fishmaniac

The next generation of squid mate

I think reducing the bag limit from 2 tuna over 90cm to 1 tuna over 90cm is ridiculous. You have to get the right currents, the right weather, spend 100s in fuel and bait and you might find them. If you do get onto a patch to suggest you can only keep 1 per person while the Jap long-liners & purse seiners are out there slaughtering them by the tonnes every other day is a joke to say the least. Increase legal length of jewfish. Increase legal length of kingfish. Maybe they should put something in about actually getting someone to enforce these rules??? The amount I fish compared to how many times I have been checked is hopeless

Fill from the bottom hole as mentioned above (make sure the top plug is open when you fill from the bottom hole to allow air out). Before detaching the pump from the bottom hole, screw the top plug back in so when you take the pump off to screw the bottom plug in the oil doesn't start pouring out. Once I finish screwing in the bottom plug, I re-open the top plug and add a little more oil into the top hole to make sure it is completely full (as you will loose a little when you are screwing the bottom plug in). Then close it all up

Nice fish mate, the first one over a metre is always memorable

Hey mate, It is difficult to say exactly what those displays represent - they could be kings but I have GENERALLY found that lines that are wavey in nature as in your picture are not kings (or they are not hungry). Something I have noticed with interpreting signs on your sounder is it depends on the depth as well as the type of sounder and transducer. Generally, when fishing shallower waters such as 10-20m, we can distinctly see arches or large diagonal lines for larger fish such as kings. When fishing deeper waters (such as Peak and 12 mile) we see solid dots as opposed to the abovementioned arches or lines for fish like kingfish. Keep persisting and take note of what you see on your sounder when you start hooking into fish. Then you will know what to look for in the future at that sort of depth range. It is hard to give an exact answer as what you look for changes on the location you are fishing and the way the fish are moving in the water.

Both are a pest!!! It is unbelievable how on some days, pretty much anywhere you stop these buggers will be waiting to cut away your tackle (if only other species were so annoying!!!) At a particular wreck off the heads there appears to be a large amount of bait but it is in fact a huge school of leatherjackets (people have foul hooked them when fishing for other fish and also caught them on bait jigs). A couple of weeks ago we went for a flattie bash and had a couple of rigs cut off and managed to land a couple of green toads. So I would say both parties are guilty! I have seen leatherjackets chase and attack knife jigs right to the surface (so they will readily rise from the bottom) and the green toads we caught were hooked on the bottom.

Make sure you work in a well ventilated area mate - those fumes are nasty. Nice work though

I think the Saltiga 20 LD has a ratchet, that may be worth a look?

Braid then shockleader then tie it to the jig solid ring. I tie a double in the braid before connecting it to the shockleader. Knots you can use include the PR knot, the albright or slim beauty

You may have cross threaded or threaded the star drag. I had this happen after I had cranked it right up several times and ended up threading it. If the drag washers needed repacing you would notice your drag would stop and start under high pressures as opposed to not giving out the 10kg as stated.

In that price range the only one I have heard people use is something like an okuma salina. Others are the catalina, saragosa etc but they are at least double that price

600g is not really a heavy reel. But a 7ft rod, particularly one that is not a purpose built jigging rod is more likely to be the reason you are getting tired. The other element to consider is that you need to do more jigging to build up your fitness level.

What a Beast!

When the dollies are on you can put just about anything in front of them, it doesn't matter. We have had sucess on the following: 1) Trolling skirted lures 2) Spinning with metal slices 3) Live yakkas either slow trolled or fished behind the drifting boat 4) Unweighted of very lightly weighted cut baits floated down a berley trail

Congratulations on cracking your first marlin. It is all the more rewarding when you get your first in your own boat with your own gear! Hopefully the currents play ball and it's a good season

For southern calamari you can tell males from females base on their skin pattern. The females have spots and the males do not. Once they die you will no longer be able to tell. In the attached pic there is a big male and some females in the livewell. You can see the females have the spots and the male does not.

You are correct it is a bream. Depending on the location you catch them and the sub-species of bream, the colours vary between them.

I fought the black with somehwere in the order of 8-10kg of drag. No where near what the line was capable of taking, but given the only thing I was worried about was tossing a hook, I didn't bother putting any more pressure on. I also have a saltist overhead which I have about 600yds of 50lb on. I have caught yellowfin up to 35kg on this reel and the most line I had out was about 200m. On those fish I had about 6kg of drag. When I caught a striped marlin around 100kg on this outfit I would have been spooled had I fished from a stationary boat but obviously gave chase. I ran about 5kg for most of that fight but then upped it to around 8-10kg after a couple of hours to get things over and done with a bit quicker (I had started out taking it easy as I only had 80lb leader). Both line classes should do the job. The other thing to consider is the rod you are using (i.e. stiff/soft enough for the line you are using).

Are you planning on going head to head with big kings? If so then go the 80lb option. I have a 6500 Catalina with 80lb braid and landed a 70kg black with not a worry (regarding line capacity). You would also knock over most average sized tuna with this outfit. If you hooked a big tuna or big blue marlin, I think you would be in trouble with either option!

Fishing a bit slow ay mate?

Have a look at some of the daiwa rods too. They have some really nice rods in the price range of $150 to $200. I have the Tierra which cost me $160 I think (which they don't make anymore unfortunately) and it is an awesome rod. I have a 2500 size reel (but it is a Daiwa) and their spool is much larger than the 2500 for Shimano, that said the 4000 in shimano will get a bit clumsy if you are tossing lighter lures so a 3000 would be ideal, if not stick to the 2500. You will be surprised at the versatility of the light spin outfits. I have 2500 Sol on a 4-8lb stick loaded with 10lb braid and i use it for the following: - spinning with metals for salmon - using plastics for rat kings - spinning and livebaiting for dolphin fish (biggest is a 125cm fish caught on this rod) - flicking for squid - bottom bashing for flatties and the like in up to 65m of water - float baiting for bream etc In my opinion, if you want a rod for bigger fish then I would get a seperate outfit as a 4000 is not going to give you much advantage over a 2500 when it comes to stopping big kings etc at the expense of your comfort and cast distance you will loose every other day you are fishing for other species.

First of all, the bag limit for Gemfish is 2 per person (and a boat limit of 10). Not 5. As already stated, the sharks and seals will take their fair share of gemmies regardless of whether or not they are brought up. There are so many gemfish down there at this time of year and that is why the larger predators are there. Whenever we have been out around this time of year, you hook up almost the instant you hit the bottom, it's like catching little bream off a jetty! I don't know if others are exaggerating about the nuisance of the shakrs and seals, but to put things in perspective, our last trip out saw us land 4 gemfish with only 1 lost to sharks. That was our bag limit and so we moved on. With regard to the claim of 'just catch something else' you have to consider several things. One is the fact that boattart already mentioned regarding the potential ban on fishing for makos. A second is that many may prefer to eat gemfish over the shark. Third is that some people may not want 150kg of thrashing shark to deal with along side a boat and fourth they may not want such a large amount of meat (which may go to waste). The last is with respect to tuna. I don't know about your tuna fishing abilities but there is certainly no gaurantee in getting them from our perspective. If we could go out and just get a couple of tuna I can assure you that would be our first port of call. As this is not the case, we usually pick up a few bottom species for the table and then try for other species. I think you will find that the majority of the guys out there are doing the same thing, not too many go out just to bash the bottom all day.

Plenty of sharks caught today with the tournament on. My mate and I have made the call to stay in close tomorrow (in 6.5m fibreglass boat) as the current forecast looks a bit sketchy. You'll make it home no doubt but it would be a long slow trip back with a lot of bashing in that size boat.

Any of the wharfs (or public access to the water) near some rocky areas and dropoffs will produce fish. A bit of berley and well presented baits are important in the heavily fished areas. Light leaders and minimal weight is the way to go. There are still bream around but they are undoubtedly more difficult to tempt during winter.

Heard this news from another raider earlier tonight. Seen the photos, what a cracking fish!!! Well done!