alvillanova Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 hi fellow raiders i am just interested to hear whats ur most memorable catch to date, i will start this forum off and would say that i would consider catching a 229kg blue marlin in fiji, whilst on my honeymoon, was my highlight . cheers fellow raiders and tight lines............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew399 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 7ft hammerhead on light snapper gear in moreton bay, no wire just lucky! Released un harmed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupster Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) hi alberto,[personally] iv'e caught jew up to 16kgs but the most exciting/best catch for me was a 49cm bream back in june 96'. i was fishing the rail bridge at night for jew when i kept getting hits but no hookups so decided to throw out a handline with a smaller hook.it got hit around a minute later and a good 5-10 minute fight ensued.I got it close to the surface twice only to have it dive down again. I thought it was a school jew when i saw the silver flashes in the moonlight,i just couldn't believe it when i realised it was a bream.I remember i was shaking when i removed it from the net...it was just so bloody big! anyway,got home to take a photo but damn..no film! ...bragged about it to a local fisho [few days later] only to be told that a school of big "blue nose" bream had moved into the system and he'd caught a few that size himself. Edited August 19, 2008 by hooked4life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) I'd have to say my GT i got last year, it was 50lb or so Cheers Josh Edited August 20, 2008 by Josh88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 My girlfriend penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtime Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 (edited) My girlfriend penguin Gotta agree with Penguin, the was a pretty good catch. Had to berley up for a while, got busted off a few times before reeling her in. Boated her on about the 5th go, wasn't sure if I was using the right bait for the first few fishing trips, but perserverence pays off. A combination of the right moon phases, a good burley mixture and a lot of luck. Edited August 21, 2008 by Mariner 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 7ft hammerhead on light snapper gear in moreton bay, no wire just lucky! Released un harmed... 5ft hammerhead on Alvey725 40lb mono at F&S no wire Jingkai leader. It was released. I was hurt and it was offended. Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishhunter76 Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 My girlfriend penguin Thats so sweet penguin. Now take that post off before my wife sees it.LOL Cheers LALA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 The very first fish I ever caught.... a sand whiting in an empty coffee jar at Sandy Bay beach (just put bread in the end of the jar, immerse it in the shallows... the fish go in, they can't turn around and they can't back out). or The first fish I ever caught on rod and line... a tiny beardie (cod) at Strahan in Tassie. Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemmm Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 If we are talking about the most memorable it would have to be a 40ishcm flathead at nambucca a few years ago. I spent a full week up there and fished every morning then took the family out in the afternoon. Tried every type of bait I could lay my hands on plus a hoard of hardbodies and a swag of sp's all to no avail. Very disappointing as the previous week had been an absolute beauty in Evans Head. I didn't feel too bad when having a beer with a few locals who told me there hadnt been many fish caught recently as the river was desperately in need of a good dose of rain. The water was crystal clear and there was very little bait fish around. After six fishless days we packed up to start the trip south then grabbed an early lunch along side the river. Needless to say I pulled a rod out and started throwing a HB out. A couple of casts in I got a hit and started to pull in my first fish in seven days of trying. As it got near the bank I realised I didnt have the net and would have to pull the flatty up a grassy bank. Yelling at the kids to grab the net out of the boat didnt help much as I have stupid kids (not really). Dropped the bugger right at my feet. He only swam away about 4-5 ft though and just sat in the mud with his back turned to me. Half a dozen goes at pulling the lure past his head and he finally vacuumed it in. Landed him this time, looked at him, put him back, packed up and went home to Sydney. Nothing flash about the fish or the capture. Stays with me though as the only fish I have caught in Nambucca. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr magoo Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 (edited) this is my most memorable fish,caught from daves (SIDESHOW) boat with only 3 onboard ,grub on the wheel, dave on the trace and myself on the rod tiger shark of 490kg on15kg cheers arman Edited August 20, 2008 by mr magoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtime Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 this is my most memorable fish,caught from daves (SIDESHOW) boat with only 3 onboard ,grub on the wheel, dave on the trace and myself on the rod tiger shark of 490kg on15kg cheers arman Wholley dooley That is one monster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Strewth Arman ... that thing is bloody amazing! Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtime Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Strewth Arman ... that thing is bloody amazing! Hodgey Strewth Hodgey, Every one of your fishing trips are memorable, for me anyway. I can't say, that I have seen another Raider depict their experiences as proffessionally as you do. Always, I must say, your reports are most memorable to me. Thank you, and please keep up the excellent reports and photos of your back-yard. I look forward to your contribution to the hall of fame. Undoubtably, if not the first, you will be a regular winner of this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Hunter Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 hi fellow raiders i am just interested to hear whats ur most memorable catch to date, i will start this forum off and would say that i would consider catching a 229kg blue marlin in fiji, whilst on my honeymoon, was my highlight . cheers fellow raiders and tight lines............ Alberto, What a great topic you have started.. Thanks for that This is my favourite memory POWER AND MUSCLE AT THE PEAK In 1985 were approached by the Terry Willesee television show to do a segment on yellowfin tuna. That was way before Rex Hunt and other popular fishing shows hit the big screen. The only bit of fishing that was screened was the occasional old Bob Dyer segment, which, by today's standards, was a little amateurish, but still enjoyable. The wise executives running TV stations did not believe that fishing would rate. How wrong they were! Today there is a multitude of prime-time fishing shows on the box. Sometimes even highly intelligent ex-university graduates get it wrong, not that they would ever admit it. It wasn't until a company did a census and found out that half the nation are regular fishos and the other half like the Rex Hunt show anyway. Well done fellas, took a while for the penny to drop! So it may have been that the top rating Willesee show wanted a little fishing content, but we were always hungry for some prime-time coverage so off we charged to the tuna grounds accompanied by camera men and, yes, a helicopter. Vic Casey, Glenn Hunter, Craig Summerville and myself headed out of Botany Bay. Broadbill was loaded to the gunnels with berley. We had bread, mullet, pilchards, and not in boxes, but we had truck loads of the stuff. We were on a full mission to get the job done for Mr. Willesee. Nothing is going to stop us from catching a big tuna and there had been the occasional jumbo-size around during that week. We cruised the five nautical miles to the Peak, accompanied by the Channel Seven chopper, which is flying just two metres off our outriggers to get some close-ups. I thought at one stage that they were so close that they were going to land in the cockpit amongst the boxes of berley and crap. We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for action, as we anchored on the high part of north Peak. The anchor took up and everyone manned their tasks; Vic on the bucket, Glenn on the cubes, Craig on the rod. After an hour or so we swapped tasks, it sort off breaks the boredom. It was a calm July day, the ocean was slick, and hordes of shearwaters and petrels meandered past on their migratory journeys. The birds were excited and swept at the ocean every now and then to feast on a morsel of food that was coming to the surface as if from a fish kill. This happens when there tuna are feeding, the signs were good. But it was now 1 pm and "didley squat" was the result. Vic suggested that I have a go on the rod as his arm was getting sore. I obliged and wound the pillie in, replaced it with a fresh one and commenced feeding it back down the slick. The current was running at 2.5 knots to the south, leaving whirlpools at the transom of the boat. In fact, it was so strong that I did not have feed out the pillie, the current dragged the line off the spool for me. The water was cobalt blue and full of sparklers, a kind of plankton that glows vivid and bright purple in the sunlight, it looked perfect for tuna. The boys were feeling a little dejected. The camera crew were asleep. As I fed out the pillie I was beginning to wonder whether we would get any footage at all for our hosts. There is nothing more adrenaline pumping, or as good an alarm clock, as the scream of a reel. That was the sound coming from the rod as I was feeding back. "Here we go!" I cried, striking the fish immediately. The hook-up was solid as the big fish bolted for the horizon. The first run was 400 metres and we did not want too much more 15-kilo line out, so we decided to buoy off the anchor and chase the fish with the boat. The boys asked the usual question when a blind strike is encountered: "How big, Cogga?" I shrugged, hung on, and watched line pouring off the reel at a fairly distressing rate. "Dunno" I replied. "But if we don't start haulin' some arse backwards soon we'll never know, because we'll be spooled", I suggested. The big tuna had bolted and taken an alarming amount of line in the short period we had him on, and we were confronted with a certain amount of urgency that shiny, bright, lineless spools can dictate. That sparked them into a little more panic and action as the engines roared into life and we started backing up. After 20 minutes the exodus of line had settled a bit and the tussle grew into a more manageable stage of panic, line was no longer disappearing. I backed off the drag to compensate for water pressure on the 400 or so metres that the tuna had out, things calmed down and the cameras rolled. We wanted a good tuna, we had caught 12 fish so far this season over 70 kg and this one was unlucky 13—and by the power of the fight, he was going to be up and maybe over the magic 70 kg. It's funny how the thoughts of a fisherman can go from "Yes, he's a beauty" to "I'm not too sure now", as a bit of easy line is retrieved. It is always an unknown with a tuna on a blind strike, so the guessing game goes on through the fight. If he gets away, he's generally the biggest one ever hooked. The fishermen's adage, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story", can come to the fore. We had a rating for yellowfin back then, a sort of code we used when talking to each other on the radio, boat to boat, thinking that other fishermen would be confused by the lingo and not be attracted to the spot. It never worked, but it was cool to do it. The "ready reckoner" went this way: *Fleas (up to 30 kg) *Rats (from 30 to 70 kg) *Fish (from 70 kg upwards) …… this was definitely a fish. The battle lingered on for two hours. The fish was 150 metres straight under the boat and still pulling like a 12-year-old. To this day I still have not found a way to catch a big tuna any quicker than keeping even pressure and waiting them out until they become exhausted and line can then be gained, but not till then. We were the first of the new breed of fishermen to use "short stroker rods" or as we called them in that era, before somebody came up with the name "trick sticks". We were convinced that the shorter the rod the more advantage to the fisherman. Well I've since changed my views on that, having caught many fish on short strokers versus either a longer, softer rod or better still a chair rod, and results are astounding and quite the opposite. A big tuna caught from a bent butt game rod with the angler in the chair will be caught in half the time as an angler standing up using a short stroker, it is the hardest and most back-breaking way to catch a fish! I was finding this out, as time and again the yellowfin would circle deep under the boat with me trying to keep my back straight but not having much success, against the fish's overwhelming power. The fight went on for another hour; the big fish is now 50 metres below. That is when it really got tough. I had a little respite from time to time by sitting in the chair, but that is impossible now because the fish is directly under the boat. My back, after 3½ hours, is really hurting and to make things worse we have a storm front on us with lightning, tropical monsoonal rain and a 30-knot wind. "Great", I whispered under my breath as my body started to reject me and wanted no part of that epic battle anymore. The storm eventually passed, my wet clothes started to dry out a little, and I wished that epic example of human torture would end. After much grunting and straining the doubled line is in view, and on gazing into the depths we catch the first sighter of the tuna. He is enormous, the biggest I have ever seen. I settled myself down and tried to keep calm knowing full well that all big tuna that are lost are lost at the tracing or the gaffing. We now see the fish all the time, but he is so huge that on 15 kg tackle it is still a seesawing give-and-take of gain and loose line. "Be patient, Ross!" I tell myself. My Grandfather's advice: "Good things come to those who wait" was going through my brain as I put every last bit of strength I could muster into the final lift. It seemed ages until Vic and Glenn took the trace and Craig gaffed him in one swoop then lifted the fish—we all agreed it was over the magic 100 kg—into the cockpit of the boat. We all stood spellbound for a moment, shocked at his size; the fish beat his huge tail as the life slowly disappeared from him. I always feel sorry for a fish, especially one as grand as this big old fella. However, he was a record and fishermen thought differently then, so it was off to the weigh station at the Botany Bay Gamefishing Club to weigh him and finish off the sequence for the cameras. If we had weighed the fish while we were still at sea he probably would have gone 100 kg. However, a couple of hours after he was dehydrated he weighed 97.5 kg—still a beauty and still to this day one of the biggest out of that port. I retired from personal tuna fishing after catching that fish, I had caught my fare share of tuna and figured that it would be many a moon before I'd better that one, and besides, the rule "no pain, no gain" just did not appeal to me any more, especially the pain part. A fortnight later I was still feeling the effects of the fight, such is the power of the tuna. We have caught many yellowfin for our customers from that day to this and have been part of some dohhh-type battles, but never with me on the rod. No! I retired that July day in '85 with a memory that I will not forget and that makes me feel good——but isn't that what it's all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Once again ... a scintillating read Roscoe! As I progress through your articles, I find myself holding my breath, muttering things like "Jesus this sounds like it's gonna be a good fish" , or "No,no,no!!!" as the line flirts perilously within the proximity of the motor, and concluding with "You bloody ripper Rosscoe! A just reward to compensate your aching back, mate" at the final capture. If this is as close as I will ever get to Tuna Fishing .... I have no complaints. Thanks mate, Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 (edited) Outstanding Rosco!!! My certainly doesn't weigh in like some of the other fish above, but the trill, excitement and smile Little Poddy's (age 8) 70 cm Lizard brought after he captured and released, collected the nippers, picked the spot, called the fish, wrapped his line around the prop with the whole Poddy clan on hand to witness is right up there for me. Fairy tale stuff!!! Edited August 21, 2008 by Poddy Trapper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregL Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Excellent read Ross! Heart in mouth stuff that tuna fishing, ya just never know how big and how long each fight is going to be. After so many years of not even bothering chasing the fin or other gamefish, this year has been such a eye opener for me personally with such a change in fortune of Sydneys offshore fishery. I just hope it's not a splash in the pan and is here to stay..... Me well it would have to be my biggest GT from a trip NOrth in 2006. On a mothership some 100miles off the tip of Cape York with a bunch of mates. Casting big poppers all morning on big gear was starting to wear me out. I changed to a 50lb outfit for a bit of a rest while in the shallows of a lagoon. Coral heads everywhere. Casting a Saltiga Popper along the hard reef edges I was absolutely monstered in spectacular fashion! 3m of water coral all around and the guide on the camera. Mate having trouble on the net...... Yeah I remember it like yesterday, I have it on film......lol G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Hunter Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Outstanding Rosco!!! My certainly doesn't weigh in like some of the other fish above, but the trill, excitement and smile Little Poddy's (age 8) 70 cm Lizard brought after he captured and released, collected the nippers, picked the spot, called the fish, wrapped his line around the prop with the whole Poddy clan on hand to witness is right up there for me. Fairy tale stuff!!! Poddy Trapper That's what I love to see Little poddy will remember that for a life time. A great yarn and congrats to the lad. That's sort of fish will hopefully keep Poddy intersted in fishing for life and that's not a bad thing. You see special moments are all relative and that's how it should be in the wonderfull world of fishing. Here are a couple of special memories I have dug out of the archives. The first, a jewfish and a young Roscoe at 8 years old .The fish although small was my first and at the time could have been 30 kilos and I remember it like it was yesterday The fish was caught in he Macleay River.(check out the scout belt and knife) The next was my first marlin caught at the banks Currarong in 1969 boy I was a little skinnier then wish I could turn the clock back. This fish conviced me that a life on the ocean was where I was to head. Roscoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUKEC Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Hi Most memorable fish were. 1. Was a 5.5kg Jewfish under Captain Cook Bridge in the middle of the Day (This was my first jewy and we caught 2 fish that day.) 2. A 40cm Bass in the Nepean on Hard Body. These fish were caught out of my mates boat and i would consider them more memorable than the two Black Marlin i caught in Cairns the same year on a charter. One 120kg Black and a 70kg Black on 15kg. Dont get me wron about the Marlin not being Memorable its just when you do it your self it feels alot better. Cheers Luke sorry no pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupster Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 (edited) Hi Dont get me wron about the Marlin not being Memorable its just when you do it your self it feels alot better. agree totally! charters are a lot of fun and iv'e caught some good fish on them [no marlin though] but they've done all the groundwork for you...it just isn't the same. Edited August 21, 2008 by hooked4life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Hunter Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Once again ... a scintillating read Roscoe! As I progress through your articles, I find myself holding my breath, muttering things like "Jesus this sounds like it's gonna be a good fish" , or "No,no,no!!!" as the line flirts perilously within the proximity of the motor, and concluding with "You bloody ripper Rosscoe! A just reward to compensate your aching back, mate" at the final capture. If this is as close as I will ever get to Tuna Fishing .... I have no complaints. Thanks mate, Hodgey Hodgey Your a beauty thanks for that! I tried to reply to your email but you do not exist according to the computor. If you want cure your sea sickness try leaning hard against a gum tree it works everytime Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatty hunter626 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 (edited) . .mine would have to be a catch me an a friend made after persevering for many hours with plastics for nothing to show and a swap to bait bought on these 4:P....lost 1 bigger and let go a few around the 35 cm mark.....all the fish shown were over 40cm and over a kilo cheers flatty hunter Edited August 21, 2008 by flatty hunter626 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigholio Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 You sure they're not snapper in drag?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Hunter Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 . .mine would have to be a catch me an a friend made after persevering for many hours with plastics for nothing to show and a swap to bait bought on these 4:P....lost 1 bigger and let go a few around the 35 cm mark.....all the fish shown were over 40cm and over a kilo cheers flatty hunter Flatty hunter Well done lads Those big old blue nose bream look like they have been on steriods..They are beauties Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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