Two Recent Trips

[james7]

A couple of reports.

Managed to get out twice over the last few weeks, once in my mate Syd’s boat, and once in mine.

Trip 1. As we usually do, we trolled around the bommie, then along the cliffs. Conditions were great.

We picked up a few different species, some bound for the smoker and some to be used for bait.

We then drifted for a few hours, getting a few flathead and a couple of flounder.

It was very pleasant until we started to lose rigs to either jackets or green toads! * !@!#*!@! Line snipping little bastards!

We fished for a few more hours, watched a magnificent sunset and managed to get back to the ramp just as the storm arrived.

Storm over Cronulla

Another great day on the water.

Syd with the obligatory “final catch table shot”.

Trip 2

Yesterday, we went out for a couple of hours in my boat. Once again the conditions were great. We fished all over Bate Bay for very little result.

Syd managed to catch his usual shark or ray. This time it was a little banjo.

It was pretty quiet until we both hooked up at the same time to a couple of tiny rat kings. The resulting tangle was fun to sort out!

We only managed a couple of keeper flathead between us – quite a slow day really, but I’m not going to complain about being out on the water on a beautiful day. Interestingly, twice we had small sharks follow up a hooked flathead. If only I had the camera ready!

When I was looking at some of the photos from both trips, I noticed something interesting about Syd. Can you spot any similarities or differences?

(I guess we’re all creatures of habit)

Cheers

Peter

Edited April 19, 2010 by peterS

[Basil D]

yeah they both not really smokers but suckers on the end of those buts

well done fellas, nice part of the world down there

[Hodgey]

When I was looking at some of the photos from both trips, I noticed something interesting about Syd. Can you spot any similarities or differences?

(I guess we’re all creatures of habit)

I reckon Syd's got one drawer for sox n jocks, one drawer for blue and white striped shirts and one drawer for black shorts!

A couple of good days on the water Peter. That photo of the wave is a cracker! I would love a dollar for every fish that has graced that table! Good to see you took your boat for a swim as well mate. Nice to see you back

Cheers

Skip

[cut_loose]

Well done mate, Thats a good catch

We went to the Hacking FAD today, But got no mahi mahi, We tired dropped down some baits and glups to the bottom ( 140 meters down, not easy wind up ! ) and got destroyed by leatherjackets Went in closer but got destroyed again !

What rigs are you running to get the flathead?

[james7]

Well done mate, Thats a good catch

We went to the Hacking FAD today, But got no mahi mahi, We tired dropped down some baits and glups to the bottom ( 140 meters down, not easy wind up ! ) and got destroyed by leatherjackets Went in closer but got destroyed again !

What rigs are you running to get the flathead?

G'day cut_loose

Shame about the lack of dollies out at the FAD. It's a long way to go for nothing.

And it's bad news that the jackets are back. We lost a few rigs last week too, but I don't know if they were jackets or green toads.

I use a basic paternoster rig for flatties. (usually 15-20lb mono) I prefer a two hook rig, while my mate Syd uses three hooks. (He always fancies his chance of a triple hook up )

Cheers

Peter

[arpie]

Well done, Peter!! Nice lot of fish there! A buddy gave me some filleted & skinned bonnies last week & I coated them in flour & froze the & they are actually lovely eating fish!!! Don't use too many for bait!!

Terrific pics, too, as per usual!

Roberta

[cut_loose]

G'day cut_loose

Shame about the lack of dollies out at the FAD. It's a long way to go for nothing.

And it's bad news that the jackets are back. We lost a few rigs last week too, but I don't know if they were jackets or green toads.

I use a basic paternoster rig for flatties. (usually 15-20lb mono) I prefer a two hook rig, while my mate Syd uses three hooks. (He always fancies his chance of a triple hook up )

Cheers

Peter

Thanks mate, Thats what i use now but for some reason can't get the results you do. Might need to run a longer trace and less lead

[james7]

Well done, Peter!! Nice lot of fish there! A buddy gave me some filleted & skinned bonnies last week & I coated them in flour & froze the & they are actually lovely eating fish!!! Don't use too many for bait!! Terrific pics, too, as per usual!

Roberta

Hi Roberta. Yes, I’ve discovered the good eating qualities of bonito this year. They are no longer salted and kept just for bait. Bonito fillets are great smoked or shallow fried in my home made “spicy salt and pepper” mixture.

Thanks mate, that’s what I use now, but for some reason can't get the results you do. Might need to run a longer trace and less lead.

“Cut_loose”, you only need enough lead to hold bottom. The lighter the sinker the better.

You could also try using different hooks. For example, my hook-up rate increased when I used two (small) ganged hooks on the bottom dropper. My mate Syd has had a lot of success using circle hooks. Last couple of trips he caught most of his flatties on the one circle hook he had on his rig. As for bait, flatties will eat just about anything. We’ve been using salted strips of fish (stripey, bonito, mac tuna) about 10-12cm long. Just put the hook through the bait once and always make sure the barb is exposed.

The last bit of advice I can think of is to make sure you note the depth when you catch a decent flattie. More often than not they seem to hang around the same depth.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Peter

Edited April 20, 2010 by peterS

[Ray R]

G'day Pete, mate another top report with great pics and info. Congrats to you and 'smokin' Syd..

[jewgaffer]

Good take home result Peter good to see that Syd's not smoking havana cigars these days

cheers

jewgaffer

By the way Pete....have a look at this particular paternosta..you and Syd might be interested in rigging up your paternosta supply this way instead of using a dropper loop... I use the same knot but with more unnecessary wraps it seems and it's interesting to see this knot tied by making a couple of loops in the line rather than tying it with a free end...I think a standard dropper might tend to cut back into mono because it forms a natural 90 degree loop whereas compared to a standard dropper you'll see how different this particular loop looks as soon as you tie it... I use the full loop and tie a palamar knot for the hook and have a couple of split green lumo beads hard up against the hook over the palamar wraps to hold the loop together better and then glue the slits back up and also glue the beads together... lumo beads primed under a torch will light up at night and having beads just above the hook also helps to protect the line from toothy fish.

Edited April 20, 2010 by jewgaffer

[cut_loose]

Thanks I'll give it a go this weekend

I rig mine up like normaly with 30lb mono and 2 long shanks with normally 4oz lead

I'll let you know how igo

Thanks again