We managed a few trips out to the FADs (Fish Attracting Device) off Rottnest this year with some success. The target species was Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi) with lures and live bait. We tried trolling with lures and skirts many times with little interest from our target or other species. Soon as the livebaits went into the water, things became a little different and it wasn't long before it was hookup central. After a bit of a mess we decided that having one live bait out was the best method and each angler take their turn, if they hookup and drop the fish, back to video camera position and move over. After a few dropped fish we started getting the hang of it and landed a couple of good fish. The next trip out was even better as the fish were hungry and didn't seem to be getting spooked by the large numbers of vessels trolling past the FADS. Perth Game Fishing Fad had large numbers of fish under it along with the Hillaries Fad, rumours had it that even the Club Marine Fad had big dolphinfish under it at the end of this summer. After rotating around the boat, everyone had their share of fish and still managed to drop a few along the way. The strangest capture had to go to gribbo who snapped off to a fish and then managed to hook it hours later snagged on someone else's line and it tied itself into a tight enough knot for him to bring it to the boat. Fluke in 550 meters of water? you'd better believe it, the fishing gods shined on the young man once again.

Heres a few pictures
Adam
[img_assist|fid=125|thumb=1|alt=FADs 2005|caption=Adam Gailey with a Dolphinfish]

[img_assist|fid=128|thumb=1|alt=FADs 2005|caption=Damien Bolton's Dolphinfish]

[img_assist|fid=131|thumb=1|alt=FADs 2005|caption=Adrian Gribbon with a Big Dolphinfish]

[img_assist|fid=134|thumb=1|alt=FADs 2005|caption=Colour change of the Dolphinfish in 2 minutes]