Plan B and a rare catch an Eastern Blue Devil Fish

[whiskey299]

 

#fishdistributionsystem working overtime to share these with neighbour, uncle, in laws and parents.

Plan A: Head offshore in the yak to see how far I can go and how long it takes to reach some really deep spots 70-100m
Plan B: Fish the heads for table species

Got to the ramp nice and early launched at first light and what do you know. The damn sounder won't turn on! I disconnect and reconnect the power connector many times but it still won't turn on. I'm devastated as I really wanted to fish offshore.

So it looks like plan B and I'll be fishing blind! I motor out to where I think the wreck is, drop the sabiki and to my pleasant surprise I've caught a yakka. After about 15mins I consider myself very fortunate that I've managed to almost fill my livewell without the aid of the sounder. 

The morning started real slow without the sounder and my gps marks it's a guess work where there might be fish or structure. By 8am a school of rat kings make their appearance. It's the first time exploring this far and it doesn't help that I have no downscan or gps. Throughout the day I just have to guess where the fish are and I'm constantly moving spots until I get some decent nibbles. It's not until about 1pm when the action really starts the pickup, wrasse, snapper, scorpion fish one after the other. I even managed to hook an Eastern Blue Devil Fish (protected species) which is a first for me. Such a pretty fish I didn't really get a chance to admire it as I wanted to return it back to the water asap. Eventually the bite wears off at dead low tide. While moving around looking for fish I snagged multiple times and then hooked a freight train that ran straight into the rocks. I suspect this was a decent king as most sharks would head out towards the sea, not into the rocks. Today I lost all my sinker and rigs that I had brought, primarily due to snags and having no gps on the sounder. 

The scorpionfish is the biggest I've seen and caught and a PB for me 36cm. When they get to this size they are reasonably weighty.

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by whiskey299

[Yowie]

Not a bad haul at all with no sounder. Pan sized reddies, and red rockies, and a couple of others. The red rocks produce small but chunky fillets.

[LuckyFil]

Great to see the Eastern Blue Devil Fish, I've only seen one before about fifty years ago when snapper fishing near Palm Beach

Fil

[Robbo from Sydney]

An impressive haul - even more so with no sounder or gps

[noelm]

Not a huge fan of those Crimson Banded Parrot fish, or the Butchers…..probably would have tossed them back along with the Sweep and Red Rock Cod, but, lots seem to keep them. Good catch of Snapper there, well done.

[whiskey299]

15 hours ago, Yowie said:

Not a bad haul at all with no sounder. Pan sized reddies, and red rockies, and a couple of others. The red rocks produce small but chunky fillets.

 

1 hour ago, LuckyFil said:

Great to see the Eastern Blue Devil Fish, I've only seen one before about fifty years ago when snapper fishing near Palm Beach

Fil

 

1 hour ago, Robbo from Sydney said:

An impressive haul - even more so with no sounder or gps

Thanks guys, yes it was challenging without a sounder and gps. I've been checking the wiring and it looks like the sounder is dead. From what I have read online lowrance won't repair units which is going to be expensive at it's going to cost me around $1400 for a new unit! But I will give them a call and confirm before I pull out the credit card.

[whiskey299]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Not a huge fan of those Crimson Banded Parrot fish, or the Butchers…..probably would have tossed them back along with the Sweep and Red Rock Cod, but, lots seem to keep them. Good catch of Snapper there, well done.

Yea these fish aren't for everyone but my parents love them fried.

I love the red rock cod, it's great steamed and adding a touch of sesame oil to the sauce just enhances the taste.

[bessell1955]

A great variety of fish.

[Little_Flatty]

Great report and catch @whiskey299. That eastern blue devil fish is a beauty, kind of like saltwater’s answer to a Siamese fighting fish.

[Larkin]

Nice catch Brad!

Download navonics on your phone mate, if you get the paid version it’ll give you relief shading so you can see the bottom structure - best back up for those situations, although it looks like you managed just fine!

[Pickles]

Hey @whiskey299, a cracker of a day on the snapper. Well done, a pity about the sounder, hope you get it sorted without too much expense.

(Devil fish are beautiful indeed, that one is a male, much bigger and more attractive than the girls - I see them occasionally when diving, not that I do that much now, but get a few dives in each year.)

[kantong]

great report and a cracking mixed bag! what a beautiful Blue Devil Fish, thanks for sharing!