Yowie

Thank you.

Thank you. Trying to find a good day may be a little way off, due to predictions of wind and swell. My mate and I knew it would be a good day out on Friday, so we didn't need to be asked to go fishing.

Flounder are always most welcome on the plate.

Yep, it's probably over the pound mark. 2 chunky fillets from it.

Headed out around mid arvo on Friday with my fishing mate, out past the bombie. A nice drift at first, pulled up a couple of flatties, then the wind picked up from the S/E. Not forecast to do that, but made the drift a bit faster. Eventually had enough flatties, and a nice flounder at 35cm. Caught a few spikeys and used them as strip bait. One tiger amongst the blue spots. We then headed to one of his reef spots and anchored before sunset. Berleyed up and it was pike, slimies and yakkas, nothing else. I put out a live yakka, but it just had swimming practice for some time. As last light was fading, my last cast produced the tailor, but my mate wanted to head home, so we packed it in.

A feed of flatties is good at any time. Jackets, not much to say about them in off shore fishing unless they are big enough to catch and eat.

That's better than nothing Bruce. Yellow eyes are not too bad on the plate. Have caught them in the Hacking, but quite some time ago, not seen any in recent years. They are a southern species of mullet, as you said, south coast, Vic, Tas, S.A.

You've been doing some research. 😁

Sounds like an interesting day out, better than being at home. A feed of good eating sized flatties to take home. The whiting you caught, could they have been red spot whiting, usually found in the deeper water?

Another nice feed, with one good fish in the mix.

In saying that, jewies are usually deeper during the sunlight hours, though they will swim to the surface during night time and I have caught them on the surface like tailor. I have heard them just after dark, when I did a lot of late arvo/early night time fishing many years ago, smacking the mullet on the surface near Lilli Pilli. Some mornings before sun up, I have caught jewies with a belly full of nippers, still fresh, so they have been swimming in the shallows during the night, sucking the nippers out of the sand.

Can't complain about that lot.

Good eating size for those flatties, sounds like an enjoyable few hours.

I threw out a bit of distance from the boat, around the 40 to 50 foot mark deep, no sounder on the boat.

Thanks Bruce, happy with a few fish. The sand flats were quiet around Lilli Pilli, a couple of weeks ago the bream were there feeding on squirt worms. Salmon cruising about in places. Sounds like you caught enough for a feed while outside. I was up at 3.30am, not as young as I used to be. 😂 Dave.

They were hiding in amongst the dark weedy areas. The 2 small ones were mid brown colour, caught over clean sand.

Thank you.

Thank you, happy with a couple of feeds

May as well give it a go. My fishing mate headed past the Gymea bathes yesterday arvo on his walk, saw a number of fishos there, and what appeared to be legal tailor splashing about. Salmon also cruising about in places from Lilli Pilli to the west.

Thank you. thought I had a second one on a handline, but when it took off non stop in a straight line realised it was an eagle ray. Took a while to get it to the boat to confirm what it was.

Headed out early this morning up from Lilli Pilli. Pulled the jewie and reddie on pillies, squid and fish strips produced plenty of small reddies. I also pulled out a 73cm flattie, which was released, on fish bait. A few fish splashing about, but they looked like salmon, just slurping away on tiny baitfish. I found a patch of salmon swimming in the shallow water, sometimes in 2 feet of water near the church camp. Threw a lure many times, only one hit and one salmon, fillets to be salted as bait. Headed to Maianbar and pumped some nippers, did a lot of drifting in places for the 2 flatties, and 2 undersized ones as well. Not a bite at all on the Lilli Pilli flats, but it does not help when dickheads motor over the shallow flats at 20 or so knots, it is an 8 knot zone. The wind blew up fairly early from the north then north-east, so it made drifting rather difficult.

Another good feed of squid.

Nice feed of fish.

Good work, the jewies will get bigger with time.

Interesting articles Donna. Good work again.