Jump to content

Crazy longtail catch


Recommended Posts

Hi all

I just had to share this one.  Fishing yesterday morning off mid north coast with my mate, Marcus.  It was a pretty quiet morning for the most part.  We'd been trolling livies around for a while in hope o a mackerel with no bites so decided to just drift and throw some plastics around for a change.  There were 2 other boats near us trolling their livies and they both hooked up to some solid looking fish at the same time.

I was watching them fight their fish and contemplating whether to go back to trolling when I get hit from a solid fish on my soft plastic!  It was obviously a good fish and I was a bit undergunned with my snapper gear.  It took off on a long run just below the surface and circled around one of the other boats and I thought that was going to be the end of my fish but the line never popped and it continued around the other side.  Unfortunately though, I could feel the other boat's line against mine so we were both at risk of losing our fish.

A couple of minutes later I could see a longtail getting closer to the boat and Marcus was able to gaff it.  As soon as he gaffed it we realised it was the other boat's fish.  Mine was still out there probably 30m from the boat and still connected.  I let the other boat know we had their fish and the guy complained and said that he wanted to fight it himself 🤣.  As we went to try and free my line, it snapped!  So now I was standing there handlining a longtail on 20lb braid thinking first run it takes this will all be over.  However that's not what happened - it kinda just hung around and pulled a few times but didn't try to take off on a run.  Marcus grabbed one of my other rods cut the rig off it and tied my line onto the end, and I was back in the fight!  I was on a heavier rod now but I still only had a 20lb leader on so was a bit wary of trying to go too hard on this fish.  It took another few minutes of circling around the boat before we finally got our chance and Marcus expertly gaffed it and we had 2 longtails on the deck and high fives all round!

How's that for teamwork!  Not a massive fish at around 6-7kg but I'll remember this one for a long time!

  • Like 9
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent outcome and report Tim. Would have given your heart palpitations for sure. Marcus sounds like a quick thinker and top crew. Congrats. 
cheers Zoran 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

Excellent outcome and report Tim. Would have given your heart palpitations for sure. Marcus sounds like a quick thinker and top crew. Congrats. 
cheers Zoran 

Yes he was definitely the one who made it all happen. He’s never gaffed a fish before so was a bit nervous but he did it perfectly 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s a great story and a great catch!

Did you get a photo with the other boat/angler? No need to post but things like this certainly don’t happen every day and I would’ve thought you’d both want a picture to tell the tale!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fishing out of Port Macquarie 

We didn’t get any pics of the other boat, which is a bit of a shame. Just didn’t think of it until after. Hopefully I’ll see them at the ramp one day.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Blackfish said:

That’s a great catch YK01. I did see a couple of Long Tail frames at the boat ramp yesterday at Port. Car park is full of Cars and trailers down there today.

No wonder with the amazing forecast today. Wasn’t that busy yesterday but still a good day for it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, TK01 said:

Hi all

I just had to share this one.  Fishing yesterday morning off mid north coast with my mate, Marcus.  It was a pretty quiet morning for the most part.  We'd been trolling livies around for a while in hope o a mackerel with no bites so decided to just drift and throw some plastics around for a change.  There were 2 other boats near us trolling their livies and they both hooked up to some solid looking fish at the same time.

I was watching them fight their fish and contemplating whether to go back to trolling when I get hit from a solid fish on my soft plastic!  It was obviously a good fish and I was a bit undergunned with my snapper gear.  It took off on a long run just below the surface and circled around one of the other boats and I thought that was going to be the end of my fish but the line never popped and it continued around the other side.  Unfortunately though, I could feel the other boat's line against mine so we were both at risk of losing our fish.

A couple of minutes later I could see a longtail getting closer to the boat and Marcus was able to gaff it.  As soon as he gaffed it we realised it was the other boat's fish.  Mine was still out there probably 30m from the boat and still connected.  I let the other boat know we had their fish and the guy complained and said that he wanted to fight it himself 🤣.  As we went to try and free my line, it snapped!  So now I was standing there handlining a longtail on 20lb braid thinking first run it takes this will all be over.  However that's not what happened - it kinda just hung around and pulled a few times but didn't try to take off on a run.  Marcus grabbed one of my other rods cut the rig off it and tied my line onto the end, and I was back in the fight!  I was on a heavier rod now but I still only had a 20lb leader on so was a bit wary of trying to go too hard on this fish.  It took another few minutes of circling around the boat before we finally got our chance and Marcus expertly gaffed it and we had 2 longtails on the deck and high fives all round!

How's that for teamwork!  Not a massive fish at around 6-7kg but I'll remember this one for a long time!

Been hard to hit the mackeral this season, one day there on the next day the off completely. Where abouts on the coast were you trolling? Been some good fishing off SWR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Crabstar said:

Been hard to hit the mackeral this season, one day there on the next day the off completely. Where abouts on the coast were you trolling? Been some good fishing off SWR

Port Macquarie.  They are getting caught here but only sporadic.  SWR definitely a better option to get into them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a great report of teamsmanship that paid dividends (usually does). Getting a longtail on any gear is great work, but on 20lb, that’s something to store in the memory banks - well done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...