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Nothing Blue about this trip! - Blue Eyes from Browns Mountain 25.03.2024


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Hey Raiders/Deckees,

Finally had the opportunity to head out again with Warren @Fishingwazza2019 ... with Monday's calm forecast conditions holding we agreed to hit Brown's for some deep drop action. 

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Sunday afternoon - devOcean all fuelled, packed and ready to go !

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Monday, we left my place on time at 5am, and were launching at Ermo ramp at 545am - a very low tide added a bit of fun to the launch but we got the rig off and pretty soon were heading up the harbour. There was one other rig launching as we left, 3 lads heading offshore to chase Marlin.

Stopped at Middle Head to join 3 other boats having a go at livies (yakkas) ... just in case there was action at 12mile  ... but despite plenty of yakkas coming around the burley there was no enticing then to take pillies, squid or sabikis 😞. With no bait action seen on the other boats either, we pulled stumps around 7am and headed for Browns. 

Hit Browns just on 8am and positioned ourselves at my favourite Southern mark.

Half a dozen other boats there to keep us company. Water temp a low 22.9 - 23.3C. The current running S - N and pretty slow judging by the angle of the lines (we were held in place with Fishpoint).

First drop I managed to pull up a red deep sea cod but the action was slooooow after that - we persevered for about an hour then moved to my West mark.  Bingo, I had a decent strike and up came one blue eye.

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As soon as it was dispatched into the kill tank, Wazza connected and up came the pidgeon pair blue eye. Great timing !

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We kept at it, for a few more hours. A young chap came alongside for a chat and tried to show us his catch from earlier in the day - he bent down and was clearly  struggling with the lift - all we could see over the gunnels was a massive bar cod head - what a fish !

With that encouragement Wazza quickly add another blue eye to the catch.  But, sadly that was it for me for the day, I did have a very decent strike but whatever it was took my rig deep and fouled the rig on the mountain ... we could see the rod tip dancing with the fish (must have been on the top hook of the paternoster) but after 15min of driving around trying to free the snag the braid let go. Bummer.  

So final count for us was 1 red deep sea cod, and 3 blue eye. Can't complain about that:

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We struck back for Ermo around 2pm. The weather changed as forecast with the wind now NE, which placed it behind us and made for a comfortable and quick ride sitting on 45-50kmh.

Back at the ramp we managed another challenge -  low tide retrieval - requiring several drive on attempts but we got there in the end. We also met the Marlin lads - they arrived back as we were pulling out and reported a 3.0.0 day. 

Thanks for a great day Wazza.... here he is offloading the catch.

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Cheers and Tight Lines,

Zoran

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Great report Zoran, plus fantastically clear photos. What are the Blue Eyes like to eat and how do you cook them?

Glad you were successful with the launch and retrieve in low water.

Cheers, bn

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10 hours ago, Crabstar said:

Great Report mate!

Love Blue eye! Don't see myself getting out there ever, don't think the 420 renegade will ever make it!

Thanks mate. It is a fair way out and conditions change. You’d be surprised at the boats I have seen out there over the years … but then some people just have a lot of ball(ast) and test their luck …. And others like @JonD have a lot of skill and experience to take a small vessel even wider - but the one he used was fg not ally. 
 

 

10 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Fantastic feed Zoran.

So what music do Blue Eyes respond best to? The Blues? Or even Old Blue Eyes himself?🤣

Thanks Mike. Hahaha yes last trip was 70-80s rock and Maria pulled up a bigger blue eye. This trip was my mixed playlist … maybe I shouldn’t have changed the list !!!

Hmmmm Old Blue Eyes… now there’s a thought 🤔 … let me think about that. Any specific song you would recommend?

10 hours ago, big Neil said:

Great report Zoran, plus fantastically clear photos. What are the Blue Eyes like to eat and how do you cook them?

Thanks BN.  Blue Eyes are great on the chew. Lots of firm white flesh with no bones suitable for just about everything. It’s hard to cook them wrong. Some folks even roast the heads after basting with marinade as there is a lot of flesh in the cheeks etc. 
 

cheers Zoran 

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2 hours ago, GordoRetired said:

Looks like you had another great day out. Well done. Nothing like a good feed of fresh fish. 🙂 

 Thanks Buddy .... one could say any day on the water is great(er) than a day on the golf course 🤔 ! 

In the spirit of Boomtown Rats regarding not fishing:

Tell me why?   Some don't do Mondays

Tell me why?   Some don't do Wednesdays

Tell me why?   Some don't do Fridays

They want to Golf  ... the whole day's a-down(er)  

Cheers Zoran  😁

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59 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

 Thanks Buddy .... one could say any day on the water is great(er) than a day on the golf course 🤔 ! 

In the spirit of Boomtown Rats regarding not fishing:

Tell me why?   Some don't do Mondays

Tell me why?   Some don't do Wednesdays

Tell me why?   Some don't do Fridays

They want to Golf  ... the whole day's a-down(er)  

Cheers Zoran  😁

Hummm, A bad day out fishing sure beats a good day in the office. A day golfing vs a day fishing, that's a hard call. 😂😂
 

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21 minutes ago, BaitDropper said:

Great report Zoran.

Low tide drive on challenge !!   My last time out was the same 😁.

Well worth the minor challenge at the end of a day out But...

Thanks Col ... yup can't complain. You just have to roll with the conditions, retry until you succeed, and keep it safe.

11 minutes ago, GordoRetired said:

Hummm, A bad day out fishing sure beats a good day in the office. A day golfing vs a day fishing, that's a hard call. 😂😂
 

It's a no contest ... at the end of a day's fishing I get "a good feed of fresh fish" .....  at the end of a day's golfing ??? - please show me a decent golf ball recipe !!!!

Cheers Z

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8 hours ago, zmk1962 said:

Hmmmm Old Blue Eyes… now there’s a thought 🤔 … let me think about that. Any specific song you would recommend?

I have nothing on this front - my Sinatra knowledge leaves much to be desired - but if Maria out fishes you on your next trip out together, you can also put on some Elton John:  "Baby's got blue eyes" :D 

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56 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

I have nothing on this front - my Sinatra knowledge leaves much to be desired - but if Maria out fishes you on your next trip out together, you can also put on some Elton John:  "Baby's got blue eyes" :D 

That may also make for a very cold, silent and icy trip back home  -  Maria's eyes are BROWN !

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31 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

But if she outfishes you on Blue Eyes, then it will work out right? 🤣

🤔 probably… but if I don’t take her she can’t outfish me !

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Nice catch Zoran! Worth the effort to head out wide. 

I find the good old beef mince mixed with flour will get the yakkas biting when they’re being difficult.
 

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1 hour ago, whiskey299 said:

Nice catch Zoran.

I believe that’s a reef ocean perch you’ve caught there. Is that right @Blackfish

Goes by a few common names but “Bigeye Ocean Perch” I recon.

Sounds like a great day out with plenty of fun banter … and that’s what makes it special. Oh and a few fish.😄

 

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10 hours ago, Larkin said:

Nice catch Zoran! Worth the effort to head out wide. 

I find the good old beef mince mixed with flour will get the yakkas biting when they’re being difficult.
 

Thanks Chris yes it is some effort but I enjoy the mystery of what comes up from the depths. Mince Interesting. My burley this time was a couple of flattie fillets (found fallen to the back of the freezer), run through a blender with stale bread, tuna oil and pillies then frozen into logs. Usually it’s fish frames, heads etc instead of the fillets and makes them ravenous and has never failed.  It brought them around but they were not biting. 
 

11 hours ago, whiskey299 said:

Nice catch Zoran.

I believe that’s a reef ocean perch you’ve caught there. Is that right @Blackfish

9 hours ago, Blackfish said:

Goes by a few common names but “Bigeye Ocean Perch” I recon.

Sounds like a great day out with plenty of fun banter … and that’s what makes it special. Oh and a few fish.😄

 

Thanks @whiskey299 and @Blackfish I stand corrected. I always thought of perch as having flatter deeper bodies like bream/snapper … this fish’s body shape closely resembled a rock cod - rounded and spiky.  Regardless it tasted great 👍 

9CA0CBC5-E571-4087-96CE-F9316EF49462.thumb.jpeg.af316b6b87103308dfc4c8e6b60fb63b.jpegcheers Zoran 

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It looks and sounds like another day out in great conditions and a few good feeds there.   That snagged fish would have been so frustrating trying to find a way to get it free.  

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