First trip to the FADs

Glen had previously invited me to fish the FADs, an opportunity that I had to reluctantly decline.  I was not going to decline a second invite and even though the swell was up, I gladly accepted.

 

We launched before first light from Mindarie and after navigating a rather tricky Three Mile Reef with white water breaking all over the place, we were on our way to the Recfishwest FADs about 54km offshore.  A short stop at Direction Bank for breakie whilst celebrating another awesome sunrise in a crazy Covid world, and we were on our way again.  We arrived at the FAD and were pleased to see that we had this part of the ocean all to ourselves.  Our target species for the day was the dorado (also called the dolphinfish or mahi-mahi), a species that has been on my bucket list for a long time.

 

I had visited Luke Ryan from Tackle West the day before and he had given me some great advice on catching this fish (btw, Luke has a well equipped tackle shop with quality gear and is never shy to share his knowledge and experience).  Loaded with the lure that Luke suggested, I hooked and landed my first dorado on the second cast.  What a great fight this fish offers as it delivers a number of breathtaking leaps in-between line stripping runs,  before eventually unwillingly surrendering to the angler.  Next it was Glen’s turn and so we took turns in landing this stunning species until our arms were cramping from fatigue.  

 

There was a period of about an hour where the bite slowed due to a couple of spearos who arrived on the scene.  They however soon reached their quota and thankfully disappeared over the horizon.  Another two boats made a brief appearance during the morning, but everybody acted like gentlemen and made way for each other.  There were more than enough fish to go around in any case.

 

After an exhilarating morning of landing about 20 fish between us, we decided to make the run back home.  Back home we cleaned the six fish that we kept and vacuum packed the fillets to enjoy on another day (two of which my daughters already pinched).

 

What a great part of the world we are privileged to live in. 

 

YouTube video

https://youtu.be/waBOfS0ExWU 

 

 

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Fisheagle Ed

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/fisheagleed/videos

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Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 18025

Date Joined: 11/03/08

 Well done. Its great when a

Tue, 2020-04-28 21:29

 Well done. Its great when a plan comes together. Great looking fish. Conditions don't look too bad out there. Is the last fish a bull or is it just the angle 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

Fisheagle's picture

Posts: 349

Date Joined: 04/02/12

 Just the angle

Wed, 2020-04-29 18:25

 Just the angle

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Fisheagle Ed

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/fisheagleed/videos

Didley's picture

Posts: 58

Date Joined: 09/02/12

Awesome

Wed, 2020-04-29 08:39

 Cheers for the report and awesome photos, and video as usual

Tom M's picture

Posts: 661

Date Joined: 22/09/15

 Good report and great

Wed, 2020-04-29 08:36

 Good report and great photos, well done.

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Tom M

davewillo's picture

Posts: 2398

Date Joined: 08/09/16

 Well done on ticking that

Wed, 2020-04-29 11:15

 Well done on ticking that one off your list! They are such great fun to catch aren't they? Conditions look pretty good really. What was doing the damage on the day? Planning a run this weekend.

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 PGFC member and lure tragic

Posts: 113

Date Joined: 26/03/15

Top report and

Wed, 2020-04-29 12:38

 Welll done Sir.

BJPK's picture

Posts: 46

Date Joined: 02/05/12

 Nice one gents 

Wed, 2020-04-29 13:24

 Nice one gents 

paul d's picture

Posts: 255

Date Joined: 16/03/13

 Awesome video as always

Wed, 2020-04-29 18:37

 Awesome video as always Eddie .  

big john's picture

Posts: 8749

Date Joined: 20/07/06

Nice

Wed, 2020-04-29 18:50

Nice work Eddie!

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WA based manufacturer and supplier of premium leadhead jigs, fligs, bucktail jigs, 'bulletproof' soft plastic jig heads and XOS bullet jig heads.

Jigs available online in my web store!

Guardy's picture

Posts: 381

Date Joined: 09/08/12

Nice one Eddie

Thu, 2020-04-30 15:03

 Good to see some nice sized ones coming in over the side. I haven't caught one here in WA as of yet, the last one I caught was in Angola. Now you just have to get the missus out there with you catching them. Take care mate. Frank

Fisheagle's picture

Posts: 349

Date Joined: 04/02/12

Been trying

Sun, 2020-05-03 18:56

Hey Frank, been trying for years, but she does not want to lose sight of land. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Fisheagle Ed

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/fisheagleed/videos

Dale's picture

Posts: 7930

Date Joined: 13/09/05

Thu, 2020-04-30 21:24

On lures or bait?

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"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."

Mr Wolf

 

 

Fisheagle's picture

Posts: 349

Date Joined: 04/02/12

Mixed

Sun, 2020-05-03 18:57

First few on lures and last lot on bait. 

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Fisheagle Ed

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/fisheagleed/videos