Sydney Harbour 30-09

[Guest MarkD]

Morning all,

Well I'm catching up on reports from the last few days so here is Fridays report

PhilD was the skipper for the day and the vessel his 5.8M southwhind centre console, what a great boat

The target was to be kingies and sambos. The sambos came to the party early and as ken (Narralakes mentioned in his report there was plenty there although they appeared to be more gun-shy than on previous weeks, probably a consequence of being hammered over the last couple of months. That said Phil and I managed one each and were content with that. There is always a certain relief when both fishermen land a fish early in the day, takes the pressure of I reckon

We had a quick chat with Ken, who was chasing those sambos with his magic wand like a man possessed and got the results for his efforts then we headed around the corner to bluefish and spot x on the troll for not much

We reviewed our options and were considering either trying for makos or going to longie for a bottom bash. As we began to get underway to longie Phil noticed a smash up on the surface and we went to investigate. For the next 10-15 mins we witnessed 5 or 6 boils on the surface, they differed from the sambo type smash up in the sense that they were far more concentrated, in a much smaller radius and only lasted 10 or so seconds..We speculated as to what fish we were dealing with and Phil reckoned either Stripey or mack Tuna.

Either way I've never caught a tuna in Aus so I was super keen to get stuck in, as was Phil. To that end we chased the school for a while and got close to them a couple of times. I was throwing a metal slice and got follows from 5-6 fish on each retrieve. One thing was confirmed they were certainly not sambos. They were much bulkier fish and there was less of them than would be typical of a sambo school.

Unfortunately the follows did not result in any hook ups and the boil ups disappeared as quickly as the appeared so we reverted to our plan and motored to Longie.

We had great conditions and the Southwind get us there double quick. After giving Joe a quick update on the mobile we dropped our lines at Narrabeen and sat back.

We didn’t have much time to relax before my medium spin stick doubled over and I struck hard to feel serious weight on the end of my line

The fish was easy the heaviest I have had on a line and to say I was excited would be an understatement!

He proceeded to strip my reel (Okuma baitfeeder 4000) of almost all of the 300 yds of 20lb fireline and excitement turned to concern! With Phil providing the verbal support I held on for dear life as the fish continued to swim strongly away from the boat, not diving, not thrashing just a slow steady pull with an occasional shake when I applied pressure. As luck would have it this leviathan had chosen the lightest outfit on offer: 20lb braid to 40lb leader on a paternoster rig.

After 10-15 minutes (could have been longer) I made a fatal error in tightening up the drag and pop...... the fireline snapped clean

I’m not sure if it was at the knot but due to the clean break in the line I think it just gave in. Not to be outdone as my fight neared its untimely end Phil’s 15KG outfit doubled over at the back of the boat and he did battle with something as big if not bigger. The backbone rod was being fully tested and I thought with Phil's heavier outfit the smart money would be on him landing his fish. Once again we were denied when the whatever he was spat the ragged remains of Phil's whole pike..arrrgghhh and double arrrgghhhh. I had another 2 similar but much shorter runs of similar weight as did Phil before hooks being spat/pulling.

After much speculation on what creatures we were dealing with we came up with the following list (in no particular order) of possibilities:

Kingfish - Unlikely due to the constant pull as opposed to a series of strong runs

A Ray - we were fishing a reef and thought it unlikely that a sandy-bottom dweller would be the culprit?

Shark - Would have ended before it began unless hooked in the lip

Jewfish - Well I'd like to think so

I'd welcome input on our hypotheses

We continued to drift and managed a few bottom dwelling types as per the pics. Anyone know what mine is?

That was it on the fish front and we retired to Balmoral for a well earned burger and a couple of beers. All in all another fantastic day on the water and great to make the acquaintance of another top fishraider.

Cheers and sorry for the long winded report!

Mark

[gianniz]

could it possibly be some sort of tuna? I read in a magazine recently that they take off when they are hooked! and since there was more than 1 hook up I there seemed to be a school of these big boys which suggest once again be a big school of yellowfin? bluefin?

anyway that sounds so exciting I am packing my gear for some fishing! LOL

[Guest MarkD]

outnumbered has caught port jacksons there too... could have been a big one of them.

that last picture is some sort of wrass... outnumbered caught one friday out at botany... supposably rated equal to bream on the table...

good report mate, pity about the loss of big fish and not getting a hook up on those schools of whatever... kings perhaps?

70182[/snapback]

Might have been a PJ, As Jocool will attest I'm pretty handy at hooking them

They may have been kings alright, certainly the inquisitive follow of the lure is kingyish

Edited October 2, 2005 by MarkD

[pulse]

I've seen quite a few large PJs (i reckon they'd be going on about 15kilo +) this weekend being taken. Unmistakable rod actual... straight pull, no shakes, rod bent over like no tomorrow. I'll call it for a large PJ. I saw the a couple of fishermen keep them too... ughh....

[Guest Jocool]

I'll call it for a large PJ. 

70185[/snapback]

Mark...I didn't say it this time!

[Narralakes]

Great report Mark and well done on the fish, too bad about the big one that got away, I wouldnt have a clue waht it was. Good seeing you and Phil on the water, I had a great time till I went home, you guys must have stayed out for awhile. BTW, very nice boat Phil.

[Guest MarkD]

Great report Mark and well done on the fish, too bad about the big one that got away, I wouldnt have a clue waht it was.  Good seeing you and Phil on the water, I had a great time till I went home, you guys must have stayed out for awhile.  BTW, very nice boat Phil.

70189[/snapback]

Thanks ken, yes I had a 14 hour day from start to finish! Tried to call you when we encountered the schooling fish but had no coverage and they were gone double quick.

[Narralakes]

No worries, I was kept occupied between Spot X and Bluefish for hours anyhow with the salmon.

[bennos]

I chased those schools yesterday, 3km off barrenjoey, moving very fast and big! Not salmon, not kings, my thoughts at the time were striped tuna, but then again my knees were shaking and i wasnt thinking too straight. After a bunch of follows they dissapeared and I gave up.

[jewnut]

Gday Mark, didnt know that was you guys i saw. You said gday to us Stuart as we went under the spit on the 'purple' boat. I was checking the boat out and drooling...beautiful rig indeed

As i said in Kens report, i momentarily hooked a Bonito that were working in a very small school close to North Head...i reckon they were bonnies you were chasing. As for the lost fish, dont think Jewies...way too painful PJ's are a much better thought!!

[Guest MarkD]

Gday Mark, didnt know that was you guys i saw. You said gday to us Stuart as we went under the spit on the 'purple' boat. I was checking the boat out and drooling...beautiful rig indeed 

As i said in Kens report, i momentarily hooked a Bonito that were working in a very small school close to North Head...i reckon they were bonnies you were chasing. As for the lost fish, dont think Jewies...way too painful    PJ's are a much better thought!!

70209[/snapback]

Hi Anthony,

Bonnies they certainly might have been and PJ possibly but after consulting with a few more knowledgeable (than me) fisho's the idea of a PJ stirpping 300yds of line away from the boat seemed unlikely as they usually go deep when hooked and circle...anyway its all academic now!

Sounds like your charter was well worth it.

Cheers

Mark

[phild]

G Day Mark, thanks for the great day mate and Im glad I could kinda deliver. In answer to the question I can assure all they were defenitly not port Jaksons, or if they were they are like non ive ever encounetred. Shovelnose might be a geusse but again over hard bottom rather than sand? Also the tuna, and Im certain they were were too big for bonies. Great to meet some other raiders and espically great to meet mark. Any time mate and next time well nail em.

[Guest bluecod]

Great report Mark and it sound like Phil did his best to get you a fish or two

As to the identity of the reel spooling fishy creatures, there's no doubt about it - only one species will do that, not once but two or three times

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The Mythical Hairtail

[gianniz]

i guess when you loose the fish, you rather want to believe you lost a large pj rather then a blue/yellow fin

better luck next time.

ps I was inspired to have a fishing session and off I went to Palmbeach.

Stayed there till 6:30 and no bites what so ever

Halfway back I get a call from my mate who decided to stay bit longer (as high tide was 7:30pm) saying he just caught his 9th calamari and few tailors! DOPE