nick m Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) Hey guys, Myself, and a few mates were able to get away over the weekend for some offroading, camping and fishing. We arrived late Saturday arvo and found a decent looking gutter. We rigged up, baited up and lines were in the water with daylight dwindling. Not much action that night except for a few Shovel Nose rays. With not much happening we kind of crashed watching our rods. Woke up early Sunday morning just before sunrise and baited the lines and sent them back out. As the sun peaked over the horizon my mate picked up his rod to take in some slack, he hadn't completed a full wind before the line went off with that sweet sweet buzzing sound. Whatever it was took off 100m down the beach and we gave chase. After that first run the line went really heavy, unsure what it was our initial thoughts were a big ray. After 5 or so minutes of little to no movement just dead weight, the line went off again, this time it went out. Providing what coaching I could I was telling my mate not rush he had time, but to maintain what pressure he could using the old kmart special. Lift and wind lift and wind in between the sound of beast taking line. 20 or so minutes into the battle, I catch a glimpse of the beast in the waves. The silhouette was unmistakable - I yelled for the gaf and it was brought over by one of the other guys. The battle seemed to last for hours, a couple of missed opportunities and a couple of more runs up and down the beach my moment came. The beast was exhausted, I waded out into the chest deep water and gaffed what would be the biggest fish I have ever seen in my life. I dragged the majestic creature through the breakers and onto shore. We didn't have scales, but our best guess was in the 30kg range. It measured in @ 142cm. Unfortunately we weren't able to release the creature, I think it came down to inexperience on our part on not knowing how to best land the fish so the prolonged fight left it exhausted. I was able to get it on ice fairly quickly after dispatching and cleaning so it made it back home to be split amongst 3 of us for the table. After that Sunday morning though the rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, a few whiting, couple more shovel nose rays and some fun with mullet on unweighted lines caught on bread (everything released as we definitely had enough for the table). Overall it was a memorable trip and looking forward to the next one. Thanks for reading. Nick Edited February 1, 2017 by nick m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtp Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Absolute cracker. Congrats mate. Fish of a lifetime!! Can I ask what bait were you using and rig? I'm actually heading up the mid north coast for an overnight session this weekend, hopefully I can replicate your success!! Cheers Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutsaboutfishing Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 What type of fish is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 aaahhh that is a mulloway..or jew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick m Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 9 hours ago, jtp said: Absolute cracker. Congrats mate. Fish of a lifetime!! Can I ask what bait were you using and rig? I'm actually heading up the mid north coast for an overnight session this weekend, hopefully I can replicate your success!! Cheers Joe Cheers Joe. Fresh squid did the damage. Though I know beach worms and fresh mullet have had success as well. The rig was a running star sinker -> swivel -> 2 x 6/0 circle hooks like this. (video) 49 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said: What type of fish is it? 33 minutes ago, rickmarlin62 said: aaahhh that is a mulloway..or jew Rick is right. It's a Jewfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellzy94 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 What a beast! Definitely an early contender for catch of the month, and a fish of a lifetime for sure! Cheers, Wellzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timk Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 awesome catch mate. well done!! should enter it in this months COTM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Monster Jew! I'm surprised he took the bait. He looks pretty well feed already! Well done cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Congrats with awesome catch, Nick! Definitely should be added to Feb fishing competition. What line did you use to land this fat monster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjames95 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Well done mate! unfortunate about the release but what a cracker; definitely a contender for catch of the month and one of the biggest jews ive seen in a long time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchie18092 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 holy smokes look at that thing! certainly a few reports going 'round of some monsters off the beach - but that one has gotta be up there with the best of them. congrats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick m Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Thanks guys. 36 minutes ago, savit said: Congrats with awesome catch, Nick! Definitely should be added to Feb fishing competition. What line did you use to land this fat monster? Not sure what the rating on the mainline was, definitely no more the 30lb (mono) though. Leader was 40lb flurocarbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Spanner Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 That's ripper. Great work guys. It sounds like you went there well prepared for what you were after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Great catch. jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chakka Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Boom that's massive, great job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Great fish mate. You'd get a nice pair of jewels out of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock&Beach Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 I agree with Scratchie it is a wonder it took the bait. That it one fat jew. Great fish mate. Bet it had the heart pumping. Cheers R&B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Cracker of a fish! Great effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexSenior Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Awesome catch! Such a chunky jew too it must have given you a bit of grief before it calmed down. Congratulations mate, not many reports of jews like this these days! Cheers, James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schnapper Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Top fish mate. Well done. Fish of a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattGb1989 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 @Scratchie @mrsswordfisherman surely this is fish of the year already! Absolute monster, well done pal. Brownie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Congrats on the monster mull! There will be great relief for the whiting, salmon, tailor and worms on that stretch of beach for a while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick m Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Thanks all. It's definitely a fish and trip to remember. 1 hour ago, jenno64 said: Congrats on the monster mull! There will be great relief for the whiting, salmon, tailor and worms on that stretch of beach for a while! Flatties too. In the process of cleaning I removed a 40cm+ lizard from it's belly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishsauce8 Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 well done mate, it is a giant jew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquidMarks Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Well done! Your mate can certainly tick Jew off his list, i doubt he will get a crack at a bigger one anytime soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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