Ok time for the washup from the trip.
We arrived on Thursday 11am at Doctors Point Strathmerton and got home on Monday afternoon, back at work yesterday and feeling like I need a holiday :argh:
Totally exhausted since getting back and have copped a sore throat and cough, not sure if it was from the fire or the drinking until 2am every night, either way, I'm feeling it and should have realized the wise old 50+ guys should leave the partying to the 3 young blokes that were there, but they were all asleep by 12 - 1am and we had to get them to the swags :lol:
In total there were 8 of us, 3 young blokes and 5 old farts, 3 boats and the weather was a mixed bag.
On the Thursday we set up camp then went on a firewood run, I got in a bit of strife in a sandy corner and sank quick, tried to power out but no go so dropped the tyres to 15psi and had to rock back and forth before powering out. It would have been a long walk back to camp to get a recovery vehicle so thankfully we managed without resorting to that.
After the wood patrol we launched the boats and headed out for a late afternoon session, fishing was quiet and I was the only person to catch a fish, a nice Trout Cod of 54cm on Pork, quick photo and released unharmed.
On Friday the morning was slow due to the big night before, only a few hours sleep.
We got the boats out around lunch time and there were a few small Cod and Trout Cod caught and released.
PC nailed a nice 65cm Murray Cod on beef to top the leader board for our camp, quick photo and released.
Saturday again started slow, there was a cold change due after a warm day, the winds were very gusty and caused carnage on the river, gazebos were dropping like flies and we had a casualty as well.
The change seemed to pass early afternoon and 2 of the boats ventured out, we decided to stay and glad we did as it rained on and off with a cold Southerly for a few hours, when the others got back they were drenched and cold, and no fish.
On Sunday the winds were still up but no rain, we all headed out around midday and the 3 boats fished near each other, Tony caught a nice 74cm Murray Cod on Pork and was quickly released after a measure, I don't have a photo but saw it from our boat.
After returning to camp for a quick feed we headed back out for a the last session for the trip, PC hooked onto a big fish, it stripped 5 meters of line before PC gained a couple back, the fish turned and stripped another 5 meters before turning to the boat, PC had locked up drag, 30lb braid with a 5/0 circle hook (which we all use) and slowly started to gain line, about 40 meters behind the boat it showed itself on the surface, we cleared the decks as we knew this was a
BIG Cod and PC had a hell of a time battling the current and the cod with flared out mouth, it dived deep 15 meters before the boat and we hadn't got a proper look yet, when it was straight under the boat Phil was yelling "bring it up" "bring it up", I'm yelling "back off your drag", PC is in a panic and just put his back into it and dragged it to the top, the fish showed itself and we all started yelling expletives as this was the biggest Cod I've ever seen, it sat there in the current beside the boat for about 15 seconds before taking a big dive , PC tried to stop it and PING went the 30lb braid.
The 3 of us all sat with hands in head for a very very somber few minutes, then I put my hand on PC's shoulder and asked if he was ok? He replied yes but he was devastated, he said " that is what we come away for, right there" with a sad look on his face.
He never backed the drag off and refused to run a 60lb mono leader but what could I say...........apart from saying "mate, it could have been worse, it could have been me", don't think he appreciated that comment for some reason
Phil has caught a 105cm, Tony a 116cm last year from the same general area and said this one was definitely bigger than those, we estimated it to be somewhere near +120cm, we know where it lives and we will be back to try again.
Baits used were Pork, Beef, Chicken, Roo, Lamb, all cut in strips and all caught fish, we use circle hooks for jaw hookups and easier release, all fish released safely and we never keep any.
All in all a great few days away, back to detecting after work tomorrow and next week in Bendigo area then look forward to 2021.
