adznapper Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Hi all Took a mate out to my favourite Snapper grounds to see if we could crack a Snapper of a life time and feel the esky with a good feed. Arrived at the X spot at around 2 in the arvo not my cup of tea I love the early start ,you know on the water before daylight. We berlyed hard for the first hour which bought the usal bait fish in (slimmies) how ever just as they arrived so did the mouten birds ,seagulls and Albertross. We couldnt get a bait down with out halming a bird or two,so we layed off the burly in hope they would all leave and not casting out to were the berly was holding the prize Snapper we fished strait under the boat which seemed to be a holding spot for dog sharks and portjackson it was still action reels screemin on light snapper gear.. About an hour before dark the birds all left and we started berlying hard and it wasnt long before my reel was screeming out Snaapper ,after a short battle I was about to land a nice Snapper in the 3kg range all of a sudden it just be came a dead heavy wheight so I give the drag a tighten and pulled some line in before It took off about 3mtrs away from the boat and this huge seal came right out of the water with my nice snapper in its mouth What a sight this seal was carring on like a marlin but with so much agression its hair on top of its head was all spicked up and the speed and strangth this beast showed (SOOK ME) and people are afraid of sharks!! It threw the snapper about 10mtrs in the air and I thought nice I might get this yet I reeled like crazy but the seal left it just beside the boat before it smashed it agian this beast of a animal was making a game of it finaly I retreved a empty hook and the seal was just doing victory laps around the boat. So we get our lines out again and with in a few mins my mates line screems snapper this one was a good fish we were just about to land it and bang the seals back so I pulled out the video camera and well I thought i was filming it all. What a show at least my mate had it on video that he cought a thumper of a snapper. Man if it wasnt the birds it was the seal that Iam sure was takin the pi#$ out me and my mate well this bugger wasnt going to give up so we did.I got home and checked out the video footage and I guess I just didnt press record I sold my tinny a while ago and up graded to a much bigger boat because I was out one day and a seal came up to the boat and I gave it a fish and took a few pics for the kids but then he decided he wanted to get in my boat I freaked and tryed to push him away with the butt of my rod which he just snapped in his mouth like a tooth pick I started the motor and took off with the anchor still down he was going to sink me I pulled anchor and the seal fell back into the water and I had to get home and put a clean pair of undies on. I was only worried about a seal tipping my boat but now I recken that would have been the least of the trouble. BEWARE OF SEALS MY FREINDS yes I know you here of shark attacks but seals dont attack do they well I dont care after what Ive seen I ant taking no chances.
shefford Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Sounds awesome! Id love to see a seal up close, enjoyed reading and it sounded like you had an eventful fishing trip, I love those times the most!
warnie Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 BEWARE OF SEALS MY FREINDS . adznapper... go into the local servo and buy yourself a red beach ball and next time sammy the seal turns up.... toss that to him...and with him being busy swimming around and balancing it on the end of his nose he will leave you well enough alone at least long enough to pull a few fish onboard.... and if not he sure will keep you all entertained for a few hours.... Try it it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers Warnie
yockman Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 They are the scum of the earth, worse than pufferfish leatherjackets and barracouta all rolled into one. Can be dangerous too, as warnie says
adznapper Posted July 14, 2008 Author Posted July 14, 2008 They are the scum of the earth, worse than pufferfish leatherjackets and barracouta all rolled into one. Can be dangerous too, as warnie says Check this out This was no small seal it would of been the same size as this.
pelican Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 (edited) A few seasons ago we were happily watching the cute little sealy slaughter a very large mulloway in the harbour. It was so good to watch then he came closer and threw the fish twenty foot over the back of the boat to the other side. We realised the little seal was just a bit bigger than we thought but felt safe with a freeboard of 800mm. The seal took another couple of throws of the fish around the boat and kept an eye on us and then headed towards the marker. Pretty impressed by the way it got 80% of the flesh off the fish without swallowing a bone. There was 2 other fish floating around taht just had a bite out of them- good fish what a waste. Well you can forget feeling safe with 800mm freeboard as the seal launched itself at the channel marker and had no issue getting on and they are 1.5m plus high and hardly easy to get on and the size of cute little seal was bloody huge when out of the water. A friend who sails regularly offshore had one come aboard their yacht as they were becalmed ( it had a sugar scoop stern) and after they cleaned their undies and became brave enough it took them a while to get rid of it and as they found a alloy boat hook is a mere toothpick when a seal thinks it has a nice floating rock to settle on for the evening. The spinacker pole now known as a sphincter pole did the trick a bit better. They were lucky the rudder was flogging about making lots of noise and the seal didn't like that. They were ready to pull the lid on a flare and drew straws on who was going down the hatch to get it. At Quarantine 2 years ago I have never seen 2 mates get out of the water so fast when they were snorkelling and heard weird noised and saw something large fly past them at like 30Km/h. They knew it wan't the fairy penguins they has just seen hearding baitfish and all the fish disappeared. They were breathless, had cuts from the rocks they scrambles up and wanted the boat bought right in to get them. We didn't know what it was until we saw the seal exit onto a rock in the sun and it was only a smaller one. Great to see it in the harbour but I'm glad I wasn't in the water. I often wonder why the boats that do the seal tours down south don't end up with seals trying to get on board? There was photos in an insurance journal from the USA that showed boats on marinas that had been sunk by seals coming aboard and also marina pontoons damaged due to their weight. Boat owners were furious but teh environment agency was the only people allowed to move them on and they tried everything. They are so cute - honest but only at a safe distance. Edited July 14, 2008 by pelican
saltrix Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 Hi all Took a mate out to my favourite Snapper grounds to see if we could crack a Snapper of a life time and feel the esky with a good feed. Arrived at the X spot at around 2 in the arvo not my cup of tea I love the early start ,you know on the water before daylight. We berlyed hard for the first hour which bought the usal bait fish in (slimmies) how ever just as they arrived so did the mouten birds ,seagulls and Albertross. We couldnt get a bait down with out halming a bird or two,so we layed off the burly in hope they would all leave and not casting out to were the berly was holding the prize Snapper we fished strait under the boat which seemed to be a holding spot for dog sharks and portjackson it was still action reels screemin on light snapper gear.. About an hour before dark the birds all left and we started berlying hard and it wasnt long before my reel was screeming out Snaapper ,after a short battle I was about to land a nice Snapper in the 3kg range all of a sudden it just be came a dead heavy wheight so I give the drag a tighten and pulled some line in before It took off about 3mtrs away from the boat and this huge seal came right out of the water with my nice snapper in its mouth What a sight this seal was carring on like a marlin but with so much agression its hair on top of its head was all spicked up and the speed and strangth this beast showed (SOOK ME) and people are afraid of sharks!! It threw the snapper about 10mtrs in the air and I thought nice I might get this yet I reeled like crazy but the seal left it just beside the boat before it smashed it agian this beast of a animal was making a game of it finaly I retreved a empty hook and the seal was just doing victory laps around the boat. So we get our lines out again and with in a few mins my mates line screems snapper this one was a good fish we were just about to land it and bang the seals back so I pulled out the video camera and well I thought i was filming it all. What a show at least my mate had it on video that he cought a thumper of a snapper. Man if it wasnt the birds it was the seal that Iam sure was takin the pi#$ out me and my mate well this bugger wasnt going to give up so we did.I got home and checked out the video footage and I guess I just didnt press record I sold my tinny a while ago and up graded to a much bigger boat because I was out one day and a seal came up to the boat and I gave it a fish and took a few pics for the kids but then he decided he wanted to get in my boat I freaked and tryed to push him away with the butt of my rod which he just snapped in his mouth like a tooth pick I started the motor and took off with the anchor still down he was going to sink me I pulled anchor and the seal fell back into the water and I had to get home and put a clean pair of undies on. I was only worried about a seal tipping my boat but now I recken that would have been the least of the trouble. BEWARE OF SEALS MY FREINDS yes I know you here of shark attacks but seals dont attack do they well I dont care after what Ive seen I ant taking no chances. This morning at North head there was a seal chasing fish in close to the rocks. I pulled in my lures as I didnt want to mix with it. In the summer time of a still morning I often see them putting on flipper in the the air to warm up or cool down. If you look carefully you can see these black fins standing out all over the place. Anyone else seen this?
Alby Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I often see them with their fin out off Sussex Inlet and have hand fed them throwback catches. After reading this thread though I will be more cautious in future. The Ganetts birds are a pain in the a$%#se though Alby
hoges1974 Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 (edited) I often see them with their fin out off Sussex Inlet and have hand fed them throwback catches. After reading this thread though I will be more cautious in future. The Ganetts birds are a pain in the a$%#se though Alby On our trip to Narooma a few months ago we came across this fella floating around like he owned the bay. kids loved him can we get and and swim with him dad yeah no worries he may eat you though lol Last xmas we were fishing outside down there and them bloody birds drove us crazy could nt get a bait down without them taxing it Edited July 15, 2008 by hoges1974
Hodgey Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 My family and I found this bloke in Narooma last weekend. Probably the same seal Hoges photographed? Glad I didn't scramble closer for a better photo! He was one of two that were sunning themselves on the rocks.
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