Good morning at Hillarys
I took Doug and his son Stephen down to one of my favourite spots at Hillarys Marina this morning. What a cracker of a morning. Hardly any wind and blue skies - and the water looked perfect.
We arrived at about 5.45 am to find the Hillarys north wall pretty deserted apart from one guy fishing on the the disabled platform.
We headed out to my spot and soon started tossing chunks of mulie out in the hope that the skippy were around.
As per normal the action came on just as the sun was coming up and Stephen hooked a nice little pinky.
He was on fire after that and proceeded to land at least half a dozen small pinkies and twice that number in skippys - some of them a pretty decent size.
Doug did alright as well, landing a few small pinkies and three of or four skippy - all great fun on really light gear.
My normal, unweighted skipper killer rig was letting me down as it appeared that the fish were all feeding on the bottom, so once I twigged onto that and swapped to a running sinker rig I finally managed to land three skippy and a tarwhine.
None of them were all that big, but they were good fun on the new Carrot Stix I was testing for the first time.
What an awesome rod. It is so light, but can it throw a small bait a long way. Nice and strong for its size it is also extremely flexible and allows you to feel even the tiniest nudge from the fish.
We saw a number of interesting sites during the morning as well, including a sizeable seal which came straight up to the rocks we were fishing on and just sat offshore hoping we would throw it some fish. A resident Osprey also managed to grab one of the small pinkies Stephen had returned to the water before it could swim away.
There were heaps of boats heading out, including one poor bunch that didn't even make it of the harbour before having to be towed back.
All in all, a great morning. I can't wait to do it again.
All the best, Colin Hay
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Johnyy_Boii
Posts: 328
Date Joined: 20/04/09
when you say pinkies ahwat
when you say pinkies ahwat are you referring to? pink snapper?
sorry im still quite new and i have only been fishing for around 7-8 months so im not sure with all the terms and stuff.
Colin Hay
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Yeah, sorry Johnyy
Yes, pink snapper. These weren't big enough to keep, but there were a lot of them around - which is a good sign. Hopefully the bigger ones will be there next time.
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Johnyy_Boii
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yeh thought so lol, just
yeh thought so lol, just wanted to be sure.
where did you fish, the left or right side of hillary's?
Colin Hay
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Near the lighthouse
I think most of Hillarys woudl have been good this morning, with the rising tide.
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tackleshack_DOUG
Posts: 102
Date Joined: 01/10/08
fishing
great morning but bloody cold.
Now stocking a large range of Eupro, Hearty Rise, Top Gun and Exploder II Rods
Dreamweaver
Posts: 4688
Date Joined: 01/12/07
Good going Guys!
Would be hard not to spot THAT Rod Col - or locate you holding it
Sounds like a nice piece of equiptment - you ceratinly gave it a good wrap.
Soon to be de "dreamweaver" ed!
Colin Hay
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They are very nice Colin
I can't wait to test it out on something a bit more sizeable.
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Dreamweaver
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C'mon Colin
They only have to catch Skipy mate LOL
Soon to be de "dreamweaver" ed!
Colin Hay
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Lol Colin
I wouldn't mind tackling a skippy of a couple of kilos with it from the rocks.
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dumper
Posts: 1027
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Them ospreys are a beautiful
Them ospreys are a beautiful sight. Good work Colin, we went out looking for a snapper or 2 and could only catch bloody dhuies. You get all the luck.
roberta
Posts: 2773
Date Joined: 08/07/08
Mum and chick in Leeman dumper
the local people hae made a nest for them out of a old cane cray pot and this is the third year they have used the nest
Ginger Tablets Rock
Colin Hay
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Bummer
the pic hasn't come up Roberta
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roberta
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Tried again Colin
Ginger Tablets Rock
Colin Hay
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Date Joined: 23/10/07
Nice one Roberta
I am planning on taking my good camera down to Hillarys one of these mornings to try and get some snaps of the Osprey that appears to have taken up residence there.
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Colin Hay
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Thanks Dumper. That Osprey must have a nest near the
lighthouse as it was there the last time I went to Hillarys as well. The amount of small pinkies was interesting. They were small, but as thick as blowies at one stage. There were some big scales on the rocks, so maybe someone caught a good sized pinky the night before.
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Faulkner Family
Posts: 18084
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gees , with that orrange rod
gees , with that orrange rod you better watch out for that wascally wabbit but then again you do look a bit like elmer fudd
...... good work with the skipps ,maybe something a bit bigger next time
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Colin Hay
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It sounds like a mad scientists invention Russ & Sandy
But I have done a lot of research into them and the technology is first rate. These rods won best in show at Icast in the US.
Even though I only had a short session yesterday, I came away really impressed with the feel of this rod.
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otoshi
Posts: 426
Date Joined: 02/09/08
nice one Mr Colin, and a
nice one Mr Colin, and a nicer reel u got there.. may i ask what it is? gotta be something neat for you to put a RCS knob on it... nice..
Colin Hay
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A Daiwa Heartland XA 3000
They are a really nice reel Otoshi. A great match up with the Carrot Stix.
How are you going up there. When are you coming back to Perth?
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otoshi
Posts: 426
Date Joined: 02/09/08
daiwa heartland... thanks
daiwa heartland... thanks for the info Mr Colin. just bought myself a Branzino Morethan a week ago. happy with it but have yet to line it yet. just looking at the "black beauty" everyday. been doing some fishing for snakehead and some peacock bass but nothing decent enough to report.
just gearing up to return to perth. should be something in Feb 2010. but might be dropping in somewhere in sept as i really do miss fishing with the boys.
sad to say, singaporen anglers r not as open about good spots as you guys in Aus.
Colin Hay
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A Morethanbranzino Very nice Mr Otoshi
You can bring it down to Hillarys one morning and test it out.
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otoshi
Posts: 426
Date Joined: 02/09/08
agreed, gears like this r
agreed, gears like this r over kill for fishing in singapore. here, we only need those cheap crappy units as everyoine here seem to only 'crane' out their catch and not fight it.
i missing fishing in perth. i miss u guys.... 
Roger Knife
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A great report colin...wont
A great report colin...wont be long till I'm over may try that spot meself!!
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Colin Hay
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We will take you to our secret spots Roger
And see if we can find some bigger versions of the skippy and pinkies we caught.
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Paul G
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Sounds like a great morning
Sounds like a great morning fishing ,beats sitting around home .Jesse and I had a crack at Hillarys got jack ,but had fun .
Active Gyp-Rok solutions ,Residential and commercial ceilings and walls
Colin Hay
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Hi Paul Next time you guys feel like heading down that way
give me a yell and we will try a few of our spots. It should be fun.
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gumbyconts
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Date Joined: 22/06/09
BOOO!
headed down there round 10am, i know its not ideal but not even a bite.
meh, i feel inept!
Colin Hay
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We picked up a few skippy and a small pinky there
yesterday gumby, The secret there is that the fish really come on the bite as the sun comes up and for the next hour or two. After that, the blowies just make it too hard to get your bait in front of the better fish.
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