LuckyFil Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Despite being limited to local rock fishing of late I haven't managed to catch many drummer this winter, a few outings with one or two and plenty with zero. A lot more fisho's on the rocks mid week this year I guess due to covid they can't travel and work hours are obviously flexible, so my local rocks have had more fishing pressure I reckon . Anyway I decided to have another go on Thursday arvo and it felt a bit weird going drummer fishing when the temp hit 30 degrees here - I'm used to cold winds and even colder water when chasing the pigs off the rocks. When I arrived I was disappointed to see two guys already on the wash I wanted to fish. The swell and tide were both low enough to try a wash that is usually unfishable so I thought may as well give it ago and see if the other blokes leave after a while (they didn't but that didn't matter as it turned out). It took a few casts to work out which way the wash moved the bait and where the shallow rocks were but after a while a got a few bites and sprang off a fish that could have been a drummer. I re-baited with a prawn and cast into the white water and quickly came up tight on what was obviously a drummer as he went straight down for the nearest overhang. He jammed himself in and I wasn't optimistic of getting him out but I lay the rod over in the opposite direction and kept steady pressure on as a few waves came through and must have dislodged him and he took off in another direction looking for the next hole. I knew this was my best chance and lent heavily on the rod and lifted and wound as hard as possible and just got him to the edge of the rock shelf in front of me. That's when I had my first glimpse of the fish and got really stressed as it was way bigger than I'd expected. I paused till the next wave came through that lifted him over the lip of the shelf and onto a long ledge below me with enough water to bring him back another 8 or 10 meters to where I could jump down and lift him up. If you've ever tried to pick up a wet cranky drummer you'll know how slippery they are. So it was a few tense moments till I could step back up to dry rocks while hugging the drummer in an effort not to drop him. It was a good length (measured later at just under 53cm) but ridiculously fat! I don't take scales with me but reckon it would have been 3-4 kg. I put my knife next to it to give some scale. I fished on for another hour catching one more smaller drummer that went around 38cm but the sweep had moved in and then the southerly buster came through so I called it quits but was very pleased to finally have a decent fish to bring home. Cheers Fil 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Well done.Great report and photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Are they good eating? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookerbruce Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Very nice fish we all deserve to get a good fish for the time and effort we put in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 20 minutes ago, bessell1955 said: Are they good eating? Yep, they sure are. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Nice fish there LF and SHHHHH Noel, don't tell people how good of eating they are. Fillet, Skinned and I recon they are best deep fried. Bloody yum. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Ct Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 That's a nice pig mate. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Cracking pig! I caught one about the same size from north Bondi and winched it up a cliff! Well deserved 👌 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted October 8, 2021 Author Share Posted October 8, 2021 55 minutes ago, bessell1955 said: Are they good eating? As others have said yes they are top eating but essential to skin the fillets. I like to coat the pieces in egg and panko crumbs then fry till golden brown, but I'm sure there's other good ways to have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 I just fillet, skin, cut the centre bone out and roll in flour then into hot oil until brown, they rival most exotic reef fish I reckon, a bit of salad and maybe some chips......yummmmmmm 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Very nice pig. Sometimes they bury you and don't come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 2 hours ago, Yowie said: Very nice pig. Sometimes they bury you and don't come out. Yeah I’ve been there more than once and was a little surprised to get this one out. I suspect it wasn’t a proper cave he’d gone into Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 That does look thick. nice catch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardgid Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 very nice fish , still have not caught one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 12 hours ago, leonardgid said: very nice fish , still have not caught one You’ll know it when you do, they pull twice as hard as most other fish their size! But be careful drummer fishing is addictive 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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