A case of being at the right place at the right time

With the spring tailor run in full swing a few Fishwrecked members decided to head to a known big tailor haunt north of the river.

Matt (Mako) and I had done all our chores so we decided to arrive at "the spot" at around 4pm to ensure we grabbed a possie for ourselves as it can get pretty overpopulated with anglers later in the evening.

When we arrived we noted that there were a few fisherman type vehicles in the carpark and were a little nervous that the best spots were already gone. Happily when we popped our heads over the dunes they were all fishing on the beach and the rocks were unmanned.

Watching the water for a few minutes it was easy to see why. The sea was fairly high and a bit of a swell was leading to waves smashing over the rocks. It can be a bit daunting if you aren't an experienced rock fisherperson and you don't have
the right footwear to head out where you know the waves are going to be hitting you pretty hard - and that was probably why the other anglers were battling the weed on the beach.

Thankfully Matt and I were well prepared with quality rock boots and were soon out in the best spot.

As most tailor chasers know, the prime time for these fish is sunrise and sunset - and recent experiences at this spot suggested that we might have a few hours before the fish came on the bite.

So it was a pleasant surprise to have my first bait smashed as soon as it hit the water, Matt quickly had his 12 foot Xzoga rod and Twinpower reel in action and he too got hit straight away.

I think we managed five fish in five casts - and they were all 40 cm plus, with a couple well over 45 cm.

Things then went quiet and we caught another five or so fish in about six casts. This was tailor fishing action at its best.

Matt and I were looking at each other and thinking - this is incredible - we are going to catch our bag limits before the other guys get here.

So we then decided it was time to start using a bit of catch and release - only keeping the really solid fish.

In the meantime, you could see the looks of envy on the faces of the fisherman who were only 30 or so metres away on the beach and whose only catches were large pieces of weed.

The fishing action continued and our bucket started to fill right up. There were some quite periods where the fish moved off, but generally that only lasted for about five minutes.

Eventually, Uncle Stu and Ragbag arrived and set about trying their luck. Although the fishing slowed right down at about that time Stu was able to pick up a few nice tailor and Ragbag (Dave) sent out some big baits hoping to snare a Mulloway or a shark.

I spotted Spess and a mate of his walking up the beach with their rods shortly afterwards and invited them to join us for a fish. They said that not knowing who we were, they had been cursing us for grabbing the best spots and catching so many fish while they had been battling the large clumps of weed on the beach.

Blake finally arrived after work and he was pretty keen to get into the action himself. By this time Mako and I had bagged out and were freezing cold and soaking wet so Mako gave Blake his rod and reel and I gave Spess my Moonraker and Saltist spinning reel combo and they proceeded to get stuck into the tailor themselves.

The action started to pick up again and there were a few double and triple hook-ups and plenty of happy anglers on the rocks.

Big Dave decided it was time to pull out the big weapons - a three piece Lumis Sharkey he had imported from South Africa. He rocketed a tailor head out and it wasn't long before he was hooked into something massive.

With the sun setting it was time for us to clean the fish while Dave continued to battle the monster from the deep. It was a fierce battle and Dave had to manoeuvre the fish over to the beach side of the rocks.

He had the thing beaten and was just just bringing it into shore when tragedy struck and his rod gave away - surprisingly right down near the butt. The snapping of the caused Dave's reel to come back and smash him in the jaw. It also helped the big fish escape.

Apart from that disappointing end, it was an incredible evening and I am sure we will remember it for sometime.

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well written Colin, you guys

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:17

well written Colin, you guys had a great session on the tailor, pitty about Daves huge whatever it was, i wouldnt be happy about the rod let alone getting smashed in the jaw adding insult to injury. well done on all the fish guys

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Thanks Russ and Sandy

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:20

We will have to drag you away from work and get you in some rock boots and get you up there.
I can see Sandy now in some big metal studded boots.

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the only night we can escape

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:23

the only night we can escape is a monday night and i dont think Sandy would be into rock fishing but you never know,

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mako magic's picture

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tell her to get her ass up

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:24

tell her to get her ass up there and get into them

Faulkner Family's picture

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i will let you tell her that

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:34

i will let you tell her that Matt, i can ask her but 

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jay_burgess's picture

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Nice report, like the pic of

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:21

Nice report, like the pic of the rod bending. What do you think the monster was, big mulloway?

Colin Hay's picture

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Thanks Jay

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:25

It was a massive black stingray. There is one or two that hang around there.

Dave is involved in an international competition where monster landbased captures are tallied up and he was a bit disappointed to lose that fish as it was well over car bonnet size.

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Solid session

Sun, 2009-11-15 10:32

Well done guys. Good to see some old fashioned grit and perseverance (with the cold water) pay off.

What's your favourite way to cook fresh tailor Colin?

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Hi BJ

Sun, 2009-11-15 14:16

I have gotten a bit slack lately and I just put a couple of slices on each side of a beheaded, gutted and scaled tailor. Then I put a bit of soy sauce and lemon grass on each side and put it in the bake.

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definately a good evening,

Sun, 2009-11-15 12:37

definately a good evening, thanks for the invite.

Bluebonefamily's picture

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Great report Colin.  Looks

Sun, 2009-11-15 12:45

Great report Colin.  Looks like you all had a good session with the tailor.  Shame about Dave's rod and then to flick back and whack him that is just really unlucky. 

I am not sure that rock fishing is for us yet.   The kids' casting needs a bit more practice and I can just picture them following the line right over into the waterSurprised

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Colin Hay's picture

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Hi guys There are times and places where you could

Sun, 2009-11-15 14:18

take the youngsters fishing from the rocks. The place we fished was too rough for the inexperienced yesterday, but two days earlier it might have been ok for the kids.

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Top report Colin

Sun, 2009-11-15 12:50

Glad to see you boys cleaned up on the Tailor..

sherbert's picture

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Ratbag fishing with a girl type of fishing rod

Sun, 2009-11-15 13:03

Sorry ragbag, I got it wrong again

Hows the jaw m8, Its like geting hit by a welshman

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sherbs

Sun, 2009-11-15 16:46

the jaw is good mate ....... the rod on the other hand is not so well , its my shark rod rated at 9 oz and has a shit load of backbone , pulled the sh@t out of that ray  and had it in the surf in record time , iv landed more than a few fish(sharks)over a 100kg mark with the same rod i have in SA - bad blank possibly - hairline crack ? never seen a rod break there before its were the winch go's up into the blank ....... the rest is still good might fix it 

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The rod he was using yesterday would have eaten

Sun, 2009-11-15 14:19

our rods and spat them out Sherbs. It was a beast - and I could see why he was a bit upset by what happened.

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sounds like a wicked session

Sun, 2009-11-15 17:31

sounds like a wicked session guys

 

love ya work

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Crackin Read Col!

Sun, 2009-11-15 18:08

Well done guys - for the effort and result - some very nice tailor there - damn shame about the rod! Ouch!

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Excellent report Colin

Sun, 2009-11-15 18:41

Good session, good report.  And I can read it without having to interpret the "text speak" used by a lot of posters!  Real words and full stops too - I love it!!

 

Pete

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great stuff mate i wish i

Sun, 2009-11-15 19:49

great stuff mate i wish i could get into some tailor.

this skool holidays hopefully

cheers danno

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They're out there Danno

Sun, 2009-11-15 20:44

You just have to put in a bit of time early in the mornings (and I mean getting there an hour before sunrise) or in the evenings and you will find them.
The next month should be running hot.

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yer i need to go to my spot

Sun, 2009-11-15 20:49

yer i need to go to my spot soon and try for them.

cheers danno

Colin Hay's picture

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I hear someone went back to that spot this arvo and

Sun, 2009-11-15 20:49

cleaned up again. Some nice fish in that bag Mako.

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I might hit the spot tomorrow

Sun, 2009-11-15 20:51

At around 4am And see whats still there after you boys hit it hard

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mako magic's picture

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stay in bed mate

Sun, 2009-11-15 21:42

none left, we caught them all last night

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Na-a

Tue, 2009-11-17 09:23

Missed a few ;)

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There will be plenty left for you mate

Sun, 2009-11-15 21:00

Apparantly Mako was the only one who did much good there tonight.

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Love a few nice fresh tailor

Sun, 2009-11-15 21:48

Love a few nice fresh tailor fillets, floured and gently pan fried and a squeeze of lemon juice, very hard to toss.

Cheers
Dale

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great report colin well done

Mon, 2009-11-16 17:49

great report colin well done on a great session.

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Colin Hay's picture

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Thanks Roger

Mon, 2009-11-16 20:30

Fishing sessions like that are what we all dream about. Hopefully there will be a few more before the summer choppers move in.

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What size of braid are you

Mon, 2009-11-16 22:03

What size of braid are you using for Tailors? I just came back from N. molo. There were few around I thought that it would be fun on light gear, but my 8lb braid gave up twice as the fish hit the bait. So I was spewing, finally got in them and this… Do tailors hit so hard?

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personaly i was running 15lb

Mon, 2009-11-16 22:05

personaly i was running 15lb mono on a 6000fb twinpower, braid wise i think colin was using 30lb but i may be wrong

Colin Hay's picture

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I use 20 lb braid - Bionic - it's pink, but its good.

Tue, 2009-11-17 06:34

and normally a 40lb leader from the rocks. I upgraded to 60lb last weekend because of the amount of weed that was cutting on the line and the sharp rocks where we were fishing.

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I dont think the 8lb braid is the issue

Mon, 2009-11-16 22:06

what pound leader?

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I had first gang on a steel

Mon, 2009-11-16 22:11

I had first gang on a steel trace with 4/0 hooks. Not sure if it was a tailor what took it and the second gang on 40lb wire.

Colin Hay's picture

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You shouldn't have been bitten off with wire trace

Tue, 2009-11-17 06:35

Was your braid touching the rocks at all? Maybe it had a nick in it.

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That’s what I thought as

Tue, 2009-11-17 09:40

That’s what I thought as well, that I should be fine. I managed to climb quite low so no rocks in the way. The rod didn’t even bent or something. Even with slightly loose drag, the line went just “ping”. Probably time to spend some money on heavier braid or go back to mono. Thanks for advice.

Colin Hay's picture

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Sometimes the tailor will attack the wire traces if they are

Tue, 2009-11-17 11:20

being moved through the water and sometimes they hit the line above it. They will also go the bubble trail from a swivel.

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It would actually explain a

Tue, 2009-11-17 11:37

It would actually explain a lot. They have sharp teeth, little buggers. I must be the expert on being snapped, bitten off and snagged. Even from Tailors now, not just from weird monsters.Yell

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I don't use wire traces for tailor. I think thye cause more

Tue, 2009-11-17 12:04

problems than they solve. A good, strong, mono leader is all you need.

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I used 40lb mono

Wed, 2009-11-18 09:10

And 20lb braid main line ,And four gangs with the last gang hanging off the back of the bait

So when the tailor bites the tail of the bait he's hooked stright away

steve

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why not use slightly heavier

Sun, 2009-11-22 11:38

why not use slightly heavier mono leader and small circle hooks?