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Port Hacking


Yowie

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Headed out early this morning, dropped the boat in at my mother's place in Gunnamatta Bay, started the motor and the rain pissed down, stinging my face as I motored up to Lilli Pilli. Rained for a while.

Fished the deeper water with pillies at first light, not a tailor to be seen. Put the rod down for a couple of seconds and it took off, I grabbed it just before it disappeared over the side. It was a fat 73cm jewie, fought very hard for it's size. Plenty of reddies stealing the yellowtail strip baits, but managed 2 legals at 31 and 41cm. When the reddies disappeared, a crab grabbed one of the baits, 20cm wide on the body and over 700 grams.

Small tuna types, probably bonito, busting the surface but no hits on a lure.

Headed to Mainbar, pumped some nippers and pulled out 5 whiting to 32cm, then headed home.

Yowie.

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Yowie,

Great report and a great feed caught there. :thumbup: Worth the sore face eh?

I had the yellow sou-wester rain gear on, including the hat, but the big rain drops still managed to get in underneath. I was actually getting enough in my mouth to have a drink, and I was travelling at half my normal speed. That's the problem with an open tinny.

At least it was not a "wet arse and no fish" outing.

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Nice catch there yowie!

Did you berley up at all??

Just a couple of chopped up pillies. At times it brings around a lot of small reddies. Quite a few today were just under size. The jewie had a small whiting in it's stomach.

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Yowie,

Do you have a photo of the jewie to share mate?

No photo. I have a fairly new mobile phone, and the connectors are not compatible with my computer sockets, so I don't bother with photos because I cannot download anything. Not a big jewie at 3.6 kg, but bigger than some of the small ones scooting around lately, and the larger reddie was a bit under a kilo.

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I have fished Port Hacking for over 50 years, and it can be difficult at times, a good feed one day and not much the next.

Hey Yowie, any tips for where to fish in the deep water around Lilli Pilli?

I've often tried the deep water just off the baths (seems a popular spot) but never had much luck aside from little reds.

Gonna have another go there this week with some pilchards for something a little different!

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Hey Yowie, any tips for where to fish in the deep water around Lilli Pilli?

I've often tried the deep water just off the baths (seems a popular spot) but never had much luck aside from little reds.

Gonna have another go there this week with some pilchards for something a little different!

Also try squid and yellowtail strips. Anywhere from the baths up to Yowie Bay and Gymea Bay, also South West Arm. Fish the deeper water where it drops off the slope out from the bank to the flatter bottom sections. In saying that, at night time sometimes the jewies will be feeding on the surface like tailor, if there are bait fish cruising in the shallower water near the surface.

Edited by yowie
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Also try squid and yellowtail strips. Anywhere from the baths up to Yowie Bay and Gymea Bay, also South West Arm. Fish the deeper water where it drops off the slope out from the bank to the flatter bottom sections. In saying that, at night time sometimes the jewies will be feeding on the surface like tailor, if there are bait fish cruising in the shallower water near the surface.

Yowie, thanks for the tips!

Went out early today using pilchards, caught two striped tuna and some slimies off Lilli Pilli Baths.

Had a handline out too with just a big suicide hook and half a pilchard which hooked up with two nice yellowfin bream. Something big grabbed it twice and busted me off quickly as well, got the cuts in my finger to prove it. Might up the breaking strain next time.

Lots of yellowtail to be found right next to the blue MSB buoy in front of the baths - got some bait for next time.

Thanks again!

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Yowie, thanks for the tips!

Went out early today using pilchards, caught two striped tuna and some slimies off Lilli Pilli Baths.

Had a handline out too with just a big suicide hook and half a pilchard which hooked up with two nice yellowfin bream. Something big grabbed it twice and busted me off quickly as well, got the cuts in my finger to prove it. Might up the breaking strain next time.

Lots of yellowtail to be found right next to the blue MSB buoy in front of the baths - got some bait for next time.

Thanks again!

Are you sure they weren't bonito? It isnt unheard of from time to time but Striped tuna in the hacking would be awesome,

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Are you sure they weren't bonito? It isnt unheard of from time to time but Striped tuna in the hacking would be awesome,

I assumed that they were bonito, but the old man insisted they were striped tuna. We took it online, and, whaddya know, they were striped tuna.

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Any size to it?

I did not see the photo, but he said 26kg, so I said 'how big', and he again said 26kg. I cannot tell you any more than that. It sounds like a fishy story, but he said the fisherman is an honest bloke and he saw the fish in a photo.

When I was a kid, and I am talking about the 1960's, I saw a tuna jumping in the middle of Yowie Bay out from the public wharf, and it was a minimum of 4 foot long, probably closer to 5. Anything is possible, as in the 1920's and 30's, 20 pound snapper were being caught in Gymea Bay.

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I did not see the photo, but he said 26kg, so I said 'how big', and he again said 26kg. I cannot tell you any more than that. It sounds like a fishy story, but he said the fisherman is an honest bloke and he saw the fish in a photo.

When I was a kid, and I am talking about the 1960's, I saw a tuna jumping in the middle of Yowie Bay out from the public wharf, and it was a minimum of 4 foot long, probably closer to 5. Anything is possible, as in the 1920's and 30's, 20 pound snapper were being caught in Gymea Bay.

It is believable, around 10 years ago i saw a school of some sort of tuna darting past gunnamatta bay wharf, they werent too big around 5 kgs but it was the first time i had seen them there.

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Ive personally seen Yellowfin caught in Dolans bay and a few from South West arm, although about 15 years ago, the dolans bay one was about 8 kg, South West arm ones were around 25kg. People were actually targetting them in the arm.

The bloke in the bait shop said the fisherman who caught the one last summer was targeting them. An occasional one takes a light line, and it is all over in a few seconds, as the normal tackle is not built for that sort of fast fish, and the fisherman is left wondering "what the f#*k was that?"

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