Broken Bay Offshore Wednesday 2nd March 2005

[Andy_from_the_CJ]

G'day all,

Daryl, Glen and I arrived at West Head a bit after 7:00AM, and had no problems filling the tank with yakkas, and a few nice garfish. The plan was to run out 5 or 6 miles and look for currents, working birds or best of all, bait schools under attack. As we headed east the water was a beautiful deep blue, but without any sign of predators (except ourselves!) or for that matter, any other life. We decided to push on to the traps to put something in the fishbox first.

On arrival the current was barely noticeable, so Daryl dropped a knife jig to the bottom. First drop and up came a flowerpot, not much bigger than the jig! (see pic.) Meantime Glen was getting into the mahi, using live yellowtail. Watching Glen hook up repeatedly became too much for Daryl, so he stowed the jig outfit and got stuck into the mahi too. We noticed that the mutton birds were very hungry- not an encouraging sign.

After a few nice ones were packed into the esky we decided we'd better go big fish hunting. A spread was put out, consisting of a swimming gar on a bibbed snap head, a Laser Pro, and a medium sized Pakula. We were only out for a morning run, so we turned back towards BB. A mile or two out, we came across schools of cowanyoung rolling on the surface (see pic.) Out came the light gear and a few went into the esky, to be frozen for whole mako baits, next spring. The southerly was picking up fast so we headed back in. (I heard from a mate in the Farr 40 race that the southerly hit 35 knots, about an hour later.) That was it for the morning. Not the most exciting trip of the summer, but you have to put the hours in, if want to tangle with Mister Big. Cheers to all, Andrew

[Andy_from_the_CJ]

The school of cowanyoung

[cajun]

another great report Andy.

I have to say I feel awfully sorry for you blokes who have to fish midweek, while some of us are enjoying ourselves at a desk.

Have you ever bridled a little Dolly as a trolled bait?

Cheers

Ken

Edited March 3, 2005 by cajun

[djmac]

i had a small bridled dolly smashed by a mako once.

but it was all over before it began.

good report guys.

surely there was something feeding on those cowanyoung underneath?

shoulda put one back out a little deeper.

nice dolly also. gotta love them, they look good, they taste good and they even put up a bit of a fight!

[Andy_from_the_CJ]

Have you ever bridled a little Dolly as a trolled bait?

34730[/snapback]

Hello Ken,

no I haven't mate, for a few reasons. They're not well-shaped for trolling, in the way that a tuna is; they go completely nuts when you bring them into the boat, and they'd be a bugger to bridle; but most of all, they're one of those fish that die very quickly. But in certain circumstances it could be worth a go, and maybe we should give it a try. Cheers, Andrew

[Andy_from_the_CJ]

i

surely there was something feeding on those cowanyoung underneath?

shoulda put one back out a little deeper.

34746[/snapback]

you'd think so but there didn't appear to be much happening from underneath. We were on a bit of a deadline and didn't have much time to try all options. They were far more nervous about a gannet that kept hitting the school, and they sounded with a big splash whenever a seabird passed overhead.

[cajun]

Hello Ken,

no I haven't mate, for a few reasons. They're not well-shaped for trolling, in the way that a tuna is; they go completely nuts when you bring them into the boat, and they'd be a bugger to bridle; but most of all, they're one of those fish that die very quickly. But in certain circumstances it could be worth a go, and maybe we should give it a try. Cheers, Andrew

34747[/snapback]

We've done it once - a looong time ago, to have a bitey swallow it whole and bite us off without clicking the ratchet. I reckon they would make a great skip bait at lower speeds.

Cheers

k