Big Cow out wide

[Larkin]

Gday Raiders, 

Plan was to head out wide on Thursday to chase some big fish.

I started the morning by visiting the spot I had caught slimies at last week, but there were only yakkas. Loaded up the bait tank and headed straight out. Got to the Fads around 6.30, a boat and another JetSki were already there. The current was ripping at over 4klm/h, water was a nice blue and sea temp at 21.4 C. Some small fish jumping and a couple of flying fish gliding about, so must of been some predators about.
Another boat arrived and after an hour or so with nothing caught they all moved on and left me there alone.

With the fast current, it wasn’t easy fishing in close, so I thought I would try moving out wider to slow troll a livie. Decided to do large circles around that whole area as I had sounded some bait balls a kilometre or so away. Had the livie out for about 15 minutes and the rod starts dancing, as the circle hook sets the sound of a screaming reel is music to my ears. Plenty of aerobatics followed, ensued by a 10-15 minute give and take fight.

The long leader I was using made it a little difficult to land - had to tire the fish out doing circles until it was ready to come on board.

Cow went 115cm. Processed the fish filling my fish bag with ice and as it started to get choppy out there, headed back in. Stopped at the flatty drift to see if any flatties around.

Still not many there - plenty of spikie flathead, but managed one decent blue spot at around 40-45cm in around an hour. 
Had a visit by a small hammerhead - around 1.2m or so that came to look at what I was doing. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Larkin

[Isaac Ct]

Well done Larkin, lots of good fish there. Cool little shark.

[dlvbw]

Dollie whisperer - great work mate! 

[Little_Flatty]

Beast!

Some feasts will be had this weekend, I'm sure!

[bessell1955]

Great Dollie, well caught.

[Larkin]

16 minutes ago, Isaac Ct said:

Well done Larkin, lots of good fish there. Cool little shark.

Thanks Isaac!

a couple of nice fillets came off

17 minutes ago, dlvbw said:

Dollie whisperer - great work mate! 

Haha, thanks mate! been getting some good fish out wide. Surprisingly haven’t caught any small Dollie’s out there. 
 

13 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Beast!

Some feasts will be had this weekend, I'm sure!

Plenty of fish mate - these larger Dollie’s have had some really nice firm flesh on them. 
Kids prefer this over the flathead. I cut into strips and crumb. 
 

7 minutes ago, bessell1955 said:

Great Dollie, well caught.

Thanks bessel!

Got to switch it up if something isn’t working. Tried casting a livie in close, casting lures ect. The slow troll with a livie out wider worked.

[Blackfish]

Great fish mate and you proved you don’t have to be right on the Fad.

[kantong]

check out the head on that fish! well done mate

[whiskey299]

Nice catch Chris!

Hats off to you sir for persisting and nailing a good size.

At this rate you'll need a bigger brag mat and kitchen benchtop.

I've also got reports that the current has been pretty strong recently

[Restyle]

bloody nice fish mate! long leader is a pain i agree, especially with a swivel. Seems you have a nice bit of consistency with dolly as of late & i'm yet to catch my first 🤣

[HOOLIGAN2]

cracken fish for this time of the year well done !!!

 

[BaitDropper]

Awesome report, Well done Sir

 

[Larkin]

2 hours ago, Blackfish said:

Great fish mate and you proved you don’t have to be right on the Fad.

 

thanks Blackfish!

yeah, some larger fish out wider.

2 hours ago, kantong said:

check out the head on that fish! well done mate

she’s a beauty mate!

thanks Kantong!

1 hour ago, whiskey299 said:

Nice catch Chris!

Hats off to you sir for persisting and nailing a good size.

At this rate you'll need a bigger brag mat and kitchen benchtop.

I've also got reports that the current has been pretty strong recently

Thanks Brad!

Haha, been getting some good action lately.

tried light gear too in case they were skittish - but the trolled livie out wider did the trick. 

 

1 hour ago, Restyle said:

bloody nice fish mate! long leader is a pain i agree, especially with a swivel. Seems you have a nice bit of consistency with dolly as of late & i'm yet to catch my first 🤣

Thanks Restyle!

Some big fish out there this season mate.

Dollies always fun to catch, any chance you get to get out there, it’s worth it.

 

51 minutes ago, HOOLIGAN2 said:

cracken fish for this time of the year well done !!!

 

Thanks hooligan!

Over the last month, got a 122cm, 95cm and 115cm. Some good sized fish out there atm. 
 

4 minutes ago, BaitDropper said:

Awesome report, Well done Sir

 

Thanks Baitdropper! 
Had a good day out there yesterday 

[Robbo from Sydney]

30 minutes ago, Larkin said:

 

thanks Blackfish!

yeah, some larger fish out wider.

she’s a beauty mate!

thanks Kantong!

Thanks Brad!

Haha, been getting some good action lately.

tried light gear too in case they were skittish - but the trolled livie out wider did the trick. 

 

Thanks Restyle!

Some big fish out there this season mate.

Dollies always fun to catch, any chance you get to get out there, it’s worth it.

 

Thanks hooligan!

Over the last month, got a 122cm, 95cm and 115cm. Some good sized fish out there atm. 
 

Thanks Baitdropper! 
Had a good day out there yesterday 

Great fish and lots of good food there.  I am impressed with the fact you ared so comfortable fishing offshore on a jetski

5 hours ago, Larkin said:

Thanks Isaac!

a couple of nice fillets came off

Haha, thanks mate! been getting some good fish out wide. Surprisingly haven’t caught any small Dollie’s out there. 
 

Plenty of fish mate - these larger Dollie’s have had some really nice firm flesh on them. 
Kids prefer this over the flathead. I cut into strips and crumb. 
 

Thanks bessel!

Got to switch it up if something isn’t working. Tried casting a livie in close, casting lures ect. The slow troll with a livie out wider worked.

 

[Yowie]

Nice fish there Chris, worth the effort out.

Like both of us have found lately, the ocean flatties are rather scarce.

[Larkin]

7 hours ago, Robbo from Sydney said:

Great fish and lots of good food there.  I am impressed with the fact you ared so comfortable fishing offshore on a jetski

 

Thanks Robbo!

Been JetSki fishing over 3 years now & have it set up for offshore.
Started off inside and ventured further and further out over time.

7 hours ago, Yowie said:

Nice fish there Chris, worth the effort out.

Like both of us have found lately, the ocean flatties are rather scarce.

thanks Dave! 
spoke to a mate down Wollongong way - same down there too. Plenty of spikies but very few blue spots outside.
Said there were some thumpers being caught in the channel inside lake Illawarra though.

[Basil D]

Love these fish , enjoy 

[Ledge]

Nice one! Loving your reports Larkin. Great level of detail and good pics. Keep them coming!

Edited December 9, 2023 by Ledge

[Yowie]

10 hours ago, Larkin said:

Said there were some thumpers being caught in the channel inside lake Illawarra though.

Biggest one I saw from the lake, fishing there as a kid, was close to 4 foot long.

[Larkin]

5 hours ago, Yowie said:

Biggest one I saw from the lake, fishing there as a kid, was close to 4 foot long.

Thats a very big fish. I think now with the release rule for large flathead, we’ll start seeing some monsters over the coming years.
 

[Larkin]

7 hours ago, Basil D said:

Love these fish , enjoy 

Thanks Basil!

you been having some time off the water mate! Must be still eating well off those hauls of snapper!

6 hours ago, Ledge said:

Nice one! Loving your reports Larkin. Great level of detail and good pics. Keep them coming!

Thanks ledge!

Hopefully enough info to get some readers onto them out there.

[Basil D]

Between running a business and now building a Granny Flat and add the work to be completed before Christmas it has killed off my fishing time, Im hoping to get out this weekend and and after Christmas , its killing me  

[jenno64]

That's another bucket list ticked off Chris and those fillets look superbly prepared! It's good to see fishos getting the best out of their catch:)

[Larkin]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:56 PM, Basil D said:

Between running a business and now building a Granny Flat and add the work to be completed before Christmas it has killed off my fishing time, Im hoping to get out this weekend and and after Christmas , its killing me  

Sounds like you’ve been super busy!

Need a day on the water me thinks!

10 hours ago, jenno64 said:

That's another bucket list ticked off Chris and those fillets look superbly prepared! It's good to see fishos getting the best out of their catch:)

Thanks Rob, fillets came out nice! Bleeding and chilling straight away makes all the difference.

[big Neil]

I really do live in the wrong place when I see those lovely fish fillets and fish pieces in abundance. I love to eat fish but there's no such thing as fresh fish here unless I kill one of the iconic Murray Cod...something I seldom have the heart to do. Ah well, it is what it is, nothing is perfect in life. I love living where I do, even if I can't get fresh fish.

Great post and photos Larkin. Tight lines, bn