish gave a good accounting for it self in the fight department and behaved like a bigger fish but after a little bit of line play the fish came to the boat without out too much effort, Dan took the trace and Dale took the gaff and like a fine oiled machine they had the fish in the boat, its amazing how easy things can be with a good team on board. The fish was bled and prepared for the ice and it was back into the troll to try and find some more.

12 odd kg of fresh pre smoked Tuna

The next few hours saw a massive change in the bird and bait activity so a fair few kilometers were traveled as we looked for some activity, nothing seemed to change so at about 1430 we called it to head in from 17km out to rest up and try again the next day, bolting back in we got to about 5km from the ramp when all of a sudden birds appeared and tuna started busting again so off the throttle we set up the spread again to see if we could make some magic happen, it was tough going for a while with the fish behaving like they were in the morning and after chasing school after school of fish again we managed to hook up, same take from the same rigger on the same lure as the morning. Dan was on strike so he took the rod while Dale started clearing lines for him to fight the fish, I figured that they may still be deep blew the boat so I took a jig rod with a 200g turkey slider jig and started working below the boat. Nothing on the jig and just as I started to pack the rod away Dale had the trace at the side of the boat, we all know how unpredictable fish can be next to the boat and this one was no exception, as Dale position the fish to lift it took one last burst and headed under the boat, Dale was quick enough to let go of the trace to avoid contact with the boat, the fish took a quick deep lunge and then made a run back towards the boat, with in seconds the fish had managed to throw the hook. Devastated we decided to head back in with the low light and start fresh in the morning.

Seal in waiting for a feed at the ramp

I made a quick call to the Warnambool Holiday Park to sort out a cabin for the night and booked a cabin for some well needed rest and a bed for the night. After a quick pack up of the boat we headed for the Warnambool Holiday Park, upon arrival I met with Steve at the check in area, I have to say it was probably the most friendly place I have ever been to, staff and people in the park were great. Dale needed to make some quick repairs on the boat after hitting some thing in the water his live bait tank pick up had come adrift so wee needed to find a place that had some spare bits to do a quick fix so we would not take on water. It was decided that the filling of our stomachs was more important than the boat so we headed into town to a place called maceys bistro, meals looked nice but not quite big enough for me so I settled for a Chicken Parma and a Steak, also who can pass up a desert bar with self serve soft serve ice cream, not me thats for sure. Full as a boot the 3 of us waddled out of maceys and went in search of some silastic for the temp repair till we could get back home, we found a KMart open so Dale and Dan went in to find some while I put the seat back and had a nap. The boys came back and it was back to the Warnambool Holiday Park to charge phone and camera batteries and charge our selves so we could continue the battle in the morning.

Terez, Caldia and Gan Craft Jointed Claw rigged for Tuna

Day 2 had the wind up a bit but not deterred we made the short trip to Port Fairy from Warnambool and put the boat in the water, the plan was similar to the previous day so back to the same water depth line and started trolling with a similar lure spread to the day before. We quickly realised that the Tuna were not in the same area as they were, there was no birds, bait was scattered not balled up and water condition was different, we headed south east towards Lady Julia Percy Island, we had been on the water for a few hours and the wind was due to pick up so I made a phone call to Matthew Hunt, Matt is the best Tuna Charter operator in the area and very well known for his consistent results of good catches. Matt was brilliant and got on the wires to his network of gun Tuna local fisho's to try and find the fish for us, not more than 5 minutes later he rang back to let us know one of his mates was on the 80 meter line and was on a fish at the time. We had to make a decision whether to head south a further 40km and hope that the wind did not get out of hand or keeping working the shallower banks trying to find the fish close, we made the desicion to go deep, it was a long trip with the wind blowing against the current but an hour or so later we were in the area, a quick radio call to Adam the guy who was nice enough to share some info with us and we headed to the area to find some fish, we soon noticed the change, birds every where dolphins balling up bait and activity every where.

Dolphons from the 80 meter line

Alas it looks like we missed the bite time, we spent a couple of hours working the bait balls and areas where birds where diving, no Tuna were busting nor where they on the sounder, we knew that they would have been there by the activity but we just missed the window of chance as the fish had moved on. We decided that it was time to head close in and do what I do best catch a couple of squid from the reef outside Port Fairy. It was going to be a rough trip back with the wind picking up a bit, so we tidied up the boat a bit and made the long trip back, things got a bit damp with a few waves rolling up the front of the boat and onto our lap, I think the only dry part of me was a small part of my boxer shorts between my legs, we all had a good laugh along the way even when I managed to get a Halco lure lodged into my leg. We again got to about 5 km from the rap and the birds started again, back to the same drill of running lures out and chasing the birds, was not long before we realised that the Tuna were not surfacing it was slimy mackeral chasing 3" sauries to the surface. Defeated we called it a day. When we got back to the ramp we found out that only 4 other fish had come into Port fairy over the same 2 days. We got back to the ramp all wet and salt infused tired and sore we decided to stay another night, I rang the Warnambool Holiday park again and Steve was able to look after us again. We had a welcomed shower and change then headed to a Chinese Restaurant for a banquet for 4, there was only 3 of us but we all needed a good feed, after a few calf stretching exercise's from the boat trip and heaps of laughs we headed back to the cabin for a good sleep.

Dale doing the hard work

Although the fish didn't play ball I had a ball, a weekend fishing with 2 great friends with plenty of laughs and good food, it was a pleasure. It was also a great learning curve being able to cover lots of kilometers gave me a better understanding of the area. Sadly when I arrived back the the cabin I checked the local reports to find that Warnambool, Portland and Port Mac all went of with multiple catches of fish and lots of fish busting all over the place, spewing, I did have an outfit rigged with a Gan Craft Jointed Claw re rigged to make it tuna proof and I was hoping to land a tuna on it, at the end of the day what it does give me is an excuse to go back and try it again.

If any one is looking for a place to stay in the area I could not fault Warnambool Holiday Park for more details go to www.whpark.com.au or contact 035525031 for bookings

For the best charter operator in the Portland area go to Matthew Hunt Fishing Services or contact 0419760510, thanks again for your help Matt.

Kuma goes Italian

For my friends who can read Italian Planet Spin Magazine has an interview with me courtesy of Luigi at Planet Spin, for those who can read Italian here is the link.
PLANET SPIN KUMA INTERVIEW

If you can not read Italian and would like to have a look then you may need to use google translate with this link
English translation of PLANETSPIN interview

It is a massive privilege to be published in Italy where squid fishing is just starting to gain some serious momentum at the moment, although on the world stage the European market for squid fishing has been quite small with its renewed popularity I am sure that there will be lots of squid news from this region in years to come.

Dark Sunday morning

Sunday morning in the cold, dark and wet conditions I launched the boat at Hastings, Hastings is on the mid eastern side of Western Port so its conveniently smack in the middle of all the squid, the idea was to head straight to the deep south of Western Port in search of some of the early season breeders that can some times come into the port at this time of the year, we started the 35km boat trip in the absolute black of the morning at about 0500, all was going well running the boat at full noise until we stuck our heads around the corner at Sandy Point. We were met with a stiff south westerly blowing straight up the port, this combined with a fast outgoing tide caused the swell to build to around 3 meters at times with a 1/2 meter chop on the top. Suffice to say the the journey slowed down some what and what was supposed to be a 15 minute trip turned into a 45 minute job as I could not see the next swell coming, I headed closer to shore to get some protection and the trip was becoming more comfortable.

Lure stealing seal

We made it to Flinders in the south of the port and searched for some nice water to start throwing egi around at, this proved difficult as with the rough conditions water clarity was all but gone. We found a small patch of semi clear water and started plugging away. We did it fairly tough without a look at a squid for almost an hour. Just as we were discussing a move I hooked up to a reasonable sized squid of 1.9kg not the giants we were looking for but put us on the board, another half hour of mucking around and we landed one small one of about 800g and decided to make the move back towards Hastings to fish a few banks of sea grass that are known to hold squid, again it was tough going but we found a few around that 1kg mark before decided to head north to Quail Bank. It was at Quail where things started to look up, we found a good patch of squid in about 4 meters and kept plugging away at them for a few hours. It was here we saw our biggest for the day, if landed would have been an easy 2.5kg, however a friendly seal made short work of both the squid and the egi (DOH)

My mate Dan and I had landed a nice bag of squid keeping 10 for the table. Most productive egi on the day for me was the Gan Craft Egi-Jya 3.5 in Sunset Kuroshio and for Dan was Gan Craft Egi-Jya 3.5 Olive Le Kuroshio, a notible mention also to the color Black tiger as pictured below hanging off the squid in the water. We both had a ball but was a tough day in the end with the early conditions not helping. The wind ended up clearing in the north end of the port for a perfect setting and a perfect drift of about 0.5kph, the water mirrored out and the water cleared up. Sizes are on the increase as the season progresses but still no sign of the big big big squid we hope to find soon.

Quick mid week session

Having finished work early on Monday I made the quick dash home to grab the boat, on the way home I posted on face book with an open invitation for any one who was keen for a squid session to give me a call. Plenty of response and I ended up taking my neighbor Ed from next door, I had heard some rumors of some thumper squid in Western Port so I made the decision to launch at Hastings and go in search for some big ones, We made a quick trip over to Tankerton as last weekend we managed to find a couple of half decent squid. Was not long before we had a few in the well. Nothing massive but around the 800g to a Kilo mark so still nice squid. After playing with the average size guys we thought a quick bolt down south before it got too late was in order. We got as far as buoy 6 when we came across some schools of Salmon so Ed thought a couple of Salmon would be nice, we stopped on a school of fish and had a couple of casts, after a slight technique change Ed was onto a nice salmon of about 2kg after a short fight it was boated and chucked in the well, apparently some people actually eat Salmon. I get bored pretty quick with Salmon so I cut the Salmon session short and went looking for squid again. We tried a few spots in the deep south of WP only finding a few standard sized squid and less frequent than they were in the mid west of Western Port so another change was in order, made the dash from the Flinders area to Quail Bank near Yaringa, was not long before the squid started coming in one after another, again nothing big but perfect for those who eat them. When things slowed down we made one last move to Tyabb Bank where things were a lot tougher with dark and dirty water so it was decided to call it a day. Ended up with a bag I think that Ed took home for a feed. Was great arvo on the water, no wind no rain and lots of sunshine. I used a few colors I have not used much or at all including some special colors not available yet on the Australian market, the pike in the areas I fished loved the new colors and I was bitten off on numrous occasions so there are either heaps of pike swimming around with a mouth full of new jewelery or some very expensive reef forming material laying on the floor of the ocean. One color that excelled on the day was Gan Craft Blue Blur Choi, the one with the lady bug on the back, I call it Big Gay Al, it was a cracker.

Eds Biggest

Big Gay Al

Last week offsore suprise

Last week I attempted along with friends Dan and Brent to get off shore and make an attempt at some Kings, whats the suprise you ask, well for the first time ever in a trailer boat I got sea sick, not sure if it was the servo pie, chocky milk and red bull swirling around in my stomach or if the big stabi craft had me going green but I was not well all the same, we stuck at it for another 4 hours but struggled, we had one live bait smashed with no hookup, countless couta smashing the stick baits and 1 salmon on an X-Wrap 20 but no kings. The water like me was very green and the whole time on the troll the sounder was very quiet so it looks like we picked a crap day to be out amongst the swell, I have to admit every time I am out there trolling or jigging along the coastline I am reminded of how small I am on this big blue planet, every thing from the rolling swell of the ocean to the massive cliff faces that adorn the coast of Victoria but the scenery is magnificent. The pics dont accurately show the swell so here is a before and after shot of a rock that is about 6 meters high.

Realizing that things would not get better we head back into Western Port to have a quick cast at the squid, this time of the year is not known for its big squid so we were not too excited about finding big squid but were happy just to land a few with squid being my number one species to target. We headed for Tankerton hoping to get a few small ones for a feed but the next suprise to come were to find a few above average sized squid for both this time of the year and this location, I was using a new Gan Craft color that was a gift from Mr Nakahira and Mr Kake on their last visit, resembled a lot of the grass whiting that are caught in the area and seemed to be a good choice on the day, Dan was using a Gan Craft UO-Jya. On the way out in the morning we noticed a faint smoke smell and could not work out what it was, when we got back into Western Port we saw the reason for the smoke smell, French Island was ablaze, hope it was just DPI fuel reduction burning.

UO-JYA caught squid by Dan

The French Island Blaze

doing it hard in PPB a few weeks back.

I had the pleasure again a few weeks ago to fish with 2 of the nicest egi fisho's from Japan, Mr Nakahira (Chube) and Mr Kake (Kotaro) joined me for a pre fish for a couple of days prior to the Egi Grand Final. I have to say it was 2 of the toughest days I have had on the water, it did not help when I found out that they call Chube the wind God, it was blowing hard and made our drift fast thus making the fishing difficult and the teamp was about 35 degrees, I dont know how these guys lasted with all the gear on, I was sweltering in shorts and crocs. We covered a lot of water in 2 days for about 20 squid all up, I felt a bit better talking with some mates who said they could not find any at all in the same time frame. We battled the conditions all the same and had a ball doing so. Here is a few pics from the 2 days.

We also had a chance to play with some new light jigging gear that Gan Craft will be introducing to our market soon, PE1 and PE2 gear is a lot of fun and will suit our bays and outside in Vic waters perfectly and I look forward to seeing the gear here. Also had some fun catching flathead on the Big Spider Micro soon to be on aussie shelves.

After a days long fishing we managed to head to Gone Fishing Sales in Carrum Downs for another egi talk, another great night but this time we added a chef element to it, different thats for sure.