bobbybaccala Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Hey all,My first ever report! The amount of joy I get from reading other people's reports and seeing the photos, compels me to contribute my own. I actually never heard of blackfish/luderick, pigs etc before fishraider, but everything about it sounded interesting. Almost like meditation, putting together a bizarre rig, going to source fresh cabbage and weed, waking up early in the morning, watching and watching the float, anticipating the down and reacting. Anyway I tried it a few times in the last month, only once was really serious, about 5 hours for just one drummer. It was a bad day with no swell at all on the rocks, and I was exhausted, but to actually validate the concept of catching a fish with weed, kept the fire burning.So about a week later I got a fresh batch of cabbage and string weed, headed down to the local wharf just before sunrise, and started to burley up with a mixture of chopped cabbage and wet sand. The cabbage I was using wasn't very long, so I preferred to use it for the burley, and the string weed for my hooks. About half an hour after sunrise I started seeing flashes deep in the water where I was burleying. At first actually it didn't dawn on me these were probably the fish I was looking for... until my float went under! Lift of the rod and bang, I am on, my first luderick hooked. Getting it to the surface I then realised my short net was not long enough (almost low tide) and this fish was fighting like crazy. In the struggle (read panic!) to work out what to do, the fish spat the hook. But that didn't matter! A few seconds later my rod was out again and the float already under... I lift the rod and I am! This one was massive... by this stage I had realised the net wasn't going to work so I had decided to try lifting the fish up onto the wharf in one motion. However... this fish was significantly bigger and I guess I doubted the strength of the tiny looking 10lb leader and the tiny hook. I got the fish to the surface and tried to guide it over to the steps where I could land the fish. Again the fish spat the hook A few moments later the rod was out again, with fresh weed, and this time I didn't care what size the fish was, I was pulling it up onto the wharf regardless! Float down, rod raised, and a few minutes later my first luderick was landed! What a great feeling!! The countless hours researching, watching videos, reading, buying rods, reels, floats, swivels, different lines, all sorts of hooks etc, all paid off when everything goes to plan.In the next 30 minutes I pull out another 8 fish, all pretty decent size. The two other guys fishing at the wharf didn't have a clue what to say! I think I could have pulled out another 30 fish if I didn't have to go to work. This was by far the most rewarding and successful fishing moment of my life, it showed me hard work does pay. 9 luderick in total, biggest going 34.5cm, then rush to my desk before 9am! Next time I'll try bring the gf along. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toboggi Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Great catch mate! I am sure you will remember it for a long time. I still remember clearly my first prolific luderick session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witha Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Awesome first report mate! And that's a cracking haul of fish! Very well done you should be stoked the hard work definitely paid dividends! Keep it up Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poohbear Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Excellent report and haul mate Once you go black(fish) you never go back. Poohbear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish-On Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Great report buddy & what a cracking haul. Sometime is can be a bit of time and water between fish, but it's moment like you had that makes it all worth it!! Bet you had a cracking smile all day...even if you did have to go to work! Keep it coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Great first post Joel. It definately pays to target one species of fish and await the rewards. As you said, you did all the research and it's paid off. Well done mate Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Howes Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Welcome to the club, the thump, thump of a big darky, the adrenaline rises as the leader gets lighter. Blackfishing is a bit hit and miss but the wait is worth it. Great report as I could feel your enthusiasm. Take note of what part of the tide they bite , the height of the tide, and movement of water from high tide to low. Sometimes the run is so fast the fish need a push bike to catch the bait. This is usually the miss times. I usually excel on tides around 0.8m fall. The short handle net can be easily rectified by extending net handle with a broom stick and a roll of PVC tape. Howsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Stalker Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 That was a great read, it had it all... The education, anticipation, effort, tragedy and eventually triumph. You did very well on that bag that is for sure. I have to add also that 10lb line is pretty capable of lifting luderick and drummer up from the surface, I haven't personally heard of one over 5 kegs. It is more the rod that you should be concerned about and not high sticking it and snapping your tip off. Well done Joel and once again welcome. I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot more from you . Luc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishingGuy Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Great haul of fish there mate!! Cheers, FishingGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUT Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Brilliant - as a long serving member of the 'club' I also could feel the passion and joy of your morning blackfishing session. (Wish I was there !!) I echo the comments from the members, you have persisted and now you have been rewarded. You will no doubt refine your methods and your gear as you get wiser and more experienced. Take note of what 'Howsy' said about remembering the tides etc. Finally - tell me how was your focus at work for the rest of the day ?? Contact me - I would like to give you some hand made floats that may come in handy for you in the future. Cheers RUT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adkel53 Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Great post. To save carrying a long net, you could just take a broom stick along as Howsy mentioned and some cable ties to make a temporary attachment when you arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Mate, welcome to the club. There are some top blackfish fishos here with many years experience. Having the right advice can put you years ahead of the game. So let me see if I got this right. You got up early on a weekday and got gear and bait organised. You went to your spot, burlied and fished hard. You caught a pile of fish that you bled, cleaned and took home to put in the fridge. You would have needed to take a shower after taht effort and get to work.... ...all before 9:00am.... You would have been just a blur..... Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reubs Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 thats an awesome effort mate. Congrats on the fish and hatching a plan that seemed to work nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbybaccala Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Thanks for the words everyone!! Can't wait to get back out there! Tony - I collected the weed the night before, chopped the cabbage, rigged my rod all ready to go. Arrived just before first light, fish starting biting around 7-715... bled and packed up and in the car by 8. Quick shower then off to work. It's easier to manage the cleaning etc fishing with weed off a wharf, rather than fishing off rocks with spray, using squid/pilchards/worms as bait. Much less to clean! Filleted all the fish that night (took me longer to fillet and clean them, than catch them!)RUT - thanks for your kind words! I'll get in touch to take you up on your float offer Luc - I agree a 10lb leader is more than strong enough, and when I realised this I started to lift the fish onto the wharf. But I've got three leaders; a 10lb, 20lb and 40lb... and the 10lb just looks so thin! Howsy - I did keep note of the tide, it was more or less exactly around low tide. BUT (and I am a little confused here), low tide doesn't mean slack tide, correct? So it can be low tide but the water can still be flowing?Keep the reports flowing everyone! They are great to read Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hawkesbass Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Thanks for the words everyone!! Can't wait to get back out there!Tony - I collected the weed the night before, chopped the cabbage, rigged my rod all ready to go. Arrived just before first light, fish starting biting around 7-715... bled and packed up and in the car by 8. Quick shower then off to work. It's easier to manage the cleaning etc fishing with weed off a wharf, rather than fishing off rocks with spray, using squid/pilchards/worms as bait. Much less to clean! Filleted all the fish that night (took me longer to fillet and clean them, than catch them!) RUT - thanks for your kind words! I'll get in touch to take you up on your float offer Luc - I agree a 10lb leader is more than strong enough, and when I realised this I started to lift the fish onto the wharf. But I've got three leaders; a 10lb, 20lb and 40lb... and the 10lb just looks so thin! Howsy - I did keep note of the tide, it was more or less exactly around low tide. BUT (and I am a little confused here), low tide doesn't mean slack tide, correct? So it can be low tide but the water can still be flowing? Keep the reports flowing everyone! They are great to read Hi joel i use 6lb leader when chasing the blackfish but good qaulity. What howsy and others are refering too is some blackfish spots work on the run out tide and others work on the run up tide also you get other spots that work half tide in to half tide out and vice versa. If you know a certain location normally holds blackfish but fish it on a run up tide and do no good it could be a run out tide spot and the same if you fish a runout tide spot and do no good it could be a run up tide spot. Once you go to these spots a few times you will remember what location to go to at certain times of the tide to catch the blackfish. At certain times of the year the blackfish will move too certain areas of the harbours and river for spawning. Nice effort for a quick session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scratchie_junior619 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) That's a stonkan luderick man! Great work Cheers scratchie_junior Edited May 29, 2014 by scratchie_junior619 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefisherman6784 Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Great catch mate There some stonker blackfish I hope to get my self into some nice blackfish soon Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydneyfisher12 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) Great work some nice blackfish there and great effort to get that many in 45minutes bad luck on the ones that spat the hook sound like some really big fish Cheers sydneyfisher12 Edited June 1, 2014 by Sydneyfisher12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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