Here We Go Again - Chapter 11 - Hervey Bay Day 4

Time was the one thing we had kless in abundance last time we tripperd astound the Island that is Oz, this time it is different. Although there are time constraints relating to bookings they are because “everyone” is travelling in rather than out of Oz due to Covid.

Today we are lazing. In the previous trip we would have been on our bikes and off this morning, this time, we are allowing a “recovery” day. The only thing on my Plan today is to fish the legendary pier. This I am aiming for high tide which today is 5.00pm

Robyn has arranged for a video chat with a number of food manufacturers, scheduled for noon, but has a preliminary call with the organiser of the Group early to sort out the finer details of the presentation. I make use of the early morning light to shoot some videos. I set the tripod up on the steps leading down to the beach and rolled off 3 videos. One I am going to use on the landing page of an upcoming webinar Shuan and I are delivering, one as a direct advertisement for the webinar and the other a general discussion around how a trip around Oz can be the reason you might want to invest for the future.

Quickly shot the videos are uploaded for Pearl to do her magic. She will edit the start and the finish (it takes me some time to get in and out of “position” and start and stop the recording), border the advertising ones and add what we call an outro to each. A small animated stretch of our logo set to music.

My part of the video production, the shooting takes all of 30 minutes. My videographer son Justin would be mortified. His attention to detail would have seen the video scripted, lines learnt and several takes shot to ensure the perfection of the output. Me, I get in front of the camera with an idea and just talk. A mentor of mine quips often “Progress is better than perfection” and for us, it means getting material “out there”. Any quirkiness in the roughness of the production gives us much more authenticity in my (and my mentors) view.

Having said that, there is “method to the madness” and this is not all coming from my mind. Every Friday, today being no different, I tune into a workshop with Sohan Gorkan and Vas Bes from Epic Wealth Academy. Their lot in life is to bring awareness of the power of video in marketing. Today I am on the recording initially on my own so I have one on one time with them discussing the direction within the marketing I am taking. They give ideas on how I can enhance and monetise some of my initiatives. Things I had not considered. All in the back pocket for later.

The workshop done, it’s time to deal with things around the van, clean up for Robyn to have her presentation and start getting ready for the fishing. Having said that, it is only 11.00am. Silver Leader is plotting the next few days. 

Bundaberg will be Saturday. Forbsy is very keen to do the Bundaberg Rum Distillery Tour and has booked us in for the 2.00pm tour. Probably only an hour and a half away, there will be no stress about getting out and getting there in time. Monday night and Tuesday night we are slotting for Gladstone and the home of the Parnaby’s. Well some of them. Bruce, the “Talking Bum” and his lovely wife Sonya certainly do. Gladstone is the port used by the charter boats heading to Swains Reef, a trip I have done a number of times. Everytime I have ventured to Gladstone, Bruce has dropped everything, picked us up and ferried us to the Kanimbla. One time due to an issue at the terminal he even took us in for the day as we waited for the next plane we had been shunted to.

That’s what family do. It’s not possible to go past Gladstone and not drop in and spend some quality time.

For now, there is shopping to be done. Necessities like milk and bread are low and as luck would have it there is a Foodworks within walking distance of the van. Robyn’s session is now finished and she has imparted huge amounts of knowledge on them, too much if the normal activity has occurred. She is in the business of selling training courses, but what good is it having a training course when you give away all the IP in workshops like this I ask.

Mine not to reason why.

Foodworks is small, but it does have all we need. The owner is changing over the pineapples. He stops for a moment to suggest a new load has come in and he is taking out the older ones which can become a bit stringy as they age. We relieve him of one of the new ones for the van. It will be a great adjunct to cheese and bikkies sessions. IN their meat section they seem to be having a 50% off sale of what appears to be good quality meat. Checking the dates on the packaging doesn’t suggest an issue so we buy a bag of fillet steaks for a try.

Somehow some Top Deck chocolate manages to fall into the basket. No idea how it could have gotten there do I?? 

A few other odds and ends and we are done. We pay and head back. Pack the food away, then realise as I go to cut up what we thought was a blob of fillet, the package we bought was actually 4 steaks. I part, cryovac 2 and leave the others for dinner.

Sorry I cant wait. I need to be fishing. I gather up Robyn and head to the pier. I need to get a couple of fishing provisions first so we park closer to the tackle shop than the pier. I ask the proprietor about the best options. We settle on a float, a herring jig and some balloons, along with a small pack of very large pichards.

Robyn has been sitting in the park in the sun reading whilst this was going on. I return to the Cruiser, grab the 2 rods and my backpack, along with my jacket and we head out onto the pier. 

The things you see when you don’t have a shotgun!! Not 2 steps onto the pier and the laconic figure of the Forbsy is walking towards us. We thought he was off meeting a mate for a beer but unfortunately that was cancelled and he decided to “go for a walk”. He suggests that other than one guy right at the end of the pier we could pick a spot here at the start or anywhere in between and do as good as anyone else he had seen. Not phased by the comment we head off for the entire experience.

There are lots of fishermen trying their best to catch a meal. The contraptions I had seen yesterday are strewn all along the 800 metre pier. Someone has had the great idea to bolt rod holders to the uprights all along the pier. A great idea.

I come to a spot some 30 metres from the end (there are too many people at the end just now) and proceed to rig up. I am going with a gang hook under a float, baited with a whole pilchard on one and a simple hook and a half pilchard on the other.

Hurled into the ocean and the rods secured in the aforesaid rod holders, I wait. A fisherman not far away is into a fish. A big bream ends up on the pier. It’s one of 4 he has caught so far, impressive fish for sure. 

There is a young dolphin, a terrorist according to some of the fisherman around me, taking any live baits that are available. Given I have 2 frozen pilchards in the water he should leave me alone.

A bite on the half pichard. Another and another. I spring into action and bring to the pier a small Mado, a fish at home that would be cursed and returned to the depths, here it will be used as live bait. I retrieve the ganged pilchard and return the rig to the water with the Mado attached. The smaller rig is returned as well.

Success and early in the afternoon. Things are looking promising.

Oh no the dolphin circles and the float disappears. There is merriment from my fellow fishers as I strike the rod and play with the monster of the deep for a few moments before the line slackens and I retrieve the entire rig, baitless. Well that was fun while it lasted.

Back to the frozen bait and I catch another Mado. The same procedure produces the same result – an Einstein moment really. This time the dolphin releases the hooks much later and the “fight”, one sided as it was, lasts much longer but ends in the same result. At least I am not having to re-reig.

The sun is going down and many of the fishermen are leaving. This give me the opportunity to move right to the end. The changing tide has seen the drift of the float change and being on the end of the pier will allow it to drift out to sea rather than tangle around the pier. Silver Leader and Rose have arrive, gearless, just out for the walk.

Now on the end of the pier, I can hurl the lighter rig well out. Bites come almost immediately and I am soon into something. In the fading light it looks like the dreaded Sergeant Baker, but on the pier it is identified as a “Poor Mans Whiting” or Mother in Law Fish. Not much on the earring and not even good bait for the float. It goes back

Hurling another half pilchard into the briony depths and the attack is on again. The strike produces a fight much different to the previous one. There is determination here. When finally beached, I have a small squire (or snapper). No thats a turn up for the books.

At home we use these as live bait for Jewfish so I quickly suggest to Silver Leader who is now monitoring the float rig, we should do the same. He wonders whether the fish is too big and will pull the float under on its own but I suggest otherwise.

I am right in my determination and the float is madly  bouncing around on the surface momentarily. It doesn’t take long for the terrorist to resurface, having been missing for quite some time and circling the float. The squire is obviously agitated, the float is bobbling around significantly, then all of a sudden, disappears.

Silver Leader springs into action and strikes but to no avail. He checks the bait and the squire remains. It is returned to the water. Within moments the float is gone again and thiis time the strike appears to have set the hook. The fight begins. Silver Leader winces at the strength of the terrorist as it pulls the line here and there until finally the hook releases.

Job done, we hooked something massive off the pier. Not the outcome we had envisaged but we came and we caught. The sunset from here was another amazing photo opportunity. The reds, greys and oranges, heaped together in picturesque disorder make for a fitting good bye to the sun for the day.

Time to go home and dine. Not fish, but the fillet steaks we have in the fridge. Always good to have a back up plan.

Robyn decides it’s her time to cook and because Silver Leader and Rose, the normal Miguel BBQ legends are going out, we are cooking in and “mistakenly” on the stove. Of course pandemonium breaks loose when the smoke alarms go off at the smell of the meat and the smoke generated on the pan.  But we return to the status quo quickly with the opening of all the windows. Enjoy what is an amazing piece of meat – glad we made that mistake at Foodworks, recline watching some TV and head to bed.

Tomorrow we leave Hervey Bay with many memories of the stay