Flatties and Squid - Port Hacking

[Larkin]

Gday Raiders, fished local out of port hacking this week.

Fished bate bay with soft plastics trying for some snapper - only one good run which came off. Hooked up a couple of bakers - one went 55cm on lure. Caught some of the other usuals - morwong, scorpion ect.

I was fishing two rods wafting out two different soft plastics when I noticed a huge whale swim directly underneath, I grab the rod and flipped the bail and as I did this it went off like a freight train - reel screamed for 15 seconds then nothing - the end of the line came back frayed, so hopefully it just broke off. 
I’ve had whales swim under on multiple occasions - but this was a big one. Spoke to a diver at the end of the day back at the ramp who had his own encounter. He was diving and a whale swam right up to him (said within a few meters).

Anyway left that area and hit up the cliffs, heaps of rat kings around - caught two, but many more in the water. My mate caught half a dozen bonitos on slow jigs - so they’re still around too.

Decided to go for some flatties. It was slow going, but the bite picked up. Managed 8 fish in around 2 hours of so - some good sized ones.

Hit up a squid spot on the way back in, got 2 decent ones. Water was very clear and could see other chasers down there. My mates braid snapped and lost his jig - I managed to hook up to it and surprisingly it had a live squid attached - which came off boatside. I did get his jig back though.

 

[XD351]

Great report Larkin and you got a feed there ! Big baker !

[Pickles]

Nice work Chris that SB was a solid fish (never tried one, but I’m told nice white flesh in between the bones) and nice bag of Flatties (& squid) 😊

Edited June 23, 2023 by Pickles

[big Neil]

A lovely result Larkin. I suppose the biggest benefit to fishing an area you know well is being able to move on to the next option if things aren't working out. You certainly achieved a good result with some good fish for the table. Job well done. Cheers, bn

[Yowie]

Nice bag of fish again, plus squid.

[Welster]

Another good feed. Getting the jig back with a squid attached is pretty cool.

[Isaac Ct]

Nice stuff Larkin, good feed.

Will have to keep going at the squid.

Well done.

[Rebel]

Another good haul.

Great photos.

Well done.

[bessell1955]

It must have been a jaw dropping moment, when you realised you had attached to a Whale!  

[jenno64]

Great session Chris!

huge SB and some very nice flatties a squid too! You don’t miss🙏🏻

[Larkin]

On 6/23/2023 at 7:30 PM, XD351 said:

Great report Larkin and you got a feed there ! Big baker !

Thanks XD!

Love my flathead! 

23 hours ago, Pickles said:

Nice work Chris that SB was a solid fish (never tried one, but I’m told nice white flesh in between the bones) and nice bag of Flatties (& squid) 😊

Thanks Bob!

Tried one a while back, think I’ll stick to the flatties😂 

19 hours ago, big Neil said:

A lovely result Larkin. I suppose the biggest benefit to fishing an area you know well is being able to move on to the next option if things aren't working out. You certainly achieved a good result with some good fish for the table. Job well done. Cheers, bn

Thanks Neil! -  I always have a few options if one doesn’t pan out. Tried snapper, then kings - the flatties never fail!

13 hours ago, Yowie said:

Nice bag of fish again, plus squid.

thanks yowie - ended up with an entree and main lol

12 hours ago, Welster said:

Another good feed. Getting the jig back with a squid attached is pretty cool.

thanks welster! Yeah not sure if the squid was hooked by my mate, or if it grabbed the jig once I started to pull in the line by hand.

10 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:

Nice stuff Larkin, good feed.

Will have to keep going at the squid.

Well done.

thanks Isaac - these came out of the area I told you about and after midday - keep hitting it.

9 hours ago, Rebel said:

Another good haul.

Great photos.

Well done.

thanks Rebel! Was a good day out

8 hours ago, bessell1955 said:

It must have been a jaw dropping moment, when you realised you had attached to a Whale!  

i saw it underwater on one side coming towards me, and with a line in the water knew what was going to happen - flipped the bail and as soon as I did that the reel went off. I have it on GoPro which I’ll post up on you tube when I have time. So many out there - saw at least 20 whales on the day.
 

28 minutes ago, jenno64 said:

Great session Chris!

huge SB and some very nice flatties a squid too! You don’t miss🙏🏻

Thanks Rob - was one of the largest SB I’ve caught. Was happy to get a couple of squid on the way back in too.

[cassar82]

Nice catch there mate. How deep were the Bonnies  and was it outside along the heads near jibbon bommie   I'm in need of some fresh sashimi 

[kantong]

nice bag mate. What an experience with the whale eh. Lived to tell the tale!

[Larkin]

On 6/25/2023 at 7:55 PM, cassar82 said:

Nice catch there mate. How deep were the Bonnies  and was it outside along the heads near jibbon bommie   I'm in need of some fresh sashimi 

Hi cassar, my mate got the Bonnie’s at around 10-20m depth along the cliffs. I stayed up in Bate Bay, while he went for a ride down along the cliffs all the way to Marley. Came back with 7 Bonnie’s that he caught on slow jigs fishing into baitfish.

6 hours ago, kantong said:

nice bag mate. What an experience with the whale eh. Lived to tell the tale!

thanks Kantong! 
They always come over to have a look at what I’m doing - just curious creatures.
it’s happened to me a few times now - can tell when it’s about to happen as the water starts swirling on the surface from their tails as they approach.

Thought it would spool me, but the braid rubbing on its skin frayed the line.