rebehy

Nice catch guys. What was your water depth?

Forgive me if I am wrong, but you may be a little inexperienced with boating?? Is this your first boat? If so then DON'T head out in such a small boat even if the wind and swells are down. Gain experience in the bay first. Try some rougher days inside the bay but be careful. If you decide you are going to venture out, try to arrange another boat company to stay close by. Incidently, you should be able to catch legal fish (and even some monster fish) inside the bay on almost every trip. Try some of the well known charters on the bay for a day. Trust me, you will thank me later. Cheers Eddie

I really enjoyed reading this report. It's always good to get out after a couple of tough months and pull in results like you have

I use baitrunner reels so when I say 'strike' I mean that I set the bailarm after the fish has run freespool. Once the fish is loaded, I often pull back a little initially to ensure the hook is set. Is that not necessary? This works for me on trevs, snapper etc... Sorry for hijacking the thread Joe, but it is all relevant to your initial post. Cheers.

Well done on a nice catch Joe. 5 pulled hooks on trevs in one session seems a little harsh.I use small circle hooks and let the fish run before striking. Much better hookup rate since I started doing that.

You don't know my cat. I had to take him to emergency vet once at 1am because he bit a hook that smelled a bit fishy on my boat. True story.

Congrats on the Sambo Jono.

Well done Carlo. I caught my first Pike on Saturday as well. I read on the net that they are an ok table fish but I think the fishos on this site know better More for my cat I think and I'll know to release them next time. Nicely done on the Trevs. Eddie

Great report Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!

I kept these two for bait/burley but I have heard several people say they are ok to eat when done properly. I'm not sure about the pike. will try frying it. Regards, Eddie Anthony: I always get backlash even after years and years of practice always trying to push their limits.. I still love baitcasters though. I am having much more trouble with them after switching to braid.

Well done. The kids must have had a ball.

Hi Guys. Inside the bay at bear island I anchored and ended up with two PJ's (now I know why everyones so peeved off with them). I decided to head just outside the bay drifting in 25-40m waters a few hundred metres out. The water was calm (which is why I found the courage to venture out on my own. Not a bad day in all but I quickly got a birdsnest on my brand new baitcaster on its very first cast I'll have a go at it later but I think I blew $70 worth of braid. Anyway back to my fishing trip. I quicky set up my two eggbeaters (a 4000 and 8000 Shimano baitrunners). I caught my first Pike (around 45cm), one Travelli (40cm), three legal snapper , a very legal murwong (also my first) and a whole lot of throw backs mainly reds. On my way back in I trolled around near the northern breaks and got two stripies. Sorry, It was too dark for photos by the time I got back.

Hi Mickey, This video is made by Scotty Lyons and as I suggested, he can take you out on the bay hands on for a minimal cost. Cheers Eddie

No worries and thanks for the replies. Ranting (or venting) is something we all do from time to time. Here's my rant for the day: You wouldn't beleive it but I had my rod/reel (the one used in the photo to catch this PJ) and my whole tackle box in my driveway from last night stolen some tome during the night. I forget that I left them out.

Hi Tony, I'm not too certain but I think that our carp is in fact European carp that was introduced into our waterways some time ago. (someones biggest mistake disguised as a brilliant idea)Incidentally, I have seen them on sale in several places and as low as $99c/Kg. Cheaper than cat food! Eddie