On the weekend I went fishing on the bay as part of a surprise birthday party. I think the surprise was pretty well kept except for the last half an hour when one of the guests pretty much walked right past the birthday boy as he was having coffee. Fortunately Sandy didn't see them and the surprise was kept in tact until he reached the boat.
The weather forecast was sounding pretty good and as we headed out from the St Kilda pier it looked like it was going to be clear with light winds. The last time I went on a fishing trip I spent at least half of the trip lying down horizontal in the cabin feeling absolutely terrible. I faired some what better this time around.
After about half an hour or so the skipper dropped the anchor and the fishing started. With 15 lines out in the water I was expecting some action fairly earlier. How wrong was I. We had all comfortably had lunch before yours truly landed the first fish of the day, a 2.5kg snapper. Not long after that the birthday boy landed a 3kg snapper, very appropriate. Next was Nick with a 2kg snapper followed by the most modest of us all, Uncle Cootsie with a 2kg snapper.
By now the sun had come out and you couldn't have asked for better fishing conditions. From the same spot on the boat I landed another snapper this time around the 4kg mark. So far, everyone that had caught a fish had worked on the same IT project some years ago. That statistic would not change. Uncle cootsie managed to land another decent size snapper somewhere between 3 and 4 kg just before the anchor went up and we headed home.
After giving the smaller one away I had one decent size snapper to cook for dinner. I decided to smoke it on the webber with a few herbs and spices. On late notice I managed to get a couple of friends to come over to help me eat it all. As well as the fish I made a potato and mint salad as well as a chick pea salad. I cooked the fish for just a tad too long which is a lessened learned for next time. The salads however got top marks.
All in all it was a great day and a great dinner.
The weather forecast was sounding pretty good and as we headed out from the St Kilda pier it looked like it was going to be clear with light winds. The last time I went on a fishing trip I spent at least half of the trip lying down horizontal in the cabin feeling absolutely terrible. I faired some what better this time around.
After about half an hour or so the skipper dropped the anchor and the fishing started. With 15 lines out in the water I was expecting some action fairly earlier. How wrong was I. We had all comfortably had lunch before yours truly landed the first fish of the day, a 2.5kg snapper. Not long after that the birthday boy landed a 3kg snapper, very appropriate. Next was Nick with a 2kg snapper followed by the most modest of us all, Uncle Cootsie with a 2kg snapper.
By now the sun had come out and you couldn't have asked for better fishing conditions. From the same spot on the boat I landed another snapper this time around the 4kg mark. So far, everyone that had caught a fish had worked on the same IT project some years ago. That statistic would not change. Uncle cootsie managed to land another decent size snapper somewhere between 3 and 4 kg just before the anchor went up and we headed home.
After giving the smaller one away I had one decent size snapper to cook for dinner. I decided to smoke it on the webber with a few herbs and spices. On late notice I managed to get a couple of friends to come over to help me eat it all. As well as the fish I made a potato and mint salad as well as a chick pea salad. I cooked the fish for just a tad too long which is a lessened learned for next time. The salads however got top marks.
All in all it was a great day and a great dinner.
