Scratchie

Just Awesome! Photos not needed anyway in this report. You said it all by saying the afternoon was just magic! Cheers scratchie!!!

I can't give away all my secrets! Yes I can, I don't care. Mate, 1/4oz jig same as throwing sp's in 15-20m of ocean water. A peeled large banana prawn. Cast out and let it drift down. Once you hit the bottom work it back towards you like an sp but in long loops and slowly wind in the slack. I've caught more snapper using that technique than any other! Hope that helps!

Good stuff mate! Yeah, the weather wasn't great. At least you managed to get a line wet! The last two days have been exceptional though!

G'day raiders, Sorry about the title but for all of those that travel up here it is our slogan! Anyway, headed out this morning with the new young apprentice from work and I thought I'd give little scratchie jnr a day off school and he came to! We set off from shoal bay about 630 and rounded the corner to less than 1m swell and no wind, agh perfect! Went to cabbage tree and picked up a heap of livies in no time. There was plenty of boats collecting bait, so I didn't want to waste time and headed straight to the sisters. We got there and there was no one there.???? So I started by trolling livies whilst I was sounding out the bottom. No luck on the troll but managed to find a few nice marks. So the drift was set and we began to throw a few sp's and baited hooks. It wasn't long before we had a few little pannies and a heap of reef fish. In fact, jnr probably could have started his own aquarium. So there was a bit of action but not what I wanted. So I changed to my secret weapon of prawn on a jighead. I casted out waited and felt tap tap, damn another picker but then all of a sudden zzzzzzzzzzzzz and this thing took off like a rocket. A 10min fight ensured which included us chasing this fish and then a great netting effort by jnr and it was all over! The young apprentice had never heard line scream off the reel like that before and he wanted some action. Unfortunately, there were no more big boys to come and play but he still managed a couple of pannies and nice sized tarwhine. We changed a few locations like north rock, cod rock and west head but the same result at each with undersized snapper and reefies. The sun was too high so we headed deep but by now the wind had kicked in and made drifting a bit difficult. We decided to head for home and were shown the way by a pod of dolphins playing in the bow waves. So I thought I'd charge the apprentice a little more for the dolphin watch tour! So we arrived back at the islands out the headlands and with a bit of time to spare I thought we'd have a bit of a troll with some deep divers. The water is still showing only 20.0deg so I didn't think there would be much about but one rod goes off and jnr was the quickest to it. A great little fight for the young fella and what did he catch??? Well to my surprise, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure its an amberjack! We called it a day after that and was back at home with the boat and gear washed down by 2pm. What a great day on the water! How good is Port Stephens and we haven't even got to the marlin season yet! Thanks for reading, Cheers scratchie!!!

No you don't need a licence to hire a tinny. Enjoy!!! Cheers scratchie!!!

Hey Steve, I haven't spent much time fishing tea gardens (landbased) but a few areas worth a try. Jimmys beach would be one. You can get whiting and bream there. Opposite there where the park is, sorry don't know the name, fish the estuary right along up to the short cut for Flatty and bream. Or underneath the bridge when the tide slows your a chance of a Jew. Might be worth hiring a tinny if you get the chance. There's some great little nooks and crannys around that area to fish. Drifting the oyster racks you are almost guaranteed a feed of flatties! Hope that helps! Cheers scratchie!!!

All we can do is lead by example! Cheers scratchie!!!

Nice work Adam. I'm sure he was very greatful for you taking the time to show how us Aussies fish. Hope your next outing is more successful. I can already picture a big smile from him! Well done Cheers scratchie!!!

Lol. Very clever! Goes to show that you don't need to share your whole life story on Facebook, it will come back and bite you in the ass!

So back to the topic...... Warm water, soap and elbow grease! Then sit back with a nice cold beer and remember the journey you just had and look forward to the next one! Cheers scratchie!!!

Awesome Sean! Did they charge you extra for the extended trip? Almost 3hrs on a rod and reel is not for the faint hearted or limped wristed for that matter. Top effort champ! Cheers scratchie!!!

Your not wrong witha! The bay is beautiful and catching fish is a bonus!

The wife says thanks to all. She didn't get to eat it as she had to work but it tasted delicious!

Great to see that everything sorted itself out with the boat and you got it on the water! Once your out there, sometimes catching fish is just a bonus! Cheers scratchie!!!

Hey stu, Nice part of the world to travel too! The flatty have started to chew around the bay and I've seen some good catches of whiting from the same areas. Corlette beach is always worth a shot on high tide, as well as taylors beach. You can pump nippers in those locations if you don't like using sp's. The stones off boat harbour haven't been productive of late but there are some nice squid around telegraph point and noamunga. The left hand side of noamunga point will yield you some cabbage and you can also find some at cemetery point, Anna bay. Anything you need to know just ask! Cheers scratchie!!!

Almark mountain. They are there all year round

Some great fish there by the boys and the post pics of the feed make it even better! Well done Cheers scratchie!!!

We can only dream! Well done Cheers scratchie!!!

Gotta love Michelle Paynes post interview. "For those of you that doubted me you can go and get stuffed". No win for me on that race but I've kicked butt on the others!

Preferment! No real reason, mainly because I hate backing favourites. Mystery trifectas are the way to go!

Well over 70cm pete! I had him hooked and running and boat side but always difficult trying to net a big girl yourself!

It was a really relaxing day on the water. The mrs out fish me? That sits ok with me. It was about her yesterday because marlin season is just around the corner

All good! Just glad it's a pike of some sort

Read the post JD. My wife chucked one, I was already going fishing!

Looks like a pike to me! Thanks for throwing a spanner in the works blackfish! Lol. Damn it, I thought that was an easy one!