JonD Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 (edited) With this being my first report I should just explain that to me just being on the water is more than enough to keep us happy, often we get distracted by dolphins, whales and penguins etc and don't even wet a line. In saying that my 15 year old daughter (fishing buddy, dive buddy, go everywhere buddy) eats lots of protein as she's quite competitive in many sports including triathlon. Plan was to head out for a few snapper (protein bars!!). We often don't get on the water until after 10 as we now fish from an open rib and hate early cold mornings, this day we didn't leave until after 11 am. First boat we came across was a local charter who had been doing it extremely tough on the catch so far, so on we pushed into 60m of water out off Tuross. A few of the small patches about the size of car bodies looked like they had a few good fish so we soon started working these very tight. Plastics and micro jigs had no luck but pilchard was starting to produce plenty of fish but no reds. After a while my daughter pulled the first red as I kept away all the sergeant bakers, rock cod, pike, sweep etc A few new species came to the boat including some small silver dory's and a thumping big bearded cod (which we've never seen as big even diving). By now my daughter was already 5 snapper up on me when we decided we had more than enough for a few meals and still had enough time for a quick scuba on the way home. As I started getting my gear packed up she dropped one last pilchard down and pulled a solid snapper around 70 cm, just not fair The scuba was good but the damage to the inner reefs along the coast from the last big storms has devastated all the marine growth. Jon Edited August 24, 2016 by JonD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Welcome John! Good to have you sharing reports with other raiders!!! Some great catches and pics there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croydon Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Nice first report Jon. Snapper fishing in close has been a bit of a challenge lately, between the cold water and coota! Haven't seen too many cuttlefish about this winter either. The better fish have certainly been in the deeper water. Interesting to get a divers perspective, best way to tell what's happening is go have a look I guess. And yes that beardy is a cracker. Good luck to you and the daughter. Cheers.......... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted August 24, 2016 Author Share Posted August 24, 2016 Nice first report Jon. Snapper fishing in close has been a bit of a challenge lately, between the cold water and coota! Haven't seen too many cuttlefish about this winter either. The better fish have certainly been in the deeper water. Interesting to get a divers perspective, best way to tell what's happening is go have a look I guess. And yes that beardy is a cracker. Good luck to you and the daughter. Cheers.......... Dave The reason we dropped on that inshore reef is that theres always been giant cuttle on it, they are fantastic to photograph but unfortunately the kelp area where they normally hang has gone and not a cuttle to be found. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Jon, that "Bearded cod" do you think it's a Largemouth Beardie Lotella rhacina. Because it's fricken huge, i've seen them up to just under a kilo but the one in the photo looks much bigger. Also, great array of fish there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foulhooked Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Great report Jon! Were you using frozen pillies? or the ones bought fresh from a fish shop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted August 24, 2016 Author Share Posted August 24, 2016 We've caught bearded cod to about 50 cm as well as often see them around that size in caves, this one was around 80 cm. Foulhooked, bought my pillies from my local IGA bait freezer in Dalmeny. Some solid snapper came from the area today with one going over 6 kg on a mates boat Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaohuang Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Nice fishes, nice photos... You are very lucky to have a daughter that likes to fish with you, good on her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_S Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 The reason we dropped on that inshore reef is that theres always been giant cuttle on it, they are fantastic to photograph but unfortunately the kelp area where they normally hang has gone and not a cuttle to be found. Jon The storms have ruined plenty of habitat in shallow, but remember the cuttles die off around this time each year after spawning. Hopefully there's a new dive buddy for you next time you dive there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Jon. I have been reading your adventures and admiring your wonderful photos for a few years now and your first report here is as good as they get, your daughter is growing up and it's no surprise that she is ( still ) outfishing you, she sure has the magic touch. Keep up the excellent work. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cargo05 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Good report and photos JonD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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