Yon

Yeah I’m pretty sure you’re right. Didn’t do parallel runs, just wouldn’t let me keep it on the surface. bait was a squid head - guts and all, on a 6/0 circle hook. I had the bait sitting about 3m off the bottom.

Fishing from up high I just use my legs a lot more than my back. would a wobegong fight like that? I’ve only ever caught two. It was like pulling up a brick.

Yeah I think that’s a pretty reasonable thing to say. I’m fishing from up high, behind a (low but strong) fence. The pull is always down, not out. I have thought about that scenario and seen people go in, so conscious of the risk you’re highlighting. Because I’m always slide baiting in that location, the drag is always loose and the rod in a holder, so when I set the drag, I’m always bracing already and on balance.

Hahahahaha - well that would be true “rock” fishing...

It took the bait and just started swimming off slowly, even after I tightened my drag, just kept kinda moving along. It didn’t start to really fight until I started trying to pull it up to the surface. I’m pretty sure it was a reef because I was able to move it through the water and then suddenly couldn’t. When I have it slack, it moved a bit and I was able to move it again, until it reefed me again. cant be 100% certain but felt like it was a reef

That sounds *very* similar to what I was dealing with. Literally felt like a small bus, hard to raise up and seemed to be able to dive at will.

I was using a Penn Prevail II 12 ft heavy rod and a big Penn Spinfisher SSVI reel. bait was a squid head sitting about 3M off the bottom

Yes my reel has 20 kg of drag, it was locked up and still pulling.

Sorry - been away from the net for a bit. Oh man... a huge snapper, or even a hoodlum, that would have been amazing. I fish that spot regularly (like 5 times a week) and encounter a monster like that at least once every three or four sessions. Not usually more than once a session. Thanks so much for the awesome breakdown, I think that whatever it was has earned its right to remain in the water!

I’ve been catching some decent snapper off the cliffs in Dover Heights lately, by fishing the light and tide changes. I’m fishing from really high up, so use a very heavy setup - 37kg rod and a big Penn reel spooled with 80lb braid and 120lb leader. Using that setup I’ve lifted everything from Luderick and large Snapper to small sharks up the cliff face. Tonight, for the third time in a row, I hooked into a monster. Not sure what it was, it took very short but extremely powerful runs and was pulling 20kg of drag without breaking a sweat. I had to lean all my weight against it just to keep hold of the rod. I managed to get it close to the surface a few times, only to have it take a dive that I couldn’t control. Eventually it reefed me and my braid tore before whatever it was went back to its watery home. I’m thinking it may have been a big stingray but honestly have no idea! If anyone has thoughts on what could fight like that around here, I would love to hear them. My whole body hurts from the effort!

With all my regular Eastern Beaches Rock fishing spots closed due to the crackdown on beach goers, I decided to socially isolate myself in a dinghy on Sydney Harbour on Sunday. I launched off one of the small harbour bays just before midday, as the last of a the tide was coming up. Drifted into about 6ft of water and started casting the Ecogear vibe over sand flats - BINGO! First two casts netted me two nice flathead. Figured I’d get a feed before chasing some bonito, but no more bites after that. Rowed a bit further out into the deeper water, about 15-20 meters and started dropping lures. The blokes who had left just before I arrived had berleyed heavily before leaving, so was planning to cast into their trail. Ended up getting some big bites but no hookups, so packed it in after an hour and fed the kids flathead. By the time I got back to shore, the harbour beaches were full of people and I’m a bit worried about Corona, so just went home. Not much action, but great time on the water just rowing around though.

Great report - thank you for sharing. Try the Waverley district rocks off Bondi, Bronte, Mackenzies etc for some great Drummer, Blackfish and pelagic action. Make sure you are only out there on small and safe days and wear a life jacket!