Tapout / Shamu / Andy Mac's day out
We headed to the end of staggies first up and tried valliantly to cast to the breakers, with a big crayboat sitting 20m away watching us. Unfortunately it was a bit rough and without risking the lives of my crew we decided to give it a miss.
Next we trolled the back og Staggies up to the Alkimos and I nailed a little Bonito (not much bigger than the lure). We trolled a bit more but no further takers.
Headed out a bit wider and settled on the first lump for the day. This was a spot where I had been busted off about 3 times in successive trips by BIIIIGGGG fish. I had just finished telling the story to Tapout and Shamu when my rod came up tight on that unknown beastie from down below.
I was fishing with a new reel and 300m of fresh braid so I felt I had a good chance. I struggled to get its head up under maximum drag and extra thumb pressure. I stayed connected for about 5 minutes on the first fish before the hooks pulled. Next drop and I hooked up again this time I was connected for a fair bit longer only to have the braid snap at the rod. (Ouch) I had been lazy the night before when I pulled a rod down off the rack to connect my new reel to. It was my father-in-law's rod which rarely gets used and I had switched the reels over rather than buying another rod. Well the end guide looked fine so down we went again for another drift. Wouldn't you know it another big fish. This time I got him up off the bottom and was gaining line. A few big runs and clawed back some more this fight was looking like we might actually see this brute. Then all of a sudden "ping", the line snapped again. A more thorough inspection by Tapout as I lay crying on the deck, revealed a break in the third guide which had caused the problem. The rod was retired for the day and I lifted my whiting / tailor rod out of the launcher. I was dreading hooking up to that fish for a third time on such light gear but I had no option.
I needn't have worried because next drop Tapout hooked up with baitcaster. Wouldn't you know it it was the big momma again. We had most of it on video and Tapout did very well to stay connected for 14minutes before the line broke. We had entered "The Dropzone". Fish 4 Fishwrecked 0. Time to move.
We fished a few lumps before deciding to hit the spot where Shamu and I had nailed a few good dhuies a month or so ago. Second drift and Tapout nailed a nice 5.5kg dhuie to at least get some respectability to the esky. Oh I forgot to mention his first fish (released to appease the fish gods) was a small dhuie which was sent back down with a release weight.
I had been fishing all day with one baited hook and one squidgy or power grub. The grubs kept getting hammered as did the squidgies, again some big teeth marks in the tails of the power grub.
We managed a few more fish, a Harlequin, blackarse and skippy to Tapout, a little flattie to Shamu and a size pinky for me which I decided to release anyway. We started to head back in when we encountered a few baitballs on the surface so out with the lures again. Unfortunately several passes resulted in nothing so we fished another lump on th eway back in.
Second drift and I loaded up on the whiting gear. After a nice little battle a 3ft bronzie surfaced. Shamu was keen to make shark fin soup so we kept him and dispatched him to the esky after the usual surgery to remove all vital organs etc.
We ran three jet heads on the way back in and passed more baitballs on th esurface but again no joy. In th eend it was a magnificent day on the water. We had a laugh all day long and took home a feed so not that bad considering none of my spots really fired today.
Thanks for sharing the day Tapout & Shamu. Video footage will be edited hopefully by the end of the week.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
SPESS
Posts: 3356
Date Joined: 29/12/06
Great day out mate! Getting
Great day out mate! Getting busted aint that bad because it keeps you wondering and makes you improve your tactics which aint a bad thing sometimes. Did you happen to know what they were?
Keep it tight, reeeeeeel tight!
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
50kg plus rays we think???!!!???
Can't help thinking in the back of my mind that they are big Dhuies as we got them up off the bottom but we will never know until we bring out the big guns and get one to the surface. I have a big overhead and 24kg stand-up that I am willing to put into action next time. I just want to know what the heck it is.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
SPESS
Posts: 3356
Date Joined: 29/12/06
Well done regardless and
Well done regardless and dont let it beat you mate!lol. Ill give you a hand next time if you need it, camera wise or what ever. Dont worry youll win eventually.lol.
Keep it tight, reeeeeeel tight!
Tandawg
Posts: 106
Date Joined: 13/02/07
Sounds like a very
Sounds like a very hungry/greedy dhuie sitting at the lump Andy.
I ended up with a small 4.2Kg Dhu and a couple og nice KG`s for the weigh in. Back at the ramp at 11.30am to go home to clean the house for display. (Lifes not fair!!!).
Good to talk to a forum member in the face rather than on cyberspace.
Regards
Tandawg (Chris)
tangles
Posts: 1367
Date Joined: 17/12/06
alkimos
hey andy, theres nothing wrong w getting humbled by a fish m8! theyll still b there next time! hey whats it like fishing the alkamos? heard heaps about it but never been there.
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Nice rig Chris!!!
You have a very nice boat mate. Good to hear you got onto some fish, shame about the early finish though. Ah well no rest for the wicked hey. Pleasure to meet you too. I'll keep an eye out now that I know who you are and what your boat looks like.
Tangles: The Alkimos is a couple of nm's north of Mindarie and out from the wreck there is some good broken ground that can be the home of some big KG's and the usual asortment of pinkies, skippy etc. I don't usually fish it much but use it as a bit of a marker when trolling for spaniards out the back of Staggies reef at this time of year.
Here is my one and only Spaniard caught there a few years back now.
[img_assist|fid=15393|thumb=1|alt=17kg Spaniard|caption=]
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
TAPOUT
Posts: 885
Date Joined: 27/01/06
Thanks again Andy for a
Thanks again Andy for a great day out. Perfect weather all day wich is pretty rare for perth. Great to finally have a fish on the famous Mack Attack and catch up with Shamu and yourself.
Kasey L.
Posts: 1390
Date Joined: 02/03/06
hi andy, if its a wreck,
hi andy,
if its a wreck, possibly something from the 'Seriola' species maybe?(Samsonfish, Amberjack, Yellowtail Kingfish) depending on the fight?
nice report.
next time ;)
Pump iron to drop iron!
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Definately not a sambo Kasey
More likely a massive ray or very large shark I'm afraid.
I'm kidding myself that it could be a big dhuie but its nice to live in hope.
All my soft plastics got smashed but nothing hooked up. Some big teeth marks in the tail of the power grubs again, just ask Tapout and Shamu, they saw them before and after, perfect circles of about half a centimetre wide.
The new squidgies that look like whiting got hammered by pickers, so I will persist with them and hopefully get a big fish to co-operate sooner or later.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
TAPOUT
Posts: 885
Date Joined: 27/01/06
Not sure about the hookups
Not sure about the hookups Andy had but mine was definatly a ray you can feel the tell tale wings flapping. Andys hookup accually looked more like a Dhuy than a ray but never no I guess.
Kasey L.
Posts: 1390
Date Joined: 02/03/06
i'm taking a stab, but you
i'm taking a stab, but you might find that alot of those teeth marks belong to wrasse. big teeth you might think, but them wrasse have BIG teeth.
but some might not be wrasse ;) if u know what i mean.
Pump iron to drop iron!
Dean
Posts: 1943
Date Joined: 23/02/07
Hey andy were you fishing
Hey andy were you fishing direction bank, north of ocean reef?
I saw a boat like yours, had 3 blokes on it.
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Yep that was probably us Dean
Did you see the big silver fishwrecked sticker on the port side? Two of us had black fishwrecked t'shirts on.
What rig were you in?
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Wrasse.....
I even christened myself Wrasse King 3 after pulling in three in a row at one spot. You could very well be right on the money with that one Kasey. Food for thought.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
Dean
Posts: 1943
Date Joined: 23/02/07
Don't remember seeing a
Don't remember seeing a fishwrecked sticker (big shiny thing), but i think you may have had black shirts on, and a mariner motor but not sure what size. didn't really pay much attention, after seeing your boat in that photo looks very similar.
We were in a Northshore 650 (fibre glass) mostly white with a ride stripe running down the side and a red canopy, 225 honda aswell, it was in the afternoon also.
shamu
Posts: 99
Date Joined: 11/10/06
thanks for the ride again Andy!
beautiful weather and excellent company! had a blast with Andy and TAPOUT!
dan south
Posts: 714
Date Joined: 02/05/06
ya never no dhuies have got
ya never no dhuies have got a fair amount of teeth.