The Poacher Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Hi Raiders, Looking at the posts everyone seems to be catching fish at the moment. Our annual SWR fishing trip was limited to 4 days with no family this year. Here is how it went down. Day #1 Drove to Coffs as no one had caught a fish in SWR since the flood, so apparently 4 weeks or more. After some good advice from SlinkyMalinky we hit the water. Couldnt find any big fish but got some dollies and small snapper/pearlies. Off to an OK start. Decided to go back to SWR as the water looked average at Coffs anyway, and its meant to clear from the south due to the East Australian current. Day #2 As luck would have it, a nasty squall hit us at 6am in the morning as we were catching bait. THe upside was that most boats didnt venture out in the 35knot winds. It was ugly for an hour or so. So we had fish rock to ourselves for a little while. Slow trolled weighted slimies in the "nose" of the current on the front edge and ended up with 3 at 85 - 90cms each. They were really super fat solid fish that went hard!!!! While we were trolling I spun up a decent mack tuna on my little soft plastic outfit. Lots of other boats arrived, and I didnt see much else landed. We went back holding our heads high (as opposed to Day #4, but we will get to that). Day #3. THe water was definantly getting better and we were better prepared with a plan so we went back to the rock. There were fish everywhere, dolphins, turtles, bait showering, and I kid you not, A SCHOOL OF STINGRAYS SWIMMING IN FORMATION ON THE SURFACE - there must have been 15 at about 20kgs each. THey were brown. ANyway, we were very confident, but with all the boat traffic we only got 2 at 85, and 2 rats. Highlight was spinning up a bonito and having it chased out from the rock by a 15kg king! I sent the bonnie back out but he wasn't as fresh - eventually something ate him, I let it run, but the fish ripped the bait off before I could set the hook. It wasnt bridled, I just pinned him through the nose as I wasn't prepared for a bait that size. Still we were pretty happy. Caught a few tuna and other stuff as well. Day #4 Went north up to Grassy for the mackeral as we thought the water might have cleared up. This is the sad part of the story. Basically, we went up to see what was there, maybe a bluefin as there had been a few caught. Pretty sure the first bait was eaten by a spaniard, including all the wire and snipped off with no pressure from us!!!! It was a big fish and you could see it snaking around the surface eating the slimey. This had been a goal of the trip, and we had ballsed it up. ANyway, the next 3 baits were eaten and then dropped by bluefin, and the wire came back all sprinigy and the baits with teeth marks but still in one piece. So we changed over to mono traces, only for the FREEKING mackeral to come through and bite us off in a double hookup. We then ran out of bait, and AMATEUR HOUR was over. Same home from a good trip that could have been great. Next time. The Poacher.
Ray R Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Great report Poacher you did realy good, the fish look great well worth the effort a bit travelling but that is what a fishing trip is all about. Good onya.. Cheers..
Guest Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Very nice report Poacher and if you have an estimate of that Mack Tuna it could well be a Fishraider record for the species. Please submit that fish if you have a pretty true estimate of its length Cheers Swordfisherman
olitay Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Top report mate, those Kings from Fish Rock are a corker! well done.
james7 Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Great to read reports from SWR. Yours is a cracker! Top photos too! You packed a lot into 4 days. Seeing that bonito chased by a big king must have been fantastic. I only managed rat kings at Fish Rock this year, but was reefed by two bigger ones. And the only things we caught at Grassy were stripies. Your trip was much more successful. Well done mate. It'll be even better next time when you get a big spaniard or bluefin. I'm still waiting to get one to the boat! It's amazing what a spaniard can do to a 200lb trace! Cheers Peter
The Poacher Posted March 18, 2009 Author Posted March 18, 2009 Hi All, SWR can be red hot and cold in the same week - all the locals had been complaining bitterly about the lack of fish in the lead up to our trip. I managed to push the trip out a week as they werent getting fish. Even then , we were going to stay at Coffs, but took a chance on the water quality coming good at SWR. So Peter your results were like everyone else's in the past month. Maybe you could get up there again soon. Swordfisherman, I would find it hard to be accurate on the mack tuna length, a guestimate would have it at 80cm, based on the kings, as I reckon it was shorter but fatter. THe Poacher
The Poacher Posted March 18, 2009 Author Posted March 18, 2009 Hi Big Banana, The bar was better than it has been in previous years. I think there is a sandbank about 200m out, and this seems to knock some of the swell out. Also, it seems to be a bit deeper than previous years. Having said that, on the run out with a swell running it can still be a real worry. The Poacher.
Guest Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Swordfisherman, I would find it hard to be accurate on the mack tuna length, a guestimate would have it at 80cm, based on the kings, as I reckon it was shorter but fatter. THe Poacher Your estimate is a good one and we will grant you 80cms as the record for Mackeral Tuna on lures. Please submit your record with pic in the appropriate forum at bottom of page. Regards Stewy
slinkymalinky Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 Great few days Poacher, Shame about those mackerel and bluefin but you've got to be happy with the great fish in the photos... looks like a bit of a smile there Next trip I bet you have all sorts of shiny new bridle rigs, wire rigs, etc ready to go. Congrats on the record... told you it was a good mack tuna Cheers, Slinky
scaffdogg Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 good story mate sounds like fun spewing bout day 4 though
erroll Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 Great work Poacher, sounds like it was worth the trek up the highway. cheers
The Poacher Posted March 19, 2009 Author Posted March 19, 2009 Thanks. It was a fair run up the freeway. Its only 400km from my place, but there was probably 100kms of 80 zone due to the mssive amount of roadworks. Day #4 was terrible. We could not take a trick. And its one of the few times I have ever run out of bait with the fish biting. Whoever gets up there this weekend will do really well. The Poacher
plankton Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 Thanks. It was a fair run up the freeway. Its only 400km from my place, but there was probably 100kms of 80 zone due to the mssive amount of roadworks. Day #4 was terrible. We could not take a trick. And its one of the few times I have ever run out of bait with the fish biting. Whoever gets up there this weekend will do really well. The Poacher I've booked a charter out of Port Maquarie on the morninig of the 4th April (2 weeks away). Would you say, from your experiences that the Port fishes as well as SWR... I hope so!
The Poacher Posted March 20, 2009 Author Posted March 20, 2009 Hi Plankton, I have fished both areas on charters, and would say that SWR definantly fishes better. The charter guys there will generally put you onto very solid fish. If you just want to pull a few snapper and flathead to 1 kg then anywhere is fine. If you want to catch something that weighs 10kgs, go to SWR!!!!!! Good luck, and whatever your decision I hope you have a great time. The Poacher.
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