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Tailor And Salmon Trolled Along The Royal National Park


james7

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We decided to stick to a plan this time:

1. Troll close in down the coast for tailor and salmon

2. Drift for flatties out wider

3. Try the hump for maybe a snapper or mowie if the conditions stayed calm.

Well, the plan partially worked. The trip along the cliffs of the Royal National Park was magnificent. Even some of the waterfalls were flowing.

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Syd got a nice salmon close in to the cliffs. It put on a great display jumping out of the water. He also caught a little kingy that gave a good fight. I managed to “release” three tailor just as I got them to the boat. That was okay as I was out fishing Pick-A-Box Syd three to one at that stage.

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Things went quiet, so we tried drifting for flathead. We found them, except they were all small. We moved half a dozen times, but the little ones kept following us. Out of about twenty there were only two keepers.

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Off to the hump. The wind had picked up slightly and we had trouble holding bottom even with a pound of lead, so we tried anchoring. There were heaps of annoying mado and then jackets started snipping lines. Syd lost five or six rigs. A pigfish was the only keeper. However, two seals kept us company for a while.

We trolled back along the coast for a few more tailor, but the best part was see some whales along the way. They put on a great show for us. They were playing and breaching. I never get sick of sights like that.

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I’ve posted a few more photos of the whales in the general photo section.

Here’s the final catch. Good enough for a feed for both our families. We’ll fire up the smoker tonight for those tailor fillets.

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Finally, here’s Syd with his salmon. I’m not sure if it will end up as bait or fishcakes? (the fish that is)

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Cheers

Peter

Edited by peterS
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I have a quick question, whats that fish at the top right of the photo with the stripe down the size and the red. I catch thousands of them and never knew what they were or if they were any good to eat.....

Maori wrasse or "butcher's unsavoury characters" to some. My wife loves eating them more than snapper and bream. According to her it is not a dry flesh, doesn't have small bones and is sweeter tasting meat.

I don't eat them, so I have no idea at all.

Nice feed mate and sounds like you had a good day out.

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Great report and photos Peter. You didn't mention what you hooked up that whale on... quite an aerial display. Hope you released it afterwards. I hear the ones over 10m are usually the breeders

Cheers, Slinky

:Funny-Post: Good one Slinky!

I did suggest to Syd at the time that he should tie a rope around his waist and swim out to "ride" the big one, but he wouldn't be in it! I reckon that a "whale rodeo" video might have won the $200,000 on Australia's Funniest Home Video!

NickN, as for Maori wrasse, I consider them "Mother-In-Law" fish. They're too bony for me.

Anyway, Pick-A-Box Syd and myself finally got around to smoking the tailor fillets this afternoon.

Mmmm ... Bloody beautiful!

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Cheers

Peter

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I had a few friends question me about the "stripe" on the kingy Syd is holding and whether they all have it, especially the big ones. Having never caught one over 70cm, is the "stripe" just more noticeable on smaller fish? Or is it just the camera angle and the lighting making it stand out?

Cheers

Peter

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