Anyone fished harvey recently?  The weather looks shit this weekend for a fish in the salt so wondering if a day in the rain up there is worth it...

Hi All,

Chasing some info on Kalbarri. We are heading up this coming Friday and as you can imagine not real impressed with the forecast.
Can anybody shed some light on fishing reports in the Murchison and off the beach south of Wagoe around Lucky bay.
Still considering to take the boat to use in the river.

All info appreciated. Cheers guys

 hi just wondering if anyone can give me a report for the fishind down this way at the moment? heading down next saturday to do some 4x4ing and chase redfin. any pointer on lures would be great too, havent ticked redfin of the catch list yet.

cheers

went out for a feed of gars Saturday night... Managed 37 between us 

It's been a while since I posted so figured it was time for an update. We got into some nice Large Mouth Nannygai recently with some good eating Gold Spot cod as well. They were not biting well and most fish fell to live baits or a well presented flesh bait, usually with the tail still on. The Hussar fillets once again proved the trick. We tried a new hook also. The PE tackle reefmaster Deep V hooks. The went well and very happy with the resutls. Pictured is one against a Gamkatsu Octopus 10/0.

Headed out to fish the MAAC monthly comp yesterday in what were very nice conditions indeed.  Given I had to fish the last one solo it was nice to have a mate from over east, the young one and the expert repairer on board.  We took the big boat so there was room for everyone.

We started in close and didn’t have a lot of trouble getting a mixed bag of small species, although I must say the fish were very picky, particularly the gar.  I did manage a couple of big gar amongst the herring, single skippy and a couple of mackerel species.  We then tried to find some sand whiting and spent far too much time chasing and not finding.  Headed out to known ground to try for demersal and other deeper water species for what was a very unspectacular few hours.  We did get quite a number of undesirables, including a massive Sargent Baker, but the bite was dead for us.  Changed it up a few times but for the same result.  I haven’t seen it that quite for a while and the “no run no fun” mantra was ringing.

About 1pm we decided to make our way slowly back to the marina trying a few spots and techniques on the way.  Stopped at our 5th sand whiting location and when I changed up my bait to squid tentacles we finally got one to the boat.  In the next little while we landed a dozen with some good specimens in the mix.  The sea breeze had come up so it was time to troll the reefs for some tailor as experience suggests they will generally start to feed when conditions “rough up”.    

When we trolled past a lump we have got a few off in the past my lure got smashed big time.  This thing was peeling line off the light combo and when it jumped about 50m from the boat we could see it was a quality fish.  I had to show a fair bit of “care” with the fight as this was one I didn’t want to lose.  Nice work from the skipper with the boat and after about 10 minutes we had it to the side.  A few net attempts were required as the fish obviously didn’t like it but we finally got him.  Off we go again and when we went back past the same spot the drag started screaming again.  This one took more line than the first and was another quality fish.  Again, a careful fight giving the fish its head and we gently got him to the boat.  2 big tailor in short time but we had to head to the ramp to make it back for the weigh in.  Generally, it was a very slow day but we ended up with a fair bag.

A lot of Members also reported that it was slow for them, but as usual lots of quality fish were still weighed in.  As most would know, my target species is Pink Snapper but I rarely get them during the day in nearshore waters.  I really like to see good pinkies and Dave turned up with an absolute horse – don’t think I have ever seen one “in the flesh” this big.  It was an awesome capture and weighed in at 10.43kg on the certified scales.  Dave commented on it being a short model at 92cm but it was thick, hence the weight.  Dave and Matt had a great day out with lots of species, including Matt’s 15.9kg Dhu and were worthy winners on the day.  Not sure that pink will be close to being beaten for the yearly prize.

I had a pretty good day at the presentation picking up the biggest tailor (1.77kg), biggest garfish (0.201kg) and biggest sand whiting (0.176kg) but the highlight by far for me was seeing Dave’s monster pink.

I managed to convince Gail to join me for a Salmon session out at Mewstone. She does not enjoy going out of the Sound if it gets too lumpy and the wind forecast for Saturday was looking good. After brekky and coffee at Maccas we made our way to Cockburn boat ramp to launch. Unsurprisingly all available parking was taken at CPBA and I was forced to park on the grass verge after launching.

We sped our way across the Sound to Mewstone and on arrival it seemed that half of Perth's boaties were out chasing Salmon. We had a couple of flicks and managed to drop a Salmon in the process. It was a little frustrating trying to dodge all the other boats whilst keeping clear of the rocks and we therefore decided to capitalise on the favourable conditions and shoot across to a new spot that Nick and I had discovered recently. This drop-off NW of Rotto had produced some good Snapper on our last visit including my PB of 91cm.

On arrival we dropped anchor and proceeded to burly. Gail picked up a 51cm Dhufish on her first drop on light gear. She was fishing for bait and managed to catch her PB Dhuie on a small hook baited with squid. A little while later she added a decent Snapper to her tally and the writing was beginning to appear on the wall. This fish was followed by her first Baldchin Groper - she was cooking! At this stage all I had to my name was an eel! She managed to hook into a further two good fish which she unfortunately dropped before she caught the fish of the day. She was busy catching bottoms on her light tackle when her second rod with the Shimano Tekota 500 started loosing line at a rapid rate. As she set the hook I called it to be a Sambo or Kingie, but soon the headshakes indicated either a Pinkie or Dhuie. When she finally brought the fish into sight I gulped as it was one of the largest Pinkies that I have ever seen. The fish stretched the Swivels measure to 79cm - a great fish indeed! Elation followed high fives and photographs and the decision was to release this magnificent specimen to reproduce more Pinkies. We had sufficient feed in the Esky and how would I explain to other anglers at the cleaning facilities at CPBA that none of these fish belonged to me?

The wind started picking up in the early afternoon and we decided to make our way back to Mewstone for a final flick at the Salmon. When we arrived back at Mewstone there were somewhat fewer boats around, but the now windy conditions made it a little challenging. I was however not going anywhere until I had at least one decent fish to show. Within a couple of minutes I was hooked into one of these turbo-charged submarines which after a short fight spat the Twisty into the side of my boat. Gail was having a good chuckle as she steered the boat to give me the best vantage for casting at these fish. After my "eighth" last cast I managed to hook into a Salmon which was landed after a very careful fight. With some dignity restored the fish was photographed and released and we could go now home.

......really need a new deckie!!!!

YouTube clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_iH6bt9MpKs

Had a great day out today, went with Rob (lives around the corner and is on FW, has his own boat and is a keen fisher). He had not jigged a fish before so we headed to a spot we got some the other day, but on the way found a new shallow lump full of sambos.

Robs first sambo on jig.

We got hit most drops, plenty of double headers.

Left with even sorer arms than Thursday, Rob was loving it.

Then we found a nice little flair up on new ground, looked KGish, out with the 8lb whiting gear on it was on. Bagged out in an hour. Rob's baldie went 63cm, bloody good capture on light gear.

Great day on the water. Cheers Rob, will do it again!

How frustrating, cruised all over the sound around garden and Carnac islands then all the way from peron to freo looking for salmon on Thursday and Friday for Zac, walking the dogs around peron this morning saw 2 schools herding mullet up against the beach right near the car park. Oh well shit fish anyway lol

Hi Everyone,

I have just bought a canoe and I am looking to take it around point perron with my young bloke.

I was wondering what can be caught out there and what bait should I use.

My young bloke absolutely loves fishing and I have only a small idea on catching fish and want to learn more about it to teach him.

If anyone can offer any tips on what is there or places to take the canoe that would be awesome.

Thanks Guys

Happy Fishing

Headed out just before dusk tonight with the prime reason to give the Minn a bit of a test after replacement of a few corroded wires.  We were hopeful that we could get out past the 3 Mile to try for some pinkies after the blow but as soon as we exited the marina that plan was abandoned – the good old weather forecasters get it right again!  The only option was to have a troll around the near reefs and then sit over a very nearshore lump, burley it up and see what was around on dusk, and into the early evening.

Conditions were crap with a 15+kn ssw blowing.  We tried trolling for a while but nothing.  Off to the lump to set Minn up and have a “token” fish.  We stuffed around for a while but when the baits got in the water there was plenty of activity.

First up was a fairly large octopus – hooked in the leg after chasing a mulie (didn’t give him a chance to stick to the bottom).  The pike (or snook) were all over our burley and the baits were not down for long before these “pests” were on them.  They go well in the burley and I have heard they are a quality bait so we decided to keep a few.

After I finally got my baits past the pests and to the bottom I hooked up solid.  This fish was taking lots of line on my light combo and the head shakes suggested pink, but were very strange.  Lots of runs and when I finally got it to the boat it was a double header of pinkies!  We netted the biggest one and lifted the other for my first Perth Metro double of the target species.  530mm and 460mm so only one came home.

The pests were thick and we got them every drop until the burley ran out.  We had more burley but conditions were not flash so the call was to finish the bait fillet and come in.  Just as that call was made, Dean hooked up a decent fish.  This one was called and an undersized pinkie, but it was a quality KG – one of the fattest ones I have seen for a while (480mm).  A couple more drops to see if there was a school and it was time to come in.

I think our very quick trip tonight showed that the fish do come in close after a blow.  Fairly undesirable conditions but we only travelled a few km for not a bad result – premium fillets, bait and burley.

 twitter.com/dannymacdj/status/595401544981417984

Recorded at work this morning, surrounding the Grain Terminal jetty. 

Couple of blokes on jet skis were enjoying the whole school to themselves!

Hi guys,

Appears to be a pocket of warmish (23-24 degree) water still out in the trench and weather looking the goods over the weekend (at this early stage) so am contemplating committing the weekend to an elusive metro marlin out of Rotto.

Has anybody heard of any around recently (ie last week or so) or is it just too late in the season?

Any thoughts, views, oppinions or pointers will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Sam

After an unsuccessful trip out to the southern bank of Rotto, Nick and I decided to look for the Salmon in the Sound. During this session I caught my first decent Snapper on soft plastic.

I managed to go for an unplanned swim to retrieve my prescription sunnies in the process - see YouTube clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Tj_wkfpXU

After a quick Salmon sesh on the Monday of the ANZAC weekend, I was keen to get out for another crack.  A call to a good fisho mate and we had a plan for Saturday.

Launched at the CPBA ramp at 7am and headed south to where I found a school last week.  This part of the sound was pretty quiet first up and after a squidding session on the flats and a bot of sounding around, decided to change plans and headed over towards Garden Island.  The it happened - saw the boats, the birds, and then the fish - we were on.

Surface strikes were spectacular, nothing watching like the open gob of a Salmon about to demolish your surface lure with half a dozen of his mates trying to muscle in for a bite.

There were times the sounder was completely blocked out with Salmon - the following pic gives you an idea (not the best one as I need two hands to take a screen shot and usually they were busy with a salmon on the end of the line!)

Lost count of the number of fish but all good solid specimens - all released in good condition.  

My mate then decided to tick Salmon on fly off off his bucket list.  I do admire his persistence as the fish were definitely turned on to the larger lures and the baitfish they were regurgitating looked like pillies.  Watching me pull in four or five fish while he was trying must have been a bit frustrating.  He finally managed to hook one after changing to a popper fly and managed an exceptional capture on 8wt.

We were on a school closer to the Naval base, looking around there seemed to be groups around Woodies, Mewstones, and the Northern end of Garden Island.  

After deciding to call it quits and making a move back to the ramp, we were in for one last treat.  We came across a pod of dolphins around a school of Salmon so out came my 8wt fly.  The salmon were balled up around the boat and it was a spectacular sight and it was just us.  I did manage to hook one on fly but alas it wasn't to be.

And finally kudos to the weather - it was a fantastic morning to be on the sound.

Fantastic arm stretching day.

Had a fish yesterday with Tim-O and Beau, great to meet you guys finally. Plan was for a jig and stickbait day around the Rotto area.

Should have realised how the day would go when I went to flick my jig in the water on the first drop of the day and the jig and assist hooks departed the split ring before they even hit the water and sunk to a watery grave......haha, rooky mistake, the swivel had gone most of the way through the slit ring when I put the jig on and then slipped the rest of the way........you wanna see the look on the face of Beau and Tim-O....like, who the heck is this PLONKER......and what are we doing fishing with him.

It got worse 5 minutes later, Tim-O was wondering why so much line was going out on the drop until he realised he had wrapped about 50m of premium braid around my prop (motor was in reverse as it was pretty ordinary early on......). 20 minutes later and a few back spasms and the braid was cut......hmmm.

At this stage, Beau was looking like the Grand Chief Poobah of fishing and boating, until he had several bouts of immediate spew activity that came on in seconds......the good, the bad and the ugly turned into the bad, the bad and the bad.......

All in all, we could only be described as a rabble............haha.

We proceeded to drop on about 30 spots during the day with jig and soft plastics, several of these spots have produced numerous duies over 90 cm and up to 101 in in the past......nada. Sounder was dead, very little activity, bugger all bait, bugger all fish. I recon bait would have raised a few fish as all the activity was very close to the bottom and it appears no fish were feeding (a bad sign for jigs) , but it was a bait free day.....much to Tim-O's chagrin.

Checked out West End, nothing doing apart from a rat king to Beau on a bullchop and some pretty friggen hairy moments with some bloody big sets of waves (wont be doing that again), and apart from one mid water sizzling to Beau that ended in tears, a few very undersize dhuies, sergeant majors and a thumping western King wraase on jig (haha) we caught nothing....

Still, we had a good chat, a few beers and still had a nice day. Its not all about catching fish......ahhhh stuff it, who am I kidding, the day was crap, I hate not catching fish!

170 km for nil.......it happens.

Tim-O, Beau, great to meet you lads.

Cheers

 After many weeks of reports flooding through the shop and photo after photo of some stonking Australian Salmon I FINALLY had my chance to take the boat out and stretch the arms and get a bend in the rod again and I wasnt disapointed! We headed out from woodies at about 6.30am and headed straight for Mewstone reefs where we were greeted with a surprisingly small number of boats which at that stage was only 2 plus us. First cast got a nudge...second another nudge...then third..was a nudge followed by a wack and it was on for young and old from there. We hooked and landed one after another and released all but a couple for the family and neighbours who actually enjoy eating them. All in all we landed easily 20+ all over 5kg with the biggest a bit over the 8kg mark on bibbed minnows, stickbaits and plastics and of course I couldnt resist the temptation to use the bream tackle which was a challenge! By the time we left mewstone at around 10.30am they were still biting but there were over a dozen boats so was wondering if anyone else did well also or even better then we did because as far as I could see nearly every boat was hooked up at once? And did the orange hire boat I saw there survive the reef coz he was doin some very dangerous things while we were there!?

We'll I've just got back from a quick trip to Steep Point!

Harry (Fishing WA), olaf (Harrys brother) and myself had plans to fish for 3 days at Steep Point (quick trip) staying at Shelter Bay. We launched from Denham and meet up with some of Harrys mates and was good to meet another FW member Johnny ...... cheers for the mozzie/fly head net mate

We fished shallow water pink snaper, trolling for squid, bottom bouncing for redthroat/robo's/pearl pearch etc and troll for spaniards!

been fishing the Murray around the Ravenswood hotel and the last few times I've been I've been smoked 4 or 5 times by something that cant be stopped. I've tried using a heavy 50lb boat rod setup but nothing wants a sniff but as soon as u put out the light bream gear. these things come out and play. I've landed a couple mullaway between 550-700 on the bream gear at the same spot but these are massive and you just don't have a chance. I was thinking they could be stingrays but I'm not sure. Has anyone seen stingrays this far up river or do you think they're just big mullaway.
If they are big mullaway does anyone have a good rig that they will hit but strong enough to survive the under water structures that are in the Murray.

 Finished early wednesday and decided to chase salmon at south mole.I can walk there from the construction site I work at.the school moved in just as we got going and it was full on.saw one chap land 3 on fly.my son landed his first as well.great 2 hours of sport.

 sitting on the plane yesterday going to Broome and guess whose on the flight...  Robson Green.  Had a quick chat with him when he landed. Really nice bloke, with a small army of film crew. Love his fishing show and it was awesome to meet him.

After reading all the reports of the Salmon going off around the Perth Metro I decided to try and get the missus into her first one. After lunch on ANZAC Day we made our way to CPBA with the hope of spotting a fish or two. When we arrived at Cockburn boat ramp we were told by boaties coming off the water that the Salmon were thick near the Ammo Jetty. We took little time in speeding around Woodman Point and as we approached the jetty we were greeted with total mayhem. It seemed that every second angler on the jetty was hooked into a Salmon as were half of the approximate 20 boaties in the area.

I do not often get fish fever, but I had fish fever.  I did not know what lure to use, what rod to grab, where to cast, what speed to retrieve etc.etc.  I eventually tied the ever faithful Halco Twisty onto the missus' line and with her first cast she was hooked into her first fish.  A couple of anxious minutes later and after some spectacular leaps the Salmon threw the Twisty which came crashing into the side of the boat.  Another couple of casts later and she was into another fish, this time right next to the boat as she was lifting the Twisty to cast again.  This fight took her all around the boat and I grabbed the GoPro to get the action on film. I was enjoying her tussle with the fish as much as I would have holding the rod. A few minutes later the fish was in the net and after a couple of quick photographs released to be caught on another day.

With all the bad press that the "anglers" on the jetty received, I experienced the boaties as being civilized in their approach. I saw many fish being released and the boaties did not crowd each other and were quite courteous even though there was a fish frenzy. Let's hope that there were lessons learned and that people realise that this is a privilege that many other countries do not enjoy because of over exploitation.

YouTube clip below

http://youtu.be/viYafBX9AL0

 I flew in from Broome on the monday at 1.30 pm i was on the water by 3pm.

We left leeuwin boat ramp and headed towards mewstone and fished seal rock. I managed 4 salmon and we boated 13 in total. About 25 other boats fishing in the same area.

Got back to the ramp aat about 6 and noticed boats getting ready for prawning. The tides were right for it that evening and was curious to know how they have been going as it was a new moon the night before and last weeks rain shoud have made it worth a try.

Tuesday Early start at fremantle fishing boat harbour the herring seem everywhere at the moment both the harbour and northmole.

I caught my bag limit in about 10 minutes. Which i bled and put on ice to give to my friends farther.

After i went to north mole to have a look to see if the samlon were present and possibly any bonito. It was about 8 am at this stage and was shocked to see the amount of people fishing. Doesnt anyone work?? 

A few herring were getting caught evrybody seemed to have a second rod ready with a lure for the salmon.

Fisheries Came to check bag limits and  was impressed to see them quizzing people on the bag limit for herring.

They were very helpful to people who asked questions and handed out stickers and new updated booklets.

Wednesday i really wanted to go to penguin island but my good friend was leaving to sweden and i had offered him a lift but i still managed a early morning fish. So back i went to the boat harbour the herring wre thick but feeding on baitfish and were not to interested in the bread which i was fishing with. I hooked a couple of bream on crab legs but did not stay on for long. The blowfish were in thick numbers.

I then had a look at blackwall reach and point walter not much life at the point but blackwall reach had hundreds of bream lot just undersized and a few bg one underneath them. It can be an awkward spot to fish and the blowfish did not make it any easier so i moved on the Aquarama east fremantle yacht club. They were gobbly guts everywhere and they make a great live bait for bream but i was fishing with crab legs and did not take long till i was into  few.

I spooked a couple of good flatties in the process.

Thursday fremantle sailing club wen for a quick dive in the arvo plenty of bream and herring in there.

Saturday back out on the boat at the same spot it took about 5 seconds until i was on with a old school wooden lure. it seems like there is always fish right on the reef but in fewer numbers after boating 3 we moved and anchored away fom the 15 other boats i made to the right call as it was none stop fun from when we anchored from jigs to poppers to minnows to baits it didnt matter what you threw at them. I used every rod on that boat to get one to bream gear to boat rods. Also cubbing mulies to keep the school of 500 plus fish near us.

Boated alteast 15 fish and almost landed one on the tackle rat kids combo...

Great day on the water and head it for lunch the next day if bled put on ice and the blood line cut out it is pretty good. 

Sunday had the wedding and now back in broome.

JM

Just got back from Nanga Bay after 2 weeks of awsum fishing. 

I was lucky enough to get an invite from Darren to go to his parents place in Nanga for a couple weeks of fishing. They owned the Nanga station, before CALM bought most of it, along with the Nanga Bay resort and caravan park. Ted and Maureen sold off the resort and caravan park (that now looks like it has gone down hill with the new owners) a few years ago but kept the homestead and a few shacks above the caravan park. Also a small, 1400 arces, of land surrounding the place. As there were already guests in the homestead we stayed in one of the shacks and it was a fine place to be. Right next to the BBQ and spa.

Now i'm pretty keen on getting a stack of photo's to show all the unlucky ones back home how good a place you are at but with this trip the fishing action was pretty hot when they were on so a lot was missed out. Real hard to get the camera in your hands when your rod is buckled over.

Having Darren there with 30 years of local knowledge was invaluable. First up was his secret pinkie hole that produced at any time of the day or night. During the daylight hours we would be releasing 30+ fish, mostly undersize, and at night we would be releasing 15+ fish, mostly oversize. I have to say that when you get a monster pinkie hooked up, in 15m, with 30Lb line you really have a fight on your hands.

Just an inch too big..Lol

Another hump head.

And of course all the biggest ones were released. That Tony our chef for the trip.

I was told the Bluebone up there can get pretty big so we tried for a few days to target them but only ended up getting a few of the smaller ones around the islands and when we were on a coral patch. The little crab plastics had been given to us by a mate who lives in Alaska and heard us talking about targeting Bluebone with plastic crabs instead of trying to catch the fresh ones. Turns out they work fine but the fish just have to be there.

Trolling is not something that Darren or Tony were into but when i'm up north i think it is a must. After seeing some guys at the cleaning station on the beach with some monster Spanish Mackerel they were finally talked into it, if we saw a surface bustup only. Well on our way out to the coral patch in pretty windy and rough conditions we saw that bust up and i finally got a lure in. We hooked this fine longtail and i was keen to keep after them as they are, in my opinion, the finest eating tuna up north.

Well the guys couldnt see them within 20m of the boat anymore so were not keen to continue chasing them. Much to my disgust. Anyway after eating some tuna that night they had their eyes peeled for the rest of the trip. Unfortunatly we never got into them again.

There were plenty of surface bustups that we did chase around after but it always turned out to be little bonito.

Another one of those secret spots Darren had us going to was quite a large area to drift over for Black Snapper. (Bluelined Emperor/Grass Emperor). We hooked a few just over 4Kg but our keepers were in the 34-40cm range. The biggest problem with this area was the sharks. There are 28 species of sharks in the Shark Bay area and i'm sure we caught them all. We had stocked up on gear for the trip but found we had to make a run into Denham for more hooks. Bloody sharks. Anyway here is some Black Snapper for you.

Other than the fishing it was just have a brew and watch the sun set.

 Hey guys anyone been down to golden ponds lately what have u been catching if anything any info would be great cheers feel free to PM me if u like =)

3 DAYS wild fishing adventure in Thailand for father & son fishing  bonding trip.
This is Reza & Aydin very 1st time wild snakehead fishing trip in Thailand.
Not an easy task as I need to take into  account their safety , foods and clean & warm accomodation and yet still having fun chasing wild snakehead at the dam.

I want to make it a memorable & unforgettable once a lifetime father & son fishing adventure trip in Thailand.
Something they will cherish the great moment their had during this fishing adventure trip.

Alots of plannings is needed during the preparation for the trip & also chasing after fries mama toman pose a big challenge for  them.

I let the video do the talking......

There is a saying  " A picture tell a thousand words"
To me " A video show it all....." That's my style!!!

Click onto the youtube video below and follow us to Reza & his son fishing adventure in Thailand.
 

Enjoys ....

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8qNcam8hg

Reza chasing his mama toman on topwater actions !!!- Awesome topwaters !!!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9_arNrzB50

Highlights photos of the trip.

Awesome beautiful mama toman

Aydin 1st snakehead catch.

Sebarau catch...

Golden mahseer by the river...

With conditions like they have been over the last few days, we headed straight out from Hillarys again to chase some pinkies last night.  We took the bigger boat with the crew from Sunday night, plus another welcome “guest” that just wanted to watch and ask questions.

A quick trip out to be there around 5pm.  The current was still strong and the wind was light at first but did blow up a bit later on.  We noticed a baitfish ball on the bottom near our spot with what looked like a few larger fish around it, but as we were targeting pinkies we moved to our “known” spot.  It was fairly slow with a couple of undersized baldies and some nuisance fish.

Mark was fishing the front of the boat and had a floating mulie out on the baitrunner.  We could only really fish one floater as the current was opposite to the wind and any floater out off the back would just come back under the boat and make a huge mess with the other lines in the water.  After about three quarters of an hour, the baitrunner screamed off big time.  Mark let it run and then set the hooks.

What a first run this fish had on the relatively light gear!  Don’t you just love the sound of a reel screaming in protest as the fish on the end goes hard.  There was no doubt that that the fish was going to take the spool of line so “all hands on deck” to get everything up and start the chase.  This situation again showed how critical it was to have the Minn Kota so we could move off quickly – there was no anchor to pull up and no anchor rope for the fish to foul.  Off we go with the reel still screaming and Mark becoming very nervous about the amount of line he had left on the spool.  This was definitely a pelagic fish as it was at the top of the water column and wasn’t fighting like a shark or a ray.    

I think a lot of credit needs to go to the skipper for his work in following the fish.  He had clearly done this many times before and got Mark to position where he could see him so the boat could be appropriately maneuvered.  Mark was feeling a lot better with line being regained but the big runs just continued for 15 minutes or so.  We then had the fish under the boat and the “circle work” started and the tuna call went out.  Mark was going really well with the fight and the drag was backed off once we saw the fish.  A few nervous moments as it was circling under the boat at times but again the skipper did a great job in keeping it clear.  His skill with the gaff was also evident in a clean shot to the gill plate as soon as the fish broke the surface.  Let’s just say that Mark, and everyone else, was very happy to see it on board. 

I think we sacrificed our chance with the pinkies as we moved right off our spot and as we were moving back we did notice a school on the sounder.  To tell you the truth I don’t think anyone cared.  We did however pick up a 550mm dhu which added nicely to the big tuna.  The wind came up and the bite was slow so at 7.30pm we decided to call it a day.

Back home to measure, weigh and fillet the fish.  It went 13.5kg and about a metre.  We had bled it straight away and the flesh was perfect.  Consultation with the very helpful Fishwreckedapedia confirmed that it was a Southern Bluefin – couldn’t really be anything else given it had transverse lines and dots. 

On the way in we had all marveled at the fact you could catch fish like this so close to the shore off a major capital city.  How good is that!

 Headed out of Two rocks marina at 12:30pm sunday and went straight to the 40m line. Sounded around and saw some fish on the sounder so dropped baits. The sinker hit the bottom and just before i pulled the bail arm over i saw the slack tighten up on its own, I knew that was a good sign  and straight away i was on - turned out to be the 51cm baldie at the bottom of the photo there, he must have seen the bait dropping down to him and just smashed it. Dropped fresh bait straight back down, a few small nibbles then bang that 70cm dhuie pictured. Could still see some fish on the sonar so dropped again and bang a 56 cm dhuie, all this action in the first 10minutes of the very first drift I was wrapped. The mate i was fishing with hadnt got anything at that point and has never caught a dhuie before so he really wanted to get his first one on his new rod..The 56cm dhuie looked tiny against the 70cm model so i decided to release weight it back down cause we seemed to be on the fish and I was hoping he would get his first size dhuie. The bite kinda went off so we went back over the same spot, i let him fish this drift without me and within 5 mins he was on with something that looked friiggin BIG!  At first we called it for a big dhuie cause it was slow, strong and heavy but after a while it started throwing long fast runs into the fight so we thought maybe a nice sambo. Eventually up came the gummy shark pictured, i only took a shot of it cause it was the biggest one taken on my boat so far, all the other ones weve caught in the past have been alot smaller. He fought it to the boat and to me it looked like it had no fight left, it just floating there boatside so i lifted it into the boat. When it hit the deck it got its second wind bigtime, my boats mainly cabin with a smallish deck that fishes two just comfortably so there ended up being rods, tackleboxes and eskies flying around - it went friggin nuts.  I couldnt hold it in one spot so i straddled it with both hands at the back of its neck trying to pin it to the floor - that turned out to be my next mistake. The bloody thing stopped flapping side to side violently and started spinning round and round and round, I was wearing shorts and ended up sandpapered roar on the inside of my thighs, didnt feel it at the time but hurt later, took the photo and tossed the thing back- We kept fishing for about 15 mins and just hooked a few wrasse so decided to move on. Moved a little deeper into 45m and i got the 64cm pinky - i was on fire it was like i couldnt help catching fish. We drifted around a bit more, I got two more gummies but they were only 2/3RDS the size of the first big one and we called it a day. Great couple of hours off two rocks and looking forward to doing it again next weekend, thanks for reading!               

Wrote this last night but couldn’t upload photos, and still can’t.  Will upload them when I can.

Headed out again this evening with a couple of mates as the wind was predicted to be less than 10kn. 

Strange conditions but as although a gentle easterly was blowing, the northerly current was very strong to the point that the Minn Kota spot lock has us side on to the wind?  Our floaters were trying to “water ski” so had to be weighted significantly but completely failed to draw any interest.  We had to even “upsize” sinkers to hold the bottom with the “bashers”, even though Minn had us holding the spot.  Fat chance of the burley working in those conditions.

Started with a nice KG and 4 undersized pinkies, including no nuisance fish.  A school of bigger pinks moved through but we dropped both we hooked (very strange pinkie bites up to that point tonight with the fish seeming to suck the baits rather than smash them).

After considering my pinkie baiting strategy over the summer, I really wanted to give the flesh baits a good crack.  I like bonito as a pinkie or bream bait, and caught a few over the summer, so carefully preserved vacuum packed fillets came out.  A good slab on the snelled rig, and within a few minutes a nice pinkie took it - about 650mm and 3.75kg of quality fish.  Back down and 20 minutes later, when another school moved through, a bigger fish took my other type of flesh bait.  This was a feisty fish peeling 50m of line off in an instant given the light drag settings.  700mm and 4kg for another nice fish, and the “classic” was the “visitor” claiming it because he had just lost one from the school that “went to my line”.

Just on the matter of bait, my fishing over the last couple of days has reinforced the need to “change up” baits.  I fished the MAAC comp solo yesterday, “hiding” very close to shore in the morning.  Squid tentacle was the bait of choice for the fish yesterday, but today there was no interest at all.  My “nearshore” bag was ok and It is good to fish where you have to target different species, and get quality bait.  I do like the pinkies best though.

G'day 

We got out yesterday at gentleman's hours (1pm) yesterday! What a lovely change that was rather than getting up at 2am to go fishing.

Got out on the water an were greeted with very calm conditions. We motored out to Mewstones. There were heaps of boats already out there, the strange thing was that they were all anchored up on the 'wrong side' west side of the reef. We saw a couple people onto fish but not many, so we threw the lures in the water and began to troll the Eastern end of the reef, bang fish on! another quick troll another fish! Then people slowly started moving to the Eastern side of the reef which made trolling almost impossible, one boat in particular just stopped right in our trolling path (which was only about 40m to begin with (more of a circle). 

We then decided to chase some birds about 200m away with a few other boats, found a good school in about 6m of water. This time we just drifted with about 10 other boats (most of which seemed like actual fisherman not weekend warriors) - few boys on the fly, some with hard bodies and the odd one with plastic. We opted for the plastics. At one stage I wasn't even working the lure at all, just lobbing it into the general direction of the school and watching the fish fight over it! I even just dropped my plastic boat side at one stage and watched a 6kg Salmon suck it down.

All in all a great session Not sure how many fish we landed... Maybe 20 or more between the 3 of us including a couple bust offs!

It was really amazing that there were 2 distinct groups of boats fishing for salmon, at the reef (where we started) mostly the weekend warriors anchored up lobbing baits into the water. Then 200m away were all the actual fisherman all drifting together with no issues whatsoever all slowly following the school. Was really good to see a good group of boats all working together and having a laugh. Was a really special moment. Usually fishing in a car park like that is stressful and a pain in the backside, but this was something else!