Central Coast Fishing Holiday

[camotec]

Hey Guys,

Well I got back from my week away at the central coast and all I can say is that I will be heading up again for some long weekends soon.

Ok so when I arrived to Avoca things looked terrible. it was raining etc. and the forecast was not looking good for the week. but Things changed and I had an absolute blast!

LEts just say I was really trying to catch up with Ray R and sent him about 3000 SMS's and then I worked out it would be quicker to call him. he was really busy with his business all during the week and we could not meet. but we will the next time I am up as even though he could not come fishing he still gave me plenty of advice and shared a couple of stories. Anyways here is the rundown of my holiday with pics.

Sunday 28th Feb: Fished down at the estuary at Avoca and caught bait fish and that was it... really looked terrible (my fishing technique), I had no idea what I was doing.

Monday 1st March (Morning): Went down to the beach and showed my son what sand was, the fearless 2 year old ran for the water and got broadsided by a wave just as I caught him, He loved it!

Monday 1st March (Arvo): Ok decided to go throw some plastics off a small jetty at Pretty Beach (Which I later worked out was Hardy bay as I didn't listen to the GPS and just saw water and ran) I fished with Gulp and got a landed 2 leatherjackets which kept smashing the Nuclear Chicken Shrimp Gulp! I was using both went back as it started to rain.

Tuesday 2nd March (Arvo): Went back to Hardy bay to the same little Jetty and a local guy who lived opposite the jetty was also having a fish. I said g'day and we got talking, he was using live bait and not having much luck and I was using Softies (I switched from Gulps thanks to the tacklo guy because they were well aware of the leatherjackets love for the gulps and told me I would have more luck with flatties on these softies which are a little more leathery than the gulp so dont get chomped so much by the LJs). Anyways I told the guy I was new to fishing and that I wouldn't pose a threat to his fishing. I hooked a just under legal bream which the guy was very helpful in releasing and then about 10 mins later I got a flattie but not in the conventional way as I had lasoo'd the flattie and landed it lol the hook hitched on on the leader around the belly of the flattie and just wouldn't come off past the fat head lol. was awesome and we both had a laugh about it. The guy said he was glad we weren't in a comp otherwise I would have won, I just swatted the comment away with a mention of beginners luck and we got back to it (Was definetly nice to hear though). I then caught a crazy looking orange fish next, which the guy said were not good eating and I could not find it on any chart, we threw it back too. We both left and he made sure he got the type and size of softie I was using hehe.

Wednesday 3rd March (Morning): Went for a fish on the beach in the early morning, forgot the beach rod holder and after arsing about with a pilchard I snapped the line on the 2nd cast, threw the whole lot in the car and went home. The highlight of this morning fishing session turned out not to be the fishing but the beautiful sunrays through the cloud (dont get this sort if thing in Bathurst).

Wednesday 3rd March (Midday): Went to lunch at The Cowrie and had a meeting with a Performance Brake Pad company I did some work for and after a fantastic lunch, the guys said they were going out fishing in open water tomorrow and asked if I wanted to come along. HELL YES!!

Thursday 4th March (Early Morning): Swell was high and I was feeding the fish the macca's I had the night before lol. after a couple of showers the sea sickness and swell went away and we could get into fishing. Bryce was into something big straight away and was hoping it was a big snapper and after about 5-10mins of winding he found he had gotten a shark. It was carefully unhooked and set free. After that I wound in a coral trout on another guys (Andrew) rod as he was slow to get up because he had a knee hinge/brace thing on lol (sorry man, but I have it now). The next thing I know is Andrew is now sitting 1 foot from his rod with a firm hold on it ready to pounce, incase another fish jumps on, and who could blame him, this stuff is addictive. He then landed a snapper shortly after and Bryce then caught a Mulloway which put up a decent fight before surrendering. Right So it was my turn.. BAM this thing was heavy and we got it up and it was a Jewie and I was proud as it was a decent size fish about 60-70cm but after being told they were bad eating I threw it back.... WHAT?!? I hear you say!, and now if I had spoken to Ray R before this outing I would have kept the fish, but let me say I will definetley be up on all the fish types and eatability for my next trip out.

I then caught a couple of decent size bonnies which I would be having for dinner, and something to show my wife this whole fishing interest I now have is yeilding some results. (plus I had already read about bonnies being good eating on these forums). Anyways Andrew caught a finny looking orange fish that looked like it came from way down and apparently it is good eating so they kept it not finding it on any charts.

By this time I was starting to get sick again and the swell was building again so we decided to head back in around 11:30am. I learnt how to gut a fish which was n real hands on lesson. but it was a good feeling to know I would be putting it on the table tonight. I showed my wife and we came up with a Garlic Chilli & Oregano Bonito fillet on a bed of mash and even made it look all nice for the fellow fishraiders to look at. Les (my Wife) had watched a cooking show a couple of weeks ago about pulling bones from the fish with tweezers and was in there with her plucking tweezers to get all the bones out without loosing any meat. anyways pics of it below.

Friday 5th March: I had 2 hours before I had to take the wife to lunch with a friend of hers so I thought I would get some fishing in at Hardy Bay again but this time from a jetty on the other side of the bay. I threw in the plastics and bam got a small flattie. about 15mins later I hooked another but it dropped off the hook just as it surfaced but not very big anyways. about 30mins past and I was enjoying the quiet morning and cool breeze I was starting to retrieve and got a really strong pull, BAM hooked something worthwhile, I pulled it up and it was another flattie, this time I was cheering as it was a monster (well my biggest flattie anyways) Approx 44cm. I was so happy. I decided to throw it back as I did not have the luxury of cooking dinner that night and we were leaving the next day so I thanked it for going along for the ride put it back. CHOOOOOO!! off it went.

I went home beaming knowing I learnt so much in such a small amount of time and I think next time out I will be a better fisherman.

[Bruce the Postie]

Good onya Bez,

Sounds like you had a real blast,just be careful mate this fishing caper can become a habit that is hard to break.

Cheers,

Bruce

[Victor78]

Well done Bez it sounds like you had a great holiday and got some nice fish too

[camotec]

Thanks for the comments guys, It was fantastic fun, not to mention the satisfaction of landing a fish and cooking it and it tasting good. I think the best part was to be able to play around with various retrieves and to see what worked for the area.

Cheers

Ben

[mrsswordfisherman]

Well done Bez that is an excellent report and well set out.

You are learning all the tricks and ended up with a nice bag of fish there. Keep the reports coming

mrsswordie

[Basil D]

Good report mate, Nothing like a fish and a holliday

[Ray R]

G'day Ben, mate sorry we couldn't wet a line together, glad you found a spot out of the wind and score yourself a few fish.

Next time buddy we'll get together for a beach or rock fish, Avoca is a nice spot..

Edited March 7, 2010 by Ray R

[cut_loose]

well done mate nice way to spend a few days

the more you fish the more you learn ! what lb line are you using for your softies mate ?

[FISHARK]

Good report Bez and well done with the catch

[Mercer007]

goodonyamate. soundslikeyouhadablast. makesureyoucatchupwithRayRnexttime. he'llputyouontoafew. hedefinatelyscoredmeafewbeautiesonhisadvice.

[camotec]

goodonyamate. soundslikeyouhadablast. makesureyoucatchupwithRayRnexttime. he'llputyouontoafew. hedefinatelyscoredmeafewbeautiesonhisadvice.

That is the best 5 word response I have ever had. hehe I will definetly catch up with Ray next time.

[Daniel Frost]

Time to cut your credit card up now , before you go to the tackle shop ,or start looking for a spot to hide the gear from the this can get reel expensive , but it's a lotta fun and buy the time your young fella is old enough you will have enough knowledge to show him how to fish and that will be priceless.

Good luck with your next trip ,

Bubba