Mindarie Blowies

Not sure who coined the term, but I heard it first from Till yesterday.

I did a solo session this morning and was shocked at the amount of bait out there today.  It was almost one continuous bait ball and with so much bait in the water, it didn't surprise me that the bite was not as hot as the day before.  I know they were there because I stopped to clear some weed and I noticed a mac swimming along side the lure all the way back to the boat!

I think some guys got into the act of drifting with live bait, but I am not sure how that worked.  Anyway I made the decision to peel off and head south away from the crowd and to also work a different depth and was rewarded with 5 hits all within a minute or two of setting the lure, but only converted 3. Had one bite off, one that did not connect. Was also a good feeling releasing one.

This is the lure that did all the damage.

 

Decent sized fish

 

another about the same size

 

Bloody hard to get action shots alone!


scottland's picture

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dammit im going upto karratha in july

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:21

 to catch these (hopefully) and there right on our doorstep one day ill own a boat hahaha

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Man Overboard's picture

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What lure did the thong take

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:22

What lure did the thong take ?

STEVE231's picture

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 Well done Alfred, you did

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:23

 Well done Alfred, you did well on the shots alone.

On the weekend we saw some guys on the pick, right on the 20m contour and both on them were hooked up solid. Lead me to think that anchoring and chumming might not be a bad option??

allrounder's picture

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Wed, 2011-04-06 17:27

 

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

  • was sponsored by Atomic Lures and Shimano but they dropped me.Now sponsored by Fog Dog(The best fish coating out there) and raider lures.

uncle's picture

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berly

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:51

all you would do is give the blokes somewhere to troll,thru your berly

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Man Overboard's picture

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Definitely worth a shot

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:02

Definitely worth a shot Steve, throw a couple of balloons out at varying depths

STEVE231's picture

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 Hey, the pair of them were

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:09

 Hey, the pair of them were hooked up and we hadn't had any action in the last hour, so there has to be some merit in what they were doing. Floaters work everywhere else for mackies, so why not here?? 

Alan James's picture

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The number of mutton birds around won't help

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:59

I have never tried it myself but I have heard of people taking a length of PVC pipe with them.  Hold vertically in the water and feed the burley / cubes down the tube.  The mutton birds generally react to baits / cubes being thrown into the water.  By feeding the burley / cubes down the PVC pipe they are released a bit deeper with more chance of going unnoticed by the mutton birds.

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big john's picture

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Lateral

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:05

Bit of lateral thinking their Alan, personally I'd rather turn the pvc into a spud gun and have a bit of fun with them. :)

Macks respond well to a nice soupy trail so the mutton birds wouldn't really effect that.

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alfred's picture

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The thong was a keeper,

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:27

The thong was a keeper, measured size 12 and caught with a left foot.

 

I think setting a pick and baiting would work.  That is how we use to do it in Asia.  Livie under a balloon.

allrounder's picture

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Nice fish Alfred

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:28

 you may regret selling the little tub one day.

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

  • was sponsored by Atomic Lures and Shimano but they dropped me.Now sponsored by Fog Dog(The best fish coating out there) and raider lures.

alfred's picture

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I am already beginning to

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:23

I am already beginning to have second thoughts.  Might be hard to recover a larger boat solo but it opens up so many opportunities. 

Keeps two?? 

Slap that thought out of your head Alfred! LOL!

allrounder's picture

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A 24 outrage on a lifter in mindarie

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:29

 Keep the trailer at home for the north runs.

____________________________________________________________________________

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

  • was sponsored by Atomic Lures and Shimano but they dropped me.Now sponsored by Fog Dog(The best fish coating out there) and raider lures.

alfred's picture

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Nah, next one will have to

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:47

Nah, next one will have to have a cabin, kids want to overnight at Rotto.

allrounder's picture

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conquest

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:05

 

____________________________________________________________________________

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

  • was sponsored by Atomic Lures and Shimano but they dropped me.Now sponsored by Fog Dog(The best fish coating out there) and raider lures.

Faulkner Family's picture

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 well done. sounds like a

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:39

 well done. sounds like a magic day apart from all the weed. nice size mackies too. 

that left thong would have tasted like rubber tho, have caught them before while out fishing but always binned them thinking they were no good 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

grayzeee's picture

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goddammit. i must redouble

Wed, 2011-04-06 17:40

goddammit. i must redouble efforts.

are you finding they're feeding at certain times, like with tides , or as and when a lure goes past???

seems no prob catching in full daylight

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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. 

alfred's picture

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The blue lures seem to work

Wed, 2011-04-06 18:17

The blue lures seem to work well.  When I got bit off, I put on a similar one but rigged with singles.  That was the one that didn't connect.

Tide this morning was nice and high and sun was full up when I got the first fish.

Russ - I am beginning to realise where the term "taste like a rubber slipper" comes from! LOL!

MattMiller's picture

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Bite off?

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:16

Using mono trace Alfred? Whats the theory there?

Try having a short (30cm) length of single strand wire @90lb. Never been bitten off with that gear.

Alan James's picture

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What connection do you use

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:38

between the single strand and the leader Matt?

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MattMiller's picture

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Quite simple really

Wed, 2011-04-06 19:48

starting at the lure, Haywire twist-30cmwire-Haywire twist-Black Crane Swivel-Uni Knot-80lb Leader.

If you keep the wire short so the swivel is close-ish to the lure you minimise the risk of other fish biting the bubble trail left by the swivel.

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I think you're damed if you

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:02

I think you're damed if you do, damned if you don't really.

The only lure we lost was a wired one, it flicked up, bounced funny, kinked and snapped.

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Rob_Seed's picture

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I agree with Matt

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:02

I run the same set up no bite off's doesnt seem to deter the fish either...

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Just one more cast

alfred's picture

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The fish must have grabbed

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:16

The fish must have grabbed the front, but I haven't had many issues with mono on the lures, but this one was a little light, only 100lb trace.

When I chased macs with bait, I never used wire, but a set of 3 ganged hooks and have never been bitten off.  Generally I'm not fussed, I figure it's fishing and I'm going to lose fish at some stage for whatever the reason!

 

big john's picture

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Sample size

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:20

Never been bitten off when fishing floaters for macks? How many times have you done it Alfred and how many macks have you caught on floaters?

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Jigs available online in my web store!

alfred's picture

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Back in Asia, every 2-3 weeks

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:32

Back in Asia, every 2-3 weeks Tracey and I will do a 2 night trip.  We'd catch and release a good 6-8.  Did this for about a 18 months (courting days - LOL!)

 

Only the last hook goes into the livie behind the dorsal.

 

This method was used for everything at the FADs except tuna.

big john's picture

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Lucky

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:40

Well I reckon you got lucky or the macks were little rats. Then again if you've got free swinging hooks above the bait you would have some insurance.

I fish mono floaters (more hits) with ganged mulies/scalies and many a time the line has been blowing in the breeze without a noticeable touch on the rod. Gotta love the razor gang.

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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!

alfred's picture

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The 3 gang set up was

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:46

The 3 gang set up was straight out of Geoff Wilson's older book, worked a charm for us. 

MattMiller's picture

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Totally agree

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:50

Big John, hence why I prefer single strand. Easy to use, cheap, low vis to the fish (apparently). The only thing is if it gets a kink or any roughness, get rid of it.

big john's picture

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SS

Wed, 2011-04-06 20:53

I use that for mack trolling MM, but mono for floaters.

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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!