GordoRetired Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) Thursday morning my bestie Steve arrived at 6.30 and we headed to the Roseville ramp. Got there and could not believe how busy it was, the car park was packed and there was a line of boats waiting to launch. Still it did not take too long as we were heading into the harbour just before 7.00, gentleman's fishing hours 🙂 First stop was for live-bait and squid. We both started casting squid jigs but they were not very cooperative, we were not seeing anything so I started a burly trail to get some Yakkas while Steve persisted with the squid jig. Eventually his perseverance paid off, but not with a squid, rather a solid Cuttlefish. Some decent Kingie bait at last. Unfortunately the Yakkas that turned up were really small and not very interested in hooking up so we headed to another spot and got to it again. Minimal success there, we did manage to attract a ton of Yakkas to the back of the boat but again they were reluctant to hook up. We tried naked jigs, baited jigs, they were just hook shy. After a while we managed to get half a dozen in the live-bait tank so with the Cuttlefish we decided that it was time to go and find Kingies. I wont bore you with the details but after 4 hours across a number of locations we could not entice a bite. We tried slow trolling, drifting and anchoring with live baits and Cuttlefish pieces out but nothing. 😞 Eventually we got bored so headed over to an area near Quarantine beach to see if we could pick up some Flathead or Flounder drifting around with baits. We both rigged up paternoster rigs on our lightest gear and soon started getting bites. Landed a few small Snapper which on the light rigs were a little fun. Steve was using a Shimano outfit that he picked up for $60 in his local tackle store, rated at 2-4kg and spooled with, we think, 4 or 6lb mono. Then life got interesting! ! ! Steve's rod bent over and line started to scream off the reel, some careful tightening of the drag slowed it a but but whatever it was on the hook was in complete control of the situation. Line went out, some came back, then out again and some back again, fish went under the boat, Steve is hanging over the side trying to make sure that the line did not touch the boat, then the fish headed out behind the boat. It was all over the place and Steve was sweating. After maybe 10 minutes we finally get to see the fish, it's a shark, and a pretty decent sized one at that. After a few more nervous moments Steve managed to guide the Shark into the net and onboard it came. High fives followed as we looked at a fish that he just should not have landed on such a light outfit. It would have been well over a meter long, we did not measure it but I estimate is at about 1.2 - 1.3m and weighed around 6 or 7kg. Now that is what I call a By-Catch 🙂 After that excitement I landed a 40cm Flathead on Zoran's sinker jig setup. My version has a drop off the mainline a few centimeters above the sinker loop with a 4/0 hook through a SP. So Thank you Zoran to introducing me to your great rig 🙂 Finally we had another try for Kings up inside the Spit bridge with the same success as our earlier efforts, Nothing. Then it was back to the ramp. 1/2 hour sitting on the car waiting for my turn to pull the boat out. It reminded my why as a retired bloke I generally try to go fishing during the week and away from times when everyone is off work. Just too many people around. After getting home and putting the boat away we cleaned up the shark and cooked up a heap of it in a simple batter. It was absolutely delicious and accompanied by a few cold beers made a wonderful end to a days fishing. We might not have caught any Kings but when you bring home a good feed after a day out fishing with a good mate life is just Great. 🙂 Happy New Year everyone, I hope that 2022 brings you lots of great fishing tales. Tight lines Gordo Edited January 1, 2022 by GordoRetired typo 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 At least you pulled out something for the table. Looks like a gummy shark. When the yakkas become hesitant to bite, I use 3 or 4 pound mono, a tiny suicide hook, just cover the hook with bait, throw over a bit of mashed bread and throw your bait into the bread mixture as it sinks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) Good one Gordo (& Steve), that gummy (white spots on the back) will taste great - next to school sharks and Mako’s, they are No1. Gotta remember those bananas mate 🤪. Light line (6lb) and no 10 gamagatsu mosquito hooks on a handline will usually get them. Edited January 1, 2022 by Pickles 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordoRetired Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Yowie said: At least you pulled out something for the table. Looks like a gummy shark. When the yakkas become hesitant to bite, I use 3 or 4 pound mono, a tiny suicide hook, just cover the hook with bait, throw over a bit of mashed bread and throw your bait into the bread mixture as it sinks. We think it was a school shark, no teeth. Do we get Gummy Sharks in Sydney? EDIT- After looking at pictures on the interweb I agree with you, it has the spots on it's back like the Gummy pictures show, School sharks don't. Thanks Yowie 🙂 Edited January 1, 2022 by GordoRetired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordoRetired Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 4 minutes ago, Pickles said: Good one Gordo (& Steve), that gummy will taste great - next to school sharks and Mako’s, they are No1. Gotta remember those bananas mate 😆 No bananas on my boat EVER 🙂 Or oranges...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterfisho7 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Mad report well done nice photo of the Gummy Shark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 19 minutes ago, GordoRetired said: We think it was a school shark, no teeth. Do we get Gummy Sharks in Sydney? EDIT- After looking at pictures on the interweb I agree with you, it has the spots on it's back like the Gummy pictures show, School sharks don't. Thanks Yowie 🙂 Gummies in Sydney, up river and off shore. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Great post Gordo, you had me riveted! Nice gummy and great to get a feed with cold beers to wash it down. Made the wait at the ramp all worth it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Great report Mate ! ... and thanks for the thumbs up on the "Not so silly sinker jig" .... the kingies just don't want to play sometimes - very familiar with that story but a gummy makes up for sure. Enjoy. Cheers Zoran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Super story and a great day out. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restyle Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Awesome write up! glad you were able to get out there despite the large quantities of boat out at the moment. gummy shark is an awesome catch especially on such light gear and to be honest I'm surprised the line didn't pop after rubbing on their skin for so long. I've targeted gummies along bundeena, and they are a pretty uncommon catch, but great fun & even better eating. Kingies have been pretty hit n miss so far. I'm yet to get my first kingie for this summer period after 4 trips, but they will come in sooner or later despite the rain & cooler weather around. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) Nice work Gordo 👍. I found the gummy I caught in Botany bay to be quite tasty when I tried it for the first time. Edited January 1, 2022 by kingie chaser 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonardgid Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 very lucky catch that , 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 A great catch, well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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