The Forrest Gump Fishing Trip off Sydney

[The Rev]

To quote the from that great movie and the key actor Forrest Gump...

"My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”

Well that was exactly what yesterday's fishing trip was like!

I headed out from Manly ramp at 6am as the sun rose and started by squid fishing, but after no luck went around the corner to the "blue pools" live bait ground. There was one other boat there and between us small yakkas were easy to come by. i had a noice to chat to him as we fished next to each other and shared burley trails as we pulled livies up ready for teh days fishing adventures.  At this stage he told me that he had caught some nice dollies the previous week off the Sydney Harbour FAD (the one 15km's out that is off Bondi). Given the weather report - 1M swell and low wind I thought that I could make it out there.  After heading out past the artificial is was still a bit bumpy and continued that way for quite a while.  In my boat (4.2M Quintrex renegade tiller steer) I was able to go at between 13-15 knots and saw two larger 6M+ boats heading out that there at about 20-22 knots.

Sadly the weather changed and it poured - that was definitely not part of the plan.

I was quickly getting drenched. Here is a quick video of the rain that happened on a few occasions when out wide.

 

Thankfully I have wet weather gear which I got on just in time!

I finally arrived at the FAD after about a 30 minute journey and discovered 5 boats there including 2 charter boats. There were fish there but sadly they went off the bite as soon as I arrived 😞

I fished livies and soft plastics for one 30cm king!

A bit demoralising. I went about 500m east to where there is a reef that holds big kings. Fishing the bottom - my new friend from the live boat grounds who was also fishing there landed a nice john Dory.  When I tried this was all I could catch!

After 5 drops at 100-105 Meters depth I thought that I would go back to the Fad to see if the Dollies would bite.  I landed one on a soft plastic that was 55cm and so it went back to grow bigger.  I have to say it was a bit disappointing.

Driving back I thought that I would try in close off Ben Buckler. I stopped at the 50m grounds and tried for a flatty but all that was biting were small juveniles with 2 small blue spots and a small undersized snapper all thrown back.  At Ben Buckler I down rigged a small yakka for a while for no hits.

Knowing that there are a lot of Bonito around at the moment - I thought that I would troll back to South head and landed 2 nice sized Bonito - 45cm & 54cm respectively which put a smile on the face as we all love sashimi in my household and this was going to be dinner.

Coming back in after a quick call to the wife who said take your time coming in - I slow trolled a down rigged yakka from Old Man's Hat to the Centurion and just as I thought that I would pack it in gift hit by a king!  I had stumbled on a small school of Rats that were sitting off the Centurion wreck and landed a few which was fun.

There were in the high 50cm range and were sent back. Thankfully i did that as 2 mins later Fisheries rocked up and did a fish catch inspection!  After a nice chat to them I returned to Manly ramp. Sadly though the southerly had come up and it was a real struggle to get the boat on the trailer. With rain coming down and not a person in sight at Little Manly Cove there was no one to help.

As I definally succeeded I remembered Forrest Gump's famous line - Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you are going to get. and I think fishing is pretty similar. It was fun day that definitely didn't happen as I imaged it. I ended up catching...

1 nannygai, 1 big eyed reef fish, 1 dolphin fish, 2 flathead, 1 snapper, 2 bonito and 2 kings - 10 fish total catch, 1 rain squall endured and dinner sorted. 

God bless and thanks for reading,

The Rev

Edited March 4, 2023 by The Rev

[Blackfish]

Great report and photos there Rev, that box of chocolates were certainly an "Assortment"

Thanks for posting.

[big Neil]

An interesting report based around that now famous quote from Forrest Gump. In the end, a not so unusual sort of an outing off Sydney. With so many options available to the experienced Sydney angler (you)...you gave it your best shot. Some days are diamonds, some days are stone. No doubt the sashimi will taste good.

Thanks for sharing your day on the water Rev.  bn

[bessell1955]

Oh, well just remember you got the experience!

[The Rev]

1 hour ago, big Neil said:

An interesting report based around that now famous quote from Forrest Gump. In the end, a not so unusual sort of an outing off Sydney. With so many options available to the experienced Sydney angler (you)...you gave it your best shot. Some days are diamonds, some days are stone. No doubt the sashimi will taste good.

Thanks for sharing your day on the water Rev.  bn

Sashimi was great Neil 👌🏼

[Little_Flatty]

4 hours ago, The Rev said:

Coming back in after a quick call to the wife who said take your time coming in

A huge variety of fish, but this would have to be the most surprising part of the report!

Sounds like a nice day out.

[zmk1962]

Excellent report mate. It doesn’t always go to plan but you gotta keep going … keep dipping into that oceanic box of chocolates for sure. Great you were rewarded with a feed !

cheers Zoran 
 

[Larkin]

Love the variety of fish you caught!

well done rev!

 

[Isaac Ct]

Great persistence, nice feed in the end.

Well done.

[jenno64]

Wow that is serious variety, well done!

[Rebel]

Top report.

Great photos.

Well done.

[Fishingwazza2019]

Well, though a mixed bag of small fish , with the weather and number of locations you tried, it definitely wasn’t from lack of trying to get a fish. Great report and pics . Well done

[dlvbw]

Great trip Bruce - plenty of action! 

[Pickles]

Terrific report Bruce. A nice mixed bag of fish and blessed to bag the Kingies, even if only rats - still, they punch above their weight and often don’t know how big they are till they’re onboard. I’m reminded that we “ don’t melt in the rain” (that’s what wet weather gear is for) Good you could keep the phone dry.