dinos22 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 (edited) Hey fellas Beware lots of text! hehehe Looks like winter is starting to slowly settle in and my fishing is about to wind down until summer (hate getting my ass frozen on the rocks hehe) I had an active season but very little decent fish to show for it until i travelled north with a top bunch of fishos from ALBAA. I was lucky to get my first blue (ever) on this particular trip. Luke and I came in late at night and found the boys having a few drinks. Had a chat with them and went to our cabin. Luke thought we should just go fishing and sleep next week lol so we set off around 3am. I've been to this ledge once last year as per my report here. To make matters worse it was dark both times as we slowly got our gear and headed off. I was hoping that it will be reasonably straight forward to find the ledge and it was (after a few detours hahah sorry luke). To make matters worse i forgot my head torch so i was using a hand light and carrying about 5 tonnes of gear with me too heh We got to the ledge and passed some weirdos burning branches, rubber and all sorts of crap stinking up the joint. Lucky we didnt fish right next to them as the place looked aweful. We found a spot for ourselves, took out the kiddie pool and got light headed from blowing it up as you can imagine Luke owns an Olympic sized pool of course so blowing it up and bucketing takes 5 years hahahah(note find a smaller kiddie pool for next season!) First light arrives and our kiddie pool is chock a block full in no time. We sent out our first livies about 6am. I decided to throw a lure a bit in case something was passing by. It would have been hillarious getting smashed by a big fish as i was fishing light (Shimano Symmetre 4000FJ with 15lb Suffix braid and 8-10kg 7" Penn) but nothing other than a few toothy bonnies so i went to get my live baiting rig setup. I bought a new rod on advice from some members here > Pflueger Condender Pro 15-24kg and paired it up with my trusty old Penn Senator 6/0 left hander with a top shot of 60LB mono straight to the hook with about 6kg drag. I fished about 5-6m depth with the yakka. Anyways so the first 20 minutes passes and it was all quiet. I spotted that near the end of my top shot of 60Lb mono i had a some kind of a kink or knot in the line and started sending out more and more line. Noticed the current was playing ball too so the fish was heading straight out. Anyways i was thinking (stupidly enough) to cut the line, get rid of the kink and retie the line to heavy mono when i get a MONSTER hit. My glance moves from the overhead towards the balloon and it's pretty clear at this stage i have something big on there. I didn't hesitate and nailed the fish hard twice with big strikes. I'm on w00t. At this point I am on my own at this small little area of the ledge so I turn around to get Luke to prep the gaff but I think he was thinking I'm on anther of our million bonnies lol. When i started loading up with this new rod it was pretty obvious it's no bonnie at this end of this line! I was pretty impressed with this rod compared to my 5'6 15-24kg stroker i used before......great rod and it only cost $50 from Mo's thanks Pete for picking it up. The fight! wow I know it's silly to say this but I never got excited THIS much getting a fish on the boat and I've caught some great fish on boats in Australia and overseas. This was different as the chances of hookups are so much more slim not to mention the extra difficulties involved in fighting the fish and landing it on the rocks. I'm still learning about LBG even though I've had a few seasons of practice now. Some of the rules went out the window for me. I didn't let the fish run. I had a reasonably high drag and put pressure on it right away so it started arcing. The issue with arcing was that it was going towards reefy areas and also towards a few points i didn't want to fish to pass as it would mean I'd have to start running over super slipper rocks so I put more pressure instead of freespooling when it went towards "red zones". The second issue i had was SHARKS. I kept replaying Kurt saying last night "sooooo many blues got sharked" that i didn't really want to give the fish much room. This could have ended in a pulled hook or line getting busted off but I decided to fight it that way. ....and then i saw the tail in the water and my eyes went :shock:. Luke came around with the new gaff he bought and we were ready to bring the fish in. We looked at each other stoked to finally see some reward for the effort put in so it was game on now. The spot was pretty high so i decided to let Luke stand there and walked around to try and get me some room to be able to get a wave to wash it up on a small patch of rocks and when it did Luke stuck that gaff in like a pro. The fish was still pretty green so that was good work for sure. I didn't really care if I dropped the fish on gaffing to be honest and even if he did miss it and get the line I honestly wouldn't have cared if we didn't land it but it was nice to have a memory. Well that was something else. I was pretty happy with this and it was congratulations all round. I decided not to send out any more livies and told luke to go to the spot i was at as the livie would go straight out, perfect location but unfortunately no hookups came. It was afternoon again when a few more fisho's came around including the legend himself Mr.Pop . Luke wasn't having much luck so i thought I would send another livie and increase the chance of hookups and pass the rod to him if something came on my rod. Well, it did! hahaha.......crazy. We struggled to send the yakkas out but i managed to get one decent drift and the balloon went off like a fire cracker. I hit the second fish hard and put a bit more drag. This was was pulling line harder than first fish. I yelled out to Luke to come over and take the rod and fight it .......he showed up and as I was just barely hanging on this beast the line goes slack........far out .....few guys saying it was a shark, line was prolly cut etc so as i was pulling in the hook came back to.............i pulled the hook on whatever it was! That was it for Saturday. Sunday we came in a bit later and just as we arrive a school of LTs swam past our ledge supersonic speed and all and these big barrels of tuna were flying out of water......wow what a sight. Wish i had a spinning rod handy. The weather changed at the end of the day and we packed up and drove back to Sydney as there wasnt much point hanging around tomorrow. We had a great night on Saturday night meeting the ALBAA boys. It was great to meet all of you guys and I hope I see you again some time. It was a very enjoyable few days and I had some great laughs as well, particularly with Brian (beachmaster). All of the blokes were fantastic! It's great to finally put a name to a face to a few ppl at least One thing to note for this season for me was the amounts of bonnies i spun up. Surely i cracked a million mark i think hahahah. They was some sort of bonnie plague this season and I'm not complaining as they kept us entertained on spin and livies heheh. Seeing 5 marlin swim past a ledge this one day this season on a ledge that isn't JB was incredible and I will treasure and talk about that day for a long while. Unfortunately no one hooked up but it was something else seeing these beaks slowly cruising past our ledge 100m out..........very memorable........ I look forward to hitting the rocks next season with Luke (Alf Stewart) and hopefully get that illusive 10kg+ king and some other fish i have in mind. We'll have to start fishing with Jack and Adam............oh maaaaaaaan hahahaha Edited May 21, 2010 by dinos22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
searunner525 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Nice fish from the stones mate well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Dinos22 - what a great report and congratulations regarding your first LBG Blue . I have only fished the rocks a couple of times, but can appreciate the difficulty of winning the fight against a blue of that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeeros Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Dinos22 - what a great report and congratulations regarding your first LBG Blue . I have only fished the rocks a couple of times, but can appreciate the difficulty of winning the fight against a blue of that size. Nice one Dinoz! It was good to see you catch a Tuna on our weekend away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinos22 Posted May 21, 2010 Author Share Posted May 21, 2010 thanks fellas Nice one Dinoz! It was good to see you catch a Tuna on our weekend away. it was great to finally meet some of you blokes . Can't wait to get into the lamb again on the next trip hahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeeros Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 thanks fellasit was great to finally meet some of you blokes . Can't wait to get into the lamb again on the next trip hahah By the way you and Luke going to head south and chase some of those YFT's this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercer007 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Very impressive catch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinos22 Posted May 21, 2010 Author Share Posted May 21, 2010 ....YFT...yeah i would love to but i hate winter fishing/freezing heheh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alvillanova Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 loved ur report mate, just wondering where did u purchase that digital scale as i after one.........what was the cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinos22 Posted May 21, 2010 Author Share Posted May 21, 2010 hey mate i bought it on online shop cheap as chips and is extremely accurate even down to 40grams...i can weigh my heavier lures on it and big suitcases too i use it to set drag as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Hi Dinos, very impressive mate Cograts, which ares was that, not asking for the spot just the area. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czy0058 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 well done. Congratulations! You are the first blue fin report of LB I have seen. :thumbup: :thumbup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 top fish mate congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prawn* Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 very impressive im yet to catch my first yellowfin cant wait!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogtooth Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Top report , Nice Nortern bluefin off the rocks .... , What area up the coast were you fishing ? Cheers Dogtooth........ John...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captin Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Great report. Gotta be happy with that off the rocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahajo Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Id be pleased if i caught that off a boat, but off the rocks its twice as good Nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taloyoak Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 (edited) ....YFT...yeah i would love to but i hate winter fishing/freezing heheh LOL.... I hate winter in Australia too! P.S - Unbelievable catch - that will definitely be enlarged and framed photo in the lounge room. WELL DONE MATE! Edited May 21, 2010 by Nanook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 LOL.... I hate winter in Australia too! P.S - Unbelievable catch - that will definitely be enlarged and framed photo in the lounge room. WELL DONE MATE! were spoiled with good weather and we never stop winging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Fantastic fish buddy and a top report too, that would've been a real arm stretcher.. Good onya.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinos22 Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 this was a few hours drive north of sydney. you have to really pick the right time to go when the LT is making a run south so location is not really as important as the timing really................ LOL.... I hate winter in Australia too! P.S - Unbelievable catch - that will definitely be enlarged and framed photo in the lounge room. WELL DONE MATE! i would love to do that one day i wonder if he has a shot gun next to him though with all those bears around hahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinner Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 nice catch!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssymmetri Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 (edited) AWESOME! i'm inspired! =] how was the eatin? did it become sashimi? Edited May 22, 2010 by ssymmetri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taloyoak Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 this was a few hours drive north of sydney. you have to really pick the right time to go when the LT is making a run south so location is not really as important as the timing really................ i would love to do that one day i wonder if he has a shot gun next to him though with all those bears around hahahaha ...LOL - yes have one, but unless you use slugs at a range of less than 50 yards, forget dropping a Polar or Barren Ground Grizzly. I have a few rifles, HS Precision (300 win mag), Rem 700 - (25-06 rem), Ruger 10/22 ( .17HMR) for rabbits and geese and ptarmigan, and a Lee Enfield No4 Mk 2 ( .303 british). of these, only the 300 win mag will drop a bear with certainty. IMHO the best caliber for bears is the old lever action "cowboy" style rifle in 45/70 Govt caliber which is a massive round, and more than 100 yards is crap, but under that will drop any bear at close range. Going anywhere up there in Summer or winter without a rifle is a poor decision. Just matter of fact. I guess in Sydney it is like going anywhere with an iphone!!! ....LOL!. Luckily I have never had any bears come too close. I've seen plenty of bears, but no run ins. In my entire time living up North I have only heard of 2 cases of bear attacks, and one was a lady in Tuktoyaktuk that I treated. She was out berry picking in summer with her husband and dog, to a well known place maybe 40 mins by boat from the community, and a big bear ( Barren Ground), charged her 3 times, each time knocking her over, bit her, and she fought it off with a can of Sprite! - seriously. She suffered some nasty puncture wounds to her shoulder, arm and hand, and some lacerations, but was otherwise was let off lightly. We medivaced he to Yellowknife ( nearest Hospital ). The other case, one was a pair of tourists from Finland, kayaking on Baffin Island near the community of Kimmirut and they were in their tent, and a large Polar came into the tent and attacked the guy, he fought it off with a leatherman knife, and suffered some nasty injuries. Polar bears are most dangerous in summer when they sometimes get trapped on the land because the permanent ice pack retreats too far North, so they have to spend the summer/fall waiting for the ocean to freeze again, as they hunt seals on the flow edge ( flow edge is where the currents are too strong to have ice freeze over, so they have easier access to seals. Summer they eat whatever - and sometimes come into the community to eat garbage etc. Barren Ground are more common and anywhere where you have berries, the will usually be, but you can see their pad marks, and poo etc so you normally are ok, and because the Tundra is so devoid of any trees, you usually can spot them far away. The biggest nuisance are the black bears - they are far more common in the lower arctic, close to the limit of the tree line, and are more aggressive. There concludes my installement....lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinos22 Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 (edited) wow mate that is wild impressive and scary at the same time hehehe sashimi and steaks mate top stuff Edited May 22, 2010 by dinos22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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