Nice day at Jumpinpin...

[Peter4]

A good forecast and a light workload saw me ditch the office on Wednesday for a day of exploring the Pin with Kyle. We hadn't been there for a few years and we were interested to see whether or not any early season big lizards had shown up yet. An uneventful drive saw us hit the Cabbage Tree Point boat ramp around 6.00am and we launched next to Nigel Webster and the AFN crew who were filming a Jumpinpin special for their TV show.

We gently motored towards the Pin, stopping occasionally to throw lures at likely looking snags, banks or surface disturbances. We weren't expecting much in the way of fish as we were very unfamiliar with the area. Nevertheless we picked up the odd bream, tailor and small flathead amongst the many schools of hardyheads that were everywhere...

Just before lunch on the falling tide we decided to put ashore at South Stradbroke Island so Kyle could take a few pics of the beach and surrounding area. I am not into photography, so I picked up my bream outfit and started casting the sandy edge of a steep drop-off with a small hardbody minnow. After about 10 casts I was about to lift the lure out of the water when a big lizard charged out of the deep and engulfed the lure right at my feet. It was an awesome visual spectacle!

Problem was that I was using 6lb braid and 15lb leader, the boat was 100m away and I had no net, lip grips or other equipment. I yelled out to Kyle but he was too far away to hear me. A couple of boats (including the AFN crew) pulled up to watch the tussle. I was very much out-gunned. Drag was screaming and the 1-3kg rod had a serious bend in it! Luckily i was using a very loose drag and the beast eventually tired herself out and allowed me to beach her and pick her up. Kyle finally got the message and grabbed the bragmat where she went 66cm. A quick pic and she went back into the deep.

Funny how one good fish can make a nice morning an excellent one!

Cheers

Pete & Kyle