I’m a strange person, if I don’t use something I tend to want it sold! It’s been on the back of my mind for a while now to let the jeski go as I rarely use it. Yesterday however my sense of adrenaline and enjoyment returned as I took it out to Moreton Bay.
Initially I had two options, either go to 4 Beacons or head off Southport to Mermaid Reef. I chose the first option 🙂 Having not taken the jetski out for a while it took me two days of prep; from jump starters, extra fuel, anchors, PLB, epirb etc to a block of pilles. I however persisted and found myself at the ramp at 7:30am the next morning. Weather was perfect as had been predicted 10knot winds and 0.5m swells for the whole day! That was a very rare occurrence.

I didn’t mess around, full throttle to 4 Beacons straight from the ramp. It took a bit longer than expected as I had overloaded the fishski esky. I had my 15kg anchor in there resulting in a heavier back end. This caused the ski to jump almost every little wave. I didn’t have that problem on the way back in though …. I lost the anchor 🤣🤣🫣

On arriving at 4 Beacons I dropped my anchor and tied it off to a fender, then from the fender I tied it to my jetski via a carabiner clip. This allowed me to unclip and chase any big fish if I was to hook one, after the fight I would easily come back and hook back up. This technique worked perfectly as within 5mins of dropping anchor I was on! Hooking a moderate size fish on a slug. Unhooking the carabiner I gave chase. This also allowed me to drift away from the beacon which was a magnet for big predatory sharks. It turned out to be an above average sized mac tuna. 2nd fish was almost the same but slightly smaller. Unfortunately for me after this I lost the achor due to a dodgy knot 🤣🤣🤦‍♂️

The rest of the day was painful. Without an anchor I was forced to drive up current then drift past. I did this for half of the day but eventually when no one was around I tied up to conserve battery. I knew if I kept doing that I’d risk getting a flat battery. When a lot of people turned up I’d untied and drifted with them.

I stayed put at 4 beacons to almost 3pm. Lost a whole heap of big fish; many to bust off, pulled hooks as well as the dreaded taxman. I only managed 2 mackerel for the trip, one was at measured mile, the other at 4 beacons. Unfortunately the 4 beacon mackerel only came in with a head intact🤣🤣

Finished up 4:30pm and headed back in. Conditions were almost glassed out 🙂