Scratchie

Cheers mate! Yes whiskers still out there! Preparation is all done in fillets. Leave the skin on as it’s best for cooking. Generally just do portion sizes. Wish I had a ban saw to make cutlets!

Thanks Yowie! I hope your talking about the fish 😂😂😂 Cheers Rob! If your not out there early chasing snapper then don’t both. The hoody gave me nightmares last night 🤦‍♂️ Thanks! Marlin are great to target but anyone who does it, knows how mundane it can be too! Every cast your on the game with snapper! Hahahahaahha and a big fire too!

Cheers mate! Hurt a lot this one 😂 Thanks 🙏 Cheers. Yeah getting closer to one of those shallow water hoodlums Thanks! Great place to explore Cheers mate! You win some and lose some! Today I did both. Better than not finding anything 🤙 Hahahahahaha! Oh Baz, that might be the difference between success and not so successful 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ 88 and fat as weighing about 8.5kg!

G’day raiders, With things hotting up here, it’s hard decision what to target. Well it is for most. But for me with everyone out chasing marlin, that means there’s less pressure on my snapper grounds. So me and a mate thought we’d give it shot as we both haven’t done much fishing this year so far. First to the ramp as usual and headed to collect bait. They were very finicky that time of the morning and only managed two yakkas before I could hear Broughton calling us. Git up there before first light and started casting. My mate hooks up instantly and good snapper into the net. Then he gets another and another. I was still yet to get a bite and was getting pretty frustrated. Reset the drift and cast and cast and cast. Then I feel a slight weight on the line and I strike to set the hook. I could feel weight but no run for the first 5 seconds. Weird!! Then this thing finally realised it was hooked and dumped half my spool in one run! Holy shit. I thought it might be a king and have to chase it on the snapper gear but I managed to stop its run and there’s was those beats I was looking for. A tussle to and throw to the end, in 10m of water and up comes a thumping Port Stephens snapper! Yewwwwwwwww! At least I was finally on the board and my mate couldn’t believe the size of this thing. We take a few photos and reset the drift. Next minute, my live bait rod goes off and it’s a brut of a king. We drag it out to the 20m mark and I fight this thing hard. Easily the biggest king I’ve had on and within sight of the boat, Pop goes the hook. We were spewing but sometimes the ocean wins and that’s fine with me. Headed back to do another drift only for a few spearos to anchor in our spot and jump in the water. So we move on, get our drift sorted put in about 10 casts each and seriously, here comes these spearos again and deadset pulled up in front of us! 🤬🤬🤬 Anyway, that was a sign to move to a different area that no one knows and we begin to cast. Same result as the first area with my mate getting a couple good ones and me no bite! Reset the drift and all hell breaks loose! I’m onto a screamer, mate loaded with a fish and the live rod goes off! Noooooooo! My mate quickly winds his pannie in, I’m onto a cracker and he nets that, then I jump onto the live rod that I could barley get out the holder and this thing reefs need a beauty and pop goes the leader. Damn! But the drift resulted in a beauty and the box was now well and truly filled. By this stage we were pretty buggered and at 830 decided to call it a day. Absolute magic out there doing what I love the most! Thanks for reading, cheers scratchie!!!

Cheers mate! I hope He LEADS a team to the premiership! 💪

Thanks mate. Im sure there is a lot of kids in that very same position. Things aren’t always just or fair in sport but as I taught my son, life’s not always fair either. Work hard and you’ll get your rewards at some point. So much politics and nepotism in kids sport but if they really want it, train as hard as you can and make them embarrassed not to pick you! Then when the opportunity presents itself, take it with both hands 🙌

He is been coached and mentored by quite a few former players and NRL coaches. Hooker is certainly an option for him but at this stage his game is really based around the halves!

Cheers mate! Thanks. Yes he is very focused on what he wants and works hard. I’m so proud. Cheers Nik. As you would know, plenty of hours spent travelling and time sitting at football parks. All worthwhile as they chase their goals. Cheers mate! Hard work is definitely the key to success in life in general. He’s baked again in the side this week, so let’s see him back it up! 💪

IMG_8650.MOV G’day raiders, Just thought that I would stick up a post about one of my talented young kids. My son Brandon has been playing rugby league since he was 4. He’s always been a talented young kid from cricket, athletics to rugby league. To be honest, any sport he plays he always gives his all no matter what he does. His real passion though is rugby league and attends a sports high school on a Talented Sports Program. He has been dedicated to making a representative side for many years and his talent has always been there for everyone to see. Although year after year, when rep season came about he would trial and be the best player on the field but would never get picked. Disappointed, he would always ask me why? To which I had no answer but I would always tell him to keep training hard and just make the too embarrassed not to pick you! So he took up that challenge and we’ve spent hundreds of hours at the park working on his skills. At home we prepared the right meals to fuel the body and training programs to get him in the best shape we could. Yet he still didn’t get picked. As the years went on he lead his team to three Division 1 premierships, represented the school in NSW SCHOOL BOYS CUP, won state titles in Rugby, touch and oztag. But they still didn’t pick him. I’ve always said that natural talent will only get you so far, so keep working hard. To his credit, that’s exactly what he did. The kid is 17 and has never touched drugs, vape, had a cigarette and doesn’t even know what a beer tastes like! Well, at the end of last year they finally couldn’t deny him any longer and he was picked for the U/18’s Newcastle Knights squad. He trained with the squad for 2 months and was approaching the first game and to make his debut and was struck down with covid! Omg, what a kick in the arse! He waited the two weeks out under policy and on the weekend just gone, he finally got the chance to make his debut! The years of persistence and dedication were about to be on display for all to see! Game day came around and we drove to the ground and I could tell by his mannerisms that he was focused on the task at hand. To say he put on a clinic of skill was an understatement. He turned his team around from a heavy loss the week prior to a thumping win that had his name on everyone’s lips! So proud of his efforts and the young man he’s becoming. As a young kid to have the goals he’s set for himself and witness the work that he’s put in brings tears to my eyes! Thanks for reading. So you know that if I’m not out fishing, I’m following my amazing children on their sporting endeavours around the country somewhere! IMG_8650.MOV

You know where my vote goes mate 😂😂😂 cheers scratchie!!!

Any time Bob! Just book it in 🤙

Now that a report! Nice work swordies. Keep on enjoying yourselves 🤙 cheers scratchie!!!

Hahahahahha hopefully he comes back to you all grown up one day 😂 cheers scratchie!!!

That’s a great haul. Plenty of places to target in Port Stephens. Glad you had a good trip up here! Can’t say I venture that far out to chase snapper. Prefer the 6-15m of water myself. A lot easier on the arms! Lol 😝 Well done 👍 cheers scratchie!!!

Nice Baz! A couple of fish and crabs. Beats the usual trip to Broughton 😂 cheers scratchie!!!

That sounds like the perfect arvo to me! A nice swim, beer and the bonus of a few good fish! PERFECT 👍 Cheers scratchie!!!

Ya killed it bro! Nice work! Don’t wear yourself out! Hahahahh cheers scratchie!!!

Scored a good feed there. Finding a good patch of flatties always makes the trip worth it. We found the same with the blue bottles up crowdy yesterday. They were everywhere, as well as the micro mahi from Nelson bay to Seals. cheers scratchie!!!

Can always tell when you fish with someone else because it’s not the usual bragmat 😂 Nice choir of flatty there Dave 🤙 cheers scratchie!!!

G’day raiders, Sorry I haven’t been around much lately as I’ve had a lot going on! Briefly been reading reports and admiring your great captures over the past few weeks…… raiders rule! On Monday, finally managed to get out myself with fellow raider @back cruncher and his mate Hop. We had a pretty good plan and stuck to it. Cast plastics early for snapper and try our hand at trolling livies for kings. We loaded up with yakkas pretty easy and headed for our first mark. Straight away Mick came up tight to a nice snapper and into the box it went. I think I managed another pannie and then Mick lands another good one. As we were ending our drift I got a bite that the fish dropped but he came back and I set the hook. No real fight as I wind in about 20m of line and I thought I’ve got another pannie. That was until it seen the boat and took off at 100mph. A bit confused, I thought it was a king until I stopped it’s run and felt the telltale beats. Good snapper and after a spritely fight into the net she goes! We managed to land a couple more before we put the lures away and started to troll some livies about. Tried a few different areas to no avail but was definitely a change of pace for us. Started to head home and topped the box up with a few flatty. Whilst chasing the flatty we got plagued by small mahi-mahi which was a bit of fun until we called it a day! I then went home and had a quick hour nap, a shower and headed north for CROWDY HEADS…….. Arrived at my mates place just in time for dinner and a beer before an early night and a 3am alarm. I was pretty excited but knew the swell was up there and when we got to the ramp I wasn’t wrong. Solid 2m rolling through but with very little wind. We headed out and just like back in Port Stephens, yakkas were pretty easy to come by and we got a tank full pretty quick. Hit our mark and set the drift, with livie out back and anticipation high. My mate was on bait and me lures as always. We managed a few pannies each but no real takers. Worked several areas as the seas settled down a bit but it was very quiet with no real surface action. Headed out a bit deeper to top up the bag and I switched to some slow jigs. We got what we needed and it was nice to spend some time in the water! So good for my soul and bringing home a feed of fish was a bonus! Just can’t wait to get back out there and do it again! Thanks for reading! cheers scratchie!!!

Great report! And Bob just keeps sharing his knowledge! Legend 🤙🤙🤙 cheers scratchie!!!

Have a look at the atomic arrows! Really solid rods, great to cast with and priced to match! cheers scratchie!!!

Nice work Kent! Always pays to have a livey drifting out the back. You never know what will turn up. I heard of 3 caught that day until the water turned over from all the nor easterlies. Solid effort on that gear! Glad you had a good trip! cheers scratchie!!!

Can be quite entertaining at the ramps up here this time of year especially when we get a strong westerly. Not that I find it that funny but some people need to learn the basics when launching and retrieving their boats. But most generally learn the hard way! A very simple tip to all………. Use your side mirrors only. When reversing….. If you can see your tyre in the right mirror turn the steering wheel to the right and visa versa. If you can’t see any wheels then your going straight. Pretty simple really. cheers scratchie!!!

That’s a cracking whiting mate! And the meal looks good too! 🤙 cheers scratchie!!!