Aerialangler

Well done to Jeff “Scratchie” and Fishraider for getting some recognition for their hard work in bringing fishos together Who would have thought that Jeff’s secret weapon all this time was a green singlet!! Something he didn’t share with me I listen to the ALF podcast and its very interesting and informative now it’s even more informative after scratchie’s interview!! Awesome

Thanks everyone for your comments Must say at work this week just a little bit more spring in my step still taking it in and absorbing what happened Big thanks to my brother Andrew- the captain, who took us out and got us onto the fish

Headed up with a mate from Sydney to my brothers place at Port Stephens to see if we could find some Yellowfin Tuna We tried to work out what days would be best and decided on Sunday Interesting start to the day with torrential showers first thing in the morning while we loaded boat We could have almost cancelled - and as we headed up the bay from soldiers point the rain kept coming Conditions outside the heads were a bit all over the place but we thought we’d push through and see if it improved We got about 10kms out and things did improve- rain was behind us now and we felt the slop was decreasing so we pushed on - water around 17 degrees About 20kms and lots of birds showing up Some were concentrated and diving in so we thought we would put a spread out and work the area With no luck we decided to keep going We saw a marlin free jump for a bit so the lures go in again No luck 30kms more birds concentrated and diving in one area Again, lures out and we picked up a striped tuna about 7kg We push on - water now 18.9 and we are about 50kms offshore Then we see what we didn’t think we would ever see- small schools of YF jumping and chasing bait - we couldn’t believe our eyes! The shotgun rod goes off And screaming run- after only a twenty minute battle the fish is boat side and we see colour We trade the big net for a gaff when it gets closer Approximately 45kg YF into the boat!! A first for all of us!! Big celebrations to say the least We put the lures out again 15 min later another hit on the shot gun lure! Drops the lure after a screaming run 15 mins later same rod goes off And a longer run and what seems a bigger fish After 25 mins we get the fish boat side only to have it look at our ugly heads and take off again before we could get the gaff near it My friend on the rod is now sweating on whether we will boat this one (The first fish we got the hooks were only just in) Now the fish is deeper again and another 15 mins using the current and the wind we work him back up After some nervous pep talks on being patient and making our gaff hits count we manage to boat this fish!! Approximately 60kg fish!! We are so happy!! One more of the crew- the captain- my brother hasn’t fought one yet so we make it our aim to get another Fish are still jumping but not so much bird activity We troll for another 30 mins No takers- it’s now about 2pm and we have about a two hour trip back so the captain calls it time- I say come on give it ten more minutes 5 mins later two rods are hit and lines are screaming- this time it’s the rods closest to the boat! We get the captain on one rod and I grab the other one Line is peeling and the spools are emptying - my bro manages to slow his fish up but mine doesn’t stop He has his fish close to boat sickles showing in about 10 mins!! We check the drag and it’s like it’s been set for pulling big kings off the bottom! Anyway we get the fish boat side and I have now put my rod with fish on in holder as I got to help with leader and gaffing Just as I’m leading the fish up to gaff it takes off thrashing the hook pulls! But my other mate has just sunk the gaff in!! Rescued! But he’s loses his grip as it’s thrashing and his hand slips down the gaff He’s losing the gaff and the fish as it’s thrashing- and yells out help I’m right there so take a grab at the gaff too and now we both heave the fish in More sheer delight for the crew of 3!! Then it dawns on me- the other rod, the other fish is still on!! This fish has all but spooled me- (I think I have 400m of line out)I cant move it - 50lb braid won’t budge it We decide to gain some line and work the boat back toward the fish This feels much bigger than the previous one We gain half the line- then a couple of big runs and the line breaks - this one will haunt me forever unfortunately. But time will heal We caught most fish in the profidgie lures- but two fish at the end hit a heavy 9inch bullethead pink skirt and a large purple Halco maxi hard body Water blue green 18.9 First fish 45kg Second 60kg Third 50kg We are so stoked to have all caught our first Yellowfin together - not sure we will ever see another day like it We’ve so many trips with nothing and now they have been removed with better memories! Golden memories!! Thanks for reading - get amongst it!!!

Awesome fish!! CONGRATULATIONS MATE! thanks for your detailed report

Wow - that’s made my day seeing another cool specimen on the wall thanks for sharing - that looks awesome I was starting to think I was the only one! yes with all the zoom meetings it’s prime time to have one in the background!! Ha ha

Hi raiders Just thought I would open up a subject that may appeal to the anglers and lovers of fish out there When I was a young lad my stepdad caught a striped marlin off the coast of Tasmania - St. Helen’s, around 130 kg (pic included) Yes thats me in the beautiful bright blue trackies I was on the boat and have never forgotten the experience - it made the local newspaper and after catching this fish of a lifetime for my stepdad - we sourced a mould of a striped marlin of similar size Having it up on the wall was always a memory of what could happen if you got out there and wet a line! Now 25 years on I still admire the beauty of fish and the replicas that great artists make I was always on the look out for buying another replica of a marlin - and one day I found one on gumtree - it ended up being a real bargain for the quality of the fish mount - (I remember not really having the money to spend but made it happen and have never regretted jumping at the chance- much to my wife's displeasure!!) It also coincided with being able to catch my first marlin, solo off Sydney- not as big as the replica I bought though!! I thought I would share a picture of my most valuable piece of art in the house!! I’m also interested in what other raiders out there have on their walls and in their man caves! Thanks for reading and look forward to seeing your own pieces of art!! Stay safe!

Well done mate!! Great report and glad u found them- like u always do!! Your a snapper magnet!

@BerleygutsI don’t think that was the lure it was some sort of Berkeley top water, bent minnow style lure probably way too big for whiting but I was thinking a flattie might go it

Awesome stuff well done I know what it feels like to lose a big one but don’t know what it’s like to redeem myself the same day!! good fishing

Congratulations men! well deserved, good looking fish

Hi mate note the pic low tide some good sand flats for yabbies here also keep in mind a full pilchard on jimmys beach light weighted might catch you a good flattie on the run in tide might have to put up with shovel nose shark and banjo sharks as bi catch but keep waiting- you never know Im pretty sure fishing from beach is ok of jimmys beach but by boat it’s not ok might be wrong but so many were fishing from beach day and night when I was there for 3 weeks

Well as we have been doing for the last 13 years. Heading to the Port Stephens area to get away from Sydney- Hawksnest side of the bay Plan was- to spend time with family- and fish when I could Weather was great- and the big NE wind showed itself in the arvos I also had a lot of extended family to take out for a fish- which was good fun Anyway, long story short spent some time in the bay- some good bream in the myall river Squid on the surface targeting whiting in the Myall river- no whiting on surface A few trips to Broughton and got some good pan sized snapper biggest 50cm An amber jack at one stage Unfortunately lost the big Red- Hook bent and flattened- fishing too light a drag and leader - yes blame myself for that It began with a massive run from the fish wondering when it would stop- when it did, I was relieved but then a few heads shakes as I was gaining some ground and that sinking feeling of no more weight on the line- very disappointing as it was after so many hours of of casting Spent one night at Broughton anchored in the boat in coal shaft bay, escaping the NE one night Only to have the wind turn through the night to SW blowing straight in at about 30 knots Was very happy that the anchor held in the early morning We caught blue swimmers too in the myall river - best was putting traps in of a night and checking them at first light Nice surprise to have an octopus in one in the morning- great addition to the paella Trag were there too SE of Broughton in about 60m on the reef areas but lots of baracouta slicing and dicing the rigs- a bit frustrating losing many fish and rigs on way down and up The last night we were there, we fished Jimmy’s beach We had fished it a few times before only to catch the old common shovel nose and some good whiting- sometimes crowded with swimmers and fisherman Fishing with whole pilchard and a small running sinker I was teaching my daughter (6) to fish We had caught a few shovel nosed sharks and small tailor that night and on the last cast we had a good bite- it was just on dusk very low visibility She screamed “ it’s heavy dad!!” And I just said “don’t let go of the rod!” After a few minutes of drag screaming and reeling in and some splashing, I traced the line in with my hand as she kept winding near the shore, I was shocked to see a big flattie come up with the slight wash of the beach. Now it was leader vs wash and weight of the big girl vs the little girl. While my daughter was winding I eased the fish up with the wash and edged it up with my hands to dry ground I was so proud that she kept winding and didn’t dropped the rod in the sand - proud dad moment Will never forget this one on one moment with my little girl She said to me “ I had this funny feeling in my stomach I haven’t felt before” as she pulled the fish to shore I’m not sure if it was the rod pushing into her tummy or a little adrenalin running through her young blood It was the highlight of the holiday with some hard fishing amongst the crowds including me- part of the holidaying crowd I hope this is this is the beginning of her passion for fishing- expensive and time consuming as it may be!!!! She ended up with the biggest fish of the holiday!!And it was her first proper fish- My Flathead Queen- well thats what we call her now Thanks for reading

Yeh Jeff! congrats on being a fisherman who.....teaches a man to fish thanks personally for generosity along with Berleyguts who took me on his boat not knowing me from a bar of soap you obviously love sharing and caring and no doubt your family is very blessed to have you and yes, I think you might actually know what your doing when it comes to fishing!! Thanks also for going above and beyond behind the scenes cheers mate

Awesome day men!

Thanks for this idea in the past I would just keep bonito for bait but this inspired me to try it and yes it was great- added some other fresh veggies like corn and coriander I let the bonito fillets set in the fridge over night to make sure they were nice and firm for cutting into the smaller pieces didnt rinse the the lemon juice off and was still ok Also had some for sashimi

Hi fellow Raiders Well what can I say? @Berleyguts and @Scratchie are two fine specimens of the sea Baz’s 4.49 outlaw Stacer got us to Broughton and back stress free Nice reliable and organised boat I’d never met Baz and Jeff in person so meeting them at the boat ramp just after 5am was a good experience in the dark As the the sunlight slowly revealed all of our handsome faces it wasn’t what was on the outside that counted but what was on the inside that mattered on the day @Scratchie was there to show us how to catch snapper on SP and he did it in flying colours And @Berleyguts provided a beautiful vessel and captaincy As mentioned conditions weren’t the greatest but we still managed to learn and gain some success in the early hours of the day Thanks again for the top day master captain Baz and Elite guide Jeff

Thanks Blackfish for the ID yeh they look correct. Much appreciated

Hi raiders fishing off Port Stephens out near Almark reef About 50kms offshore In around 160-200m water caught a good feed but a few first time fish that can’t ID Will try and attach pics the crimson red fish was about 40cm long and the pink yellow fish was about 50cm

Thanks Looks like that’s the identity cheers!

Hi guys and girls, Caught this bottom fishing off port stephens in about 100m of water. Anyone know the identity? These are all the pics I have White flesh and had a lot of bara trauma

Friends of mine, took my boat out.... I had to work.... conditions were superb!!! Gloomy early morning but got better they had 24-25 degree water around the manly fads, bluer water than it has been. They didn't venture out past 70 fathoms caught some size dollies at the wider fad Small live yakkas got some but burleying up with pillies and using them worked too some bonito on the way back around the heads with divers

Thanks for the report. Good to know its hit and miss for others out there. One day the time and effort has to pay off.

Thanks guys for your feedback, Raymondo- Yeh we weren't pulling a teaser, our boat is the teaser ha ha And rod storage is not bad. We have a rocket launcher on the centre console up top to hold 4 rods. When we are trolling we have some rod holders attached facing out off the bow rail, which gives us two rods out wide. Then we have 4 holders at the back of the boat for other rods, but we only run 2 off there on 45 degree angle. We run a shot gun off one of the rocket launchers up top. So that give us 5 for trolling. We were running Black/purple Zacatak 10" , Black magic Evil tuna terror 8", Pakula sprocket Lumo 6" ,a pink 6" squid daisy chain and a natural black/green Fatboy 5" shot gun- (the shot gun lure got the dollie) It seems a bit hard going out there this season....

So we got out early this morning and were at the heads by about 5:00am as the cruise ship was readying to enter the harbour. We headed straight out to the 12 mile but could only manage about 20kmph so was a bit slow. Weather calmed right off later and there was no swell The temp went from 22-23 on the way out. There were some nice current lines around the 12 mile but didnt produce after a few big circles. We headed further out and the temp dropped back to 22.5 about 25km out. We hooked an undersized dollie. Then headed NW back towards the Manly Fads. We hit a current change where the water calmed and spotted a Marlin on the surface in front of the boat. It was cruising into the current. 22.6 degree water. We tried to overtake him and get him into our lure spread but he disappeared. We had no live bait unfortunately. About 15 mins later heading in we spotted another marlin on the surface. We werent quite sure what species, we could just see the tail fin out of the water cruising along. Every now and then the dorsal fin would pop up too. He was cruising at about 16kmph. We followed and circled him for about 10 mins but no takers. We were gutted we had no live bait to drop back but then again he may have just been not hungry.... ANYWAY it was nice to see and we trolled the rest of the way in to the inner fad with no luck. Water seemed warmer in closer (23 degrees) than where we had been outside around 25km out. We saw two sharks about 5 ft long maybe bronzies as they were a brown colour. Came through 2 pods of dolphins and saw plenty of birds, no diving though. We got back to the heads around 12:30pm. Had done around 120kms, and used about 60 litres of fuel. So not too expensive for 7hrs fishing. The Yamaha 40hp 2 stroke did its job today. Anyone else have better luck out today? Attached is some footage of the free swimmer and pic of boat Free swimmer.mov

Heading out tomorrow morning for a look at the deep blue Two on board and 4.5m tinny centre console all safety equipment for those worried havent had a good look at any good game fish this season but hope to hook something will keep you posted, but if we go badly will not post , ha ha will be trying a spread of five skirted lures. Heading northeast and then back to 12 mile Boat name: Black Marlin rego: BMARL1N