Fishing Report - Ladies Day Out

Yes – it was on again – our 2013 day of laughs, bubbles and trying for that elusive metre barra for the Ladies of Real Estate Central.

In the wee hours of Friday the 19th of April our skippers – Braden, Roxley, Vanders and Stewie collected their crews and set out for a quick pit stop at BP Palms at around 5am and then it was off for the drive to Shady Camp with the girls all fortified with coffees and breakfast.

Once at the hallowed grounds of Shady Camp, we watched as our skippers backed their boats into the water and then gingerly picked our way over the rocks and ungracefully hauled ourselves into our respective boats.

Just as an aside (unbeknownst to her Skipper Braden and her crew mates) before getting on her boat, Sarah was happily eating a banana – blissfully unaware of the unwritten mantra that no bananas can be taken on fishing trips. As her crew mate Kerri-Ann reflected they were fortunate that their boat didn’t sink as the banana rule had been broken!

• Braden had on board Rhianna, Sarah, Kerri-Ann and Anne
• Roxley had on board Amanda, Hollie and “Yours Truly”
• Stewie had the pleasure of the company of Abbey, Natalia and Allison
• And Vanders was more than happy with his crew of Nicole, Rachel and Bianca

Heading down the river towards the ocean was really something for the girls as it was just so far removed from the normal desk, computer and phone cacophony that greets us each morning at the office. At Shady Camp we sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the river vista and practiced bird watching and croc-spotting.

Once we hit the open seas we were amazed to encounter between 40 and 50 boats all trying to out-perform a mob of females.

A few of the girls enjoyed an early morning glass of bubbles to kick-start their metabolisms but most of us held off on the liquids knowing that the time would eventually come when we would be forced to take a tinkle off the back of a boat.

The bites were slow to start for everyone but it was just so gorgeous on the water that we decided not to start nagging our skippers about the lack of fishing action!

So as the fish weren’t eating we decided to make up for it by digging in to all the delicious treats everyone had prepared and brought on board their respective boats. The skippers really thought we had gone a bit overboard (pardon the pun) with the food but we decided that although we were dirty, hot and sweaty – there was no need to not enjoy ourselves and eat and drink to our hearts content.

Blokes on other boats weren’t having much luck either and we stopped and watched a guy battle with an apparently huge beast on the end of his line – but it ended up being a dirty big catfish and that seemed to be the theme of the day until right around lunchtime when Braden edged his trusty vessel back into the mouth of the creek and encouraged his motley crew to drop their lines over some snags where he knew the Barra were lurking and all of a sudden – “Bang” – Rhianna hooked a Barra in the 60s. Then it was action stations in that boat as Kerri-Ann also hooked a lovely little Barra and then Rhianna was able to catch another 2 beautiful Barra – WOW.

The catch of the day though went to Nicole Hore – our new broker in our LoanMarket division – who caught a huge 110cm Threadfin Salmon. Although Nicole has caught fish and especially Barra before – this was by far her biggest catch and she was absolutely stoked. Her skipper Vanders was also extremely pleased with himself although most of the girls weren’t pleased with him by the end of the day as he managed to tear his shorts early on and the rip was almost indecent by the end of our fishing trip!

The heat was beginning to take its toll just after lunch so Roxley’s boat with the gorgeous Hollie on board along with her lily white skin set the pace and headed for the boat ramp. We managed to help our skippers get their boats back on the trailers and all agreed to meet at The Bark Hut for a medicinal bevy before returning to the rat race!

A huge thanks to Braden, Roxley, Stewie and Vanders for being our skippers for the day and sharing their love of fishing with us. We had an awesome time and can’t wait till next year for our next Ladies Day Out.