Jump to content

Snapper,tuna, Bonito And Mowies


Ross Hunter

Recommended Posts

post-2782-1245133940_thumb.jpgA GREAT SNAPPER EXPERIENCE ON BROADBILL

Because of the uncertainty of the tuna run of late I have convinced my crews to travel 20 nautical miles to my favourite place in the world and target snapper and other miscellaneous reef species. These days are great fun with a lot of banter between crew and anglers even a bit of live guitar and singing some of my songs.

I love snapper fishing and whilst the tuna are every body’s favourite if they are not there then disappointment is the result.

We set up camp at Bellambi and whilst the current was flying to the south it just meant a change of style was needed. We could not fish floaters or soft plastics so drift fishing it was for the day.

It worked well for us catching some excellent catches of reds up to 2.5 kg, mowies to 1.5kg, pig fish, bonito in big numbers and some huge striped tuna on the troll home.

Whilst there were a few tuna caught on Sunday there were also swag of boats who threw a box of pillies in without so much as a run.

Having been catching tuna for 40 years and having caught our fair share of yellowfin tuna to 105kg over that too lengthy a period.

I know what a hit and miss affair tuna fishing can be. One fish and you are a hero, 6 fish and you can be hoisted high on the angler’s shoulders, but no fish and its doom and gloom, so sometimes it’s the safer option that can keep smiles on dials

We fished the Hump in strong current Friday, Sat and Sunday and caught great catches both days.

We used half pound sinkers and paternoster rigs and kept the drifts short covering the 30 fathom reefs at 1.7 knots but the fish were there every day.

We used mainly salted stripy and squid See photos of our angler’s catches.

post-2782-1245133791_thumb.jpg

[attachmentid=43662

attachmentid=43663]

post-2782-1245133857_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133921_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133940_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133962_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133988_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245134292_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245134451_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133815_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133836_thumb.jpg

post-2782-1245133893_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Howdy raiders,

Here are a few more pics from our day out on Saturday

We had an absolute ball on the water... I don't think we ever went longer than a 10 minute spell without a hookup, double and triple hookups were the norm... and many other reef species (not pictured) were caught.

Ross (if you havent already had the luxury of fishing on his boat) is a top bloke, and an absolute legend...

We lost a couple of good sized snapper to some seals and sea lions.. one absolute beast was at least 150-200 kilos..

And lost a few good striped tuna on the troll back.. awesome day out.. and highly recommend getting out there!

A few more pics below for you to enjoy..

1st fish of the day

post-6231-1245157554_thumb.jpg

Some more stripies

post-6231-1245157652_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157699_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157756_thumb.jpg

Some Bonnies

post-6231-1245157800_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157832_thumb.jpg

The obligatory jackets

post-6231-1245157890_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157948_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157986_thumb.jpg

The bigger reds

post-6231-1245158053_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245158115_thumb.jpg

:1fishing1: AJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Howdy raiders,

Here are a few more pics from our day out on Saturday

We had an absolute ball on the water... I don't think we ever went longer than a 10 minute spell without a hookup, double and triple hookups were the norm... and many other reef species (not pictured) were caught.

Ross (if you havent already had the luxury of fishing on his boat) is a top bloke, and an absolute legend...

We lost a couple of good sized snapper to some seals and sea lions.. one absolute beast was at least 150-200 kilos..

And lost a few good striped tuna on the troll back.. awesome day out.. and highly recommend getting out there!

A few more pics below for you to enjoy..

1st fish of the day

post-6231-1245157554_thumb.jpg

Some more stripies

post-6231-1245157652_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157699_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157756_thumb.jpg

Some Bonnies

post-6231-1245157800_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157832_thumb.jpg

The obligatory jackets

post-6231-1245157890_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157948_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245157986_thumb.jpg

The bigger reds

post-6231-1245158053_thumb.jpg

post-6231-1245158115_thumb.jpg

:1fishing1: AJ

Throw me a fish, aka Adrian

Thanks for your kind words No matter how many times we get a compliment it is always appreciatted very much.It was an absoulute pleasure to fish with you guys.. Thanks for the pics if you could email to gamefishing@bigpond.com I will use in our next update.Thanks again

Ross

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great work Ross. :thumbup: No wonder everyone is smiling!

Thank you for your advice last week because I made it down to the hump last Sunday and caught three nice pan size reds as well as several throwbacks just over 30cm, (but looked too small to eat). Anyway, it was the first snapper I took home for years. We used (as you suggested) stripey fillets and squid. The smaller hooks were more successful too. Thanks again - you're a champion! There are some photos in my report "Finally Scored A Snapper At The Hump!".

That current was really racing! Next time I'll follow you instructions to the letter and try the slightly deeper water to avoid the jackets! They eventually killed us!

Cheers and well done again Rosco

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check out how fat that leatherjacket is!!! They are such fat shits!

[/qu

Dicko,

We are trying to mutate a Killer Jacket, just like a cure for cane toads ...A jacket that is a cannibal and will eat its own kind and rid our oceans of these awful things... They do eat well that's the only thing in their favour, but the bite offs can break your heart............ Bring on the Killer Jacket I say.

Roscoe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great work Ross. :thumbup: No wonder everyone is smiling!

Thank you for your advice last week because I made it down to the hump last Sunday and caught three nice pan size reds as well as several throwbacks just over 30cm, (but looked too small to eat). Anyway, it was the first snapper I took home for years. We used (as you suggested) stripey fillets and squid. The smaller hooks were more successful too. Thanks again - you're a champion! There are some photos in my report "Finally Scored A Snapper At The Hump!".

That current was really racing! Next time I'll follow you instructions to the letter and try the slightly deeper water to avoid the jackets! They eventually killed us!

Cheers and well done again Rosco

Peter

Peter,

Thanks for that, glad it worked for you Well done

Ross

Link to comment
Share on other sites

G'day Ross,

Sorry ofr the delay.. haven;t had much fishraider time this week..

Will send the pictures through to you tonight.

Cheers!

Squidhunter.. I agree with Rooss... a good fun productive day out... And some quality fish!

what more could you want?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...