Tackle Tactics » Tackle-Tactics-TV » Ep.2 - Northern Bluewater Pt. 2

Ep.2 - Northern Bluewater Pt. 2

After a few smokings and battling the sharks on our first morning offshore, we opted for another early launch with a different location in mind and hopefully less battles lost. The SeaLegs handled the five of us on board with ease, myself (Justin), Jeff, Robbie, Sue and Andrew on the camera, as we followed the guidance of the GPS unit and pointed the nose in the direction of a few offshore marks.

Once on the mark TT HeadlockZ HD jigheads and ZMan Scented Jerk ShadZ were deployed and it wasn't long before we had a couple of bust offs on the board and were all starting to feel that ground hog day vibe. There was plenty of bait on the sounder but once the sun rose in the sky we worked hard for a rattle.

Finally Jeff and Sue both hooked up and it was on! Sue didn't have much luck over the couple of mornings, getting smoked again on this occasion. Robbie, Sue and Jeff had landed some cracker trevally, cobia and a bunch of other species prior to our arrival, so I was feeling a bit like a bad luck charm at that point in time and this was proven with the guys getting into some more cracker fish when we headed home... or maybe it was the cameraman causing the bust offs and sharks ;)

Jeff found himself in a solid battle, armed with the lightest combo on the boat, an Okuma Pressure Point 7' heavy plastics rod and Azores Blue 5500 loaded with 30lb braid. It was a pretty tense battle as the fish surged, rod buckled and drag protested, but it wasn't long until we had colour on a nice cobia. It was funny to hear Jeff curse the cobia a little as we love seeing a cobia on the end of the line in Moreton Bay... apparently in summer they can be in plague proportions though and these northern guys are a bit spoilt with the nannygai, coral trout and so on. Jeff did acknowledge the speed, power and love of lures though and this fish was making a good account of itself.

The ZMan 5" Scented Jerk ShadZ in Electric Chicken colour did the job for Jeff once again, rigged on a 1oz 5/0 TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead. We were all pumped when the cobia was in the boat for a few pics and then quickly released to terrorise Jeff again as the weather warms.

Things went quiet again for a while as we moved among a few marks, with plenty of bait scattered but nothing that really had us super excited. With a lot of bait hanging mid-water Jeff tied on a Fish Inc. Lures Prop 140mm sinking stickbait as he was looking for a presentation that he could work through the suspended bait effectively and hold in the face of the fish for longer. Fish on! Jeff hooked up, fought the fish for a while, pulled the hooks and then the Prop was monstered and it was all over.

Out came the tested and proven Fish Inc. Lures Hooker 160mm sinking stickbait, a favourite for a stack of different species, from tuna, mackerel, kingfish and cobia, to coral trout and GTs. Jeff rigged the Hooker on his 6' Okuma Azores PE 3.0-4.0 spin/jig rod and Azores Blue 6500 spinning reel loaded with 50lb braid. A long cast, allow the lure to sink and then rip and pause it back through the bait. Fish on! Another cobia for Jeff, larger than the first and we were all pumped with a bit of stickbait action.

The cobia had a few mates with him and we also spotted a couple of GT cruising below the boat. A few more stickbaits and a popper were rigged. Getting them to eat was tricky though and we drifted between a couple of marks trying to entice a bite on plastics, stickbaits and poppers.

The water looked good and the sightings of the GT were replaying over and over in my head, so I picked up the rod rigged with a popper out of a rod holder and made a cast. The Fish Inc. Lures Scrum Half 140mm popper isn't a giant popper, but in my mind that is a good thing... it still casts long, it can be worked for long periods of time without fatigue and it appeals to a wide range of species. It is also designed with a belly that allows it to be walked, worked more subtly or punched to spit plenty of water.

The Scrum Half hit the water on a long cast and I gave it a short punch, followed by another and then all hell broke loose as the water exploded and a GT rolled on the popper with its tail in the air. I think everyone else was as shocked as me after my sneaky ninja cast and my face lit up with a giant smile as line peeled from the reel. To add to the mayhem Jeff was also on again on the Fish Inc. Hooker!

I leant back and enjoyed the speed and power of the fight, watching Jeff battle his biggest cobia for the morning. There is nowhere else I would have rather been at that point in time... I was surrounded by some awesome people, hooked up to a GT and watching a mate fight a cracker fish. Fishing is awesome!

Jeff's big cobe was released boat side and then Robbie manoeuvred the boat to get some angle on the GT and get its head up quicker. It wasn't the biggest GT in the ocean but it was solid enough to test the gear and the Okuma Pressure Point 7'6" PE 2.0-4.0 stickbait rod took a lot of the work off me and handled the fish beautifully, backed up by the 8000 Azores Blue spinning reel, loaded with 50lb braid.

Once the fish was in the boat it was high fives all around and despite the quiet patches we encountered for the morning there had been plenty to see and some quality fish landed. A few quick photos and the fish powered away into the depths, leaving me a happy angler and the crew wrapping it up for the session to go and capture a few shots of this spectacular area that we were fishing.

A massive thanks to Jeff, Robbie and Sue for sharing their time with us. What an adventure... the SeaLegs, the location, the crew we fished with and this awesome sport... fishing!

Cheers,
Justin