A silver ghost rushed past the edge of the reef flicking up sand as its powerful tail swept the bottom like a broom. This fish was on the hunt, and out of the gloom something bright pink appeared, its scent was correct so it must be fine? Without a single question the morsel went down the hatch and that would be this fish’s final mistake.
On a particularly calm winter’s day I was enjoying some good weather, and just like you have read above fooled a rather large fish into eating a bright pink piece of crab scented bait. Fishbites, as they are known, catch a huge range of fish for me and today, my slow morning had been saved.
As per usual the lighter of my two set-ups had been taken, and I was losing line quickly. The reef looked like it might threaten to break my thin line which was being torn right across it.
To my surprise the fish angled up and opted to try and slacken the line to remove the hook, but I speedily caught on, winding up to meet the fish as it rose to mid water.
After more thumping tail kicks and a couple more headshakes, it was off again this time off to my left, threatening to wrap up in my second rig. This fish was all over the place!
As I got a small resemblance of control, I got a glimpse of the fish, it’s a big trevally, awesome! No wait, it’s got a huge band behind its head! It’s a massive warehou!
I scrambled to grab my net as the now unmasked blue warehou took off in disgust at seeing who was bothering its day. More line was ripped off the reel and plenty more of those strong tail beats kept me on my toes.
Rising to just below the kayak, the fish started a broad circle, trying every trick in the book to get the hook out, but the fight was over and I eventually slid the net under a very hefty, blue warehou.
I got hold of the fish and was quickly covered in the thick slime that the warehou species produce. The slime bath didn’t bother me too much however, as this fish pulled the scales down to over 4.2kg. It destroyed my personal best and saved the slow morning I was having all at once.
After cleaning some of the slime off my hands and the large amount across my lifejacket, the tasty warehou was dispatched and was chilled down quickly. I was looking forward to eating one in such great condition.
Moments like this always remind me of those times where if I wasn’t out there trying, I’d have never caught half of the fish I have ticked off my list so far.
