Hi everyone. This morning I got up early and rode to my mates house for 5:45 this morning because we both wanted to get into the flathead madness in the river.

I figured that because so many people were catching flathead in the river on lures, that I had to be able to do it aswell. So I used a 1/20 ounce jighead with a 2.5 inch motor oil zman grubz and my friend has a bunch of old plastics that were random colours and we both headed out to the canning bridge. As soon as I started casting I was getting a few nibbles. At about 6:25 I got my first hookup and brought it in nicely. I was really really excited because it was my first flathead on plastics and even though it didn't fight hard, it was fun.

it was only a baby at 28cm but I was still very happy with it

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About 3 casts later I hooked up on a much nicer fish that fought like a good sized bream, taking out line really quickly. I managed to get it in fairly quickly and it looked about 35ish cm but when I lifted it out of the water it jumped off.

then we moved on to another spot that was alive! We used our polarised sunnies and saw schools of bream with some big ones cruising around and some big whiting aswell. But what I really got excited about was some huge fish, a school of about 12 1m fish. I think it was probably giant herring. They were smashing schools of big whitebait. But I didn't manage to hookup on the bream or the giant herring because the blowies were tearing up the plastics. My friend then got a hookup on a legal flatty at 33cm, kept him for a while but because that was the last fish that we got, we let him go to fight another day.

All in all it was an awesome morning, and I can finally get my family a feed soon. Hopefully I can get out there again this week!

Some of you may have already seen this article from the New York Times. Amongst a host of other destinations we are proud to see Zimbabwe come in at 14th with Bomani Tented Lodge getting a special mention. I hope you enjoy the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/11/travel/52-places-to-go-in-2015.html?_r=0

Hey there,

A mate's dad is maybe taking us out in the next week or two in his boat with the intention of targetting KG's, Skippy etc. I have a basic overhead combo, and was wondering if jigging is any good there as I am a complete stranger to that kind of fishing. If so, how would these be rigged ?

Has anyone fishing there that can tell me what else may lurk around ?

Cheers.  

With reasonable weather conditions forecast for the weekend, hopes were high that we could get a few captures.

Started out with a pot pull on Saturday morning in moderate easterly winds, that continued to deteriorate.  In fact, it was pretty unpleasant.  Managed to get a few including another jumbo – we seem to be getting these on a fairly regular basis now.

It was certainly not worth staying out with the gusting easterly, and the chop produced by it, so we came in close to troll the nearshore reefs for tailor.  Managed to get a few, including this nice model for the young one.  The highlight, or lowlight, was a massive greenback (estimated 800mm) striking and missing our surface lure on a couple of occasions.  There were some good fish around, given it was mid-morning, and these spots are certainly going to get another go.

Once conditions had calmed off a bit we headed out again to fish a bit deeper.  It was fair to say the bite was fairly slow, although there were lots and lots of fish on the sounder.  My mate has some live baits out on his new Stella 18000 and Saltist PE4 combo got hit, smoked and busted off a couple of times by very big angry fish.  I had a floating pilchard out and this on got taken and I hooked up.  First call when the hook was set was “this one is not too big”, and how wrong I was.  I proceeded to play this thing on my heavy snapper gear (baitrunner 6500B, 50lb braid and snelled 4’0’s) and all of a sudden it headed off.  OMG, this thing was peeling line like you wouldn’t believe and we had no choice but to fire up the boat and follow it.  Over the next hour or more, this fish dragged us more than 3 miles towards shore and let’s just say I was in a world of pain.  We initially picked it as a really big ray and the boys were laughing at my pain whilst taking shots of the “beast” on the sounder when I could get it under the boat.  I certainly didn’t have the right gear for a fish like this.

We slowly started to lift the fish towards the boat after about 90 minutes.  I couldn’t believe it when we finally got the leader back and the fish came into view.  It was a massive shark.  My mate who is a bit of a shark expert, came out with “that’s a white” due to its pointed head, huge pecks and thick tail structure.  No way, this thing was 3+m, a couple of hundred kilos minimum and had a big cobia as its “companion”.  We got a rushed photo, that doesn’t do it justice, before it saw the boat and turned around and just smoked us.  The 50lb like busted in an instant but at least we got to see it.  Really, I don’t even think it knew it was hooked and my 4’0 must have got it right in the corner of the jaw to hold for so long.  There was no way we were going to bring this thing onto the boat and I was happy, although very worn out, that we got to see what it was.

This “capture” was certainly one of the highlights of my fishing career, however what happened later in the night probably ranks higher.  The young one and I fished the MAAC competitions all year and the presentation was last night.  I was stoked to see Luke go up and capture his Junior Champion award after a solid season on his behalf.  It really was a good season and he has come on so much in his ability to fish Perth Metro waters, culminating in the month that he actually won the seniors and juniors in October.  He couldn’t believe that he actually won cash as well as the trophy.

Not to be deterred, we headed out again this morning (although a fair bit later than planned).  The pots had some more good crays so the season goal is almost there.  A couple of hours fishing were intended in the “fog”?  The bite was certainly a bit better than the day before and we boated a few undesirables and upgrades in short order.  A big wrasse went back on the mate’s heavy gear and within a few minutes the line was peeling off.  Awesome, finally a sambo to test the gear and it did really well (landing a 8kg model in short time).  They were thick and the young one landed a nice fish on a live Sgt Baker before deciding to have a jig for them.  Not long after, a really solid hook up resulted in a big fish that ran him around the boat for 20 minutes or more.  This fish brought with it a 2.5+m tiger shark that surfaced just near the boat but the sambo “got through”.

The next one was not so lucky.  After being jigged up, a solid fight was going on.  All of a sudden those “terror” runs by the sambo before the fish was taken by the tiger and the line cut through.  Not surprisingly, the bite shut down after that.

What a great weekend.  It finished with the young one going out to spend his winnings on upgrading the Ugly Stick to capture a Saltist PE 2-4, which is so much better than Maccas, KFC or computer games.  He can’t wait to get out there tomorrow afternoon/night to give it a go.

http://youtu.be/gHSHMZmjZZU

Hi Guy's ,

              Going to have a go at using soft plastics for snapper and want to know the best way to tie the jig to the leader .

  Also can you use a snap swivel for joining jigs.

           Cheers Ray

 Hey guys heading down to dunsbrough with the boat, looking to hopefully pick up some demersals whilst there have heard that the 4 and 8 mile reef are great spots which produce, just cant seem to find where the location of these reefs are if anyone has the co-ords and is willing to share that would be great

 Hey everyone. Just trying to decide on whether to go deep off Mandurah or go hunting spaniards off rotto tommorow. Can anyone tell me if it's worth the trip to rotto for Macks?

cheers

 Finally got into the crabs in Mandurah today after a few lean sessions. Conditions were awesome. Bagged out in 2 runs. 

 Departing Mt Hawthorn 7.30am launch 2 Rocks 8.30am.

Troll and jig northern part of Direction Bank.

Mike 0407880973

I usually fish around guildford/upper swan and I notice that in the afternoon during a certain time period, fish will splash on the surface every minute or so for about 1-2hrs.

I don't know why they splash, it doesn't look like there's a predator fish chasing them and it also doesn't look like they're getting food.

They will splash all over the river, middle, shallows, anywhere really. Anyone got any idea what they are and why they splash?

 Hey all heading  up to steep point  for first time in few weeks staying at the cliffs. Have fished quobba fair few times so have experience with cliff fishing. Will be Mostly ballooning when can an spin an bottom bash while ballooning. Have been doing heaps of research and heard places like the oven an furness so after info what has worked best for everyone and any info on rough areas were to start up there? Any info would be great Will be there from 10 till 14th cheers butcher

is the time of the day important for crabbing? Can you catch crabs (of the seafood variety) at lunchtime, or is it a waste of time trying? When is best - dawn or dusk? 

 For those thinking about going out wide unfortunately there hasn't been any improvement in water temp. Still around 21.5° near the fads. Around 22 northwest of the fads as you can see....good luck. 

 With the weather looking almost too good I've decided to take the day off and head out wide. Anyone else doing the same? 

haha this is a bloody good reason people have crapped themselves for hundreds of years

entering the water. Its 9 minutes long but pure entertainment!

http://youtu.be/ARHDLQ5BcNk

Hi folks, just wondering if anyone is heading up to Wilbinga on sunday & willing to have a "plus one" lol
We have never been there & the family is keen to try it out. We have a Colorado 3lt diesel with snatch straps & Trax but realy don't want to test them out haha.
So if youre heading that way for a nice sunday drive & you don't mind showing an old guy the good way in with the Do's & Dont's, please let me know.
cheers Rob

Went out to check the pots today and got a nice bag of good sized male reds, including a jumbo, and a small female white.

I write this post to set out a couple of observations of our cray season, which is voluntarily going to come to an end (you can only eat so many crayfish) once we have the quota vacuum packed in the freezer (which is hopefully after this weekend).  We have set deep, ignoring the whites run on the nearshore reefs (perhaps incorrectly and a week or two there during the next December run is planned) and have generally got large models.  The disadvantage has been the number of berried and/or tar spot and/or setose crays we have thrown back – which would probably be 200kg or more.  No complaining though, as we have got lots and lots of quality.  It also helps when you catch all of your own bait so there is no need to pay for that.

We have generally set in 2 different areas on the old coral 6-7 mile out.  After much observation, these spots are quite different in the crays they produce.  We have named one area “the brot%&l” as it constantly produces pregnant females.  Yes, the odd male (punter) or juvenile female keeper is there but it has brought many tears with the number of throw backs.  The other area we call the “sports bar”, given the ratio of males to females and the big aggressive bucks we have got.  This is not just a random thing, we have been potting for quite a while and the trend is consistent.  I don’t know if anyone else has experienced a difference in areas where one produces predominantly females and the other males?  No need to guess where the pots are now.

We were pulling the pots from the “sports bar” today and surprisingly got a tar spot.  I thought it looked a bit strange so instead of throwing is straight back I had a bit better look.  WTF, it was a male – I don’t know if anyone else has had that experience?  I think our “sports bar” has another little different type of bar nearby!

I was wondering what fisheries would have said if we brought it back and got checked at the ramp?  “You have in your possession and illegal western rock lobster”, “no we don’t it is a male”, “yes you do it has a tar spot”, “how could it produce more crays?”.  The guide refers to “tar spot females”, but I guess it is an argument that I didn’t want to have over 1 cray.

hi Guys son is looking at buying new razorline boat just wondering on what they like ,in all conditions ,any advice would be appreciated  

hey everyone, need some assistance, going to Busso Tomoz for five days was gonna just surf yalls way but changed plans the plans, needed shar baits but funny thing its one of the only places i havent fished down south hoping for some bonito if there in someing tailor would be good anything large please.

also have a dinghy so can go out ocean any like ground or area i should be looking for na serects just location

cheers Tom

 I am trying to import waypoints from a raymarine rc435 unit which uses .mrk file type to a new HDS7 gen2 which uses .usr

I have used GPSbabel to convert files but still cannot get HDS unit to take the waypoints. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how i can do this or another software package?

I am sure there are plenty of people who will help out if i send them the files but i might pass on that one!!!!!

Just been looking at the BOM sea temp/current map and it shows some nice warm water moving down our way. Has anybody got a marlin yet? Have any even been seen?  

Enjoy

 I recently bought a new 100 L fish box for my boat. Have been inquiring about having a cushion made for it  so I can use it as a seat. Spoke to a couple of people in Mandurah, one said yeah about 200 bucks Mate - which probably means more than $200. The other quoted $260. The idea was to have some press studs to hold it down so I guess there's a bit of work. Even so thats a bit more than I expected for one 800 x 400 mm cushion. Made a phone call to a place in Carlisle who promised to call back but didnt. So followed up with an email - No reply.

Has any one had a seat cushion made for a fish box / esky?

If so, can you tell me where & whether you got a better deal than I was quoted   

Maybe press studs are a bad idea anyway.

 Anyone had any luck on tuna or Mack's out in geo bay off dunsborough ?

 Lastnight I took the kids down to woodmans point for a fish and chucked some crab nets in .as soon as dark came we had around 20 divers swimming under the jetty and on the sides where people throw nets and drop there lines . Got into a few arguements with them as they were diving down to my pots 2 of them got tangled up in my ropes . Is it wrong for me to throw 32 oz sinkers at them haha  ? I was very pissed off thats for sure . Ended up getting 2 sized crabs usally get my 10 down at woodies 

 My fiancée and i are moving to broome. 

We are driving up on saturday and are taking the coast. She has landed a job at the highschool and we have housing provided i have never fished Broome but have fished Darwin. 

Is there any fishwreckwd members who used to live there or still do that would be keen on sharing information.  

I will be landbased and we do not have a 4wd but we are planning on getting one as soon as we can. 

I will have a lot of time on my hands as there doesn't look like there is much work available atm. 

We should be there on the 22nd of January. 

I have tried to look through all the old content but can only find stuff on the town jetty or boat fishing. 

Regards josh meeuwissen

Hey guys got the day off tomorrow, looking to head out with someone. Forecast looks like a typical summer day, fresh early and easing late morning. Have all my own gear and licenses and can provide lunch and drinks. Willing to travel anywhere from Mandurah to Mindarie at any time of the morning. Skipper is welcome to take my share of fish if he/she wishes. My specialty is bird spotting.

Cheers.
Beau

Click here for the answer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6x4dfTP8RU&feature=youtu.be

also was stoked to land a 10kg Harpuka as well.

Skipper outstanding, and a great day out with some great blokes.

Love it when a plan comes together.

Had to head out solo today as conditions were great and my deckies pulled the pin (except my pot mate who I dropped off after retrieving them early).  It was a little disappointing that our pots had been pulled as they were all “off marks”, but I guess that’s what you get when we didn’t go out and check them when conditions were really good yesterday.  At least the pullers returned them to the water and we managed to get a couple overnight because we has baited them so heavily on Sunday.  Can’t complain about a red male jumbo and a big male white.  Conditions look crappy until Saturday so hopefully that will keep the pullers away!

Found some ground and set the burley up.  Quite a few wrasse, parrot and yellow stripy fish until the burley started to work and the skippy turned up (got another big moorwong first drop too!!!).  Hopes were high that the skippy  would bring in the sambos, but no.  No Dhu either :-(.

The King George did find me for a while but it was disappointing that one ran me around the floater so when they were there, I was untangling braid.  I’m sure my KG rig hooks are getting blunt and need to be changed out as I lost more than I landed.

My floating sand whiting got a very soft hit that was called for a squid.  A slow retrieve and it came to the surface.  There was a lot of trying to get him to come within net range but he always dropped off when he could see me.  I managed to keep him at the boat and hastily rigged up a jig arrangement with a whole whiting that I could “swap out”.  Fooled him, and got him in the boat (25cm tube length).

A nice day in really good conditions, and no reason to complain about what came home.  Doesn’t get much better than KG, cray and calamari.