DaveBM

Productive evening with a horrible end. Effectively, that's two mixed bags in one night! Where was this?

My great uncle used to make his own Wonder Wobbler ripoff, using the business end of a teaspoon with all but 2cm of handle cut off. Drill a hole in each end for split rings, then a swivel on the front and a treble on the back. Then depending on the spoon, usually a bit of panel beating with a ball-peen hammer to get it swimming right. Every birthday/xmas I'd get a couple and they were dynamite. As he had it, the realistic elements (tail, scales, eyes etc) didn't do anything - they were just there for the humans - it was all about the shiny metal and the action. I should get off my bum and make some myself one day - I've only got one rusty one left.

Top work mate. But you're compounding my regret! I too woke up on Sunday morning and thought it looked a bit dubious out. Got myself committed to family duties, then when it turned into a gorgeous day it was too late! I suppose time with the gorgeous family is some consolation.

No kidding! I've just moved to Gong. Read this report and was thinking geez I might get some cheeky squid in the bag before my kid wakes up tomorrow morning. *consults the oracle* Nope. When you're closer to Kiama, you're not in Wollongong no more.

Also, the spines stay poisonous long after death, so clip them off if you're taking one home! I got jabbed in my hand through many layers of newspaper as a kid and it sucked big time.

Dunno about NSW, but they get pretty big in WA. I've caught some pushing 1m, by which time they're pretty thick too - maybe 3-4kg. If caught in cleanish water, definitely try eating one. Further upstream they'll taste muddy.

It's not really a sport if only one team knows it's playing. For the angler - a great fun catch, but a shame not to get a feed. For the fish - a horrible experience, but lucky to be alive. It's a matter of perspective, isn't it?

I'm from WA (where cobbler are much more common) and I can assure you they're great eating. Flesh can be a little soft on smaller ones, but with a larger model you can just cut them crosswise into cutlets and they're flaky and delicious. Mind the poisonous spines though.

Got yourself a keeper there mate. Pretty good fish, too.

Definitely good to minimise blood on the deck. Especially if you're a New Zealander.

My great uncle was a pro fisherman and would troll in the Swan River for tailor (for bait) using a strip of bedsheet on ganged hooks, dipped in tuna oil. No info on the thread count.

Actually with your strike rate I'd be surprised if eating fish isn't the no.1 time-consumer! That or you've got a lot of very happy family, friends, and neighbours.

A single bream that can comfortably feed two hungry adults. Top work. Or at least, top play.

Yowie, tell me honestly. With all the catching, cooking, and eating of fish (and presumably the odd trip to the tackle shop), how do you find the time for anything else?

That's a bit unfair Luke. They stay still for a living, so once they've eaten your bait they stop there and wait for something new to come along.

Awesome looking meal. I see a fish though... Tarwhine in the sink. You lied to me!

Would also be much longer than the ice bag.

Either that kingfish is undersized, or that crab is a world record.

LOL 76cm would definitely be a world record garfish!

Great Scott!! Now that's a burger. What's that piled on the chips? I see bacon, cheese, spring onions and (chipotle?) mayo, but there's something darker lurking beneath.

I'm not sure saving these douchebags was doing the community that big a favour, but good people do what they know is right anyway. Well done fellas.

Awesome catch, and at that size superb eating too. I only ever caught one cobia, after a huge tussle on light gear after it inhaled a whiting I'd hooked off a little jetty in about 3m of water over sand. I was watching the whiting come in, and about 5m from the jetty this enormous black thing shoots out from over a weed patch and just smashes it. Pelagic? Hardly! Dude must've been lost... Half an hour later after nearly getting spooled twice I managed to swim it to the beach and then with the aid of a quick measure-and-google confirmed it was 73cm... 2cm under the legal limit for WA. Gutted. Frankly I'd rather have lost it. But after a little coaxing it swam away healthy enough, so there's that.

The only way to distinguish a squid's sex without dissection is that males have one pair of arms (the closest pair to the "front" of the head) which are slightly modified for depositing sperm in mating. Not that easy for the untrained eye to spot on a writhing specimen shooting ink at you though. Anyway, squid mating is a one-time only affair, at least for calamari. So for moral/ethical reasons, if you can learn to spot the difference make sure you keep equal numbers of each. Otherwise the mating party they all attend will be a sausage fest or a clambake.

Biggest I ever caught was in the Swan River in Perth on a fresh mussel I pulled off the pylon under where I was sitting. Went about 2kg on a pretty light handline, and drew some blood as you might imagine.

+1 on trevally sashimi/sushi. Trevally will go well as a ceviche too. It's a South American dish of fish pieces (little cubes or slices), which you "cook" by marinating in lemon or lime juice in the fridge for an hour or two with coriander, spring onion, and chilli as desired. Serve up with some plain corn chips and you can make a fantastic little entree for a few people out of a pretty modest fish you might otherwise use for bait or fry up for one. As long as the fish is fresh and not too oily, anything works. Salt to your taste just before serving, so you don't pull undue moisture out of the fish while it marinates.