Cold Morning On The Bay

[adkel53]

I headed out very early to Botany bay today with my regular fishing buddy and his brother for company. We deployed the witches hat nets, baiting them with some of the bonito that we caught on Monday at the heads, and headed off to one of our favourite lizards luring haunts. We were all cold from the trip across the bay on a cold but almost windless morning. Water temperature was around 17 degrees and low tide about 7.30, so hopes were high.

The first drift along a good drop off saw a dropped fish and no more action so we moved a couple of hundred metres to try along the weeds. Three fish, one each, came in one after another. Suddenly, we weren't cold anymore!! Things quietened down as the tide slowed but just as we were contemplating checking the crab nets two more nice duskies came on board.

The first lift of the nets saw us with three very nice blue swimmers (they grow big in Botany Bay). We spent some time over at the weedbeds (patches) out past Towra Pt without success (I am yet to land a decent lizard from there!) before collecting two more crabs from the nets and heading back to where we began. By now the tide was running in nicely and in the windless conditions we accounted for another nine lizards. Eventually the wind got up and we called it a day, collecting two more crabs to round off a cold but productive morning.

Of the 14 lizards that we landed the biggest was 57cm and several more were a little over 50. All but two of the rest were mid to high forties - great table fish. My new favourite lure - a Squidgy Pro fish in grasshopper colour - was the chief destroyer, with one taking an 80mm Black/Gold squidgy fish (old favourite lure!) and two falling to a 65mm neon "hot tail" Squidgy fish (hard to come by now but the lizards still like them!) All were taken on 1/4 oz jigheads in 1.5-2.5 metres of water.

All of the fish that we kept were males. There must be some bigger old girl crocs about somewhere soon!!

Tight lines

Kel

[paul.kenny]

Nice work Kel and great post. The fishing is starting to improve with the warmer water....I guess the water was probably warmer than you were after the trip across the Bay .