Yowie Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Headed out early this arvo with my mate in his boat. Not much swell, very little wind, nice slow drift south of Jibbon Bombie. That's the good part. As for the fish, not so good. The boat's sounder stopped working at 180 feet (did the same last time) so guessing we were drifting in 200 feet of water. 3 flatties each for a few hours drifting, the biggest only 41cm so no big fish, plus a couple of unders, and 1 red spot whiting. Had a few more picks that seemed like other whiting, but could not hook them on the 3/0 hooks, plus a tailor that used for bait. I also pulled up 7 tiger flatties, mate pulled up 1, but all were undersized. The bonus was the number of whales cruising past, with one completely clearing the water in a big jump. Anchored up over a reef. Plenty of yakkas which were cut for bait until full dark, but only a couple of pike, a big baker and an undersized tailor. Sammy the seal turned up behind the boat so that may have not helped at all. Better than no fish. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Great day to get out Dave, I drove over Taren point bridge 4 times looking at the glass out! at lest you scored the dinner fillets! when you get the yakkas what depth over a reef and what do you use for berley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Not a bad days catch, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 11, 2023 Author Share Posted June 11, 2023 1 hour ago, jenno64 said: Great day to get out Dave, I drove over Taren point bridge 4 times looking at the glass out! at lest you scored the dinner fillets! when you get the yakkas what depth over a reef and what do you use for berley? Thanks Rob, fillets for tomorrow night. Great conditions out side, many boats out as well. The yakkas were sitting about 20 feet down, a very large school on the sounder, then they headed upwards. Burley was chopped fish pieces and bread, in a burley bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 11, 2023 Author Share Posted June 11, 2023 1 hour ago, bessell1955 said: Not a bad days catch, well done. At least something to bring home. Mate does not like winding up in deep water. 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Better than nothng. Nice flatties. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 @Yowie when was the last time you donutted? I think it must be a rare occurrence for you! Shame you didn't get more red spots. I love them dusted with salt/pepper/flour and shallow fried whole. Not having a boat, I pay good money for them at the shops when I see them fresh. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 28 minutes ago, Rebel said: Better than nothng. Nice flatties. Well done. Yep, better than nothing. At least there were whales to see, 20 or so and mostly in pairs, and Sammy the seal though he was not welcome at the back of the boat. I told him to "go away." 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 13 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said: @Yowie when was the last time you donutted? I think it must be a rare occurrence for you! Shame you didn't get more red spots. I love them dusted with salt/pepper/flour and shallow fried whole. Not having a boat, I pay good money for them at the shops when I see them fresh. Well done. Hard to remember the last donut. I keep fishing until I catch a legal or 2, have to take home something for the table. 🤣 Red spots are small but good eating. Have eaten them from fish shop take aways, better than some of the other species on the menu. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabstar Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Good stuff there mate. i was out there yesterday, managed some stonker squid again. Wanted to go out deeper until a whale popped up and scared me…. how do you deal with the whales everywhere? I really get scared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 4 hours ago, Crabstar said: Good stuff there mate. i was out there yesterday, managed some stonker squid again. Wanted to go out deeper until a whale popped up and scared me…. how do you deal with the whales everywhere? I really get scared. A feed there, better than nothing. The whales usually keep away from you, except for the younger ones that get a bit carried away. Like today's younger drivers, have the blinkers on and don't see any problems until shite happens. 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Good catch Yowie! Pitty the tigers were undersized - I haven’t caught one of those for a while. lots of whales, seals and turtles out there at the moment - it’s an amazing sight when they fully breach and belly flop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Would be good to see whales close up. Ever hear of anybody hitting one with their boat? A good policy to ensure you catch something before you head home. bn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Larkin said: Good catch Yowie! Pitty the tigers were undersized - I haven’t caught one of those for a while. lots of whales, seals and turtles out there at the moment - it’s an amazing sight when they fully breach and belly flop! It was a bit quiet, however, there were no spikies caught at all, just tigers this time, the biggest at 32cm, so a bit deeper than we normally fish for flatties. At a guess, probably all males waiting for the females to turn up in spring. I have found in previous years the smaller tigers are males, usually undersize, the legal ones are females. Tiger flatties around Sydney these days are not large fish. A friend in Victoria's east fishes outside at times, and some of the bigger tigers down there exceed 50cm, and nearing 60cm. My biggest out there is 46cm, usually the others 40cm and smaller. Plenty of ocean critters about. Sammy the seal when we anchored probably scared the fish away. Penguins were squawking again after sunset, I hear them every time out there but they are not easy to see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 1 hour ago, big Neil said: Would be good to see whales close up. Ever hear of anybody hitting one with their boat? A good policy to ensure you catch something before you head home. bn Plenty of whales about now b.n. You would have to be unlucky to hit one with a boat, they usually keep clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Ct Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Nice job Yowie, went outside on Sunday down the coast and flatties were very quiet as well. Had a few whales come within a few metres of our tinnie which was a suprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 The water temp is dropping, my neighbour reported it at 17 degrees at Bellambi. The flatties have been fairly quiet this year. At least some entertainment from the whales while fishing, and you are not paying money just to see them on a tourist boat, you can catch a few fish at the same time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 a good feed there mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 13, 2023 Author Share Posted June 13, 2023 21 minutes ago, kantong said: a good feed there mate! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 20 hours ago, Yowie said: It was a bit quiet, however, there were no spikies caught at all, just tigers this time, the biggest at 32cm, so a bit deeper than we normally fish for flatties. At a guess, probably all males waiting for the females to turn up in spring. I have found in previous years the smaller tigers are males, usually undersize, the legal ones are females. Tiger flatties around Sydney these days are not large fish. A friend in Victoria's east fishes outside at times, and some of the bigger tigers down there exceed 50cm, and nearing 60cm. My biggest out there is 46cm, usually the others 40cm and smaller. Plenty of ocean critters about. Sammy the seal when we anchored probably scared the fish away. Penguins were squawking again after sunset, I hear them every time out there but they are not easy to see. The tigers I’ve caught have all seemed to be around that 40cm mark - wonder if the larger ones are out deeper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 13, 2023 Author Share Posted June 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Larkin said: The tigers I’ve caught have all seemed to be around that 40cm mark - wonder if the larger ones are out deeper From my enquiries, the tigers live in deeper water, and during spring they move to shallower water to breed. During spring, the smaller, and just under legals like I caught the other day, are male - I.D. by them squirting out milt when being grabbed to unhook them. Nothing like that happening the other day, because it is not breeding time just yet. Probably just waiting for that time to happen. There may be larger tigers off Sydney, but like you, the ones I catch are 40cm and below, apart from the 46cm I caught a year or 2 ago. 200 feet of water is enough for me to fish for flatties, they may be deeper and bigger, but I don't have the time, or inclination, to fish deeper water for them, and it may be a lot of time between bites. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Wel done Dave, great outcome 👏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 15, 2023 Author Share Posted June 15, 2023 52 minutes ago, Pickles said: Wel done Dave, great outcome 👏 Thanks Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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