Windy As... But Great Fishing!

[jim77]

Despite the average forecast i decided to head out for a fish today.

Got out on the water a bit later than planned but got to my livebait spot at about 8:45. To start with it took me a while to catch any yakkas. I caught plenty of just under snapper and then some nice Trevs and i was about to move when they yakkas finally turned up in numbers. Caught about twenty in 10 mins and then headed off out the front of South head.

I started off by trolling one CD 11 and one xmas tree - within about 100 metres i had a double hook up - got them both in, 2 bonnies and good ones around 50cms. Both lures back out and pretty much same thing happened. This kept up for about 30 minutes with double hook ups happening 3 times. I kept 5 bonito and threw about 7 or 8 back. ( i actually really like them to eat and they are great in the smoker!)

By this stage the wind was becoming a pain even in the shelter of the South head so i thought i would try elsewhere. I went in search of squid at the Shacks which was nice and sheltered but no squid, and then i figured i would downrig around Middle Harbour as i thought that it might be protected... How wrong could i be it was blowing its #its off in mh. The only place i thought it would be really protected from the wind was out the front of North head due to the height of the cliffs - so off i went.

On the way i came across the BIGGEST school of Salmon i have ever seen. It was about the size of a footy field and there were hundreds of birds everywhere. I threw a few plastics in the middle but the Salmon weren't interested - they were feeding on the the tiny bait fish.

So off i continued around the front of Nth Head - and as i thought it was lovely and protected around there. Got the downrigger ready and down goes the 1st Yakka - about 100 metres in and it gets hammered and i'm on to a good fish. Short tussle later i pull in a very fat King of 85cm - happy with that! Back down with another Yakka and same result although this time it was only 70 odd cm. I found a pretty good patch of fish and every time i went over them i got a hook up. In the end i caught 6 Kingies - 3 legals and 3 rats although the rats were all over 60. I would have kept going but as i was letting my bomb down i got hit by a bit of chop and accidently knocked the break on and my cable snapped! Along with my nice new pancake bomb GOONE! So that was that - although i was pretty happy with the session.

It was a pretty hairy trip back across the heads - it was blowing 30 Knots + and was rough as. There were 3 punters in one of those Orange hire boats (boabs?) who looked terrified! Once i was inside the protection of middle head i checked to see if they got across ok. Took them a while but they were safe.

With a pretty average forecast for the rest of the week(typical considering i have the week off!! ) i think i might of had the best of it.

No pictures i'm afraid but you've all seen Kings before!

Good luck if you;re heading out this week - maybe even PM me if you want some company.

Cheers

Jim

[lambo]

great report - well done. u did better than me the week b4 last, but i'm thinking of doing similar on thu/fri - weathher permitting

[Rednet]

ah good old boabs boat hire, great people, my first boating experience was with them. Which has lead me to buy my own boat.

Congrats on your nice day out. Good on you for looking out for other boaters.

[fishmaniac]

Hey mate,

Sounds like a good day. Your game going in this wind! They even called the sailing off at the masters games because of it.

Great news to hear some big schools at the heads and the kings coming in (they must have been on their way last weekend, hence their absence while jigging )

As mentioned by others, well done on looking out for those fellow boaters.

Andrew

[fishguts]

yeah well done!....i just hate that wind..with a gusto....

thanks for lookin out for fellow fishos...and boaties!

all the best!

..cheers! stevo!..

[humesy]

Good on you Jim,

Making the most of the holidays. Better than being back at work like me. Bring on December.

[mbolton@jsg.com.au]

Nice work considering mate.

Cheers, Mick.

[adjustedpete]

and I thought I was a keen fisho, I take my hat off to you sir. And you got a good feed too.

[framedtrash]

I would have kept going but as i was letting my bomb down i got hit by a bit of chop and accidently knocked the break on and my cable snapped! Along with my nice new pancake bomb GOONE! So that was that - although i was pretty happy with the session.

what downrigger are you using

are you using wire or braid for the cable

little scary having the cable snap on you

i always slowly lower my bombs i see some ppl just open the break fully up and just drop the bomb down

im always worried its going to rip off the downrigger so i always go slow

nice work on the kings hopefully i run into some more this weekend

Edited October 14, 2009 by Framedtrash

[jim77]

what downrigger are you using

are you using wire or braid for the cable

little scary having the cable snap on you

i always slowly lower my bombs i see some ppl just open the break fully up and just drop the bomb down

im always worried its going to rip off the downrigger so i always go slow

nice work on the kings hopefully i run into some more this weekend

Mate its a Scotty 1050 - cheap from the states when the $ was 1 to 1.

I was using wire cable which up until now has been fine. I lower my bomb slowly but On this occasion it snapped because i slipped off the handle and then hit the brake - so it was in free fall and then stopped suddenly. I guess there must have been a weak spot in the cable. I will persist but if it happens again i will switch to heavy braid.

If you're worried about it ripping the downrigger off your boat i suggest mounting as big a piece of wood as you can fit under your gunnel to act as a backing plate and spread the load - then you don't have to worry about it as much.