Botany Bay

[Keflapod]

I had owed Chris (Pongrass 18ft) a fishing trip in my boat since July.

I had to take him for a run in my neck of the woods to see if I can bore him to death with my meaningless conversation.

The deal was that he meets me at my place at 6:00am.

I poked my head out my bedroom window at 5:30 to see the weather.

This technique is more accurate than the latest satellite imagery and predictions.

Chris was parked outside already, staking out my house !

I half expected Detective Chris to be drinking coffee and eating doughnuts like the yankee cops do in their flicks.

I ignored this and went about sorting my routine without waking the wife and kids.

At 6:00am, I towed the boat to the front of the house and greeted Chris.

It has been a long time since I had seen such enthusiasm in someone to go fishing.

Good on him – I wish I had that.

He was so keen he left his lunch in the car.

I was so keen I didn't forget a damn thing.

We towed the boat the obligatory 300m to the boat ramp, where we were greeted by a lovely asian girl who was doing her early morning exercises with her parents.

She took one look at Chris Clooney and immediately descended upon us (upon Chris).

She had all manner of questions to ask of him with fluttering eyelids…

She asked a question about MY boat and waited for Chris to answer – she was lost in his deep blue eyes.

I might have to start wearing coloured contact lenses so I can compete.

It just means I won't be able to tie hooks or bait hooks properly but I WILL have a better chance next time…

Chris had his first capture for the day, the heart of a woman, and we hadn't even left the ramp….

She bade us (Chris) farewell and wished us LOTS of luck.

I suggested to Chris that maybe she liked his fishing gear but Chris, like a true gentleman (ie afraid of what his wife might say) said that the girl was all eyes for me….Yes Chris but the rest of her was for him !

Fast forward to the first spot in ankle deep water (virtually) and we had the spot to ourselves. With the prop digging up sand we cast out with baited breath – well, baited hooks actually.

After I landed my 8^th whiting, Chris started to think that I had made some secret pact with the whiting gods.

What started out as "Good one Tony – that's a nice fish" – after 8 fish, became "You're on AGAIN ! – What the far Kurnell am I doing wrong ?"

I told him that he was wearing his shoes back-to-front. I nearly got him to switch shoes on feet….

Then I said that it was that interaction with a woman just before he stepped onto the boat that gave him the bad ju-ju.

He swore he would NEVER talk to ANYONE before getting onto a boat…just in case..

I had a banana in my lunchbox the whole time – if only he knew….

The tide was falling. I realized that at this rate, the outboard leg was going to sink into the sand up to the powerhead so we changed spot into vastly deeper water of 1.5m.

There Chris felt renewed that this time he would exact revenge. What he didn't realize is that his luck wasn't gonna change. His shoes were still on the same feet.

The fish came thick'n'fast for me but Chris must have been thinking about Lucy Liu that he met this morning…

I decided that I would nag him to make some changes to his gear as he was starting to accuse his rods of being lazy.

I inflicted some secret knowledge upon him in the hope he would catch something….anything….

As soon as he took some info on board, he began to catch some quality fish, including the biggest bream for the day (33cm) and a couple of nice trevally, with a nice elbow slapper or two thrown in.

From that point he began to catch some fish to redeem himself and ended up having a good day.

I should have looked at his shoes to see if he really did swap them around…

After about 16 whiting from me, I latched onto a better class of fish. The fish gave me a good fight.

The bronzed silver flanks of a big whiting glided into view as Chris rolled his eyes and finally grabbed the landing net…

As Chris reached out with enormous enthusiasm to net yet another of my fish, the hook flew out of the fishes mouth and the trace wrapped itself around my radio aerials on the roof !

I was dumbfounded. Never in my 7000 whiting has this happened before.

I had to micro-analyse the sequence of events. The hook must have been blunt and it didn't get in (like the liquid into Mrs Marsh's chalk).

Upon closer inspection, the hook looked weird. It was one of Chris's hooks that he secretly tied onto my line when I wasn't looking !

Well rod-grabbing was the issue last time with Chris – but he has stooped as low as sabotaging my gear !

That hook was far too technologically advanced to actually catch fish. That fang-dangled chronically sharpened hook that they paint with red fluorocarbonic polymer paint to make it look invisible underwater just didn't work. That hook was worth more than 10c which makes it useless as an effective fishing hook. I took that hook off the line faster than you could say rodgrabbing saboteur.

Chris insisted that I was fuming about it but I didn't really care – we had enough fish on board ( I was fuming about Lucy Liu though!).

Actually, not really – no fuming involved. It was a nice day… we had fun, caught fish, disagreed on everything and still had a laugh at eachothers gear…

After lunch (my lunch, Chris forgot his and wouldn't eat any of my obviously poisoned sandwiches), the clouds overhead began to get dark, the wind kicked in over 12 knots and the ocean chat on the VHF fell silent.

The drizzle blurred the windscreen as the last bait was being cut up for the day.

We both knew that in 15 minutes, the anchor would come up and what was in the box would be the catch for the day.

That barometer must have bottomed out because the bite died there and then.

With an enormous sense of satisfaction, I upped the anchor and turned that key.

The bow was pointed for home as she slid onto the plane.

It was a beautiful day, plenty of fish, good company and smiles all round.

Chris – you're welcome on my boat anytime, even if you change my hooks on me.

Details left out:

We caught about 20 sting rays and several banjo sharks. All released.

We saw perhaps 3 boats all day a very rare event. This was a key contributing factor to the catch methinks…

Edited September 24, 2011 by Keflapod

[Yaulpang]

Well done Tony and Chris,

Great report, great feed, im greatly jealous.

Thanks for posting, very enjoyable read.

Paul

[cheap charlie]

Great reading...

[Rush]

A very pleasant read

[Izza]

great report but in future if you could include photos of said babe it would be much appreciated

[gonfishing]

Great read Tony.

Well done on the catch.

Cris, are you learning? Sorry, I meant learn how not to break a rod. Hahahaha

[chewie]

well done!

what did the damage? nippers?

[dhype]

Wow Tony that is a massive catch you have there, well done.

Great read by the way!

I too was in the bay on Saturday and wasnt it acold a horrible day waether wise...only managed 6 squid ( biggest going 2kg) and only half dozen flatties on the lures..

Might have to go back to the pink nipper for a feed!!!

Enjoy your feast, whiting fillets are the best tasting fish in my opinion.

Cheers

Trung

[cjchen]

ah

master of whiting and bream.

how come the trevs don't latch on for you?

only the good stuff? hehe

I know im lure fishing on my yak but........ the ratio is completely off!

even when I bait fish I get more trevs than bream!

[Brooker435]

What a bag!!!! and what a read, looks like you both had a great day right from the beginning,

Just hope your wife's don't read your posts

Regards,

Nathan

[bluebottle18]

Great catch and plenty of fun to keep you busy.

What boat ramp was it. Just in case I need a decky at the last minute.

[Csaba]

Sounds like a top day out. I also have some requests:

1) Picture of Lucy

2) What time is dinner?

[jenno64]

Great post and some fabulous fish there....it's a;most a screenplay for a comedy!

[Pongrass18ft]

Thanks Tony for the offer to go out fishing. Had a great day.

Thanks to everyone for all your nice comments.

I must say I haven't targeted Whiting in all my time fishing as a target species and I think it is a very addictive fish once you know how to catch them properly. I've heard people say "yea, I can catch Whiting" but I have to say it is definately an art to go out and catch quality in numbers without going overboard on buying too much bait, as I usually come home, like most people, with heaps of bait left over.

I had to laugh how I was striking the fish and all Tony kept saying to me was "let it be, let it take the bait down" and me being pig-headed was trying to set the hook while they were biting the bait......Lesson 1 learnt on Whiting fishing.

As for rod selection, you definately don't need finesse when it comes to Whiting fishing. My

1-3kg rods are out the window, I'll be using a little bit stiffer rods next time......Lesson 2 learnt.

Trace I was using 14lb....way too heavy for the Whiting. Hooks you need to make sure you cover properly with the bait, not like I was doing, having the hook exposed. Couldn't believe what difference that makes on the Whiting until I started following Tony's set-up.

As for the hook I tied on your rod Tony, it was tied on well wasn't it? You have to admit, I slowed you down for a bit until you figured it out I even tried to make my quantity bigger by pinching your fish while you were at the front of the boat and coming round to you saying "hey I caught another one" . I think you must have marked your fish because you knew straight away that it was one of your friends and not mine

Totally enjoyed my Whiting fishing session. Tony....keep that seat warm for the next trip. It's nice to understand how to fish for them properly now. Can you please remind me though, before we set out on our fishing trip, to bring my lunch, as I'm a fishaholic and comes before my lunch most times, as you've noticed.

Chris

[Basil D]

well done guys and as far as Botany goes, not many people know the system better than Tony.

if you start to fish light your way chris you will catch more fish, trust Tony on this.

And as far as fishing goes Im ready when you are Chris, Im feeling a tonne better but please Day time atm moment, cant stand the cold

[kadavu]

Very fun read

[PRED-ATOR]

Great post and sounds like a great day out guys.

Although i was expecting a pic of the lucy lui bird

[Keflapod]

It seems some people are more interested in Lucy than in the fish.

While I'm definately in that category, can you imagine how badly that trip would have gone if my every response to Chris's questions was nothing more than salivary babble ?

I would have cast my lines out unbaited and driven in circles...

Chris would have suspected that I was not the full quid.

I had to keep my mind on the job....

It's not that I know the system any better than most people.

The spots I fish are no secret.

Many boats fish there and drive over these spots all the time.

The time of day also has very little effect.

Tide and water temp / quality determines whether or not they are there.

The difference is in the technique.

I have spelt out some of these little hints in a few of my posts in the past.

These techniques are used year-round.

Do you believe that I saw sand whiting fillets at the fishmarkets a couple of weeks ago for $44 per kilo ?

They must be kidding....

Tony

[eastwood1980]

Create report and a great catch! Well done mate

[Keflapod]

Wow Tony that is a massive catch you have there, well done.

Great read by the way!

I too was in the bay on Saturday and wasnt it acold a horrible day waether wise...only managed 6 squid ( biggest going 2kg) and only half dozen flatties on the lures..

Might have to go back to the pink nipper for a feed!!!

Enjoy your feast, whiting fillets are the best tasting fish in my opinion.

Cheers

Trung

Hey Trung,

You got a 2kg squid ?

That thing would cost like $45 at the fish markets.

Do you have a photo ?

Maybe there should be a new COTM category for cephalopods on FR.

Half a dozen flatties on lures in winter is a pretty neat effort as well...

Tony