Marley, Garie And Cronulla

[james7]

It was just after 6.30am and we were heading out of Burraneer Bay into Port Hacking.

We thought we’d troll down the coast a bit to Garie. Off Marley, a group of birds were working, so for half an hour or so we chased them hoping something big was chasing the bait fish.

The first strike was actually a big slimey. That’s never happened to me before, catching a slimey on a lure more than half its size. I thought it was a chopper tailor or small bonito at first.

Fifteen minutes later, double ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Syd and Alan grab one rod each while Peter K expertly controls the boat. As usual I grab the camera.

Syd got his stripey to the boat quickly with his TLD 25, but Alan was having great fun fighting the stripey with his small Penn.

Every time the tuna came close and saw the boat it would take off again. I know Alan was having great fun judging by the smile on his face. I think it was the first time he’d used his little overhead for trolling.

This scene was repeated a couple of times and then we all agreed we’d had enough fun with the stripies. We continued down along the cliffs to Garie for a bit of bottom bashing.

Unfortunately the jackets followed us everywhere we stopped.

We moved back north to try a few drifts off Marley and the jackets followed us. There must be millions of them.

We’d all had enough losing rigs, so off to Cronulla to try a few drifts.

The jackets that had annoyed us all morning were now replaced by slimies and yakkas. We lost count of how many we caught.

It was a great day to be on the water and despite not many fish, we all had a good time.

The three amigos ... or is it Larry, Moe and Curly

PS Happy birthday Alan.

Cheers

Peter

Edited April 6, 2008 by peterS

[Ouliis]

GOOD ON YOU GUYS.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY.

[OnAking]

awesome to see the stripeys in early and going hard ...

i dont usually fish off cronulla so i was wondering if you may help ... what is the best boat ramp to launch from when heading out and is that garie beach heads you where referring to ...

Nice work mate hopefully a few more tuna will follow ... Gotta love the little speedsters

[james7]

awesome to see the stripeys in early and going hard ...

i dont usually fish off cronulla so i was wondering if you may help ... what is the best boat ramp to launch from when heading out and is that garie beach heads you where referring to ...

Nice work mate hopefully a few more tuna will follow ... Gotta love the little speedsters

Hi OnAking

There are several ramps in Port Hacking. I usually use the Water St ramp, but several friends like Wally’s Wharf (Dolans Bay ramp – Port Hacking Rd South). I’ve never used the Tonkin Street ramp because I’ve heard there isn’t much parking.

Yes, it was Garie Beach Heads. We tried from about 30m to about 65m but could only find jackets.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Peter

[jewgaffer]

Excellent results again PeterS. You've got a full on professional operation going with Syd, Alan and Peter K. The pics tells the story of a team fishing together with confidence and efficiency especially the first pic with the back to business concentration of Syd on the job as the overseer while Alan's playing the fish.

When everyone else is struggling in the bays, you and your team just go out for a long run along the cliffs and come back with the results. You sure can cover some good ground between Port Hacking and Garie and you get better results with the more reliable and hardier deep sea coastal species in their home grounds when the usual bay inhabitants go quiet inside and shutdown when not suited to feeding in the conditions.

There are always good chances too fall back on in deep sea fishing close in along the line of structure and sand with the fish feeding at their best in accordance with the coastal tidal patten.

It's the natural close in deep sea areas along the rocky shorelines around the bays and along the coast that not many boat fishermen give much consideration to, just idling around the mouth and middling and anchoring over the sands that lead into the bays, and restricting the opportunities to sand inhabitants, small nuisance fish, and only occasionally finding something or other non specific, out of area, and passing by.

Well done PeterS and the team!

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited April 7, 2008 by jewgaffer

[Floating_Medic]

What an awesome day, and what a great bunch of blokes to be out on the water with!! Great company, great weather, great country, what more can ya ask for??

[Scon]

good to see some striped tuna being caught,

you have got some good bait there at least.

[james7]

You sure can cover some good ground between Port Hacking and Garie and you get better results with the more reliable and hardier deep sea coastal species in their home grounds when the usual bay inhabitants go quiet inside and shutdown when not suited to feeding in the conditions.

There are always good chances too fall back on in deep sea fishing close in along the line of structure and sand with the fish feeding at their best in accordance with the coastal tidal patten.

It's the natural close in deep sea areas along the rocky shorelines around the bays and along the coast that not many boat fishermen give much consideration to, just idling around the mouth and middling and anchoring over the sands that lead into the bays, and restricting the opportunities to sand inhabitants, small nuisance fish, and only occasionally finding something or other non specific, out of area, and passing by.

As usual, your comments are spot on Byron.

It wasn't the best catch we've had lately, but you have to be prepared to adapt to changing conditions and stay positive (despite even those annoying jackets). Also, chasing and catching those stripies was a great thrill and learning experience for those that have never caught a little power packet like a striped tuna before. They can teach you patience, especially on light gear.

What an awesome day, and what a great bunch of blokes to be out on the water with!! Great company, great weather, great country, what more can ya ask for??

You've summed it up well Floating_Medic. Couldn't agree more!

Cheers

Peter