LuckyFil

Just wondering if you'd be interested in adopting another son? I'm house trained.

Sounds like a great return to the water after the lay up. Those crabs must have been hungry, shame they weren't all a bit bigger! Got to say that's a wonderful gesture sharing your catch with someone who's not done so well and I'm sure the fishing gods will keep it in mind for your future trips. Maybe when that young fella is a more accomplished fisherman he'll do the same for someone else.

53cm is a good fish, but it would be nice be able to pull them away from the rocks in a boat rather than into the rough stuff, which is the case fishing from the rocks. I imagine it must be a bit hairy that close to the rocks in a boat when the swell is is still a bit angry! What bait were you using ? Did you berley ?

Great report and good of you to share the location info - although it might be while before I can get down that way! Is Middle Beach the one just east of town or the long one that runs south to Pambula ? Also thanks for the tip about red crabs, I'd heard groper love 'em, but I haven't tried them on the pigs yet. I camped at Gillards beach just north of Tarthra last year and had a look around Merimbula but didn't fish it. Will make a point of giving those rocks a go if I can get down there again. Any pics of the drummer? 5 X 50cm models is quite a catch in one day - well done, especially on 15lb string! Phil

Wow what a trip! That cod is a once in a lifetime fish and great that you released it and got some good pics to keep the memory alive. And a great pic of the bluefish as well! The colour of them is unreal. I caught one off the stones earlier this year fishing for drummer up the north coast which was a first for me, but I didn't realise they inhabited off shore reefs.

Thanks for the comments guys . Got them both on cunje.

Had another crack at the drummer this morning around dawn before the seas pick up with this howling westerly, although a good swell will be welcome as it was just too calm this morning with almost no wash and gin clear water . Consequently the pigs were very quiet. I managed 1 about a kilo at the end of the session but the surprise catch was a 5kg groper. I was pretty lucky to get it on the 10kg line in water that was only around 1 and half meters deep with plenty of cover. Apologies for the pics, my fishing partner/photographer was working today and my phone camera is very average. Phil

Good to see you had a productive week on the houseboat - especially with the Mackeral! Nice cobia by the way. Did you get all the barra in the Norman? Phil

Got him on cunje - gave a good fight but didn't cook up as well as the drummer.... We just put the shoe in the pic to give an idea of the size of the fish as there was nothing else to give perspective.

Great report Bruce, so does this mean you didn't do the houseboat in Weipa this year? I was there in early June and it was quite cool and rainy the first coupe of days - very weird for Weipa. Had a go at the Mission River bridge for the first time. Saw more crocs than the past 6 years so be careful! Caught a few threadies under the bridge at night and one of the crew got smoked by a large GT on a pylon. Also heaps of bull sharks around the bridge! Sounds like a great trip - even though it's not meant to be a fishing trip.... Cheers Phil

Huy Waggie wharf can be a busy spot especially in summer with lots of holiday fisher folk giving it a go because of its convenience, but at this time of year its much quieter. During the daylight hours you'll mainly get lots of small red bream (baby snapper), small black bream and jackets and an occasional flathead. Night time is better for bream and a few rare jewies. Very difficult to fish on the run-out tide as it races past. It can fish well for luderick if you use weed from a float. I've not done it myself but have seen quite a few caught off it recently. Phil

I'm not great on manipulating the technology so I'll just write it ! Firstly rock fishing is dangerous. I'm not sure from your post if you've done it before but if not you need to make yourself aware of all the safety issues - google up advice on it for details, but essentially things like having cleats on your shoes, checking swell forecasts, watching the sea for 10 minutes before you set up, fish with a mate, wear a life jacket etc. Now as for locations most guys who fish the rocks are wary of giving away their best spots as they will quickly get fished out for resident fish like drummer, but there are plenty of places on the northern beaches like South Curl Curl rocks, Long Reef and Dobroyd that are fished for rock species including drummer. The techniques are pretty simple - again google is a good place to start but if you re-read my initial post you'll get an idea of techniques. Winter is the preferred time of year for drummer but diving guys will tell you they are around most of the year. Hope this helps. Phil

Great report and video. I often stay at Wagstaffe and occasionally walk around to half tide rocks but haven't fished there for years. You've inspired me to give it a go next time. I often fish with bread under a float for drummer although that spot may not get enough wash for drummer I might get a bream or two like the nice ones in your video! Phil

In my opinion it's one of the best eating fish in the water and I know some will disagree but I'd say better than bream. But you do have to look after it - firstly keep the fish in a rock pool in your keeper net to ensure they stay cool - some say this also allows the fish to release the adrenaline that builds up during a fight which taints the flesh. I like to fillet and skin the fish, then dip in egg and panko crumbs and lightly fry for a few minutes - yum! The fillets are white, thick and moist with a light fish flavour. Others cook them whole - can't say how to do that. I go fishing in Far North QLD every year and have eaten all the quality tropical fish - barra, jacks, coral trout, finger-mark snapper, blue tusk fish, spanish macks, and I reckon properly prepared drummer is up there with the best!

Yep, from the guys I know that use mono for drummer Tortue is their preference - and yes I agree it is a bit thicker than others but has good abrasion resistance and no 'memory' i.e. doesn't kink up like some

I agree that 10kg (20lb) main line is about right. I currently use braid mainline and varying strengths of mono/flourocarbon leader for abrasion resistance. Braid doesn't handle the rocks to well especially what drummer do when they dive for cover. In clear light conditions I'm using 17lb Vanish leader (2- 3 meters), but in rougher conditions 40lb Black Magic leader. I started with the lighter stuff yesterday and switched to the heavy when I got reefed, but the fish were pretty cooperative and didn't seem to mind the heavy leader. A lot of guys just use 20lb mono straight through which is simpler, I just like the lack of stretch and sensitivity of braid.

I was using size 1 XX strength suicide but Al was using circle hooks of a similar size. Although they seem quite thin steel Al says he's never had one straighten out on a fish.

Been having a very lean run lately with the last 4 drummer outings producing zip. Tried a couple of different locations including 1 that has produced in the past and a new one that resulted in a good tussle with a decent sized pig but he one his freedom. So I was starting to wonder if I still knew how to catch them. Finally that changed yesterday with a blinder session. My son Pat, who is usually my fishing mate, is overseas but his mate Al, who we often fish with, rang and suggested we have a crack at a spot he'd just sussed out. So we headed off to meet at some rocks where he gathers cunji, his usual bait, I prefer bread as this attracts less by catch. Then off to the spot. A 15 minute walk in then looked around and lots of promising drop offs with plenty of wash and had the place to ourselves! So we kept looking for the right spot that looked fishy and was high enough to be safe given there was still a fair bit of swell (and it was forecast to rise). I dropped a bread bait in under a float and Al his cunji straight through with just a small pea sinker. In very short time he was on and landed a nice pig around 38cm. He dropped back in and was on straight away landing another the same size. I'm still to get a bite! He's on a hat trick now and just misses out as he springs off another but it isn't long before he has his third in the keeper net. This is killing me so I give the bread a miss and switch to cunji and ditch the float. It's not long before I land my first drummer in many outings so am a happy boy. From then on it was pretty consistent. They tended to come in waves with a couple of bites in quick succession then a break for 10 -15 minutes. I then landed a good fat one of 46cm and next drop pulled in his twin. Coudn't get the smile off my face. We had 8 nice fish by this stage and decided to call it quits but just fished on for a few minutes more both landing another fish each and returning these to appease the fishing gods for next time - one of these was a good 2 kilo fish - didn't think I'd have been doing that after my recent results. Here's a couple of pics LuckyFil

I notice you were using buzzbaits in some pics. I just used them for the first time on a freshwater charter in Hawaii with some success on the large-mouth and peacock bass. But I'm struggling to find anyone that sell buzzbaits in Australia! Do you buy yours online? Cheers Phil

Hodgey Great, thanks for that - I just sent Bruce the message. By the way a great site and very well managed! Cheers Phil

G'day Bruce, I know this is a late response to your post but I also saw your other report in March calling for anyone interested to go on your upcoming Weipa trip in late April. That post is closed due a drop-kick making some silly remarks! So I'm responding to you via the older post. I am part of a crew that will be on the Tillimay from 1-7 May this year, which I think is the week after your trip. I was wanting to see if there was any way we could make contact either once you return the houseboat to Steve or maybe even while you are on it. I know the phone reception from the boat is almost non existant but even a text would be welocme just to get a report on what's happening. This is our 3rd year there and while we had a blinder of a trip last year the first year was quiet at times, so I know it's important to get an idea of where the surface fish are feeding, especially given the distances up there and the less than startling speed of the houseboats! At this stage we plan on doing something similar to your September trip and heading straight to Boyd Bay. The long tails, spaniards and GTs were all firing up that way last year, but of course that's not to say they'll be there this time! The bait balls were evident from Pera, Thud and off the Norman last year so findng the fish was easy once we knew what to look for. I'm a newcomer as a member to the site (although I've been reading it for a while) so I'm not sure how to make direct contact with another member other than through an existing post. Anyway if you are happy to make contact can you let me know and we can exchange phone numbers. We are also staying in a cabin in the camping area for a couple of nights (29 & 30 April) before we get on board, so that may be a good time for a text or email. Hope you have a good trip and catch a few arm-stretchers! Cheers Phil (I go under the log in of LuckyFil)