Scratchie

G’day raiders, Well all I can say is yewwwww!!! As most of you know, I enjoy a bit of snapper fishing. Haha! So today, I planned to head out with Son no1 and hit Broughton for some snapper! Today is my only day off before 7 days of work, then holidays. So we were going rain, hail or shine! Left little beach at 445 and arrive at the sisters at first light. A strong southerly swell was getting up and a moderate westerly wind set our drift. First drift I land a nice 55cm snaps but that was it. Couple more drifts, donuts! Then we headed to north rock and my son comes up tight. A nice 50cm model to add to the esky! After that nothing!!! Probably put another 100-150 casts on many drifts for not a touch! Time to move! Went to an area with a bit more turbulent water for two drifts and 50 casts nothing! I said to the boy, one more long drift and we are out of here! By this stage, he had pretty much given up and let his sp drift behind the boat but I kept casting. Knowing we were soon going to hit the wall where I’d seen the bait pushed up before. One long cast and I let it waft, next minute bang, this thing hits it with so much force that I nearly lost the rod but then pops off! Devastated I wind in the slack and give it a twitch. Then boy did I load up! Zzzzzzzzzzz this first run was probably 100m plus and heading for structure! Those that have fished with me know that I set a tight drag but this fish didn’t care. So much so that I thought it was a shark until I felt telltale tail beats! Good fish good fish I call to the boy! I played this fish out for a good 15 minutes and then we get sight of it! OMG, it’s huge! Very calmly and collectively we worked together and got it in the net! Then in the boat and I’m sure you Sydney folk heard our cheers! My pb anyway and 95cm of soft plastics caught Broughton Island snapper! Yewwwww! After that we decided to call it a day and headed for Home! It’s amazing how one turn of a reel can change your day and to never have a defeatist attitude! Well that’s my day and record I’ve wanted for ages! Goal met! Location: Broughton Island Gear: shimano ultegra 4000 Sahara 7,2 4-7kg rod, 20lb power pro braid, 20lb black magic fc leader, nitro tt 1/4 5/0xh jig and 7inch camp pearl gulp Time: 9:30am Tide: falling mid swell & wind: 1.4m south and 10knot wsw cheers scratchie!!!

If it was me, I’d throw soft plastics at all 4 spots! If your target is bream and flathead, then a 1/6 or 1/8 jig depending on current with a 2 1/2 inch zman grub in motor oil would be a good start! Cheers scratchie!!!

Stocking up yowie! You must have missed being home! Maori wrasse??? Any good to eat? How do you cook them? Cheers scratchie!!!

Cheers yowie! Yeah I was a bit hesitant, so I whacked a tail rope on and trolled it for a bit. Then bleed it and trollled some more. Brought it onboard and the damn thing was still kicking! Lucky the kill tank on Woodsy’s boat is big enough! Really easy to fillet and great eating! It was a good call.

It’s was actually a first for me and Woodsy too! I’ve eaten them before but never bought one back. Absolutely beautiful. Made them as fish nuggets for the family. Kids hoed them down!

Yes mate! Big long casts and just let it waft under the bait. You don’t need to impart much action to the lure at all. Then big long loops back towards you. It’s a great way to target them with very little crappy bicatch!

Sounds like a nice morning on the water Craig. Especially with a nice hot coffee on the go! When you drift those reefs with the drop offs, do you use sps at all? If not, it’s probably worth a shot. Especially if your sounding bait. The snapper will sit under them waiting for an opportunistic meal. You can leave a baited rod in the holder at the same time. Just a thought! Cheers scratchie!!!

Agh, good to see you back at it yowie! And to see a few fish on that famous brag mat! Cheers scratchie!!!

Haha, the mako wasn’t alive at that stage! Water temp was between 17.4-18.2. The warmer water is still a while off yet.

Definitely hard work! When we went back to north rock it was like we were in a different ocean. But we weren’t leaving without 1 good red.

Get well baz! Really tough fishing atm! We worked super hard for all our fish today! Probably a fish of a thousand casts!

We always have a good day champ! Can’t wait for the warmer months!

G’day raiders, Its been a long while between posts due to many reasons but not from a lack of trying! Anyway, headed out today with @Woodsy1 and we were both pumped just to get out on the water. Left early and tried for livies but only managed 1 slimie and a few yakkas. Then it was time to head to the sisters for a snapper drift. We worked the area for a while for nothing! I messaged @rickmarlin62 to see how he was going and he said it was tough going! I replied, same here! So I changed locations and met up with him at north rock. Quick chat and he said he’d dropped a good fish at the boat but not much after that. Things were looking bleak. We sent out our livie and continued to drift and cast our sps ahead. Zilch! Reset the drift, sent the livie out and bang, we loaded up! Woodsy has a good fight on his hands and much to our surprise it’s a mako! Quick discussion and this one was coming home with us! Yelled out to rick for a quick check on size limit and we’re good to go! At least something for the table! Rick came over and another quick chat and we both headed for COD rock! We worked a different area and after some idiot drive up our drift, then basically circled us, it was time to move! Tried multiple drifts for no result. Then we attempted a flatty drift for donuts too! Things were now looking dire! I made the call to go back to north rock and as we rounded the bend the wind and swell had kicked in and all the boats had left. First drift, bang I came up right and pulled a nice 45cm snaps. Second drift, the wind had increased and I came up tight again but dropped it near the boat. We reset the drift and the wind was now pumping. We were drifting between 2-3 knots and not really conducive to flicking sps but we persisted. I called for one last drift and told Woodsy I’m using my last garlicker gulp as they only catch big fish. Would history repeat itself? And with one big cast, bang zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. This fish absolutely smashed it. It used the max current to give a massive account of itself. But after some great team work, it’s in the net going 71cm!! Happy as and the wind now blowing at 30km plus we headed for Home! Really really hard work out there today but we at least managed to hit our target! Thanks for reading, cheers scratchie!!!

That’s great advice there and thank you for taking the time to write it. Cheers scratchie!!!

Great stuff mate! Two cracking catches there! Enjoy the Maldives. I hope there’s some fishing planned for there too! Cheers scratchie!!!

Yet another great write up yowie! Look forward to your next reports on your home turf! There should be plenty of fish in the hacking since you’ve been gone for 5 months! Cheers scratchie!!!

Great read yowie!!! Now that’s what retirement should be like. I’m surprised you didn’t eat that sweet lip considering how much you like mowies! ? cheers scratchie!!!

And there you go, you’ve done it again baz! Now they are forecasting 20knot southerlies. Grrrrrrrr ?

Don’t be silly! Get out there mate, the jobs can wait!

My mate got a few good reds last night! A bit of inspiration there! I’m keen as! Hopefully Monday stays as forecast. Don’t you jinx it with a day off baz! ?

Yep, spot on Sam, the weather sucks! My last proper fishing session was the 10th August. Hopefully the weather stays forecast for Monday and I’ll be out there again! Cheers scratchie!!!

Ouch!!! Always the way. Get a hit on the rod your not using ? cheers scratchie!!!

Done ✅

Thanks Geoff. Yep same thing happens on mine. I basically got it so the kids don’t use my good rods! Haha ?

Same to you mate! Haha, no spoon for me this year! We came ninth. Go you tigers!