Brooklyn, New South Wales

What not to do when boating - tie your rope to sand. When the captain came back I had to help him to his drifting boat.

Y'day catch in very hot temp at 43.6°C (110.48°F). Just the one then gave up, too hot to breathe in...under A/C is where i want to be after a col shower.

With late sleeps and early rises, the interclub competition started off with preparations of gear ready for the first day. Checking fishing reels (cleaned and oiled), rods (guide rings and reel clamps), main line (wear and abrasions) and leaders (make more).  The day before, bait bought fresh and chilled. One boat rod had a broken guide ring so had to replace it by buying a new rod while it was getting repaired. Had a deep sea rod, been meaning to try out; tried it and result - rod was great but the overcast reel, the time it took to reel in was a mission - not buying any more of these. The amount of effort exerted on these to bring in the line was tiresome. At 45m drop, my winding arm was sore and weak. Packed it up quickly as I had a long day ahead and no time wasting on reel that are not beneficial to me in this competition. The day has arrived, ready to fish, 3am rise from 10:30pm sleep with adrenal hormones still racing through me (am I going to suffer). First day trip was great, raced out to get live bait...got them and off to deeper waters. With 200hp strapped to the end of the boat, at top speed, travelling across the waters was swift and a blast. At location and the fishing begins. Lots of bites with hook up to many undersized flatheads. Location after location, scoring points was becoming harder and harder as the hours went by. I had one on line but lost it as the image would suggest something big that bent the 15-24kg rod quite far. Had to play it easy in fear it would snap in half! Conclusion to Day One (1): one mate onboard got the biggest flathead for our team, another second biggest and I got the biggest whiting. All of us got points. I on the other hand caught additional fish, the largest, a leather jacket, pig fish (x2). Back to base to clean up, prep gear and add new line where needed and make more leaders. Day Two (2): Another early rise but with kid in tow...an additional 15mins allowable time (and less sleep for me) unless your kids is super keen and is up before you and hurrying you along, very rare. Anyhow, out at the ramp, all geared up and out we go. Slight change in plans, anchored, dropped lines and within 35mins...fish on. Daughter Xin grabs rod, reels in, fighting the fish and against the out going tide. After a 5mins struggle, with the help of the capt, in the net. PB of a 61cm flathead. At the same time, my line was tangled by hers. Spent at least 15mins sorting the daughter's line, measuring, and photo shoots, attended to mine not realizing I had one hooked! Carefully reeled in to ensure the line is not tangled under the motor. Got it in the boat! Bet the first catch by 2cm (63.75cm); daughter was not happy however in justification she caught her PB to date; she was happy with that. Remainder of the day was quite. The girls did their thing; chat while we men fish. Other fishos catching small if not none at all on the day. In all, we caught flatheads, scorpion fish, bream, an eel that knotted so tight it strangled itself and baby jews. Competition ended and father and daughter took out the biggest (flathead) and best catches. Our club (Castle Hill RSL Fishing Club) won the club competition. In conclusion, a great but tiring weekend of fishing fun!🤠👍

Catch and release to fight another day.