Yowie

Headed out early this morning, up past Lilli Pilli. Various baits, all attacked by small reddies, though 2 were just over the limit, and the bream as the first fish caught. Also a just over size flounder, too small to keep, and a jewie at 65cm. Nothing on the surface apart from pillies. There should be bonnies and frigates at this time of year, none to be seen anywhere. No yakkas to be caught. I hooked a solid fish, bit of weight to it then the hooks chewed off almost straight away. I'm guessing a good sized tailor. As I was heading home on the run out tide, I decided to have a fish on the drift, sitting just off the sand bank near the ballast heap. A soft plastic prawn thrown over the bank, and an unweighted pillie on ganged hooks out in the channel. After a while the smaller flattie grabbed the plastic, but that was the only hit. Spooked 2 other small flatties as I was drifting along, and they swam off. Decided that was enough, so I wound in the pillie at a bit of speed. When it was near the boat and just under the surface, a brown rocket followed the pillie at speed. It was the larger flattie, it was way off the bottom and obviously hungry. I slowed speed and the flattie slowed speed, and swam around the pillie a couple of times. I jigged the pillie and the flattie swam up to it and away from it, mouth opening and closing a few times. I jigged the pillie right past the flattie's mouth, the mouth opened and the pillie disappeared in one gulp, like being sucked up in a vacuum, the pillie was just inhaled. Interesting to watch the flattie's reaction to the bait. A bit of a fight by the flattie. When I hauled it up, the 3 ganged hooks holding the pillie were sticking in various parts of the flattie's mouth and not coming out easily, so I decided to keep it, otherwise it would have been released. Headed home after that.

I'd be keeping half for the plate, Zoran and Bob. Bugger giving them all to the kingies.

Thank you Donna. I have had my say.

Good work again on the thong lure.

Nice work, good tuition by Derek (especially the boomerang throwing) Plenty of species. Be very cautious of long toms. As you saw, they can twist their head around to nearly the tail, and if those teeth grab hold, they will not let go. The blue crab you caught is a soldier crab, do not grow very large, and are good bait as well as nippers, though I would be sticking with the nippers.

Nice feed there, entree and main feed of fillets. This time of year a few larger tailor will turn up.

Same for flatties caught off Sydney. The little eels are half decomposed by the time they are spat out, so a bit hard to I.D.

A nice effort on the lures. Consider that the smaller bream are not hooking up due to the size of the lure. They may be hitting it side on which does not afford an easy hookup.

Sounds like the roe with the description and taste. Abalone is another good food from the sea, though not many around here any more.

More like a foul hook-up rather than attacking the lure.

Something different there Chris. Never eaten turbans and urchins (the blue groper always liked the urchins being opened when I was in my diving days) Nice to visit a different area.

Very nice there Derek. Gets expensive losing good lures.

Enough for 2 feeds. Wind up in 200 feet of water, to find an undersized tiger flattie.

Yes Chris, it is a feed. Woke up this morning, left elbow and left side a bit iritated. All of that pumping and winding from 200 feet, plus more line out to stay in contact with the bottom.

A feed of crabs, nothing wrong with that. Have fun up north.

Thank you. Some blue spots for a change.

Thank you. Some time between bites in the deeper water.

You caught a feed. Trial and error, and practice, gets you going and gives you the experience you need.

A couple of feeds so happy with the catch. I was going to head up river with some nippers, but decided to head outside while the swell was down.

Yes I am happy they are in my possession. Last week in the fish shop at Southgate Sylvania, boneless and skinless flattie fillets were $75 a kilo !!!

Headed out to Bate Bay before sunrise, not much swell, and the breeze just a touch too much, requiring a bigger than normal snapper sinker to stay on the bottom. Headed straight out and the spikies were on the bite, 2 at a time. A couple of just legal blue spots, released, then it appeared that was what was available, so I kept a couple. Water over the 100 foot mark, too many spikies, so I headed out to a mark where the water is 200 feet deep. Not much there, a few tiny picks which were probably red spot whiting, and found half a dozen tiger flatties. 2 just on size that were kept. Tried south of the bombie at a couple of spots, not a touch, not even spikies, very unusual. Moved back to the first spot of the morning for a few more blue spots. Only small blue spots, not much over the limit, though I have seen this happen a few years back. Just about all were males. I dropped one good one boatside, he just fell off the hook. Headed back to base and the southerly hit.

Good work. It makes you happy when the jewies are legal sizes. 👍

Nice work there Mike. couple of breambo's, and one on a home made lure of sorts. 🤣 Well, it worked.

We used to call it a "dead heat." Both hit the same spot at the same time.

Well b.n., P.E means S.F.A. to me, I have N.F.I., and really I.D.G.A.F. Understand? 🤣