Larkin

Thanks Wazza! Love the chase mate! and always learning. The schools of Trag for example have a very unique sonar signature. Really stands out once you know what it looks like. Thanks Dave! At the moment they’re hanging on almost every reef around bate bay. The spot I caught these at had plenty of smaller ones too - I could see them on the sounder. Strip baits like you were using is a much better bait (what I usually catch most of mine on) - the livies do weed out the smaller ones though. The boats - the smart drum lines are around that area. As soon as a shark is caught they are notified - sonar tag and take the shark offshore to release. Thanks Isaac! The warm water has the crabs out and on the move. Plenty of trag in bate bay atm.

Gday Raiders! with @Yowie mentioning the trag were about, decided to get out there and bag a few for a feed. Hit up the deep water bait grounds, but not many yakkas today. Moved to another spot and found the bait. Rode over to the spot I wanted to fish, and after a couple of passes I could see a school of trag on the sounder - I drift over with a livie & up comes a 55cm Trag. A couple of longer drifts over a school of yakkas and I hook up to 2 very large bonito, both around 65-70cm. Released. A few more passes and a healthy 65cm king hits the deck. Released. I line up again over where the trag school was and hook up to a 50cm fish. a few more passes with livies and the bite stops. I move to the flatty drift. 3 good sized fish in an hour. Then the drift speeds up, so I head back in. I had dropped some pots in the permissible area on the way out. Pulled out 3 male crabs & released 2 females

Nice one Tarik, looks like you guys had a great day out on the water. Yep, plenty of smaller Dollie’s this time of the year.

Nice catch Dave! Top feed in that lot! You get bitten off straight away or during the fight when the tailor took your hook? My mate got bitten through 80lb twice last week - likely a shark though.

Thanks Kantong! plenty of fillets shared around Surprise fish mate. Going for kings, it took a liking to a large livie! Cheers mate! Was definitely an unexpected catch.

Nice spotties! Well done crabstar looks like you had a successful trip. Longtails should be heading further south soon.

Well done on finding the fish XD! The bright lights - What about a squidding vessel? Ive seen squidding boats on documentaries using very bright lights.

Mate, at least your getting out there! Pick a flat day with no wind and you could probably have a go around the entrance to bate bay. The council website surf cams are a good way to check out the live conditions.

Haha, that’s exactly how my eyes were when I saw it Thanks Rob! Been switching it up and getting a few different fish. Thanks Welster, my first Samson fish. Thanks Bob, was good fun to catch! haha, the fight’s the best part XD! Thanks Isaac, something different this week.

Thanks Mate! Great fighting fish! Thanks Neil! yeah same Genus. The fish fillets smell and look just like kingfish - but thicker. Going to rub some herbs and pan fry some tonight for dinner. Will let you know how it goes. Yeah, was surprised to see what it was when it came up to the surface. Fought hard! Thanks Dave! …Something different was thinking a big king - but pulled extra hard when it went for its runs. Amazing what shows up sometimes. Thanks Zoran! Haha, I tried referencing it to the wife an hour ago when she asked me to take the garbage out, but for some reason it only had a negative effect 🤷‍♂️ 😂 Thanks Mike! exciting when you get something out of the ordinary! Like your Barra. Thanks blackfish! Was a first for me. Beautiful looking fish too. I was actually telling my mate the day before that the warm currents are in close this week.

Thanks Wazza! yeah, I was really suprised to see it come up. Big solid fish! I think my drag needs servicing after that! (no joke)

Gday Raiders, Today’s plan was to ride down south around wattamolla for a looksy. Inside the hacking was nice and flat, but as soon as I hit the bait grounds the wind picked up and conditions started to get really messy. Decided to fish local and was joined by a mate who came down from botany. After loading up on livies, I hit up one of the local spots. The fish were on and I brought up a 64cm, and a 65cm king within 10 minutes - released. I got a couple of good hits on larger yakkas, but no connect. I rode back to my mate to let him know as he was still catching bait, but as soon as we returned the bite had stopped. A couple of large Bonnie’s did come to the party taking livies - kept 2, going 62cm and a 57cm - perfect size for sashimi. We tried a couple of other spots for the next hour or two, but nothing of note, so headed back to the first spot. Landed a couple more kings going 62-64cm. Then all of a sudden something big took off with a large yakka… and the fight was on! 5-6 big line pulling runs…I thought I had a meter plus king, but after a solid fight I see colour and to my surprise it’s a big samson fish! Fish went 92cm and 9kg. These fish fight really hard! Picked up a 66cm king too which I gave to my mate, as he was wanting a fish to take home for a feed after loosing a couple. some beautiful thick fillets came off.

Nice flatty XD! Managed a feed! I used to get pipis up past Wanda beach many years back. Doing the pipi twist!

Nice fish Bob! Plenty of small ones about, bet it was good to get a legal one for a feed!

Nice mix of fish Dave! Shame about loosing the tailor. Plenty of standard Bonnie’s outside. Other than seeing a couple of watsons scoot by gunnamatta wharf a few weeks back, haven’t seen or read many reports of them around in the numbers like they were last year.

Nice session Bob! Racking up the numbers on the kings! Thanks for sharing the secret squid rig 😉

Nice catch Isaac! 👍 Couple of nice pinkies! There’s been a few crabs moving about with the warm water lately.

Haha, Its only a matter of time before I start to seeing the “Little Flatty” range of lures and flies at my local!

Nice Bream Regicycle! sounds like great fun on the light gear!

Really enjoy reading your reports Ben! I used to speak to a guy at a local tackle shop that was really into that type of fishing. He would tell me about fishing for bream around the oyster racks in woolooware bay, and would enter comps like you do. Keep writing your reports, and good luck with future comps!

Thanks Mark! Was cheering when it grabbed the bait - been a little goal of mine to get one off a JetSki! Hope you’ve been well, and getting stuck into a few! thanks Rob! you know me too well now! Been going out every week with the one mission! Yes, still buzzin! Thanks Robbo! Haha, don’t know about legend lol, but i love JetSki fishing, and would highly recommend it to everyone thinking about doing it. FYI, the release was just as exciting as the hook up!

Beautiful part of Australia! Cruising around the islands up there is worth doing! My first time trying these too. The urchin roe was fantastic with a squeeze of lime. Surprised how good it was. The turbans (which were quite large, 10-12cm wide) have a meaty part similar to abalone, we boiled these up with lemon grass, sliced thin and dipped into a Vietnamese chilli dipping sauce. They have another orangey part my mate called the liver - I think it may have been roe - it tasted like a creamy egg yolk & was very nice. So nice up there around Broughton Island! One of the benefits of fishing, is we get to eat the freshest of seafood!

From ocean to plate - doesn’t get any better! The guys came prepared with a couple of home made sashimi dipping sauces and limes. Broughton Island is such a beautiful place to fish and visit - with some amazing crystal clear water beaches. Really enjoyed the foraging for urchins and turbans, & was nice to cool off in the water after a few hours of fishing.

Gday Raiders, Went up to Nelson’s Bay for an overnighter with two of my mates. We took our JetSkis and plan was to fish Broughton Island and the fads. Arrived at the ramp at midnight, crashed out and woke up at first light. First stopped at Cabbage Tree Island for live bait and then straight out to the fads. My mate got a single 70cm dolly, and that was it. Large numbers of small 30-50cm Dollie’s though. We had enough, so rode over to fish the reefs close to Broughton for snapper, but it was already past midday, so no bites. Again heaps of micro Dollie’s on the surface smashing the soft plastics. Good fun on my light rod, but no fish of note. Hit up Broughton to troll the cliffs, could see huge schools of bonito underneath. Couldn’t ride 10m without a hook up. Caught about 10 bonito in 30 minutes, all released but one. A small 50cm dolly took the lure there too. Decided to go for a cool off, so headed off to a beach to dive along the rocks for some Turban snails and Urchins. Finished off the day with a fresh seafood buffet for dinner, and my South African mate cooked us up a boerewors sausage too. One of the micro dollies Diving for urchins and turbans Fresh urchin roe on ice Fresh Bonito sashimi Turban Snails with lemon grass boerewors Sausage

Haha thanks Zoran! A few beers have definitely been had!