Back Up Plans

 

Back Up Plan #4 Pays Off

Plan 1. Fish the opening of the Snapper Season in South Australia after a 3 year closure / CANCELLED. After a three year closure, Chop, Gaaly, Damo and myself where ready to head to our old stomping ground of Port Broughton in SA to chase Jurassic sized snapper. 31^st January 2023 was our ETA until the SA Government extended the closure till 2026, meaning another 3 years of no take of snapper in our old stomping ground.

Plan 2. Fish Fowlers Bay, a 2 day drive west from home. Fowlers Bay is on the Great Aust Bight and we have put a few stories and miles of pictures of how this place fishes, its mind blowing. On this trip, Nick, Bill, Alex and I were set to leave on the 28^th of January until our mate and skipper sold his 8m boat and left us with no options but to find another holiday destination.

Plan 3. Fish Coffs Harbour as a fall back, so Nick, Bill, Alex and I set off in 2 boats for a week up in Coffs looking for an early Spanish Mackeral. After 3 days of slow trolling live and dead baits and heeding the advice of the locals and gun anglers like Matty we were still skinless in the Spanish stakes. A few Cobia and then a 5kg snapper on a Spanish bait saw us hit Plan 4…..

Plan 4 – Target Snapper. A bunch of fish later with only 1 under 5kg we called it a trip with the reds saving the day. No one will know how big the ones we could not stop were, but fish just shy of 7kg and 85cm were manageable and with a few Cobia and Pearlies in the chiller bag we headed back to Sydney all smiles.

All was not lost with 2 false starts and a Spanish drought for us, the backup plan to chase reds was spot on. 2023 summer holidays a winner.