Snapper, Trag, Jewfish, Pearl Perch, Pigfish and an unexpected visitor

[whiskey299]

We dropped into Artificial Reef and quickly stocked up on slimy and yakkas on the sabiki.
Using a 1oz sinker I found that all I could catch were tiny yakkas while my mate was loaded up with slimys.
Quickly changed to a 2oz sinker and that fixed that issue.

 

Swell was as predicted 1.2-1.3m with a really short 6sec period, not great conditions but still fishable. A 3oz sinker would struggle to reach the bottom so I switched to 4oz and only used a single piece of small bait on my double paternoster rig to reduce the drag. This made it fishable but not ideal as the line was no where near vertical. First spot was unproductive so we moved and that's when the action started. I landed my PB Pearl Perch 41cm and was over the moon. IMO one of the best eating fish Sydney has to offer. Not long after hooking more mowies, pigfish and the odd snapper a school of Trags swam past and we had lots of fun.

 

While winding up a small mowie something grabbed it and started peeling drag and then let go. At first I thought it was a shark but when I got the mowie to the surface it was still intact with a big grab mark around it's body. Obviously not a shark as it would have been easily cut in half. A few minutes later my heavier setup buckles over and it's a good fish, even with a decent amount of drag line is pulling away and before I know it I'm cut! I'm devastated but that's fishing. Not long after that Captain Isaac was hooked onto something big, taking his time the fish surfaces and it's a stonker Jewfish! After a brief tense moment of them trying to bring the fish in closer to net, I reassure them it's suffering barotrauma and it's going no where. We measured the fish and it's a 1m specimen and his new PB caught on a Nomad Squidtrex 130mm lure he had just bought yesterday.

 

I ended up switching to various slowjigs and settled on a 150g as the current was just too strong to keep the line vertical. After 15mins I'm tired, put the slow jigging rod in the holder, back off the drag and let the swell do the hard work, this technique is called lazy jigging and is possible on lumpy day like this. 15mins later the slow jiggin rod bends over, success! Taking my time and enjoying the moment a 60cm snapper surfaces. 

 

Things start to slow down by midday and the whales are happily breaching near by, nothing beats some free entertainment. I spot what I thought was a massive kingfish on the surface, but then call out tuna. I cast my slow jig at it and work the lure, it's interested, very interested as it gets closer we realise it's a mako about 1.2m or larger. It takes the jig and I feel the rod load up, it darts around the motor and then swims back out and leaps into the air and spits the hook. I'm devasted again, but that's fishing!

 

Other fish that were caught:

Maori Wrasse

Scorpion fish

Pike

Trevally

Flathead

Sergeant Baker

Lots of velvet jackets on jigs and bait

 

On the way back to the boat ramp we released 20 slimy/yakkas in the harbour. Hopefully they stay around and help restock bait in the local area.

Edited August 26, 2023 by Little_Flatty
Please do not edit photos as per site rule #11

[kantong]

a good day out despite the conditions. thanks for sharing the report!

[big Neil]

Great report whiskey299. Some good eating, quality fish there. Mako's are amazing when they launch into the air, do cartwheels, and plunge back in...often ending up spitting the hook. Thanks for your report.

bn

[Yowie]

An entertaining day out. 

The pearlie and good sized reddie are the pick of the catch.

[fragmeister]

Lovely pearlie,

On my bucket list ..still yet to catch one.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

 

[bessell1955]

Some quality fish there!

[LuckyFil]

Great report @whiskey299 plenty of detail about the fishing techniques which makes it all the more interesting to read - and some really good captures - the big pearlie, jewie and red.

Obviously a fair bit of current out there or was it wind(?) that required the bigger sinkers, were you fishing deep water?

Cheers

Fil

[rickmarlin62]

Cracka of a pearly  sounds like a great day  well done

[Larkin]

Top haul Brad! 👍

Nice Pearlie - was that on a live slimie or cut bait?

the jewies as well as the trag from down deep wont survive after being brought up - best to keep as long as your not over the bag limit.
My mate got a jewie out deep last week - same barotrauma issue. 

[Guinness]

Brilliant day out Whiskey299. All great quality table fish as well as giving you a top workout to land them. Well done. 

[GordoRetired]

That sounds like a real good days fishing and a great feed of fish. Well done.

[whiskey299]

On 8/26/2023 at 11:14 AM, Larkin said:

Top haul Brad! 👍

Nice Pearlie - was that on a live slimie or cut bait?

the jewies as well as the trag from down deep wont survive after being brought up - best to keep as long as your not over the bag limit.
My mate got a jewie out deep last week - same barotrauma issue. 

Thanks Chris. 

Pearlie was caught on small piece of slimy on 2/0 j hook.