2nd July 2021 40 Mile Beach

Wow this is the first time since I retired that I have been up before daylight, we wanted to make sure we were up at the right time to have enough water to launch, it was crisp and quite cool but the wind was reasonably gentle and the sunrise glorious.

Quick breakfast and head on out , when we got down too the beach Merv wanted me to back the boat in then go and park the truck, he said it was much easier for him to handle the boat in that situation than myself, I  was stoked it has been so long since I have been physically able to drive the truck it was a nice way to start the day.

We went out about 3 kms and tried for some bait, had enough in no time so we went to explore around an island that was another 5 kms away. When we got near the island we found there was lots of reefs about and shallow water, the reefs were not marked on the gps so it was keep a sharp lookout.

The water conditions weren't very good there was quite a big wind slop with a swell running a different direction, a bloody washing machine, the wind was forecast to drop later in the day.

We didn't stay near the island very long it was quite uncomfortable.

When we moved in a bit we drifted Merv got broken off twice, we did see mackerel chasing our fish as we pulled the up.

As the wind dropped we headed up the other end of the bay where a creek runs out, it is about 10 kms, the water was still very lumpy so we trolled up to be a little more comfortable, Merv caught a really nice mackerel.

When we got up to the creek area it was extremely shallow for a long way out and up along the coast down to 1.5 metres, very rocky in most parts as well, it wasn't any good for fishing so we headed back to our original area in about 8 metres.

We didn't catch anything else to keep so approximately 2 o'clock we came in, there were some nice little waves on the beach pushing the boat about so once again Merv got me to reverse the trailer in and  winch the boat while he held and controlled it, I  drove it out of the water but going back to camp Merv drove and I rode on the back, haven't done that for many years.

Mackerel for dinner with salad and another early night