Seazar

Hi all. Went out on Wednesday with full boat my neighbour & Brother. Both who have yet to experience the wrath of a YFT battle...one subject that is very hard to explain to people & one that needs to be experienced to beleive. And what a cracker of a day it was. Seas & weather could not have been better. Got out early morning to attempt catching livies. No success. They were nowhere to be found. So we decided not to waist too much time & head out to sea. I made the decision to chase the temp break which was sitting somewhere at about 65km NE. A loooong way away. I thought that we would hit over 20 degrees but only managed 19.7 at 67kms away. SST was full of clouds & was very hard to judge. So there we stopped assuming that we would slowly drift back down to Brownes anyway. Unfortunately the drift was heading NE so after cubing for 20 mins we decided early in the peice to stay within the realms of fuel capacity & returning safely home. Got a fair bit closer & set the cube stream "steady as she goes." THe pressure is always on as a Cap. with new fishos. Especially when you tell them how good 2006 was for Tuna. It was still so early in the season & with only one week old reports just starting to come in about the YFT's. I didn't feel overly confident. Sure enough by midday they came on & I was over the moon with prooven evidence that YFT have started. Be it that it was on the lighter side. My brother Vlad had his first taste of what power was. He knows of what Kingfish do but to have a YFT fight hard right to the end shocked him but he lapped it in. 15 mins later another tears off. I passed it over to Norm my neighbour for his turn & watched him sweat his ring out & demand a heart transplant be waiting for him at Port botany after the fight was over. We landed a chunkier baby. Both of them came on my lightest & luckiest setup. It has seen alot of tuna & has hurt alot of backs including mine. A Torsa 30 & a custom United Rod 10 to 15 kg. No clips for a harness on a torsa & not the best ratio for short pump action. But handles the runs like a treat. I love it. Anyway before we knew it a third came along & it was on the same rig again. THis time it was my turn.The reel was screaming it's tits off & watched the line shred. What felt like 2kms of line peeling off ....I knew quite well that there was less than half a km worth on there. But I did have partial confidence that it would stop. I punched the drag up to about 15 pound & she still kept shredding. Then as my mind started thinking oh I hope she stops soon...it did. Then the hard part. I was fighting mine for a good half hour & Vlad hooked another one as well. Half an hour of fighting he brings his in while I'm still fighting my one. Another great YF. At this point we decide that there was no need for anymore & that all three families will have enough for a handful of feeds & friends too so we decide to go once I bring mine up to start up a BBQ & gathering. As it was we had a bit too much. But on the other hand we knew that none of it ever goes to waist in our houses. She started coming up & noticed it was tail-wrapped. But as it was coming up & maybe 3 meters below, it somehow manged to unravell itself & took off again & we didn't see it for an hour. In the third hour we finally got her up & then "Gaff desaster". We miss her & possibly grazed the main trace. Here's me feeling like I've got a blow torche on my lower back holding a YFT for 3 hours without a harness. Don't care how fit you are or what anyone says...It's friggin hard work. Half hour later we finally boat her & end with an amazing day. It is not the first time I've experienced an odd consistancy in fight lengths of similar weights in YFT. I always had the theory that the ones that have had their belly full of food would be the ones that fight the hardest. But never remembered to check the stomache. This time I did. Out of all of them caught, My big bertha was the only one without an ounce of food in it's belly whereas the others were full of sauries. that's blown my theory out of the ground. Whichever it is...I know that 3.5 hours of fighting a descent YFT reallys hurts you. My lower back was destroyed & she wore me out like no other YFT had done before. And I've got grazes on my knuckles from dragging my extra long arms on the ground today :-)) Beautiful weather & perfect ride home. BBQ in the evening with friends & Three smiling fishermen telling the story of another great days YFT fishing, comparing scarrs & planning the next one. What more could a fisho want?! Cheers Zol

Well done RED. Great haul. You guys must've been nackered after that session.

I agree mate. It's moving along well. Having some drama with the charging system keeps popping the circuit breaker but besides that screams along. We cosidered going out to Brownes but would prefer everything to work well. How about yours?

Yeah Alex. Kingies are pretty much prolific anywhere there is structure. Livies are probably in so many places. Most of the time. I usually stick to north side of Botany anywhere between the ramp & La Parouse.

Hi all. This is my first report that I am doing due to laziness but here goes.... Great day to be had off botany on Sunday afternoon at 2pm. My ol man & his friend "Scott" & myself. We started off gathering some live bait. Usually not enough but this time caught about 30. Personally my experience is that the easier the live bait come the less we catch on the day. We cruised out of Botany, anchored & threw a livie out immediately & sure enough within seconds we get our first "Dip, fiddle & THUMP" Good start for the day with a 65cm Kingie on my rod which I handed to Scottie since he had never caught a kingie before. This had us missled thinking it was gonna be a frenzie but we waited for an hour before they circled around for another sniff & "WHAMMO" we start again. In the mean-time our guest Scott kept catching odd fish that we have never fished for in this area & my ol man decided to hammer the monster Sweep that kept congregating around the burley bucket. He loves his Sweep. May I say that I find it amusing when you try & explain to someone as to how hard a kingie pulls, they always take it with a grain of salt that fishermen are full of s@$t & hype the talk but when they actually catch one they seem surprised. Cracks me up!!! Though the Kingies were slow today compared to the last couple of weeks (averaging at about 15 legal per trip), this time we ended up with about 6 at 60'ish cm (released), a couple at 65cms & one nice 80cm. My biggest so far. Man I tell you that 60cms & 80cms makes a huge difference. I would have had an easy 15lb of tension on braid & it peeled off line without a drama. I can only imagine what a 10kg Kingie would do... demolish me.With my KIngie I was in luck as he peeled away from the boat & started surfacing which is wierd (unsusual for high drag setting) which gave me the advantage & played him into my ol man's net. Truly unbeleivable power. My comparison would be a 30kg Tuna but obviously shorter stamina & different kinda' "thump". We stayed till the magnificent moon rose in the early evening looking like an orange sun. As soon as the sun went down the fish went off the bite & the monster Squid started hammering our livebait at record speeds. My ol man lost a good half a dozen SQUID at the boat so I decided to use a secret that worked & nailed him to end an absolutely fabulous day on the water. We ended up with so many different species on Sunday (most of them released) which I haven't experienced for yeeeeeaaars in Sydney. Some I don't know the names of but will throw in a description of & maybe a raider can define for me. We threw back most fish. 1- 30 Yellowtail 2- 9 Kingfish 3- 1 Travelly 4- 1 Bream 5- 4 rockfish 6- 3 Greenish fish with blue spots & a figure like a barra. 7- 1 Fish that looked like Redfin but bigger & saltier. 9- 1 Gummy Shark 10- 1 Port Jackson Shark 11- 1 Octopus 12- 1 Squid 13- 8 Sweep 14- 3 Pike All in all a great trp & good to see that he water is healthy enough for us to be reminded of the early days of catching an array of species. I am fading fast now after a few wines & sushimi kingfish so I will end with some pics of Scottie with his 65cm Kingie & me with my 80cm one. Cheers Seazar

Hi all. I'm looking at going cubing for YFT on Tuesday. If I end up alone after the "mate call around" it would be good to have a few boats around. Any news out there that might help in knowing where they are or what they are doing??? If anyone is interrested in taking their cruise ship along for a group outing let me know. Cheers Seazar.

Spose someone's gotta set things a little straight so it might as well be me. I'll be the first to admit that I grew up on eating Carp & have enjoyed it. More times then I can count. Alot in Europe but mostly here. It is not hard to prepare like some think. My favourite is the soup or as some call it "chowder". As for getting the mud out of them??? Best solution is don't fish in muddy waters or after heavy rainfalls. I'm sure there are a few former Europeans here not saying much who DO keep their catch & are always looking for a good clean spot of water to catch them in. For them I say some spots in Windsor. But the best of all would be Kangaroo Valley. The biggest I've pulled out there was 26 pounds. Good ol fight on light tackle on a cold day. Another spot is the Napean Cobbity, Camden Appin ect but not for the usual carp but the Crucian carp. These guys have a different lifestyle to your usual Carp. We generally catch them on worms. While you're there you'll hook a few catfish as well. I definately wouldn't eat it out of Parra River!!! Me... as a European born Australian Citizen understand the impact that the carp have made. Truly unbeleiveable as to how they loved this climate. And I agree that they have made themselves a place in being called a pest. But in all fairness the australian nation has decided that they are bad eating due to the label of being a pest & not from trying it. I heard stories of Yellowfin tuna being labeled as a bad eating pest. Funny how things change when you have enough people saying..." Just open your mouth & try it " For all my Irish Australian friends who have tried our cultural dish (prepared how it should be) during my lifetime, I have the utmost respect for you in trying our meal. You were all astonished, amazed & couldn't beleive that it could taste so rich & fine. You all loved it! BUT even if you wouldn't have, I would still respect your opinion because you've made it after knowing what you are talking about.....WHICH IS BY TRYING IT! So my questions to all of you are these..... How can you have an opinion on something you haven't tried? How can we as Australians think that a fish such as Carp be crap when a population that is umpteenthly larger than us dissagree with you? Do 10 Million of us know better than the world? Especially when 9 million out 10 million haven't even been brave enough to try it???? That is so funny. It is a light hearted topic on a serious pest in Australia. But If you have a european neighbour ask him about it. You might even put the dish rating next to Curries & laksa. Thought you guys might be interrested in another opinion. Cheers Seazar

Did anyone go out today? I'm planning on going tomorrow. Prediction is similar as today for tomorrow. If anyone has heard it would be good to know. And ofcoarse fishing news. Cheers Seazar

Yeah. It would have been interresting to see just how hard it would be to use braid for marlin. Everyone says that it's a no no. But I do know that I'm gonna be using a longer leader & trace next time. Just in case my luck has it that I get another chance. I must say that I didn't expect a Marlin in Winter especially that deep. I don't mind at all that I didn't bring him in as they are too nice to kill for game. I have a hard enough time justifying keeping more than one tuna for food as it is. But as you say. WHAT A GREAT SIGHT TO SEE. AMAZING!!!

Hey everyone. Well here's my first report since joining. Firstly....There is a reason for reporting nothing on the Tuna which will reveal itself as I write. My ol' man & I started off before sunset in Botany gathering Livies with success & headed straight out past Brownes in search of the elusive 20 degree water. We were half way when the engine started to shut down whenever we copped a bump over a short wave. It took us about half an hour to work out that it wasn't a loose electric connection. Some Raiders might find this interresting. I use a Navman unit which I have connected a fuel flow meter to calculate my usage. This unit runs in series on the fuel line. If haven't guessed it, it was blocked. Well not totallay. That bump in the ocean kept shifting a big peice of crap & full blocked the impeller in the unit. I was warned about these things but totally forgot to keep an eye on it. Anyway.... We ended up passing Brownes by about 15km & went through very short patches of 19 but weren't worth stoppong for as you'd fall off it before you decided to stop. Nothing for a few hours so we decided on a run back to Brownes. Sure enough was the same. Listening to the radios at about 12ish revealed that everyone was empty-handed when it came to Tuna. I had a hunch that lae afternoon was going to offer sweet rewards for whoever persisted. I had to leave around 2 so I have no idea if my hunch was right. Now the fun part of the story.... I usually float a balloon with a livie & deep set another at around 2 to 3 hundred meters. Just as we decided that we need to go home My deep livie ratchet starts to peel at a slow pace & slowly increasing. At this point I decided to strike. The fish pulled back & I felt the weight & then when suddenly the line started slackening of more & more. Then...not even 5 seconds later I hear this great enormous washing machine-like surface break about 50 meters away. I look up in time to see my fish break to the surfice & leaping out & acroos the water. IT WAS A HUGE BLACK MARLIN. It stunned me & took me a while to work out that he nailed my livie. He felt the hook poke & darted to the surface with vigour. Needless to say he shredded my braid. I'm aware that Braid is not recommended for Marlin but I don't target them. I love my tuna. My conclusion is that my fluro leader was only 100lb & was short enough leave the braid vulnerable. It was an amazing sight to see this monster explode out of the water only once & never to be seen again. My father & I estimated it between 150 & 200kg. What an experience. I've never had a marlin hit a livie. On that note we decided to head in & had the best weather with a confy 30knot cruise back home.

Hi Raiders. My ol' man has bought himself a Daiwa Tanacon Bull. He's had issues with his elbow at 63 years of age & has resorted to this reel plus he wants to try the bottom bash at Brownes. I'm having a hard time agreeing with him as to what kind of battery power he will need. I assume he's going to try & fight the fish electrically as well. He might try the ol' Auto-Jig. I think the Daiwa power pac is not enough for an all dayer. I would have said a 30 amp/hour battery would be enough. I would also say that nothing but a gel cell deep cycle will manage the constant discharging. He wants to bring a battery the siz of a keg but I won't let him. We at least agree not to use the boat batteries. Advice & opinions are all welcome. Cheers Seazar

Nice work. A little fin is better than no fin. That keeps my hopes that they are still here or coming back. I haven't heard much about that spot. Have many people had success there? Seazar

Bob. It was great meating you out there. You can't say we didn't try. By the sounds of things we need to kick it a bit wider next time. I have to say that it was the longest I have ever cubed nonstop. We went through 8 big blocks of pillies without a turn on the reel. We left at 5.45pm. Cheers

Well done Giaco. I'm not sure if these are the reasons no-one else caught any tho. Myself & deckie Fishyfingers started at about 8am & cubed till 5.45pm. We drifted well over 20 to 25 kms South. We had a 0.3 degree break. Trail was never broken & we never changed. Here is my reason We had a great day with TOP weather, TEMP of water in my opinion was good There's nothing wrong with 17 degrees. Very clean water. Drift was 1 to 1.5 knots (perfect) Why did we not catch????? BECAUSE THERE WERE BETTER PLACES TO HANG THAN SYDNEY. Maybe they were at a party celebrating some big eye's 80th Kilo birthday It's not that conditions were bad yesterday than that maybe conditions were just unbeleivable in another part of the country & have lead them away. There was a hot patch 30 to 50 km nth of Brownes & one east as well.I thoughnt to myself... they'll be sittin in there & won't come down until the hot patch comes with it. I was testing new setup & thaught that Brownes was far enough for the day. If I was confident with my gear I would have gone.. The Tuna choose to take the best conditions available. It doesn't mean that conditions were bad here. We'll gettem soon. Might be here for the weekend with the same conditions. How would you explain that?? If I had conditions like yesterday I would have fished it because you never know....... Cheers to Fishy Fingers for coming along. Was a great great day & a good ol laugh. PS The best part of the day was being able to push home at 30 knots. Won't get that every day. Cheers Seazar

I'll be happy if we catch some livies today. I'm hoping big bob has so he can share it around. He's been there all night so he should have filled a 40 gallon drum

Here's to your prdiction FF. Penguin. How about we make it easy use Channel 72 on either radio. Good to see your coming.Looks like Big Bob has lost his deckie. If anyone wants to volinteer Let me know as he will be heading out tonight & sleeping on the water so he won't be contactable. I'll be around till 4 am so I can check for PM's Here we go, here we go, here we go. Cheers Zol

If you guys are going tomorrow. Good luck to you & may you catch some big ones. Let us know how you go? Cheers

Sorry for the late reply guys. Been sorting my gear out. DAN. Sorry but I am full. Well a comfortable 3 of us. My apologies to all that volinteered. I had a friend pull out on the weekend so I invited the first PM who was Fishy fingers. So Mr Fishy fingers... I hope you're ready for great day & may our fingers get even fishier. Just don't stick it under my nose mate. Big Bob... Glad you can make it. If you got room for a deckie that's great. I think there're a few raiders keen. If you're getting there that early I suppose we'll get there early as well. What do you think Fishy Fingers??? I'd rather beat the peak hour traffic anyway. I want to start up at the concrete slabs for some livies before I head out. If you're doing the same we can meet there at say around 5am. Unless you're heading straight out there. What do you think Bob? As for a channel...you can pick whatever channel you want on either radio mate. It'll be good to meet a fishraider or three on Wednesday. Is anyone else coming??? Cheers Zol

I've had a v6 VP com engine towing mine at 2.5 tonne. Though it it wasn't in a commodore. It was in a Hilux conversion with a t700 auto box. I had a bit of drama with heat from bothe the transmission and the engine. One of the reasons is that the load was heavy & the temps were going high when climbing hills. Speed was down so the wind draft wasn't enough. If you have heating probs maybe look at a 4 core radiator. More surface area for cooling. Also make sure you regularly service the transmission. I heard that they aren't like the old tri-matics where it was disaster changing oil. These need to be looked after. They generate a Sh%@ load of heat under load. You can easily fry an egg on it. Another way to reduce load is to select a gear that keeps the revs in the torque band (sweet spot). They like that & manage well. I reckon if I managed you shouldn't have any probs. Hope that helps. Cheers Zol

That it is....AND for the rest of the week. Does anyone have an idea on the current flow out there????

Sounds good Penguin. Keep me posted. Looks like the weather for wednesday is still holding on as a good day. That swell seems to be taking it's to abate. Cheers Zol

Hi everyone. Thought I'd start another trip on Wednesday alongside Jon's Mon/Tues Trip. In respect & to maybe give the raiders an option for another day. Leaving Botany Bay some time in the morning yet to be confirmed. But Wednesday is a definate day for me.Catching livies & troll to Brownes & hit cubing hard. I'm planning an "All Dayer" & come back at sunset. I wanna exhaust the day. It would be good to have some company out there for the first run out wide for the season. Nothing like a good banter over the radio while cubing for hours just to keep the spirits up. Plus being a newy it will be a great chance to put some faces to the avatars & posts. Should be a ripper day out there. So far less than 1/2 a meter swell. YEAH BABY!!! All are welcome. If there's heaps of us we can punch out a wall of cubes that'll either fatten the tuna for the fishos going the following weekend or we'll drag them all the way from Victoria Cheers Zol

I couldn't agree more Steve. Don't you worrie about that......I'll be definately posting for an urgent Nescafe crew if it comes to the cruch & left high & dry. I can't think of a better place to find a good crew. It's too hard to juggle everything on your own I agree too. I'll wait till Monday tho when I will have a better idea on what's going on. Cheers Zol

I am looking at Tuesday or Wednesday.Either will be definate. Leaving from Botany Bay. I have put the feelers out for a boat crew with friends. I've got a bad feeling tho that I'll be looking at going on my own. Every time I try & organise a mid-week trip people cancel at the last moment. Shits me no end. I suppose it's gotta be in your blood. Wednesday seems to be a Uforic day for fishin so far but if I end up on my own I'll go when you guys go as I feel a little disconcerted being alone in the middle of the ocean. God help me if I land a BEAUTY on my own. I know I'm 100% definate for next week. Count me in... I can't wait I'm so excited. I havent been fishing for 3 months due to repairs, servicing & mods to engine & weather. I wanna go NOW

OMOGOD! If that doesn't get your gonads up there I don't what does. Over 4 hours of back breaking pressure. You guys deserve a standing ovation. Congratulations guys on a magic meal. Man I am definately going out next week. I'll be happy with half that size. Truly am dumb-founded but yet not surprised at seeing a catch of a BFT over 100kgs in Sydney.....a Capital City. Geez we are so lucky aren't we?! I feel Like I'm living in the 80's. I'm excited. I'm drooling at the mouth for sushimi. I just wanna hear that reel screeming it's titts off. I jut wanna go fishin. Thanks for re-living the experience with us & giving us the news we have been waiting for. Well done.