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Most of us have experienced bad days fishing
& must admit I have had more than my share with some bordering on near
disaster, with yesterdays, jaunt right up there with them. The weather has been abysmal with winds force seldom conducive to boating. So when a window of opportunity arose Vinnie & myself decided to grab it despite several factors being less than ideal ... namely :- The tide times where we had opted to go meant an ultra early launch, it was the morning after the general election as well as the daylight savings changeover meant one hours less sleep. So it was a 4 am wakeup with a 4 - 45 departure for a 5 - 30 launch. Arriving at the ramp it was darker than anticipated due to the lost hour compounded by a cloudy sky. Vinnie has been suffering from back pains so was decided would be best for him to be aboard for the launching, which at low tide in the dark where the ramp slope increases as well as slippery, was going to be a bit tricky. The first mishap occurred when the boat was flying off the trailer when the winch ratchet prematurely engaged halting the boat in mid flight & trapping the paul in the gears. Managed to free it with difficultly so set the boat on its' way again only to have the ratchet engage again but this time it broke off under the force. Nevertheless managed to launch, park the wagon, run the outboard then begin a slow trip down the river in the dark. Nearing the harbour water we decided best to anchor until there was enough light to be able to see the channel markers, rather than risk running aground on the banks on a falling tide. Vinnie decided he might as well drop a line whilst we were waiting to be rewarded not long after with a fish on. Well we thought it was a fish but turned out was an eel which was duly cut free & not long after we saw the nav lights from the oyster barge coming down the river. We were aware they would know their way even in the dark, so upped anchor asking if it was ok to follow them to which they kindly agreed so were safely on our way. All went well until the point we went in our separate directions & we were congratulating ourselves on being so fortuitous, particularly as we had come prepared to set the flounder net, drag for scallops, then maybe get oysters as well as fish. Vinnie says he told me 3 times that we were heading for shallow water, but unfortunately I did not hear what he was saying & unfortunately a short time after had gone aground on a mud bank. The tide was dropping so urgent action was required if we were to get afloat again & as in the past I have managed to haul the boat with the motor up into deeper water, therefore quickly decided to jump over the side to do likewise. This is where I almost found myself in serious trouble upon sinking up to my knees in the soft mud so as it was obvious there was no chance of moving the boat went to get back onboard only to find could not lift my feet even when holding onto the boat for when trying to lift one leg the weight increased on the other driving it even deeper so reckon I now know what it is like to be trapped in quick sand. Driven by the thought of still being stuck once the tide began to rise, desperately hauled on the boat whilst wriggling my feet with Vinnie assisting as best he could with his bad back & fortunately eventually got back in the boat, wet, muddy & exhausted minus my crocs (footwear) that remained buried deep in the mud. So there we were stranded on the mud with no option but to wait out the tides until afloat again, which we estimated would be two hours at least but in fact took longer seemed like an eternity. In fairness to myself would like to mention the depth sounder was playing up reading back & forth all sorts of depths, have just checked transducer to find it was pointing at 45 degrees upwards so hopefully that was the problem rather than the sounder having packed a sad.
When we finally got underway again decided best to give away any idea of setting the net given we had wasted so much time, plus setting / retrieving a net often fraught with problems & certainly did not net any more at that stage. We did however try hauling for scallops as the new season has only just opened & we were anxious to know how the beds were faring. We managed three & may have scored our limit had we decided to persevere but it is hard work so decided we would devote the rest of our time fishing. As it happens would have been better off trying for scallops as the fishing was the worst we had ever experienced on the Kaipara with only a few pitiful nibbles without hooking up apart from a small KY which was lost at the boat. It looked very much as if we were going to blank & had discussed facing the fact by calling it a day but changed our mind to changing our location once again for a final fish & Vinnie stated getting a few bites finally boating a well conditioned respectable size snapper, moreso than it appears to be in the pic. As for myself I remained fishless despite one hefty strike so was back to the
ramp & the prospect of a difficult retrieve considering the trailer
winch was now malfunctioning. As often happens after a bad day rather than be put off trying again, are usually determined to redeem yourself asap & so it is we are probably going out again Wednesday so am currently working on repairing the winch. |
Derek F wrote: Haha, good story Bazza, you certainly certainly deliver some of the most entertaining fishing trips available! |
bazza wrote:
Unfortunately you are correct Derek but reckon our ( memorable for the wrong reasons ) would top the list even against some notable competition. By the tide had dropped significantly when the pic was taken & when I went over the side there was probably 300 mm or more of water on top of the mud that I had sunk down to my knees in. So not a nice feeling to be firmly stuck & can but wonder if there is mud that you would sink even deeper in. Had I been on my own, or further away from the boat may well still be there albeit not breathing, so will have a healthy regard for mud from now on & test it first with an oar or suchlike. As far as I remember the time you & I had to haul the boat a km or more ( after I had swiped you with a slimy mackeral causing you to lose your $900 specs overboard ) into deeper water the bottom was reasonably firm so I was expecting this lot to be likewise. However on our trip I did incur oyster cuts to my feet also a couple of slices to my arm from whatever that I was oblivious to until back at the ramp & you asked where all the blood was coming from, then when I looked it then started to hurt. |
Steps wrote: Every cloud has a silver lining Baz.. Look on the bright side.. Everything that will go wrong this season has happened all on the one day.. Bad fishing , run aground , winch broke , transducer error... So all a postive outlook Put navionic on your cell phone or tablet.. u know where you are within 3 to 5ms and can keep previous routes/ tracks thru creeks channels on good days, just incase a bank has moved since last survey. Wish had a GPS back in the 60s/ early 70s on the manukau on those dark frosty fogy early morning starts... |
John_Ra wrote: Agree with Steps on navionics App Bazza,,, Was out with the bro inlaw on the Manukau when we got high & dry on a bank. Asked a Q on here & boom Navionics app was loaded on my phone brilliant it is too..... Time for a look over the boat & trailer for anymore "maintenance" jobs before your next venture.... Amazing how a bad back never stops one from going fishing huh lol But sore when it comes to launching & retrieving.... must be like selective hearing..... Hope your next trip is a great one Bazza, have heard the big boys starting to show up, go get em... |
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