Hello everyone,
Ben and I left Newhaven boat ramp reasonably early ,

There were hardly any any other boats out ,
So parking was a sinch .

I have heard that this  week has been good for barrel Tuna around the Kilcunda area .
We had five minutes of chasing a squid at the moorings at Clealands.

Ben had seen on the internet that a few snapper were caught at the treacherous Punchbowl off the rocks yesterday,
So that was to be our first destination .

I thought at one stage early today that i should give up fishing .
My tangles like my last adventure were just on song and just constant and to be all day .

So we  head outside,

Conditions were rough and choppy and a fair to large swell.
So we arrive at the Punchbowl ,
its under my favourite house ,
and we were watching two fishermen fishing off the Punchbowl rock ledge ,
Its 

 crazy

A wave broke hard and it was easy to see just why so many people  actually drown there.

Its hard to see where the track comes down to the rock platform below comes off the cliff and it must be fairly steep,
because the cliff,
it’s pretty sheer .

We had a rock the boat fish here ,
We saw those guys get a nice sized fish and I’m not sure what it was but it looked like a black back salmon.

So we had anchored there  
At a safe distance,
We didn’t actually stay long .
The next bit is sort of comical, 

I have two gps units on board,
My old one has my marks in it and the new one doesn’t.
I had tried a new transducer on the old gps but it had a short lead so i moved it to the back of the boat facing the front.

So Ben had to drive  us to our first mark ,
and i was giving him directions looking at  my screen ,
but it look a few turns to work out how to do it because i sent him the wrong direction quite a few times .

It was our first lot of dolphins
A pair just
cruising around the boat .

We got to our first spot chasing after some big flathead
And we  both baited up fast snd in a race to get to the bottom ,
Because sometimes as soon as you hit it bottom ,
Bang ,
You are on.

It was quite rough.
We were the only vessel outside .
Until one other boat came by out in the afternoon.

I had brought with me a rod that i wanted to test ,
that i found i had it laying in Dylby Roo .
I banged on some braid onto an old reel  i found somewhere and
I said to Ben once I put it out how dumb a move that is .
What if the fish of a lifetime grabs hold of it and the reel just melts.

Ben said ,
good point.

So we are sitting there and bugger me dead my new rod bends in half and the reel clutch is screaming .

I thought as I grabbed the rod out of the rod holder,
Bloody big stingray.

I  was ready and   Bang
Bust off

Two seconds later the water 10 metres off the back of the boat just exploded,

A five foot Mako shark was heading for the sky,
Kicking his tail as he danced through the air

I was trying to turn my glasses on and i got a pick of his splash.
He surfaced again Ben was worried that he would land in the boat .
I was sort of hoping he did .
Mako shark is the  premium flake .

I have heard horrifying stories where Mako sharks have leapt  into peoples boats that are fishing and its disastrous
The big ones will destroy your boat ,in seconds.
So Ben had a valid point

I have had two encounters with the feared Mako shark in the past .

Back when i was 16 ,
and i was working on the deck out in Bass Straight of a shark fishing boat ,
We were hailing our gear and  a Mako came over the front roller ,
He was fresh , green and very lively,
He fell out of the net and onto the deck and he was angry,
Believe it or not
He made eye contact with me as he then charged me and he swam  really fast across the deck and he was straight at me  with his jaw opening and snapping completely shut  over and over again .
But at a timed rhythmic frenzy type of  bite .

This thing could easily sever a leg
They have three wicked rows  of incisor type teeth and they are absolutely ferocious predators.

Some people say that they are the wild dog of the sea , 
I tend to agree,
They are not for the fainthearted.
And as they have teeth wire trace is a necessity if you want to chase them .

So thats a bit of excitement ,
my adrenaline button was nearly pressed ,
I thought it was just awesome 

 .

So we head off to another hole ,
I think we caught around eight there,
There are also a lot of gurnard out there in amongst it ,

If you aren’t competent to remove  a gurnard from your hook safely ,
Just Cut off your line and dont even bring them on board , as one tinsy binsy  scratch or prick from them ,

And it would be hospital for most .
The pain is so intense and relentless.

So we started catching a few fatties and I’m so out of practice as my first one actually spiked me in the hand three times ,
Im sort of immune to the venom as i have had so much of it ,
But yes it still hurts.

If you get a flathead sting there is an antidote  to negate the sting.
You take another flathead and rub the slime off its belly directly on to the sting and relief will come reasonably quickly.
And the bleeding will slow.
Its a little bit messy but it does work as i tried it a few times in my yonger days.
Otherwise they will just sting  and hurt and bleed for ages .

So we caught a few more and i had by now ,
had a complete gutfull of our Laural and  Hardie  type of navigation system .

So i unplugged the rear gps and plugged it in up at the front again  ,
but with no mount .
So i had to drive one handed with the other holding the map  and we continued on .
But it worked better.

We only had a few more shifts before heading back inside.

So  its time to switch to over to the shallow type anchoring fishing instead of drifting out deep,
The depths out there vary alot and sometimes we are fishing in 50 metres deep.

It takes forever for your sinker to hit the bottom and you need to use hard baits ,
Because its a marathon to wind up so a tough bait ,
is essential .
Braid line is also a must as its no stretch,
where mono you  cant even see the bites  because of the  line stretch.
So we then headed over to the Foots for a go .
We anchored up in there  for five minutes
And then we headed for San Remo and towards Dockies Bay and when we picked our spot I realised then my bad
The anchor rope was still out ,
Bugger

I wound it in hopefully but no ,
Severed rope .
I was spewing.
But to be honest nearly everyone i know has done  this and  its easy to do after being out  drifting all day and just  stop  start , no anchor.

I did swear .

We ended up with a nice feed of flatties , 
and half a dozen garnered for the day.

So the fishing report for off Kilcunda is that this season is looking hot 

The water temp is around 18

Spring and nature is really inviting and looks like its really at its very best ,

Dolphins are in pairs .
Theres birds everywhere.
The flatties are there .

And theres my old mate the dog of the sea
So high in the air ,

He danced for me .

Cheers xxx
Curlyg