LuckyFil Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Just back from a couple of sessions up the Central Coast rocks near Avoca. Son Pat and his mate had arrived the day before and had already picked up a few good drummer and an average sized groper - sorry no pics of those. So I was hopeful of catching a few after struggling to catch any decent pigs from my local rocks on the Northern Beaches. We had a good supply of cunji and several loaves of bread mixed with weed for burley which we were feeding out regularly. Despite this we only managed kelpies and small pickers for the first couple of hours. Then the sun dropped behind the cliff behind us and everything changed for the next 20 minutes. In short succession we caught 3 smallish pigs 33-35cm dropped another one that looked over 40 cm but then I hooked up to something big that ran me straight into a cave… I could still feel the tail beats so kept a steady pressure and resisted the temptation to try to drag him out as I could feel the line rubbing on the rocks. I changed the angle of the rod and laid it over in the direction I hoped might extract him and with each wave I got a little more line and then I felt him free swimming so pulled hard and got him to the surface. Then a struggle to find a place to wash him up - nothing obvious and a dead lift on what was a big pig looked dodgy so Pat got as low to the water as he could as I tried to keep the fish off the barnacles as he zigged and zagged. Eventually Pat got a hand to the line and lifted the fish up and climbed back to me with it. We were whooping and hollering as it was a beauty and I thought a pb for me. As Pat went back to get the camera I put the fish on the rocks at my feet and the hook fell out!! It was sloping rock and I was still close to the water so I dropped the rod and fell to my knees to wrap both hands around it to stop it sliding back into the water - heart pumping I carried it back to safer ground for some pics and a measure - it went 55cm and was a real fatty. I'm guessing 4 - 5 kg. Not long after this Pat fastened into another big fish that just wouldn't stop. He had his dragged locked but he couldn't make any ground, but then his line went slack - bugger! He wound in and the fish had straightened the hook and broken the last part of it right off, hmmm another big drummer or possibly groper. I went back the next day - same place, same bait, same time and didn't score a fish. Ah well that's fishing. Here's a pic. Funny how drummer still look pretty much the same even as they get bigger - they just get fatter. LuckFil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbu Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 What a fish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Nice pig. South Avoca rocks are a hot spot this time of year for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambrose607 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 3 smallish pigs 33-35cms !!!! I would greatly take them any day. Well done on catching the big fella. Edge of the seat report with a good outcome great reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefisherman6784 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 That's an awesome fish mate After catching my first drummer it's very very addictive fishing! U got a great result there mate and congrats about the big fish Cheers Gianni Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 BONK. I was going to say Big Pig and stonker and that got me thinking about the band, Big Pig had an album BONK So I changed it. Wiki search ... HistoryEdit In 1984 Big Pig were formed in London by visiting Australian drummer, I got chills Haha, Great Fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 BONK. I was going to say Big Pig and stonker and that got me thinking about the band, Big Pig had an album BONK So I changed it. Wiki search ... HistoryEdit In 1984 Big Pig were formed in London by visiting Australian drummer, I got chills Haha, Great Fish. Ha that's a great bit of research Ryder . Hope I get another Bonk soon!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toboggi Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Congrats mate! Awesome pig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 4myson Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Great catch FIL ! You made me think back before owning a boat & spending every weekend I had free fishing Avoca . Nothing beats good old Cunji . Well done on that PIG !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamski Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Stonking fish mate, and it looks pretty surprised to be there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burger Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Good read and great BONK LF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Great fish and great report. Sounds like it was a good, hard but well fought, tussle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardgid Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 good one mate, what sort of rod did you catch the big one on (need a new groper rod) and what sort of hook was straightened ? please , thanks Leonard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share Posted July 8, 2015 good one mate, what sort of rod did you catch the big one on (need a new groper rod) and what sort of hook was straightened ? please , thanks Leonard. Hi Leonard, my rod is a Gary Howard 12 foot model MT 7144. I love it after having a general purpose 12 footer previously which was Ok but didn't have the grunt necessary for this type of fishing. Wilson Live Fibre also make good rods suitable for drummer and groper. They have some models that are 13'6" if you prefer a really long rod but this can be good and bad depending on how much room you have to fish - obstacles etc. The main thing is having plenty of guts in the lower section but with a reasonably light tip to provide sensitivity. I think the broken hook was a circle not sure of the brand (wasn't one of mine) but clearly too light gauge. I use double X suicide number 1 size which I haven't had bend so far! There is a hook the old time drummer guys would only use but I don't know the model number. It was maybe 3 or 4X so would never bend no matter what! Cheers Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thats a great post and you did well to land the big fella. I remember pulling a 51cm model up a 5m cliff once after losing one a few cm bigger on the same day. They certainly get tank-like from 45cm up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardgid Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Hi Leonard, my rod is a Gary Howard 12 foot model MT 7144. I love it after having a general purpose 12 footer previously which was Ok but didn't have the grunt necessary for this type of fishing. Wilson Live Fibre also make good rods suitable for drummer and groper. They have some models that are 13'6" if you prefer a really long rod but this can be good and bad depending on how much room you have to fish - obstacles etc. The main thing is having plenty of guts in the lower section but with a reasonably light tip to provide sensitivity. I think the broken hook was a circle not sure of the brand (wasn't one of mine) but clearly too light gauge. I use double X suicide number 1 size which I haven't had bend so far! There is a hook the old time drummer guys would only use but I don't know the model number. It was maybe 3 or 4X so would never bend no matter what! Cheers Phil thank you for your time and advice Leonard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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