Spoont Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 After some good advise from a fellow raider (thanks Nook) my brother and I took the afternoon off to give the pelagics a shot. Now this is nothing new to me since I spent four years in PNG chasing XOS pelagics, what is new is the territory, the place I spent my childhood chasing bream and whiting. As soon as the boat left the trailer at Yowie Bay, the water erupted around us with Bonito and small kings smashing a school of whitebait. They would only take the smallest of metal sliced and even then, landing them amoungst the boats was a task. With some careful boat placement we managed to bag three bonnies to 2kgs. Next we spent time sounding around the boats at Lilli Pilli and managed to locate a good size school of pilchards, with two bait jigs in the water we soon had about 20 baits in the tank. What happened next will be a highlight for me for a while. First bait in the water and it has not even swum out of site and a bonito smashes it right beside the boat, after a good fight I land a 2.5kg bonito. My brother (god love him) was so excited by the commotion at the stern, that he put is rod down to watch and forgot to put it in the rod holder. You guessed it, smash, his livey is nailed on top of the water. After a short fight, a small spottie is in the boat. This is how it proceeded for about an hour until the bait dissappeared and so did the fish. After an hour and a half on the water and a total of 3 spotties, 8 bonito and about a dozen beers it was time to call it an afternoon. It is great when a plan comes together. Thanks again Nook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rzep Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Sounds like you had a great afternoon there Sponot. Well done mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Definitely sounds like fun, any pics? penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmoshe Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Great session there Sponot. Great first report and hope to read more from you in the future. to the forums. Cheers, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoont Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 Yeah it was a heap of fun, particularly because it was all done in an hour and a half and within 2km of my house.... Sorry no pics... in my haste to get on the water I left the camera on the kitchen table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costello Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Sweet session there bro. Gotta love it when the actions a plenty! Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingsRule Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Awsome mate When you say spotties, do you mean spotty mackeral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoont Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 Awsome mate When you say spotties, do you mean spotty mackeral? Sure do. They are an unusual catch down this far but the guys at Bluefin sports recon that they pick them up occasionally when the water temp is up like it is now. I was reading 23-24c in places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Woohoo! Sounds like an awesome session, Sponot. The Port Hacking is my "home" estuary - I've really gotta get out there and target some pelagics! Did it take you a while to find em? Flattieman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoont Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 Woohoo! Sounds like an awesome session, Sponot. The Port Hacking is my "home" estuary - I've really gotta get out there and target some pelagics! Did it take you a while to find em? Flattieman. Mate it was one of those things... Had planned to search around the moored boats so headed there, pulled the boat off the plane and within a minute had a bait ball on the sounder. Between leaving the ramp and hooking up to our first fish was about 10min. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nook Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Good stuff Sponot! Great to hear that they are still out there! Now if only I could get my freaking sounder to work I wouldn't have to chase seagulls around all day to find 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoont Posted February 25, 2007 Author Share Posted February 25, 2007 Good stuff Sponot! Great to hear that they are still out there! Now if only I could get my freaking sounder to work I wouldn't have to chase seagulls around all day to find 'em. Yeah you need that sounder. I got into them again on Saturday evening (during the light show). Managed two Bonito and two frigates at the same spot. Then went and into south west arm and managed about 20 tailor and two tuna (not sure of the species, looked like big eye). Man it was dodgy on the water when that storm was around. There was a lightning strike in the National Park about 400m from where we were. Started a fire which the fire brigade had to attend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Yeah you need that sounder. I got into them again on Saturday evening (during the light show). Managed two Bonito and two frigates at the same spot. Then went and into south west arm and managed about 20 tailor and two tuna (not sure of the species, looked like big eye). Man it was dodgy on the water when that storm was around. There was a lightning strike in the National Park about 400m from where we were. Started a fire which the fire brigade had to attend. Well done, Sponot. At times, South West Arm can really produce the goods. Flattieman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabz Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Wheres south west arm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IFishSick. Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Wheres south west arm? Right here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmac Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 excellent stuff, the spotties put up one hell of a fight, i havent caught one for a few years, we got lucky off moulinaux pt in botany bay a few years ago and caught a couple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabz Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Any good spots landbased at sw arm and also is it good fishn for pelagics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoont Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 Any good spots landbased at sw arm and also is it good fishn for pelagics kabz, I wouldn't know as I always fish from a boat. It is in the National Park so I guess you could walk in on one of the fire trails. The Ranger Station should have some maps of the area. Mind you, I would only go mid week as it gets busy with skiiers on the weekends and can be difficult to fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabz Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Iz it on the way to mainbar where u cross a bridge after where u pay the booth in the national park it is a river and blokd off so no water goes threw the end also i heard they catch frigates all the way up there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoont Posted February 27, 2007 Author Share Posted February 27, 2007 Iz it on the way to mainbar where u cross a bridge after where u pay the booth in the national park it is a river and blokd off so no water goes threw the end also i heard they catch frigates all the way up there Nah mate your reffering to the Audley weir. This part of the river comes out at Grays Point (top left hand side of IFishSick's map) Giving it some more thought, I think that you would have trouble finding a decent way to get land based access unless you were prepared to do some pretty thorough exploration. There are fire trails down there but I am not sure where they come from. Maybe Mainbar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmak Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Iz it on the way to mainbar where u cross a bridge after where u pay the booth in the national park it is a river and blokd off so no water goes threw the end also i heard they catch frigates all the way up there kabz, You can try Warumbul where I caught my first frigate last week. That's not too far from South West Arm. I think frigates move around a fair bit cruising the edges for a feed. I've also seen them up at Audley. You just have to be prepared when they're around (and hope that they're around). Sponot - seems like having a boat's the way to go when fishing the Hacking. Land based spots are few and far between. You can chase the fish on a boat but have to wait for the fish to show up when land based! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luringbream Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 Those frigates are EVERYWHERE at the moment along with bonnies and the like. Well done mate! DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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