Scratchie
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Posts posted by Scratchie
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G’day Raiders,
Well it’s been a really big year for me and my family and I do apologise for not being as active as I normally am. I have been so busy with work, sporting commitments and family matters that has taken up my time during 2023.
Add to that an overseas trip and I haven’t done as much fishing as I would’ve liked to this year, but on the odd occasion that I have been out, I’ve definitely had some quality catches.
Most of the fishing that I’ve done has been thanks to @back cruncherConstantly hassling me, week in and week out, with the general text of “ you keen to go fishing”. Thanks Mick, you’re a bloody legend.
On the family front, my second son Brandon has signed a contract with the South Sydney in the under 21s and my daughter is contracted to the Bulldogs for the 2024 season. This means plenty of journeys up and down the freeway which represents a lot of my time taken. But I am so proud of their commitment and dedication and in turn, give them mine.
Fishing wise, We started the year off with the intent to put a few marlin on the boat and we ticked off that list quite well and managed to get a few people there first Marlin.
A few trips chasing snapper as usual has seen some quality fish into the high 80s. We’ve also had a mission to chase some really big kings and the past four trips for Mick and I have yielded 4 quality bruts over the 120cm mark with plenty of dustings.Next year, unfortunately, I can see a very full calendar of sport and work, which will mean very limited fishing for me. But I will take every opportunity that I get to get out on the water.
I hope that all Raiders have a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year period And tight lines for 2024.
Cheers scratchie!!!
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G’day raiders,
As life gets hectic, the days of getting out fishing are few and far between at the moment.
I do manage to keep up to date with what’s going on, which most times makes me more envious. So when “opportunity knocks”, regardless of sleep deprivation, if there is a slight window then I’m fishing..Heres a few pics from two recent sessions including today when we bagged out on Mahi and Mick got himself a really nice snapper!
I hope everyone has been getting out wetting line!
cheers scratchie!!!
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What a great report, catch and day out! Just awesome 👏
cheers scratchie!!!
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That’s a bargain and I highly recommend this product. More importantly, this product saves lives!
cheers scratchie!!!
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1 hour ago, Larkin said:
Well done mate! What’s that 3 beakies this season so far
Some nice reds there 👍 good haul
Thanks mate! Yeah we’ve hooked a few more but got a few boatside! Haven’t spent as much time fishing as I would have liked. Commitments always get in the way but my time on the water has been productive 🙌
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3 hours ago, Pickles said:
Brilliant work Jeff, great feed of snapper & a beanie to go with it - magic
Was a great day Bob! Always great when a plan comes to fruition
2 hours ago, bessell1955 said:Wow, your backyard must be Snapper central. Great report and even greater Snapper with a Marlin thrown in.
Cheers. I love my backyard. There’s no place I’d rather be. Tbh, the fish are just a bonus!
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4 hours ago, XD351 said:
Awesome fish ! God’s country up there !
Thanks! It sure is 🌄
3 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:Great stuff Scratchie, brilliant results.
Well done.
Thanks mate!
1 hour ago, GordoRetired said:That's what I call a good day out fishing. Great result. Bit surprised that you did not keep the Marlin, smaller ones like that make great eating. 🙂
Great day! We’ve already kept one this season. There was plenty to go around. Still have some, so no biggy letting it go!
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Congrats Jakob! I thought you did a great job. I’m glad they came back and got you! Good luck in the top 50
cheers scratchie!!!
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16 hours ago, Soulman said:
Looks like a great day with great results, in a beautiful part of the world. Nice one.
Cheers mate! Cracking day out
16 hours ago, Yowie said:Great work there. Good sized reddies for the plate, then some aerial sport with a beakie.
Just have to go fishing Jeff, cannot catch anything at home (except looking at old photos 🤣)
Hahahahaha you’re right Yowie! Can’t catch anything at home.
16 hours ago, Basil D said:Far out Scratchie, Can I play in your backyard 😍
Anytime Basil. There’s been a million tourists up here for weeks 😂
16 hours ago, blaxland said:Legend Love your work how long is the snapper season up there?
Thanks mate! You can catch snapper year round up here!
15 hours ago, Restyle said:Made it look all so easy! Great trip and a very successful trip! Good job, I’m jealous
Not that easy! Some constant casting in the right areas and then a bit of luck goes a long way
13 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:Good to see you out again Jeff!
I love it how for most offshore anglers, flathead are their sure thing, with snapper being a challenge. For you, snapper are your sure thing, whilst marlin are your challenge!🤣
Hahahahha snapper can be a challenge especially around a full moon. Finding the grounds you are looking for, then a couple of hundred casts and you’re a sure thing! NOT 😂
Marlin on the other hand are pretty easy atm! Just time on water and you’ll find one 👍
2 hours ago, kantong said:amazing report, love it when a plan comes together! Well done!
Cheers mate! Me too! We didn’t second guess our plan yesterday and were successful 🔥
3 minutes ago, Rebel said:Great report as usual.
Top photos.
Well done Team.
It was a great team effort!!
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G’day raiders,
Finally got the opportunity to head out today with @back cruncher and one of my boys.
After not fishing for snapper for quite a while, the plan today was to load up with livies, head to the island and flick for snapper and then go see if we could find a marlin on the way home.
Glad to say that everything went to plan and it was a beautiful morning on the water.
The snapper somewhat played ball except for a couple that enjoyed their freedom.
Then on the way home, we didn’t have the baits in the water for any longer than 10 mins before we hooked up and landed a nice little black marlin.
Couldn’t have asked for a better day in My Backyard. Thanks for day Mick and Brandon 🙌
cheers scratchie!!!
P.S marlin was released to fight another day!
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Awesome fish Mr Groper! Good to see you out and about mate!
cheers scratchie!!!
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On 1/25/2023 at 8:05 PM, Yowie said:
Great work there Scratchie. Certainly nice fish, a shame the others dropped off.
Not heard from you for a while, wondered what had happened to you. Not thinking anything bad at all. 🤣
Cheers Yowie! Yeah mate all good here. Just busy as hell. Keen to do some fishing this year though! Hope all is well with you 👍
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Monster flatty! That’s a great capture on silly string. Gotta be happy with that 🙌
cheers scratchie!!!
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Awesome 👏 I love when a few fishraiders get together!
cheers scratchie!!!
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Great stuff Rob! Good size Jew indeed. So much more comfortable in a boat! 🤙
cheers scratchie!!!
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The more time you spend on the water, the more you’ll work it out. Your persistence paid off well. 🤙
cheers scratchie!!!
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6 minutes ago, GoingFishing said:
Nice work for Team Scratchie and BackCruncher. awesome fish.
Cheers Sam. Was a great day out there!
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On 1/18/2023 at 11:02 AM, Rebel said:
Welcome back.
Top fish.
Congrats to you & your crew.
Well done.
Cheers Rebel 👍
On 1/18/2023 at 1:23 PM, back cruncher said:Hi all….Awsome day out Jeff.can’t wait to do it again.
Cracking day mate! We put the time in and got our rewards. Nice first marlin for the boat 🙌
On 1/18/2023 at 7:20 PM, Aerialangler said:Well done men
All the patience paid off
looking like a good marlin season
Thanks Kent. Never seen so many inshore marlin before! Great fun
On 1/18/2023 at 7:26 PM, Berleyguts said:Great to hear from you, Jeff… you’ve been almost as quiet as me of late! 😂 Hope all is well. Great report! I put the muffs on the motor the other day and she fired up first time. Now I have to dust the cobwebs out of the boat. 😂 I just checked my inflateable life jackets and realised it’s 2 years since I tested them so I’ll have to do that too! 🤷♂️ I think this season might be my best chance to christen my boat with a marlin. Have you heard of any dollies at the FAD?
Cheers Baz! Yes mate, new year and new goals. Motto for the year..,..
“If I’m not working, I’m fishing 🎣 “
Dollies are only small at the fad. Wait until the tourists go home 👍
On 1/18/2023 at 8:32 PM, bessell1955 said:Persistence pays and you have demonstrated that in trumps.
Yeah mate, we have been very stubborn to tick that box 👍
On 1/19/2023 at 8:44 AM, rickmarlin62 said:Nice fishing jeff keep em comin
Thanks Rick
23 hours ago, jenno64 said:Great story told Scratchie! Your plan and persistence paid off big time! Awsome pics too!! Congrats on a great achievement 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Cheers mate! Also need a bit of luck thrown in too!
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Looks like a good session there! 🤙
cheers scratchie!!!
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Solid work Bob! 🙌
cheers scratchie!!!
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3 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:
Welcome back Jeff 👏
Great report on the marlin situation up there. We have great memories of catching marlin onboard Broadbill with Ross Hunter. It’s exciting for everyone on the boat.
Brandon must be on a high after landing his first marlin.
Great to see you out fishing @back cruncher 🎣🐟Well done all
Thanks Donna.
We worked really hard to get these fish. Brandon was over the moon. Such a beautiful place to admire up here even when the fishing is slow.-
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4 minutes ago, big Neil said:
Great report Jeff and super pictures. Great to see you back on deck. bn
Thanks BN.
Look forward to seeing everyone’s posts 🙌 -
2 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:
Great job Scratchie, nice persistence.
Hopefully more will come.
Well done
Cheers mate! Yes I’m stubborn. Prefer to chase snapper though 😂
2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:Nice work Jeff!
Glad you got the chance to get out. What a reward for your persistence!
Thanks Mike. Making the most of those opportunities is what it’s all about!
1 hour ago, Hoods said:Well done Scratchie & Crew. Those numbers prove persistence pays. Find the Fish - Catch the Fish. How is the car park fishing?
And just to add keep some wire on hand as i have seen a photo of a very nice Wahoo boated up our way. Thanks for the report
Hoods
Cheers Hoods.
The car park is 42kms but we were fishing inshore.
Im interested in the wahoo? Send me a pm if you don’t mind with a bit of info! 🤔50 minutes ago, Larkin said:Mate, gotta be happy with that 👍 well done
You using slimies?
Very happy indeed thanks!
Yes mate, bridled slimies with no weight. Slow trolled at 2 knots.40 minutes ago, Pickles said:Great work Jeff, keep it - more out there.😊
Cheers Bob! Stacks of them around atm
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G’day raiders,
Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I haven’t been really active of late. A lot of different reasons but it’s a new year with new goals and fishing is high on the agenda!
Today I headed out with good mate and fishraider @back cruncher.
We’ve been out a couple of times to get his first marlin for the boat without success but we’ve been really determined to get one onboard.
We came close the other day but we lost it not far from the boat. Not deterred, we keep persisting and today was our day! Although, it didn’t start out very promising.
We loaded up with bait fairly easy and headed off to our mark. Baits in the water in glass conditions and anticipation high. However, after a few hours with no strikes and no action seen, Hope was fading so we decided to move areas for something different. Murphys law applied and I get a call from another fishraider saying they were on and boats were hooking up to the area that we had just left! Damn!!! So we headed back and all went quiet again! Just our luck. This time though we committed to the area and kept working hard to find our target. Hours went by and we made the call to pull up lines about 1pm.
At 12:55 we see a few marks on the screen and put the boat in neutral. Wind was now up and made for a difficult drift. The line went under the boat and we put the boat in gear, freed the line and bang….. we come up tight! Finally…… we are on!!!! I got my young son Brandon onto the rod and he did a great job and we soon had our first marlin onboard! YewwwwwWe go back to the same mark and I pretty much hand fed one that took a run and didn’t stick.
Back to the mark again and we see the fish on the sounder and drop back a bait and come up tight. Much bigger fish this one and after a short tussle it snaps the leader.
Drive back to the mark, drop the bait and our other mate is on with some really light spin gear. Great fight and some great driving by Mick sees us boat a second fish!
Absolute action packed hour that seen us go 5-3-2 for the day. We were stubborn, committed and more importantly patient to achieve our goal. And that my friends is what new years are all about! “Setting and achieving your goals”Good luck to everyone in 2023
Tight lines,
cheers scratchie!!!
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SCRATCHIE 2023
in Fishing Reports
Posted
Thanks mate appreciate it
Cheers BN. All the best for Xmas and NY to you too!
Hahahaha yowie! At least you never change! lol
Mate, I’m pretty happy with the conversion rate with my fishing. Generally if you don’t put in the time then you don’t deserve it. Guess I’ve had my lean times 😂
no probs! Not my boat, it’s Micks. Absolute weapon
Thanks Donna! Yes it’s been a hectic year full of ups and downs. Time to soldier on and make 2024 a memorable one
Thanks Mike! I’ll chase anything that swims lol
And yes my kids are a blessing and a curse. But I’ve always told them that if they commit then I will too! Busy times ahead
It was great to finally get you out Baz. Mick and I have been talking about it for a while. I’m glad that things aligned. We will get you that Marlin next year too! 👍