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Two very different days of winter fishing


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Haven't been fishing too much but considering its school holidays I managed to get out on Friday with a mate and on Sunday with some family friends so this report is kind of a combination of both days.

Friday: Got down to the local at Apple Tree Bay just to do some soft plastic fishing not expecting too much as it is winter but first cast saw a flounder following up my plastic but after failing to set the hook did not get anymore attention. Moved around to the stacked up rocks and saw a ton of bream which actually seemed quite interested in my grub but had some commitment issues. Final spot to try was the pontoon where we fished for a while. Saw what would've been millions of jelly prawns stacked around the shallows and pontoon. Every few minutes they would start jumping followed by big boofs on the waters surface, which I think were bream who I was not able to entice as they were too keyed into the prawns. Put on some Sfactor as the bite was pretty much shut down and that seemed to do the trick as on the second cast hooked onto something that started taking some pretty fast runs. Almost dusted me on the pontoon edge but up came my PB trev at 33cm and also my second on lures. We kept it for the table as I hadn't had fresh fish in ages. 

Moved to Bobbin Head and did not get any luck until the sun was pretty much setting when I caught a undersize bream on soft plastics that was unfortunately hooked in the eye. Some plier work and after bending the jighead out, the fish seemed to swim off fine. One more undersize tailor and then called it a day as it got dark. Not a bad day at all considering winter and land based. 

Sunday: Our initial goal was to head down to Parsley bay to try and target some snapper or trevs but upon arrival, it was far too packed and we decided to move. Ended up at Rose bay pontoon where we saw a ton of squid ink on the pontoon so now our goal was to get some squid. Started off with soft plastics as it was the middle of the day and got some hits which I expected were from overeager tiny snapper but did manage to foul hook a Yakka which we livebaited for no luck until the livebait just fell of the hook or got picked so stealthily that we didn't see it. As it got closer to sunset we started squidding and my mate managed to hook onto a squid pretty quickly for a solid 1 second before it coming off. There were definitely squid in the area as over the next 1.5 hrs, the squid started to fire up. I lost two squid and managed to land one decent one which was actually an arrow squid which caught me by surprise. My mate on the other hand was having a ball hooking the squid but couldn't seem to keep them on. Finally managed to get his first squid on a squid jig being another decent arrow. Then the bite suddenly shut off and we decided to call it there. 

Overall two very different types of sessions but managed to find a decent amount of success in both of them which is always good but especially so in the winter. Definitely need to hone in my squiddin skills a bit more...

 

Trev.jpg

Squid rings.jpg

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With the squid, no need to strike, the hooks on the jig will stick into the tentacles, so keep a firm tension on the line. When the squid pulls back after being hooked, ease the rod tip towards it. Not giving any line at all and trying to stiff arm the squid towards the shore will quite often cause the hooks to pull out.

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Good on ya hooking some nice squid! But yeah, what Yowie says, and also let it take the jig, don't pull immediately. Lower your rod and let the line get slack, so that it can grab the jig in earnest and carry it for a meter or so. Then "strike", or more like gently lift the rod and start reeling in. 

Often smaller arrow squid are a bit shy and would touch your jig and immediately let go. I'd recommend changing jigs in such situations - either texture, or colour is putting it off and it's not sure whether it's edible. 

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hey mate, I've been fishing that same spot for ages but could only catch tiny fish. was the trevally you caught in Apple tree bay's boat docking pontoon or the one far out? thanks!

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10 hours ago, odysea_yt said:

hey mate, I've been fishing that same spot for ages but could only catch tiny fish. was the trevally you caught in Apple tree bay's boat docking pontoon or the one far out? thanks!

It was on the one far out. Honestly wasn’t expecting it though as I had only caught small fish prior as well. 

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