Metro Gold

Quick report following an early morning session, day of work & then, a late arvo session.

First light saw Jamie join me on the Prowler. First time he's been on it & boy, is he a good decky.

The NE'ly was fairly stiff this morning. We were trolling by 6:45, and I was back at the ramp at 8:30. Then, off to work.

As was expected, we got stuck into a few spaniards. Straight forward to catch - I have seen comments from people saying they have proven difficult. The swarm of boats should be a dead giveaway to many.

The only strange thing I have seen lately, is the amount of people trolling behind someone that's trolling 200m in front of them. Don't wait for seconds because they won't be there.

Moving on, JohnF met me at the ramp late this afternoon. Again, the boat needed some action & despite John being involved in several metro Macks lately, he actually hasn't landed one himself.

I was keen to get him onto one, however, we found a couple of spotty mackerel instead. They really reminded me of my days in SEQ.

The sun set & we found ourselves further afield than planned. We persisted to move on & I soon pointed out some nice fish on the sounder. A healthy school appeared in the middle of the water column. Within 10 seconds, 1 outfit started singing. Continuing to drive, I was hoping for another strike - strike 2 came true.

We had hooked up solidly to 2 fish. I worked mine up within a few minutes & called it a big macky until I saw some yellow sickle fins. With John tied up on his fish, I somehow managed to place a quick gaff shot behind its head. John continued to battle his fish for another 10 minutes until it finally hit the surface. Another gaff shot secured tuna number 2.

They were good fish & we cheered for 10 minutes & took a few photos with the dodgy camera.

Excuse the photos fellas.

Daz.

 

 

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Faulkner Family's picture

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nice fish there boys. i would

Tue, 2011-04-05 23:42

nice fish there boys. i would rather take the tuna over macs any day. they are of a great size too. well done Daz for putting the deckies onto some ripper fish 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

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good stuff boys. you guys are

Wed, 2011-04-06 00:05

good stuff boys. you guys are really firing in all fishing well done. as mentioned above well done for getting the deckies onto some great fish top stuff. you'll be eating mackies and tuna for a while.

grayzeee's picture

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great fish there guys.well

Wed, 2011-04-06 05:31

great fish there guys.

well done

2 trips in one day .  love it

are you sure you want to sell your boat daz???? 

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A-SALT-WEAPON's picture

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Well done boys

Wed, 2011-04-06 05:39

there awsome im starting like the results of this trolling

piston broke's picture

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Good stuff boys

Wed, 2011-04-06 05:46

  nice solid fish. cheers Pete

soupster51's picture

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If Only

Wed, 2011-04-06 06:43

If only it was like that all year round.... Great YFT, top size for anywhere.

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The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.

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The Spanish were great fun,

Wed, 2011-04-06 06:44

The Spanish were great fun, but thosse YFT must have gone damn hard Daz. Pretty unlikely double for Perth too!

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Seaquest's picture

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 Great size YFT. Well done

Wed, 2011-04-06 06:49

 Great size YFT. Well done guys. Lots of tasty meals ahead.

Lamby's picture

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Great metro fish Daz top

Wed, 2011-04-06 07:05

Great metro fish Daz top stuff boys, second the comment on Jamie's deck skills he is one smooth operator 

MattMiller's picture

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Great work guys

Wed, 2011-04-06 08:11

some awesome fish coming from metro waters at the moment. Who needs to go to Exmouth???

sherbert's picture

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Great report daz

Wed, 2011-04-06 08:14

Some fine fish there

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dkonig82's picture

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That is awesome work

Wed, 2011-04-06 10:00

That is awesome work boys.

Very jealous.

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When asked by a non-fisherman 'how many fishing rods do you really need?' the correct answer is either:

n+1 (where n is the number of fishing rods you currently own); or

n-1 (where n is the number of fishing rods which would cause your significant other to dump you. 

Lucky Tim's picture

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who needs to go to Fiji hey?

Wed, 2011-04-06 10:32

who needs to go to Fiji hey?

Ben Derecki's picture

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Yeeeewww... some crazy fish

Wed, 2011-04-06 10:36

Yeeeewww... some crazy fish there fellas.  Even with the blury water pic 3 must be a POTM contender!

DazSamFishing's picture

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Pity we didn't have a better

Wed, 2011-04-06 14:33

Pity we didn't have a better quality camera. I always keep an old olympus waterproof camera on board.

Grayzee, I'm trying to convince John to purchase a 680 Prowler... otherwise, I may hang onto the 520 a bit longer.

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The 680 prowler is a beast

Wed, 2011-04-06 15:21

The 680 prowler is a beast but don't forget Alfred's BW Outrageous is up for grabs!

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JohnF's picture

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Yeah Jamie, we saw Alfred out

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:28

Yeah Jamie, we saw Alfred out this morning on "Outrageous". Great looking boat the 190! However, a bit small for what I am looking for. I looked at a 210 Outrage at the boat show on the weekend and even it it is one size too small for me I recon. 240 is nice but is a chunk of boat and as fat as a house!

 

680 Prowler looks good, nice and simple, very fishable. I just wonder if it has the creature comforts I will want..........maybe I am being spoilt by cruising about in the old mans Riv while he is away.............not being spoilt by the $1000 fuel bill this morning though!!!!!!

 

 

 

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Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.

alfred's picture

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The Riv looks stella John,

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:44

The Riv looks stella John, nice boat!

 

I thought it was you but wasn't sure.

STEVE231's picture

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 Well done boys!! Now where

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:34

 Well done boys!! Now where can you go from here??? It's all been done.

Can anybody tell me why the occasional mackie comes to the boat minus part of it's tail?? Over-excited mates possibly?

Don't worry John, despite getting into the fish, I personally haven't managed a metro mackie either, at least your tuna well and truely makes up for it!!

DazSamFishing's picture

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Steve, the mack tail snapped

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:49

Steve, the mack tail snapped off when it hit the deck. Jamie may recall it better than me.

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Yeah I was confused about

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:58

Yeah I was confused about that initially.

I remember getting it out of the water with a complete tail, then I noticed the missing bit. I think we dropped it and its none to flexible at that point, so it just sheared off.

I looked around the deck, and there it was the busted bit.

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allrounder's picture

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It seems to normally be the bottom part of the tail

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:58

 Happens a fair bit.I will leave you to figure out why it seems to happen.

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So tell me have you got your info from years on the water or hours on the internet?

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JohnF's picture

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Yeah steve. Have got 2

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:05

Yeah steve. Have got 2 spotted maccies yesterday, two spanyids right to the boat only to drop em and about 3 other decent Hookups, as well as putting a few deckies onto nice maccies. My young bloke managed to boat his on his first try.

I have come to the conclusion I am useless, but happy as a pig in the proverbial still. Watching your young bloke bag a metro Mac is worth 10 of your own! YFT ain't a bad substitute either.

Will keep trying though!

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Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.

STEVE231's picture

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 The conversion rate of

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:17

 The conversion rate of hookups to landed fish is not favouring us at all, maybe a change to Owners might help. The closest I've been is nearly boatside!! Just hoping the fish will still be around after this cold front passes through, not holding my breathe though.

I am always happy to see fish come over the side regardless of who catches them, very rewarding for you to see the young bloke boat one as I can't remember ever seeing a pelagic season like this one, all too rarer occurrence.

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People seem to think that

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:00

People seem to think that singles may not get as many hookups, but they're less likely to be thrown too.

We went 3 hooked for three landed, all on singles IIRC.

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big john's picture

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Over complicated

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:36

No need to get to fancy with trolled minnows, most rapalas/halco's just need to have their trebles sharpened before each use (especially fresh from the packet), and occasionally between fish.

Maybe singles if your skull dragging them on PE 8 and the trebles are bending, but otherwise not needed IMO.

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DazSamFishing's picture

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I use singles simply to

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:58

I use singles simply to ensure hooks stay in (generally in the corner of the mouth) & safety as well. Easier to remove. I had John out yesterday with some minnows with trebles & almost had some problems removing them.

big john's picture

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Size

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:04

What size/brand singles do you run with Daz/Till? Have you tested them alongside trebles, similar hookup rates?

 

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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!

DazSamFishing's picture

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I use owner cultiva stinger

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:21

I use owner cultiva stinger singles. (offset/opposite eye). I generally run either 6/0 or 7/0 - depends on size of lure of course. These hooks have proven excellent when trolling for mack/tuna/wahoo. 99% of the time, the hookup will be in the corner of the mouth.

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Hi John, I prefer singles

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:55

Hi John,

I prefer singles because I like to know the hook is in the fish's mouth if its going spaz on the deck, they seem to get thrown less and they release withough buggering the fish up so much.

I have a mix of owner singles (size: ???) and the decoy sergeants JS1 in 4/0. Both the lures of mine that got fish were xrap 20 with the decoys on them.

I had an 8kg dolly flatten probably a 2/0 treble on a lure a few weeks back, and that was just on light gear too.

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Sean Costello's picture

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i had good sucess on singles

Thu, 2011-04-07 09:43

i had good sucess on singles until monday arvo when i dropped 2 macks on decoy 5/0s right at the boat, but also lost a couple on trebles at the boat as well. Alot comes down to chance i reckon 

alfred's picture

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Top fish and report there

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:28

Top fish and report there guys!  Would love to get into some YFT that size!

grayzeee's picture

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did the YFT's hit lures

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:58

did the YFT's hit lures rigged with single strand????

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If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am. 

DazSamFishing's picture

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yeah grayzee, hit 2 minnows

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:55

yeah grayzee, hit 2 minnows rigged with wire.

JohnF's picture

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AsI recall Daz (as the humble

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:40

AsI recall Daz (as the humble deckie), your fish (on my rod) did not have wire and was mono straight to the minow (with trebles) via snap, and my fish (on Chrisps rod) had wire trace with singles on the minow. Both minow styles were completely different (one deep, one shallow, and different colours).

 

Totally different, both worked fine.......I suspect the way the tuna hit and the number on the sounder, we could have had coke cans for lures....................

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Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.

DazSamFishing's picture

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good clarification. AND, you

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:48

good clarification. AND, you didn't even let me keep motoring for a triple hookup... SOFT!

DazSamFishing's picture

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p.s. good luck finding a 680

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:52

p.s. good luck finding a 680 prowler. They are as rare as hens teeth & no longer in production. I suspect when the boating industry picks up, they may re-introduce it.

Bugger. I even suggested it to the missus (tail between the legs), but she likes the look of the classic 650OS, 650R, or 680 patriot. Love thy Haines hunter. 

alfred's picture

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The 680 is a nice boat.

Wed, 2011-04-06 22:04

The 680 is a nice boat.

grayzeee's picture

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i have the 600OS and very

Thu, 2011-04-07 05:30

i have the 600OS and very happy with it apart from a prop issue caused by the dealer.

now you've planted the seed of an idea in her mind , it just needs help germinating , by a few visits to look at "boats she likes"  

 

 

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If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am. 

JohnF's picture

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haha......I think we had our

Wed, 2011-04-06 21:53

haha......I think we had our hands full with those two bad boys....as I recall we never even had time to wind in the third line...........but hey, I'm up for it...........next time we will run a spread of 4 and see how we go!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.

Alan James's picture

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Go for 5

Thu, 2011-04-07 09:24

Some years ago now a mate and I where trolling at the FADS with 5 lines out.  The short corners went off first then the riggers and then the shotty as we kept the forward momentum up not throttling back.  When all the lines were hooked up we eased back the throttle so we were only just moving forward to keep pressure on the unattended rods.  Between the two of us we got the 5 fish, all bigeye tuna around the 25kg -28kg mark.  By the time we got to the 5th rod we had almost a 1000yards of 10kg line in the water.  Good fun.

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Date Joined: 16/10/10

Awesome fish, well done! I'm

Thu, 2011-04-07 07:43

Awesome fish, well done! I'm hoping the macks are still around this w/end, at this stage at least the front seems a real fizzer, wouldn't imagine it would affect the water temperature much anyway.

MattMiller's picture

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Fizzer?

Thu, 2011-04-07 07:58

It absolutly pi$$ed down here and is raining again now. Looking at the SST charts this front has moved in some nice cool pools of water.

Get out there lads, wont last much longer

Brody's picture

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Bloody nice Tuna guys.

Thu, 2011-04-07 09:27

With the amount of bait out there, I think (hope) they may be around for a while, the current is still running pretty fast from what I experienced the other day.

DazSamFishing's picture

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Yeah Brody, I am confident

Thu, 2011-04-07 09:41

Yeah Brody, I am confident they will still be around.

Wish I had a downrigger!

Brody's picture

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Yep for sure Daz. Definitely

Thu, 2011-04-07 12:55

Yep for sure Daz.

 

Definitely will be trying some different techniques next time out. Will be a lot more fun not having to troll deep divers I reckon.

Kasey L.'s picture

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Now that there are better

Thu, 2011-04-07 22:19

Now that there are better pics of the tuna I'd say I'd agree with Rocky. Not easy to tell though with the small ones

jay_burgess's picture

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Nice fish boys would rather a

Fri, 2011-04-08 10:32

Nice fish boys would rather a nice YFT than mackie any day!