All members who had confirmed got to Port Albert safely on Thursday evening. After cooking a nice simple dinner a strategy was planned for Friday's fishing and all went to bed nice and early for a change. On Friday morning myself and Steve Gusman got up for an early start as the wind was going to blow us off the water by lunch time. We headed out at smack bang on 6.00 am to greet a windless morning. By the time we got around to the Kate Kearney entrance we had full daylight, sun in our eyes but no wind. After having a good look at the way the bar was working we crossed with no repercussions.
The previous days wind had left it a little lumpy outside but lack of wind had us confident that it would settle a little. It was not to be as the wind did not drop off. It got stronger as the morning went on and we had to pull the anchor at 10.00 am. We were back at the lodge by 11.00 am. Luckily in that time we managed to catch a gummy of 9.90kg along with an array of other reef fish that were not eligible to weigh in.
Saturday was a total blow out with winds up to 50 knots recorded. Drink day. After checking the weather forecast out for the Sunday we decided on getting out early and again negotiating the bar at Kearney's. It was again pumping but reasonably easy to negotiate. We sat on the Mann's Reef mark for an assortment of Rays, parrot fish, 1 flathead of 650 grams, and a gummy of 4.75 kg. The wind was a mere 5 knots for the bulk of the morning resulting in seas that were reasonably flat.
Best baits for the Gummy shark was trevally and squid heads. And the flathead was caught on pilchard. A great weekend had by all concerned. Thank you to referee's and competitors.
John Costa