GordoRetired

I agree with you on the flatties, I reckon the best eating size is around 50, you get a decent size fillet to fry up. 🙂

Sounds like a good day out. You have also surprised me, I though that Hairtail were usually a night time catch, but you got that one during the middle of the day. Nice Jew too 🙂

The bites out of the side may have been Leather Jackets. They can destroy a SP

Looks like a cracking day out was had by all. Well done

Some good King fish and Jewie baits there 🙂

That sounds like a lot of fun. How were the hotels along the way for the over night stops? 🙂

Well done on getting your daughter 'hooked'. 🙂 You should have kept a Trevally or 2, they are excellent Sashimi

Never kept a Sweep. Are they any good to eat? If so how do you cook them?

After the soaking that we have had in Sydney over the last couple of months we Finally got out for a fish yesterday. Forecast was for light winds and low swell so the plan was get some Yakkas, then head to our favorite Flathead spot, get a feed then go chase some Kings. It worked .....Kinda 🙂 Launched at Roseville around 6.15, pleasantly surprised at how few people were there, everyone must have gone away for Easter. Of to the bait grounds and within an hour had around 17 or 18 livies in the bait tank, 2 of us were targeting them, but no Squid, our man on the Squid just could not tempt them with his Jigs. We were surprised at how small the Yakkas were, with most of them being under 15cm, I guess you would call these Kingie snack size. Next stop was our Flathead spot off Long Reef. The 3 of us sent down paternoster rigs baited with different combinations of Pillies, Frozen Yakka slabs, chicken strips and Cuttle fish pieces. Well the Flathead were not overly cooperative, over the next couple of hours we got a few, but ended up with more Snapper than Flaties. Although the chicken on my rig did snag a solid, around 60cm, Flathead. While we were drifting we spotted some fish traps so took a short break from the drift and put out some lures for a troll past them. There were 3 sets of traps and we looped around them all. Unfortunately no hits but it gave us a bit of a break from winding lead up and down to re-bait hooks.... So with a few Flatties and Snapper on ice we headed onto Long Reef, deciding to fish around the Wall. We stayed with the paternoster rigs and started drifting the area, this time with dead bait on the bottom hook and a small Yakka on the top. The baits had not been down for more than a few minute before we got our first king, an absolute monster that had taken the dead bait, it must have been all of 35cm 🙂 Even at that size they do put up a spirited fight and are fun to catch. We ended up hooking 6 or 7 of these small fellas, only 1 actually taking the live bait, all of the rest were on pieces of Pillie or Yakka. Along with the kings we also snagged a few more Snapper and a Pig fish. Final stop was over the Foul Grounds for a drift. Again Snapper seemed to love our baits as well as another decent Flathead. While drifting I got what felt like a huge hit and the rod loaded up with something that seems to be kicking well and had a bit of weight. After a few minutes of pump and wind it turned out to be a double header of big Sargent Baker....how disappointing. At around 3.30 we decided to call it a day and head in. Again a nice surprise as there were hardly any boats waiting to get pulled out. Often on a Public holiday there can be a 30+ minute wait to get out. Overall it was not a spectacular fish keeping day, however 8 Flathead, 7 Snapper - all but 1 between 33 and 38, a pig fish and a Trevally can't be all bad. All 3 of us went home with a decent feed. During the day we also caught a large Banjo Shark, pulling that up was hard work, Nannygai, Some bug eyed little reef fish, Rock Cod, a Moray eel - destroyed a rig with that one, and Sargent Baker, as well as throwing back a heap of undersized Snapper and Flathead. So a real mixed species day out. Lets hope we can get out again soon. Tight Lines all.

That looks to have been a great session on the Kings, you are the Master. 🙂

Well done on a nice fish, great eating too. Enjoy 🙂

Be interested top hear how you go. I am trying to work out a day when I can get out on the harbour

Those Marlin can be tricky buggers to keep on the hook 🙂 However a 4-2-1 for the day is a good result. Any day that you manage to land a bill fish is a great day out. There can be too many days when you don't even see one.

You have a magical way of finding the fish. Sounds like it was a very good session. 🙂 We must get out again soon, I have not been on the water in weeks.

Thanks Donna, very grateful for the recognition.

Many years ago we kept a 70kg Marlin as it qualified for first Marlin capture for the season when I fished with Port Hacking GFC. Like you we shared the steaks around. Cooked up on the barbi they were absolutely delicious. Not sure I would want to be eating off a bigger fish, mercury and all that, but the smaller ones are very tasty. 🙂

That looks like a good feed to me.. If I cam home with that many Snapper I would be over the moon 🙂

At least you got out to wet a line, more than I have managed in Sydney over the last couple of weeks. The rain has even messed up my golf, the course has been closed for 2 weeks now. I am starting to go stir crazy.. 🙂

Thats a good fish and great eating. Well done.

That looks like a great place to stay and sounds like some great fishing. At least for the Ladies 🙂

Thats a Huge Snapper, funny how small Snapper are pretty fish, nice colours and shape, but that one is damn ugly. Any idea why they grow those huge lumps? Enjoy the Snapper fillets. 🙂

Great catch and Jewfish cutlets for weeks 🙂

Those sharks make great eating 🙂

Was one of the best days out for a while. Glassy water with almost no wind.

Even the smaller Kings put up a fun fight so long as you are not on too heavy gear. Sounds like you had a good day