Dollies are still around

[The Rev]

With a perfect weather forecast it was decided we would venture out in my tinny to see if there any dollies still around.  

Packed the boat late Thursday checking all safety gear and off to bed

got on the water at Manly at 6:15am and spent an hour getting 25 small yakkas.  Motored out through the heads and the conditions were pretty good with water at 21.3C.   We went to a spot I had heard was holding fish from a fellow fisherman  I chatted to at the ramp two weeks back.  Having located our spot we pulled up and you could see the Dollies schooling and looking hungry.  Water temp had jumped to 22.2C. For the next 3 hours we had the place to ourselves - with the wind dropping to 2-4knots on a very small 12sec swell.  

We put the minn Kota in on spot lock and caught fish after fish in a crazy hot bite.    What was incredible was with the electric motor spot lock on,  we stopped for morning tea and the Dollys just kept circling under the boat the whole time waiting for the next fishing session to start.  At times the live bait would not last longer than five seconds in the water. 

90%  of fish were caught on live bait, we managed a few on soft plastics when the bite was very hot – pilchards were tried but looked at and ignored. 

we kept 10 between 65-78cm and threw quite a few back.  We motored back for a long session of cleaning and filleting.

get out there if you have the chance

cheers

The Rev

 

[samjames95]

looks like an epic sesh mate, great to see them still about hitting livies hard

[Welster]

Great session mate.   We didn't have the same good fortune further south.  

[AI fella]

Well done mate, was out there today glassy conditions boated a few at the Sydney FAD but the biggest went 30cm lol,,

Cheers,Gaz

[tyrone07]

Awesome mate glad you got into them, can't beat fresh Mahi Mahi for a feed

[big Neil]

Sounds like everything came together to produce the perfect day for you Rev. These are the days that will be remembered for a long time to come. Well done. BN

[JohnDory]

Some good eating there!

[ebenos]

Great report! Good to see those dollies still around. My Xi5 trolling motor is being fitted into my 21' this weekend, had to make do with the 105lb thrust and looking forward to testing the spot lock feature. 

[Guest Guest123456789]

Perfect day all round!! Its what we all dream of, well done!

crazy isn't it seeing all the fish swarming around your boat like that. Did you try casting any lures? I reckon a good fly rod would be the go, I personally don't know how to fly fish.

[The Rev]

1 hour ago, flatheadluke said:

Perfect day all round!! Its what we all dream of, well done!

crazy isn't it seeing all the fish swarming around your boat like that. Did you try casting any lures? I reckon a good fly rod would be the go, I personally don't know how to fly fish.

I threw some soft plastics at them - when the bite was hot they were hooking up but after about 15 minutes they resorted back to just taking live baits.  It was calm enough yesterday to fy fish for them and I think would have been successful as they were hitting the lives right off the surface.

cheers

the rev

[The Rev]

3 hours ago, ebenos said:

Great report! Good to see those dollies still around. My Xi5 trolling motor is being fitted into my 21' this weekend, had to make do with the 105lb thrust and looking forward to testing the spot lock feature. 

I think you are going to love spot lock.  We sat 20-30M off the buoy we were fishing on for 2-3 hours!   They are fantastic!

The Rev

[Guest Guest123456789]

3 hours ago, ebenos said:

Great report! Good to see those dollies still around. My Xi5 trolling motor is being fitted into my 21' this weekend, had to make do with the 105lb thrust and looking forward to testing the spot lock feature. 

105lbs of thrust!! Wholly mackerel you must have a heavy boat. How many batteries do you need to power that bad boy?

[ebenos]

@The Rev Cant wait. I hope it's all worth the money! I'm just starting to venture offshore so the idea of spot locking on good ground or next to structure is going to be awesome.

@flatheadluke Yep 21 ft with lots of accessories  Running 36v over 3 100ah batteries. I have dual alternators in my Suzuki outboard so keeping them charged shouldnt be in issue.

I should hopefully get to test it out later this week

 

benos

[Guest Guest123456789]

4 hours ago, ebenos said:

@The Rev Cant wait. I hope it's all worth the money! I'm just starting to venture offshore so the idea of spot locking on good ground or next to structure is going to be awesome.

@flatheadluke Yep 21 ft with lots of accessories  Running 36v over 3 100ah batteries. I have dual alternators in my Suzuki outboard so keeping them charged shouldnt be in issue.

I should hopefully get to test it out later this week

 

benos

Wow that's hardcore!! I'd love to see that setup. You can never have too much power. You're going to love it, the spot lock is the best piece of technology on my boat and worth every cent and then some.