Saturday, March 13, 2010

We left the island


We got to Flinders on 14 January, and now today, 13 March, we left the island for the first time. We had the most fantastic fishing trip out to catch flathead. Yes, the boats all around us caught more, some by a factor of 10, but we had a calm, cloudy day, so not too much sunburn, a calm sea, so no seasickness, and a wonderful view. There were small islands all round us, we landed on Kangaroo island, and had a look at some muttonbird chicks, and a small penguin.



But to me the best part of the day, was just being out on the sea, in a little "tinny" boat, catching some fish with a handline, (a new method of fishing for me!) and the good company. The chat between the boats, was fun, with one of the other boats even lending us some special tackle to we could catch more!

We have got 7 meals worth of flathead to eat, and had a really terrific morning, and seen the island from a whole new perspective! The mountains appear a lot higher from the sea.

8 comments:

  1. Was the penguin, evil? He's everywhere you know...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, even here we find him. But at least he was not a jackass!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's not a tinnie! It has superstructure!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It may have superstructure, but it certainly has no cushions! I did not realise how hard the seats were as we bounced over the waves until I sat on a wooden bench today.

    The seats were tin, it is therefore a "tinny"??

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely photos, Barbs.

    We have flathead catfish here in the States, are the ones you and Dave are catching related? I've caught them in tidal rivers here.

    http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/catfish/

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can take no responsibility for the photos at all, except to say I bought him the camera! Dave adds them to my posts later.

    No, our flathead are not the same shape, have a totally different dorsal fin, and I think are not related at all.

    And these flatheads were far from land, right out t-h-e-r-e.

    And they taste better than the South African freshwater catfish, and do not need to be 'freshed out'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's the reason I prefer flatheads to channel cat, the flatheads are predators, the rest of them (here) are scavengers, spending lots more time on the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Judging by the teeth, I would say our flaties were predators too! Luckily for me some of them flew off the hook as they got over the boat, (The first one hit the skipper in the chest, what a start to a days fishing!) and the rest the skipper removed from the hook for me, with a neat little wire device.

    ReplyDelete