Brendan Monks

Thank you Rich! Just managed a lot of time on the water recently! 👍 Puppy dog eyes. LOL 🤣 He was a top guy though! Wouldn't take whatever cash I offered him, and only finally convinced him to take the carton I bought him. Hahaha. Sounds like I'll be running out with them come marlin/dollie season - I'll definitely be staying in the boat out that wide! 💩😂

Cheers mate, Nothing beats it! You can literally watch some boats that have been out early start heading in when they can smell it 🤣

Thanks @Scratchie 🤙 I've seen sharks there before - I can assure you I didn't let the other guys didn't get more then 2/3 metres out of my sight! 😝🤣 Hopefully fishing picks up there, my trailer is ready to tow up again. Getting keen for a possible camp on the island sometime. 👍

Cheers guys! 🤙 Yeah really appreciate someone like that! I have had it happen to myself at the wharf before so I hope it's a bit of good karma coming around. hahaha

mmm...That would sound good and actually camping on the island itself! 🤔😉 Believe me! I think I had a constant berley trail following me! 😝

Cheers, thanks mate - Just froth too much to get out 👍

Will try to keep on top of these reports sorry! 😑 05/09: I got a call up from a mate late Friday arvo seeing if I was keen to fish Broughton Island early Saturday morning with other crew he already had, they had got a few good kings the week before – 1 up to 98cm. Of course I said yes and juggled a few things around which didn’t go down too well with some people. LOL. With other commitments Friday night, I didn’t get my gear ready and loaded until late and was thinking about driving up then and there so I couldn’t sleep in! 🤔 The plan was to launch from Soldiers Point boat ramp at 5:30am, which required getting up at 3:00am – I finally got to bed at 2:30am and the “quick” sleep turned a bit longer then expected! Sure enough I had slept in and just managed to give them a call just before they were due to leave the ramp. I rung around a few other mates to see if anyone else was fishing, but no one was. Maybe just been a bit pea brained I still drove up to Port Stephens anyway to possibly cast stickbaits from the rocks and do a bit of exploring. I finally got up to Little Beach boat ramp at a gentleman’s hour and watched a few boats come back in that had some good catches of snapper and kings. I went for a quick drive across to Shoal Bay to check out the ramp there and back to Little Beach to kill time. A boat had turned up by then, obvious by the make of boat and gear they had, they were spearos. He was an absolute legend of a guy and hearing my story said jump on and we can drop you to your mates or stay with us for the day. Luckily I had my snorkeling gear still loaded in the canopy from a previous trip so I chucked it in with them 🤪 We stopped at a mark he was at the day before to try for lobster, I’ve only dived for crays in WA so I was a bit hesitant (Struggled over there to catch one!) and not wanting to look like a complete noob in front of these experienced guys. Anyways, I finally got comfortable diving to 8m and managed to get one (Only had boardshorts on and felt like all sorts of body parts were freezing off! 🤣) These guys were absolute pros – Coming up with doubles we quickly had 6 on board. We stopped at another location to get our bag limit of 8 for the boat, I managed a good size cray which we released 2 after a quick pic, and had a cuttlefish follow us around like a little puppy. With the wind and chop picking up quickly, I didn’t bother jumping on my mates boat, we punched back in with 300 horse pushing us and were back at the ramp by lunch. I gave the guys a hand washing the boat and gear down back where they were staying, and cooked up some lobster to go with a bevo. They had to be back down south that night, so I decided to go for an explore around Mt Tomaree looking for some possible fishing spots at a later date. I drove home that arvo and had a call from a mate that I had asked earlier – He was keen for a fish around Broughton Sunday chasing Snapper 🤣 06/09: I made the early drive again up to Little Beach boat ramp to meet my mate, we launched at 6:00am with the conditions cold and gloomy (Not sure if this is better for snapper - So they dont move to the deeper water as early in the day?) We had a quick run across to the island for our first drift on some ground he had previously fished (We hoped to get out a lot earlier. LOL) All the reports we had both heard sounded like the fishing was very hard, but we were still both frothing when the drift produced nothing because we were still marking a lot of bait. On the second drift and a bit shallower, the wind had picked up to allow a perfect speed for covering ground, my mate quickly came tight on a nice panny of 40cm. We literally done another 4/5 drifts for nothing apart from dragon fish! 🤣 We tried quite a few other spots, even going for squid in close for nothing. The wind had really and truly picked up by now, we got soaked in the process and punched out to a deeper reef, again we were marking a lot of bait and after the third drift finally caught a reasonable snapper. Another run in before lunch as my mate had to be back home early and I had another hour and half drive to my sisters at Singleton for dinner before heading another hour and half back home! 2 long days, but worth it to just get out on the blue and explore a beautiful part of the world. Yeewww 🤙 Cheers, Brendo

*This is only personal preference*... 🤙 I first owned a small aluminium centre console that I fished inshore with comfortably, only when I became comfortable with the boat and a bit more experience fishing offshore I used to do trips to the FAD regularly. These are just a few things from the top of my head that I experienced. Aluminium Features: Can be beached without fear of damage A lot easier to launch an retrieve (Lighter) Less fuel and smaller motor required (Again, lighter) Little to no maintenance - Easier to clean (No buffing/waxing etc) Handle a lot of punishment (But rattle your teeth out. LOL) No worry about rotting etc. (Although most fibreglass boats use composite board now) Easy to repair/add accessories if needed Great newbie boat I then had a year and half with no boat but was constantly watching for when the price and hull type I was looking for popped up. Now I run a slightly bigger American fibreglass centre console and would never go back to aluminium. EVER! (For the type of fishing I do) Fibreglass Features: Slightly cheaper to purchase (But you pay for this in other costs. e.g. bigger motor etc.) A lot softer and quieter ride! (Generally push water out better with the flare) And sit into swell instead of skipping over the top Less rocky at rest/drifting (All depends on the 'V' though) Self draining decks Look a LOT nicer with curves 😝🤤 In saying all that, I generally only fish outside now. Although I have fished in a few aluminium boats since then and found the ride somewhat ok...Just my opinion! Really comes down to what type of fishing you will be mainly doing, level of experience with boats, and your budget (And remember ongoing costs!). LOL looking at those notes it looks like I should go back to an aluminium boat - Hope it helps with your decision 😝🤪 Cheers, Brendo

Yeah sweet mate, I didn't know you were from the Cenny Coast (Thought you were from up there). I really don't have a clue where to fish out of Broken Bay aye, we just marked some good ground and bait. I redone the bearings on my trailer over the weekend so I guess mine will be heading back north again more often! 😝👐

Yeah, when that wind comes out of the Cowan!!! 🤪🥶

The topic caught my eye, Sorry dont want to change the subject!!! - Just putting it out there, A brand new Tiagra 30w and fully rollered rod laying somewhere between Broken Bay FAD and Box Head after my mate borrowed it and left it in the rocket launcher for the run in! 🤬😥 What do you do? LOL

Cheers @cogo44 🤙 I hope the 4 way hook up we got a few months back on Bluefin Tuna is a good sign of things to come then? 🤪🤣 We actually had this discussion the other day, I don't know what I'm going to do if they don't make the finals again!!! Too used to them winning 😝

Cheers, you don't catch them at home. haha 👍 Thanks Zoran, tasted great! 🤙

Thank you mate! 🤙 When all this settles feel free to organise something, dunno about living the dream but fishing is a great escape from reality 😑 - I just try get out at any opportunity I have! The plan is to eventually tow up the coast a bit more for longer trips (QLD 🤤) Haha plans are underway for a house so I guess all the fishing time will be disappearing soon, just gotta fish Marlin season first 😆

PM: With the weather looking alright for a fish Saturday morning before the wind was meant to come up around lunch, and it been way too long since I’ve soaked some baits for a jewie, I decided why not do it all! We launched from Gosford wharf at 8:00pm with a mate that fished with me frequently, the bacon & eggs and sleeping bags loaded. The plan was to fish the low tide in the Hawkesbury, snapper at sunrise, and a flattie drift just before the wind hit. We were in a rush to try make the end of the low tide change but had a quick crack at trying to get some fresh squid in Paddy’s channel. The new green light I had recently purchased on fleabay worked wonders and we quickly had 4 perfect Jew baits in the livie tank! An uneventful run out through Brisbane Waters and back up the Hawkesbury saw us anchored over the cockle beds near a well known jewie point. With the rods already rigged, it was just a matter of looping on the sinkers and baiting up. With rods in the water it wasn’t long before we got an enquiry on a strip of squid…sure enough it was only a shovel nose shark, but expectations were still high. With the tide slowing right down another rod with fresh yakka fillet went off, after a brief fight, and tangling all the other rods in the process the biggest stingray I had caught come to the surface. 🤔 We gave it another hour or so, the plan was to move into a small bay for the night around 2/3:00am ish, the two full squid we had out were still untouched! About 30 minutes before we were due to leave, the rod buckled at last! With telltale headshakes and a good first run, we immediately called it for a jew, after a quick fight we had a small one on deck for a few quick pics before swimming away strongly into the rising tide. Mission almost completed! – Shortly after that we pulled up anchor to try and get a few hours sleep, even though we both had multiple layers of clothing the temperature was freezing, and I was definitely looking forward to my sleeping bag! AM: We woke up a lot later than expected, and cooked up some B & E rolls – Nothing better then a fresh brekky as the fog slowly cleared off the mountain, we pushed out past Barrenjoey Head and checked out the seals on the way. It was already a lot windier than forecasted, and with the sun already up, the plan to fish the washes changed to fishing the 20-25m reefs that are plentiful north of Broken Bay. After a few drifts and with the wind increasing, we decided to anchor off the back of the reef and cube up, it wasn’t long before we had a pan size snapper on board that had taken a liking to an unweighted pillie that had been wafting back through the trail, and a 50cm model jigged on a plastic (Almost my PB). The luck didn’t stay with us and the next few fish were only small pickers or Sergeant Bakers. We ended up pushing out a little wider to do a quick flattie drift but for nothing! With the wind now pumping and the rigs hardly holding bottom even with the sea anchor out, we pulled the pin and headed back for home. Can now remember why I haven’t slept on the boat for a while 🤣 but a good trip all in all. Had her all cleaned down by lunchtime with fresh whole snapper for dinner! 🤤 Cheers, Brendo

Thanks Zoran, appreciate it! - I'll flick you a PM Those numbers are amazing! Doing a trip like that I'd easy be using up to 250/300L (Not that my gauges show it clearly) 😆🤣 I have a 150hp 2 Stroke - All I can find on the net, you'll just get over 1km to the litre cruising 🤔 The mechanic has always told me it's a reliable as motor and you'll never have any trouble with it, but now fuel usage seems more of a concern to me. hahaha

Cheers @61 crusher 🤙 One of those glamour winter days out wide! Was that Dylan that got out? I did hear a few reports they are around with that warmer current up near the canyons, I defo won't be getting out this weekend though. Finally 2 days to just work on the boat! 😑

Cheers @kingie chaser Appreciate it! I've had mine for 3/4 years now, I could cry when I think of how much fuel I've put through her! Yeah definitely keen to get something sorted soon - I won't have time before this Marlin season though 😥 I'll have a chat to Zoran about the subject🤙

Thank you! Not my boat but one I fish on regularly. That's it - Nothing beats yellowfin tuna steaked and seared both sides IMO 🤤

Yeah, I try and do the exact same - Makes the ride a lot nicer in a centre console.lol...I've probably seen you out a few times now, although there seems to be a lot of Bar Crushers around these days 🤙

Cheer Zoran! It's a lot of miles for the one fish...but that's fishing 😝 I saw you now have a shotgun rigger, I'm in the process of slowly getting the marlin gear ready for the season as well - Can't wait! Cheers, Brendo

Another late report sorry guys – Saw the pictures in my phone and remembered I hadn’t done one yet. 🤪 After everyone’s reports of yellowfin tuna, and getting into a few a week earlier, we decided to give it another crack before they disappeared. The guy I usually fish with out of Swansea was keen to chase them again (He had hooked a good one 3 weeks before, but lost it boatside on the gaff) The only problem was he couldn’t find enough crew members – I eventually convinced my mate, and we made the drive up to Marmong Point Marina at 4:00am After filling up the big girl and a short steam across Lake Macquarie we were treated to a beautiful sunrise, while we waited for the Swansea bridge to open at 7:00am we had a quick chat about our rigging and what lure spread was going to be run. Anticipation was very high (Even though the bite had quietened from the weeks earlier) and conditions were forecasted to be glassy out wide. Wind and Swell conditions were perfect as we came out through the heads and past Moon Island, a few boats were working the salmon schools and it looked like there was bait everywhere! Glamour conditions allowed us to charge out at 25+ knots, and the 26ft walkaround Sailfish ‘Silver Fox’ ate the swell with ease. We arrived at an area we thought had good water temp on the charts and proceeded to set out a mixed spread of 1 diver, 1 soft plastic, 3 skirted lures and started working around the Middle Canyons – All bets were on the soft plastic in long rigger! It was an uneventful 3-4 hours, we couldn’t find any bait on the surface or down deep and with no reports of fish caught coming in over the radio we made the call to head further south where a few mates had caught them on Saturday. On the troll down we come across CCGFC boat ‘Killtank’ who were heading in the same direction. We crossed paths as they headed further south while we turned and headed back up north to the bluer, warmer water we found in the morning (Found out that evening they caught the clubs first Marlin for the season – 0.5kg off the NSW & Australian record, and a few YFT). 🥳 We arrived back in pretty much the same area we had set the spread, with only 1 or 2 fish been caught in the morning, we were desperately hoping it would be an arvo bite! We had seen a pod of dolphins working a current line earlier but couldn’t hook anything that they were chasing. An hour before pulling the pin, long rigger loaded up but didn’t pop the band…A hit at last! The water exploded 2 seconds later on the same lure and we were finally on! We originally called it for a striped tuna as it was taking no line, it woke up when it got closer to the boat and after a quick fight was gaffed boatside and bled quickly. Lures were quickly put back into the water and we continued working the area, after another 30 minutes of trolling, the skipper made the call for lures to be pulled in in 5 minutes as we didn’t want to miss the Swansea bridge. Sure enough, short rigger came tight as we were about to clear the spread, but pulled the hooks on a same size fish before we had a chance to grab the rod out of the holder! It was one of the quickest run ins off the back of the shelf I’ve ever been on, the twin 150 donks pushing the boat up to 35 knots in flat conditions (Got into the bridge way too early – could’ve fished longer). 😥 Another beautiful sunset as we made our way back across the lake, we ended up going 2-1-1 on what will be I guess the last run of tuna for us targeting them this season. All in all, an amazing day to just get out there! Cheers, Brendo

haha thanks mate, yes a lot better then I expected! 👍 I guess you fish the bay quite a bit as well?

Nice work mate! Casting into some surface action is always the best type of fishing IMO! As @kingie chaser said, it all depends on the day, species...and the size of bait they are chasing! - you can never wind fast enough for pelagics (Providing you have your rod tip to the the water and the metal isn't jumping out like crazy). I change all my trebles to singles, except for bibbed trolling lures which some require a treble on the belly to keep them stable. A lot easier and safer on the boat to get the fish unhooked, and back into the action quickly. 🤙 Cheers, Brendo

Nice work man! 🤙 I was out there on Saturday and saw a few splashes while I was anchored up so I didn't investigate. Was hoping they'd stay around so I could have a crack but by the time the sun had come up a bit higher they had disappeared. Can't wait, hopefully not too much longer! Always good fun on light gear - May try them on the wand. 😁