barker

hey peterS, i have been catching my squid baits pretty easily this year over the last few weeks. i just squid in the evenings then vacuum bag and freeze them for early outings. i do also buy some fresh 'local' frozen squid if stocks are low. as long as they are not pink in colour and the eyes look okay, they do the job just as well. as for my setup, i've got the poormans downrigger peter. i have a few pre-made barrel sinker rigs of varying sizes - up to 200 grams. i just snap this onto my tied on leader (able to be wound on) and have a six foot long - fifty pound trace behind that with a twin snelled hook rig to pin the squid. thanks to everyone for the encouraging replies also. barker.

hello raiders, went for a run this morning out of the hacking, planing on getting out to the peak to see what the kingies are up to. went the minimalist approach with my jigging outfit, my dads old fifteen pound setup and some fresh squid. a straight northerly and a mixed up sea made the decision to head direct to long bay an easy one. by six a squid had been deployed deep on the slow troll and the usual - one eye on the sea and the other between the rod and sounder - was on. it took a couple of sweeps of the headland washes to see some bait balls just out from the rocks and on it came. all hits were taken dead slow against the wind/sea/current and i was all out of squid by seven thirty and on the way home. all up i got smoked and lost one full rig, two hits with no hookup, three last year legals - returned to grow that extra five centimetres, and one that really gave me some stick coming home at 68cm. i was really happy to get this hit and run session on the outfit my recently deceased father gave me a few years back from his stock. in my last report the kings were all caught on my thirty pound gear, so it was great to get back into this season with the fifteen pound and do well. i tell ya - they keep you on edge all the way to the boat floor with the lighter gear, especially after the earlier reefing. it is great fun this fishing game. anticipation, action and some nervous moments. barker.

went for a run out of botany yesterday around first light hoping for a few kingies with all the baitfish around. got a few yakkas in close and headed out to the peak. put a livey down deep and slow trolled him around while looking for any telltale signs on the sounder to have a jig at. had a few chances, but no cigar. finally got a hit on the live one and up comes one of the ever present jackets, he probably decided the hook looked good after picking apart my restrained yakka. he was a good size, so into the esky. came in close to find a big school of tailor on the surface around maroubra, they were breaking up at times and going deep but kept appearing in the same place. was difficult to hook up, they seemed harrassed by something bigger below, not really feeding, just running out of the way. i managed four on differing metal slugs and zeroes on plastics and a popper. on my biggest metal i hooked something solid with a good fight ending in a last ditch straight down run and freedom for whatever it was. good fun, as it was for one other fella who was fly fishing. he looked to be hooking up better and was having some great fights on lighter gear. moved on to malabar for the after tide run and boated three kingies on slow trolled squid around the headlands. two just undersize and one came home at the new legal 65cm. good fun day all round and have one each of three different tasting species to feed the family.

no problem jewgaffer, i am very interested to see when this gets off the ground - i am sure it will benefit many, and really this is what the site is all about from what i can see. i am sick of the 'other' sites that seem to get caught up in the ego of fishing. i am very happy to share with any of my limited successes and maybe start to unscramble how/what/where it sometimes comes together. myself, i am a bit of a kingy fan (would love to one day have a go at jewies), and agree with your sentiments of the importance of squid, however find it very hard to make the decision to use the spoils as bait or a feed. anyway, i hope your generosity to give us a few pointers gets the necessary input from those that will happily use it. cheers, barker.

jewgaffer, not sure if you are interested in squid/bait sessions? last night - 25.08.07. went for a quick squid jig around the corner from the fisheries at darook park. right on the slack of the 6pm high with the first gibbous of the moon giving a fair bit of light, jigged a good size (28cm mantle) one for dinner on a small orange jig. low swell and no wind. very clear water. again, a beer on the way home and salt and pepper squid for entree. barker.

okay jewgaffer, today friday 24th august. overcast conditions with light nor' easterlies and a low swell on the mid morning low tide change - up to and after. water was pretty clear - bit green. 1st run - around the corner from watts reef out to 'Ours' in the washes. many (over a dozen) salmon, spinning 15 gram metal slugs. very little technique - fast, straight surface retrieve. 3/4's of an hour of great fun. 2nd run - over at molineux pt. as the current really got a run on up. burleyed at anchor picking up three trevally on squid strips with just enough lead. 15 minutes on and off. all in all a good day. beer on the way home.