Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

With exams and school camps over, I was finally able to get out for a session on Sunday morning, and headed out with my dad to Manly. Recently, I’ve been trying to increase my squid fishing prowess, as squid is one of the best baits and also they taste great. I hadn’t really had a dedicated squidding session before, so r he plan for me was to exclusively fish for squid for at least the first part of the morning. Started at forty baskets beach at around 6:15. Google maps and previous sessions here had identified this as a prime squidding spot. Clear water, kelp beds, and when I looked in the water, plenty of baitfish. As I was tying on my squid jig, I could already see small squid swimming around the baths.

After a couple of casts, I felt a weight and that distinct pulsating on the end of the rod and brought in my first squid. A couple of casts later I hooked onto another one. This one was even smaller so I decided to send it back. There also seemed to be schools of fish that looked to be a cross between trevally and Yakkas as well as some weird spiky fish with spots. I’ve got no idea what they are so if anyone has any id on them it would be appreciated.

A lot of the squid seemed to be very small, perfect live bait size, which was what I decided to do with the next squid.  I had also caught a cuttlefish and partly because it looked too cute to kill and also cause I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it I decided to let it go. I ended up catching one more small one which I gave to my dad to live bait, before moving to the rocks further down the beach. I managed to pick up one more small squid before going back to the jetty at the beach. 
 

it was pretty quiet for a couple of hours after that and also my leader had a tiny fray just below the fg which decided to give way when working the squid jig so no more squidding for me. While I was retying my knot, my dad hooked onto a good fish, so I left my knot to grab the net and netted my dads Pb flatty at 54cm on a tiny hook with a piece of chicken. I also saw a ton of leather jacket around the baths and I hadn’t had leatherjacket in a while so I dropped down a peeled prawn and got up 2 leatherjacket which made for a decent feed with the flatty and squid. 
 

After that nothing much else happened and we headed home. I’m pretty happy with this session overall except for losing my squid jig, plenty more reports to come through the summer.


IMG_1908.jpeg.3fe7df0f6cebd0ea0b2e0b1012b1ccaf.jpeg

spiky unknown fish (above)
IMG_1905.jpeg.eb00c5dbf6602d68a807df961cfb239b.jpegIMG_1902.jpeg.302f3ca5f8e0c528e4c8605d461ba2e5.jpegIMG_1901.jpeg.2fdd5ec9f98bcfdfda7c0242082ab741.jpeg

  • Like 12
Posted

Good to see you working on your cephalopod game @Jo5hC. Good eating sized flatty for your dad too. Lovely part of the world too.

My gut feel is that fish is a spinefoot of sorts, black spinefoot perhaps? I've encountered them before. Post in the aquarium and see what the experts like @Blackfish say.

  • Like 2
Posted

Yep, “Happy moment” caught lots of them, they go by lots of different names, Black Trevally, Spinefoot, Rabbit Fish and a few others, OK eating, (if you like eating small spiky fish) but very painful if spiked, hence the “happy moment” name……

  • Like 4
Posted

Great report Josh. Black Trevally - DO NOT GET SPIKED these are a serious and painful species like Bullrout (Fortesque) and red rock cod. I know from experience (not fun and will ruin a days fishing). The pain lasts for several hours. I carry a thermos of boiling water as this will breakdown the poison and offer some relief.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Posted

A nice flatty.

Different names as Noel stated above. One thing for sure, the spikey fins do sting if you get spiked.

  • Like 1
Posted

Great report Josh with a few things making it interesting.

I would have to agree with everyone “Black Rabbitfish” (Official common name) but as already mentioned they go under lots of other names and as also mentioned that if you get stung by them you will be calling it a lot more other names 😄.

Good photos to 👍

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Posted (edited)

At the risk of repetition DO NOT GET SPIKED by these guys. The sting is extremely painful I saw a guy nearly faint after getting spiked and it lasted a long time. If you hook one use pliers to remove hook or if need be just cut the line!

Otherwise congrats on your squiding session - sometimes you just need to say I won't try for anything else for a set time.

Cheers

Fil

Edited by LuckyFil
Posted

A very welcome report Josh, always great to get out fishing with Dad. Good result all round , you with the cephalopods and Dad with a PB Flattie. I will look forward to your posts now that you have created more time for fishing. Keep up the good work. bn

  • Like 1
Posted
On 12/5/2023 at 1:16 PM, mrsswordfisherman said:

Here is a bit of info. I will be adding a First Aid section with info and links soon.

It would be good to have a podcast or session presented for us by a qualified body - will look into this as well. 

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/sea-creature-stings 

Cheers

mrsswordie

Another good initiative that you are pursuing Donna. I trust it will prove very beneficial to the numerous Fishraiders who read the posts on a regular basis.

Cheers, bn

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Posted
On 12/5/2023 at 1:16 PM, mrsswordfisherman said:

Here is a bit of info. I will be adding a First Aid section with info and links soon.

It would be good to have a podcast or session presented for us by a qualified body - will look into this as well. 

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/sea-creature-stings 

Cheers

mrsswordie

I was looking at a new first aid kit for my boat  recently but I find the ones sold seem to be loaded with a lot of junk I doubt would be of any use in a boat or the quality of the contents is very low - crap scissors etc or close to being out of date . While I fully understand that these kits are put together for a price and to try and cover most scenarios I think a kit specifically for fishing would be nice or maybe some recommendations for a couple of smaller kits that contain items that are most likely to be needed on a fishing trip , say one for shore based fishing( rock , beach & estuary)  general boat fishing and fishing / hiking for those that like to trudge along rivers and streams ( the risk of snake bites is much higher here and sprains or broken bones are more likely here than beach fishing etc ) 

Just a few thoughts ! 

  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...