Sea Trials – Boiling Seas

So my brother Mark and I took the Porta Bote out again earlier in the month for the final trip of the year. This trip was to be in an area that I had lure fished a lot in the past from the shore. The intention was to cast lures close to the shore line, and along submerged structure.

As per usual, I had loaded the craft onto the car the previous night, and we rendezvoused at 0615 before making the 23km drive to the launch point. We arrived at 0650, and started our usual unloading with little chatter. Mark (having a fair bit of abseiling veterancy) undid the lashings, unloaded the roof racks, and setup the hull. On my part, I emptied the boot and carried stuff to the hull. A fair workout at such an early hour.

As we puttered away from shore, I glanced at my watch and…wow! 0719! Disbelief. We had gotten so slick and quick with the unloading and setup process that we were on the water in 29 minutes!

Of course, there were only 2 of us, and we didn’t bring the bimini top (can’t use it on a lure casting trip). Having 3 or 4 people means more seats and more rod holders to set up, while that bimini top is down right fiddly to set in place. Also, the Wheeleez took us effortlessly over hard, uneven areas followed by soft sand within a minute. With the normal dolly wheels, it would have been more like 15 minutes of struggling.

NAVAL ENGAGEMENT

The morning started quietly as we fished the sheltered inshore areas. When we got out to the seaward areas, that’s when the action picked up.

Yeah!

These guys could jump!

And Mark had his too.

Then around 1012, Mark hit a submerged “rock”. He flicked on it for a bit, then went “Hey, I think the lure’s stuck. Sorry man”

“Nah no worries. We’ll motor over to retrieve it.”

Before I could say another word, Mark’s rod doubled over, and the “rock” took off on a hot, searing run. Left. Doubled back. Hard dive.

Buuuuuuuurrrrrnn. Vvvvvvvvfffffff. Hard astern.

“The prop, Paul!”

I shove the outboard into idle to kill the prop, then froze as a massive, glittering beast roared clear of the water 3 feet off the starboard gunwale.

 

T  i  m  e

S  t  o  o  d

S  t  i  l  l

 

“Barracuda!” Mark roared.

And frozen in time, whilst still airborne, the beast headflicked, and  #$%@)!*& !!!! He had flung the lure right back into the Porta Bote, and smashed his way back over the drop off and into the depths.

Son of a *#(^@#&$^*!!!! Speechlessness.

Then there was speech. Much sailor vocabulary. Much soul searching. Much sailor vacabulary in 3 languages. Much animated discussion. Uncontrolled palpitation.

Name of the dog!

CHASING THE BOILING PACKS

Time passed. Around 1100, en route to another section of the shoreline, Mark saw a surface crash 50ft ahead to starboard quarter.

“Cast, Paul! Cast!”

Throttle off! Idle. Cast. BOIL! Go again.

SMASH!

Fell off! Crap! “Go, Mark!”

ffwickkkk…..pshh…. Mark cranks hard.

bloop…bloop…bloop…BOIL!

PHOOOM! Fish on!

A few minutes later, out came the Boga grip.

Yeah! That’s the way to run a sea trial!

For the next hour, under rapidly darkening skies and a rapid 2 foot chop, we chased the boiling pack. Those queenfish were everywhere!

The pursuit lasted for nearly an hour, with those rockets disappearing in and reappearing 200 meters away in 10 secounds. What shocking speed and power!

We shared a total of 8 hookups, but Mark landed the only queenie.

So I am like “well, you know, I’m just out here to for sea trials, so I wasn’t so prepared to catch anything…”

“Crap on, Bro. Crap on.”

Ten minutes later, “here’s another one for you, bro”.

Thoughtful man. Just thoughtful.

STABBED, BEATEN, MAULED

Later that evening, as I was clearing up, I realised how bad a mauling the Sasuke 98 Herculean had taken. What a beating!

Ever tried flattening the tail eyelet AND bending the nose eyelet of a hardened saltwater lure?

That beast had probably spent those 20 seconds of rocky silence flipping the lure around in his maw, chewing the eyes off and crunching the lure lengthwise in the process.

Yet another thoughtful character to make my day.

I also discovered a facebook video somebody had shot off a jetty a few kilometers west of our location. The online buzz was that a school of GT had visited the jetty. However, the time stamp of the video was only an hour after our encounter with the queenfish pack, and the surface splashing was exactly the same. I’m dead certain the pack had moved west, and given their speed, it was absolutely plausible for them to cover a few kilometers in an hour.

TECHNICAL LEARNINGS

(lest this blog strays too far from it’s technical nature into catch reports)

CRAFT LOGISTICS

Having clocked a 29 minute launch, I’ve personally concluded that a slick, speedy unloading, assembly, and launch comes down to the following factors:

1. Crew members
2. Process familiarity
3. Full process practice

Once can argue the importance of the individual factors, but they all come together eventually for a smooth, pleasant launch that puts you on the water faster.

PORTA BOTE MODS

The year started out with quality issues, safety concerns, and modification needs that I struggled with. Which added up to some unexpected cost and modification efforts.

Now with 10 trips over 40 hours on the water, I’m pretty clear in my head on what I would have and would not have done if I had to restart the whole of 2015. But that’s another story for the new year.

PORTA BOTE CHARACTERISTICS

Probably the biggest learning and “adjustment of expectations” for me was understanding what the Porta Bote really was. What’s portrayed on the manufacturer’s website is very accurate, but it is not the full picture. There are characteristics of the craft that I feel have not been adequately detailed, probably to the detriment of us owners.

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

So as the new year comes upon us in a few hours, I resolve for 2016 to provide highly detailed write ups on

1. Porta Bote characteristics (good, bad, ugly)
2. Porta Bote modifications (what I would do / not do if I had a chance to relive 2015)

Until then, fair winds and stay safe out there on the water.

Have a great 2016!

ps. I’m told nobody really believes stories of the big ones that got away. So I’ll be wearing a body camera for 2016. Makes things abit more errr….precise?

Go grab that beer! 😀