Exmouth Report 18-8
I headed over to Tantabiddi today doing the solo mission and was greeted by glorious conditions and an empty boat ramp (bout bloody time). As discussed on the site yesterday I really wanted a red emp and decided to head way south, a lot further than I'd ventured in the tinny before. Getting down to the Milyering Center and the 45m mark I did some drifts with little luck and very little showing on the sounder, but knew there'd have to be something close by as the ground looked good.
Didn't take long and I found some schooling fish, problem was sharks in the mid water and after loosing the first, I knew it wasn't going to be a casual pump and wind, but more a winch and hope. My rule is generally 2 fish lost to sharks then its time to move as once they're in, your just sacrificing fish.
After landing the first decent spangly I knew thats what the rest of the school was, but was still hoping there was the rogue red swimming through. I caught my bag limit of spangos and kept some of the smaller fish as I think they are much better eating than the big mommas. I released about 8 good 650mm fish, excellent fun in relatively shallow water thats for sure.
Realising I wasn't going to get anything else and a small hint of the south westerly starting to waft in I decided to troll back to some spots just north of S.passage. Within 10 minutes of having the lines out I had the trademark hit but not hookup on the right black soft oscar short corner and knew it was a sail. He continued to mow the lure and not having any luck he peeled off to the left pink grassy and smashed it and stayed connected for 10 seconds and then came back for a second attempt where he absolutely nailed it, a quick gun of the motor and booyah, it was on. He put on a great show and a quick 20 minutes later he was at the back of the boat for a few pics, probably the most well behaved sail I've caught and released at about 25kg.
After setting the spread and having a drink I set back into cruise mode awaiting the next action and that didn't take long either. A huge explosion and bill out of the water and quick 5 second zip on the drag saw a relatively good sized black marlin miss the hook. I wasn't too phased by this as I was still pretty spent from the first fish and assumed it wouldn't take long before encountering further action. Over the next hour I witnessed two wahoo come in and snip my soft grassy, one taking the hook and the other taking the plastic. (GRRR) Something else also came up on the black oscar but I couldn't really make it out, an unknown.
Arriving at the next spot I was greeted by large soundings of fish and immediate action, unfortunately only trevally. Moving to the other side of the rise I felt the typical suck down of a red and laid into him and got him off the bottom, YEEEES, only to endure the NOOOOO about 20 meters under the boat when the bloody hook bent to a 45 degree angle and off he swum. Apart from knowing the fight the red has, there was a scale left on the hook with a touch of red skin - just to prove that I was right. I was pretty devo after that and went around again, baited up beautifully, only to be sharked within seconds of touching the bottom. I decided that it wasn't worth re-rigging there and headed off on the troll again to the goldband spot.
A completely uneventful trip (mind you I was trolling probably a touch too quick as I wanted to get there) and with a small front heading in from the south I positioned myself over the goldband spot and with a strong northerly current and 10 knot south wester I was held in perfect position. With 3 drifts I landed my 3 goldband and left them biting as I had my bag limit and headed in.
All in all a great day and I enjoyed rubbing it in to the missus when I got back to the ramp and she checked my catch! :))
Cheers,
Adam
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damo6230
Posts: 2029
Date Joined: 07/06/08
yeh rub it in.....
nice work Adam
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
Do you find plastic coated
Do you find plastic coated wire in the skirt puts the Sails at all Adam?
I wonder how something like Zylon would go? Maybe some with mono-strand down the guts? Ok so the whoo stand a chance of chewing through but it must be somewhat harder for them? At least you hook up for a little longer :)
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wayneleech
Posts: 362
Date Joined: 27/06/08
nice report adam - nice bag
nice report adam - nice bag of fish too! mate - your a lucky bugger to be catching fish like that during the week!!
It's a bit off the topic though me and a mate may head up to Tantabiddi early next year. Last time I was up there we stayed at Yardie Homestead (launching at Tandi most days). This time we plan to do the same thing.
The only thing that concerns me with Tanta is that its not that protected and if the winds blow up fishing isn't really an option (well outside the passage). As we now have our dive tickets I was thinking that if the winds are crap we could still launch and do some diving on the inside of the reefs (perhaps the inside corners of the passage?). Do you think this would be a goer - or when the weather is crap does this usually wipe out most of the Tanta diving areas too?
Goodz
Posts: 2332
Date Joined: 20/07/09
Great report Adam! Good
Great report Adam! Good effort doing it all solo! Making us all jealous once again!
I've booked in a week at walpole for the 11th of Oct so stay tuned for the report.. I'll say hello to Bow Bridge for you :) Shooting down for a weekend in Albany mid sept too and hope to get over to blue holes for a night. Reading all these fishing reports and seeing photos is driving me crazy.
shabba
Posts: 484
Date Joined: 26/02/08
sounds like you had a great
sounds like you had a great day adam. the conditions looks awsome in them photos. a nice selection of fish as well. cant wait 2 get up there my self, 10 days & counting, bring it on........
Matt T
Posts: 875
Date Joined: 19/11/07
Awesome again Adam!
I'd love to catch a sailfish..one day! What type of lure did you get him on? A black oscar? What kind of lure is that, a hard body tuna type lure? Sorry still very green when it comes to the big fish mate....
mako magic
Posts: 5785
Date Joined: 03/08/05
top report and some nice
top report and some nice fish
matt t a soft black oscar (502/506)is one of the richter lures and is a skirted pusher style game lure, which looks like the pink one in the pics but black
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18058
Date Joined: 11/03/08
Yeah yeay yeah you done it
Yeah yeay yeah you done it again Adam. out on the water on your own, so how do we know these fish were from today with no witness :). seriously Ads you have a great location to fish whenever the weather is good well done
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
eddie
Posts: 303
Date Joined: 07/02/08
yeah thanks for the report
yeah thanks for the report adam....it was great reading that with the rain falling and the wind howling outside my window! i gotta get up there...
Ryan Thipthorp (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
Exxy!
The Richter lures do it again, awesome pushers!
A nice lit'l report Adam and some good bottom fish. The weather looks awesome up there atm.....mmmhhhhhh soon
Colin Hay
Posts: 10407
Date Joined: 23/10/07
Awesome report Adam and some great pics
Glad your day worked out almost how you would have hoped. I love days like that.
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Adam Gallash
Posts: 15652
Date Joined: 29/11/05
coated wire
I've never really used coated wire except when running the chrome head pushers, but that is next to never. Main reason I guess is that I don't really want to catch the wahoo, most of the time they are pretty spent by the time they get to the boat. Also really depends where they are hooked, coz stuffing around trying to release one in a small tinny isn't my idea of fun. Mind you, if it saves me losing a lure well, then its probably worth while, just not sure what sort of damage wire would do to the fish compared to relatively soft leader.
Wayne, your best off staying at the Lighthouse as you get the best of both sides of the cape. But yes you can still dive if the wind is blowing (depending how strong and what sort of tide). Those edges on the entrance are where all the dive boats drop their customers and are pretty cool, lots of moon wrasse and parrotys and all sorts of coloured fish. If you want to blue water spear you'd prob be fine out there, just gets a bit eerie with the chop I reckon.
Thanks for the comments guys, it was a most enjoyable day. Its another magic day out there today but I'm stuck at home with things to do, doh!
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sunshine
Posts: 2624
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Watch the tides and current
Used to dive that area a lot over ten years - the current can be real decieving even for the most experienced, we got swept away from our boat on one occasion and the observer had to single handedly pull the pick and come and get us as we were rapidly loosing ground. Brilliant diving, Cod the size of VW's were not unusual, painted, tropical and even the occasional red cray (down off Yardie)and a miriad of fish, shells and coral. Far far superior to the great barrier reef and far more accessible as well !
wayneleech
Posts: 362
Date Joined: 27/06/08
cheers for the reply adam -
cheers for the reply adam - good to get a local's opinion;) You too sunshine - thanks for your feedback!
mullows
Posts: 738
Date Joined: 25/12/08
Good read Adam and as always
Good read Adam and as always the pics are top notch! Great day out.
Cheers
Mullows
The Older I get the better I was :-)
Paul G
Posts: 5215
Date Joined: 12/12/07
Sounds like a great solo
Sounds like a great solo trip ,nice and relaxed .Nice looking sail i guess you have it down pact taken pics of fish by your self ,could be a real mission some days i bet. well done Adam
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Bluebonefamily
Posts: 218
Date Joined: 15/08/09
Those fish look great, some
Those fish look great, some really nice eating there. Good to see you had another excellent day on the water.
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