J Hooked

Hi FranticD Sometimes you’ll fish very close. Have a look at the beaches that have slight gradients and smaller gutters and cast to the sandbanks and gutter. You’ll see the drop off into deeper water as you would when fishing a normal surf beach but this would be a calmer wave action beach. Try a couple of these sand bank edges with the shallow gutters until you find the whiting. They normally stay in larger schools so once you find them you should catch quite a few. If your rig gets washed up to quickly increase your sinker size but try to remain as light as possible. The calmer surf beaches shouldn’t make this a problem. Every now and then you can move your rig towards you to disturb the ground which could attract the fish rather than keeping it in the one spot. As with any surf beach fishing find a high viewpoint to see the gutters coming in from the sea and running in parallel to the beach. These are their roadways to enter and exit from the beach. Also visiting an area at low tide can reveal these gutters. You can collect your bait, There is a good thread on this topic, then fish the incoming tide. http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=53112 Good luck and good fishing! J

Hi FranticD I've always known Whiting to be a summer fish in the surf. (Hope you are meaning a surf beach). I’ve never targeted them in the colder months, but I have had rare by-catches. Normally I look for a beach that has not got large surf. From what I’ve learnt, Whiting keep away from large gutters where big predatory fish would be. So they stay around the shallower areas and on the sand bank edges where they are a little more protected from those larger fish. Also the wave action uncovers the food around those shallower edges. Whiting from the surf fight different to the ones in the estuary as they are competing more for the food, so you will feel the bites on a heavier sinker. I use a 2-3 weight bean sinker on a running rig, 8lb Fluro-carbon trace on 8lb braid main line. Normally I would use a 4-6 size hook, but I have caught them on a size 1. I do want to try those circle hooks though. The tubing doesn’t hurt if it’s there or even a bead. Bait I use is beach worm, (they are tough) or bloodworm (they are softer) or use what is found at that beach you are fishing at. If you look at their mouths you will find that they are a bottom dwelling species, so keep your bait low. Good luck. They are a very tasty treat. J

Congrats mate! He had your name written all over him.

Fantastic mate! With 8lb line it would have been a nice fight!

Blessed by the squid. "PRICELESS" My son did the same thing to me when he caught his first!

Hi Hammo I freeze them and use them as my berley. That's normally after the next outing. For top results it's best to use the freshest bait you can get.

That's an awesome story mate. Top effort for fixing the boat and looks like you've done a great job. You're dads face tells the story of how much fun you guys had. "Priceless"

Wow! Great catch there guys. It's been 20 odd years since I targeted blackfish! I'll have to get those cobb webs off and give it another go!

Top catch under a great sunset! Doesn't get much better than that!

Hmm! I can't guess. Can you give us a clue? Great catch!

I've never seen a turtle in the bay!

I asked that question to my wife. She didn't answer! 10 min later she said we should go for a holiday to NZ. I said " That's a great idea love. I wish I had thought of that!" Anyting is possible when you ask the right questions. Can I ask when do you think is the best time and who did you go with etc? Cheers

Priceless!

I've had some good runs and no hook ups while targeting the jewie as well and with no bite marks on the bait. I put the problem towards a loose drag and the fish dropping the bait or I've pulled the bait out of it's mouth. After getting some great advise from one of the other raiders I've tightened my drag up and if using circles, they are hooking themselves.

Your jewie must be of the same family from the one I caught with the 5 week old salted pilchard! Ha! Ha! When I gutted mine I found a prawn and 2 very small white bait fish. For hairtail try coal and candle creek. There are some nice deep holes there and also good that you varied your depth. I've never used a light above the hooks though. May have to give it a go next time. J

Bad luck mate and good luck for next time! These losses make us more determined to go out and do it again. And when we do land that big fish!

Hi Trung Good to hear you don't have much damage on your boat. Very lucky!

Great catch! I've been kicked off many times.

I would never have thought that was a hairtail image. You learn something everyday! What sounder are you using?

Very lucky Trung. When every thing is fixed get that safety chain attached to the upright post and not on the winch.

Which bank? bad joke

Nice set up you have there Trung. I'll have bucklies of a chance to catch squid now!

The way I see it is, Go to schoolies you'll get drunk and won't remember. Go to Darwin catch fish drink get drunk then won't remember. But seeing that your only 17. You made the right choice just leave out the drinking bit

Your sons smile says it all. He's having a cracker of a time!

After reading a post about the maritime and jet skiers I thought I’d ask this question and share with you all what almost happened to me while being out on the water. How many people overlook the functionality of their safety equipment and their (air) horns? I carry a box with “V” sheet, torch spare fuses and flares etc. (like most other people do), and I saw my air horn in the bottom so I thought I’d test it. I should have known it didn’t work, I had it for a while. All the air had leaked out. Having everything in one box had made me slack to check it. So off I went to buy another air canister and thought, wouldn’t an electric horn be better? So I walked out of the shop with one air canister in one hand and an electric trumpet in the other and a huge smile. I wonder how loud this will be? I thought. (I’m not saying that an electric is better. I still bought the air canister for a back up) I was lucky to have checked my little safety box. I was out fishing with my son aged 13 one day a few months back. We were anchored on the Georges and noticed a 4m vessel approaching us straight on. The vessel was getting closer and wasn’t diverting course. Alarm bells started to ring in my head, adrenalin started pumping into my veins. Lucky I had installed my electric trumpet horn, lucky I had checked the safety equipment, because what happened in the next few seconds would have been catastrophic if I didn’t have a workable horn. I let out several continuous blasts until the person in the other vessel heard and diverted their course. He was so close that I could see the whites in his wide-open eyes and not to mention his daughters as well. His wash hit us and rocked us side to side. I looked around to see where he had gone so I could give him a piece of my mind but he hadn’t stopped. He was heading for Tom Ugly’s bridge like a bat out of hell. He didn’t know if we were all right. Terrific! Thank you for caring I thought! We were very lucky to say the least on that day. For our own safety and the safety of who ever we have on board our boats don’t neglect to check the safety equipment every time you go out. Especially after winterising if you don’t go out during the colder months. Let's be safe on the water. J Hooked (Jim)