Blackfish (4) Vs Fibbo (1)

[fibbo]

Hi guys!

Over the past month I have been blackfishing 4 times, only yesterday was there any luck!

The first two times were at Lambeth Park. The weed was plentiful but due to the heavy rain the water was all murky and disgusting. My girlfried and I had no idea how to rig the float properly hehe was a fun learning experience.

The third time was last Saturday, we went to Tom Ugly's to try for some bream with pillies because we felt a bit discouraged about not even getting a nibble the other days. To our surprise afew blokes were lifting up quite decent ~ 800gram blackfish over the stone fence. I rigged up the blackfishing float and splitshots and all... only to realise that it was all too light to cast 20 metres out. We immediately walked to the bait and tackle shop and got bigger floats, heavier sinkers and gamakatsu hooks (recommended instead of our mustad ones)... The men gave us some weed (same ones as at lambeth park the thin green curly ones) and showed us how to rig up, and then soon after they left because it was getting dark and the fish weren't biting anymore. Bugger! hehe

Forth time, we thought we knew it all. Tuesday - my gf got a surprise phone call that her work place would be closed because the boss was stuck in Melbourne LOL. Collected a bunch of weed, headed to Tom Ugly's rigged up and waited... soon after an old man arrived. He did not even use a float, just did a paternoster type rig with 2 hooks. He also had very bright green weed different to ours and to the ones we saw on this forum. This weed he said he had collected nearby - it was about 1mm thick and was long and straight, looked very succulent and was strong enough not to fall off the hook but soft enough to pinch off with your thumb and index finger.

To cut a long story short, he tugged up 6 blackfish within an hour. Only once did my float go down but I was too slow to strike (was quite embarrassing the old man was telling me that I had a nibble, but I couldn't find my float - duhhh the blackfish took it down HEHE too busy talking to the gf and daydreaming). He gave us some of his weed to try, and I did the same paternoster rig and soon after FINALLY i felt nibbles and I striked and bingo I was on. I passed the rod to the gf who had no idea how to use an alvey (she usually uses an eggbeater). I just told her to wind and dont worry about moving the line as I reached for our scoop net. That was it hehe one blackfish after 4 tries. We christened my rod and the scoop net with that one blackfish - was so exciting It started to get dark after that and the old man gave us one of his blackies that happened to be hooked on his rod as he was packing up (lucky!) I guess he felt sorry for us hehe

Filleted the blackies and grilled them, added a bit of salt, pepper and lemon. They were delicious

Blackfishing seems very hard but feels very rewarding. You could tell a true pro from a total newbie.

[roosterman]

well done on the luderick mate.... persistence pays off in the end.... the only time ive seen people use no float was down the south coast but prob cause you casted 20 to 25 metres into channel... i have at times over the years used handline with no float but generally float fishing is the way to go... but as fishing in general try something different if your not having any luck.... i always if i can try to get varied bait, different color/texture and even cabbage as sometimes the can be very selective on what they want... i have even struggled to get a couple when i knew there was plenty down there to find when i cleaned the ones i had they were full of that real coarse brown stuff,not my lovely soft green variety...... well keep at it mate as they should be starting to get on the chew real shortly[if not already] as they are schooling up to spawn... were any of them milking or in roe that you had...

[fibbo]

It's true, it is all about persistence and it was very satisfying to be catch one blackfish. I didnt notice any roe or milk/ or could not differentiate it from all the guts. Thanks for all the help and encouragement roosterman and fishraiders =]

Cheers,

fibbo.

[Davemmm]

At least your gettin em.

After a brief flurry in the PH my rod is now gathering dust untill I get the blacky bug back.

Well done.

Dave

[Luringbream]

Awesome story mate and congrats on the fish!

DAN

[labrador]

Hi Fibbo,

Now you are hooked to blackfish, good on ya.. felt the same when I caught my first blackie and was hooked since then.

Enjoy

Scout

[luderick59]

good work keep on fishing for them ask questions andsoon you will be hooked onblackies

peterb

[arpie]

Well done Fibbo

Isn't it great when you get onto a fish?? They fight hard, too. Whenever you see the old fellas catching (I call them 'the Grumps') just sit & watch what they are doing & try to see how far up they have their stopper set ..... it will take good eyesight, but well worth it! Finding the correct depth is one of the hardest things to do when you are learning! Also, if they are tossing in burley & you don't have any, make sure you are next downstream of them, then you will get some of their benefit!

I did a bit of a 'blurb' on blackie fishing up here in Forster for the Social in June - if you like, I will send it to you for a read. The details work for anywhere, you may just need to 'finesse' your float a bit, as we use fairly big ones off the wall! When they are on, it is brilliant - almost a fish a cast .... then there are the quiet times, of which we have been having many since the big downpour!

Keep it up & you'll get some decent feeds.

Cheerio

Roberta

[fibbo]

I did a bit of a 'blurb' on blackie fishing up here in Forster for the Social in June - if you like, I will send it to you for a read.

Cheerio

Roberta

I would love to read what you wrote about blackfishing Roberta. I love reading anything about blackfishing actually

Cheers,

fibbo.