Shady Camp Trip

The trip started at 4am on the 28th March and apart from all the takeaways between Darwin & Shady being closed and so no bacon & egg sanga for brekkie it was an uneventful drive. Launched successfully and headed straight to the mouth of Sampan, arriving there at approx. 7am to find calm seas, clear skies and a conga line of about 20 boats stretching out a k or so from the mouth.



conga line on horizon



Joined the conga line and after just over an hour I had our first hookup, a nice little threadfin salmon for the esky, not a bad start to the day.

Back into the conga line for another 45 minutes when Shane got hit by a horse. A prolonged and tense fight ensured until she was finally in the net. Hallelujah, not only the first meterie for the boat but Shanes first as well, a beautiful big healthy girl of 106cm. While Shane sat down to stop shaking and recover I removed the lure and she was ready for photos and a successful release.

Once again it was back to the conga line and a couple of salmon caught by Shane, before he once again hooked and landed a nice barra. Despite Shane trying to fudge the measurement to get it below the boats max limit of 80cm, she was a nice chrome 83cm, so she was also returned to the sea.

Despite our best efforts and multiple lure changes it wasn't until around 6.30 pm when I finally had a hookup,

even though it wasn't a barra, it was still a nice size thready.

 Despite trolling until after dark, that was the last fish of the day.
Headed back into the mouth and anchored up for a very wet and uncomfortable night on the boat.
Up early and back into it just before first light as time this morning was limited and I wanted lures in the water as long as possible.

Still smiling

No matter what I did, I couldn't buy a barra this trip and to make matters worse , I managed to miss net a good size thready of Shanes. Eventually I had to admit defeat and we headed back to the Barrage to retrieve the boat and head home.

The Barrage

Well, even though I didn't catch any barra, let alone my meterie, it will go down as one of my best trips.
Assisting and just being there when a mate cracks the metre mark is a great thing to do and can only be beaten by your own first meterie. The run off is still to get into full swing and I will be out there again trying to find my elusive Big Girl.

Until next time, I wish all my fellow fisho's tight lines.