Pongrass18ft

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 11:23 AM, swordfisherman said:

The cod bug had bitten again after successful trips and it was time to check out a new place. The gorges of the Namoi river was our destination of choice and after months of planning we set off in my Land Rover and my brother steves big Nissan and the drive wasn't tough but 60klms of dirt road didn't help. The place was awesome with a great house to stay in overlooking the river. We quickly rigged up and swano got a cod first cast (they're on) and while not big fish there was enough of them to keep us all entertained. I had a pretty heavy fall the first day and it just goes to show how easy it is to get banged up if you misjudge your jump. The gang was Steve, Swano,John dory and yours truly. We had a ball and Dave scored his first ever cod on a surface rat ... well done mate. There were some hairy moments with some type of nocturnal animal but a good set of ear phones stopped the frightening noises ? Thanks for a great few days fellas as I never stopped laughing all week. One sour note was I had a micro sleep at 120 klms an hour and only the ripple strip woke me. Be very careful on long drives and stop if you feel tired. BIG LESSON LEARNED

 

 

 

 

Nice adventure boys.  Great pics.

I gave the cod a go last year while I was in Dubbo in the Macquarie River but didn't have any luck.  We only got bass and some shrimps.  But was a great family trip.

50 minutes ago, Blackfish said:

Thats a worthy Catch of the Month Pongrass.

I know but doesn't meet the requirements.  For me though, it was a tasty catch of the year   Family feast on it's own.

Can't wait to get out there again.

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 8:17 AM, big Neil said:

Well done mate, persistence paid off big time. Great report and picture too. However, you need to make and keep a New Years Resolution. "I will make more time for fishing". Too late when you can't do it any more. Cheers,BN

Hi Neil

Tried hard but not happening.  I feel the pain.  Can't complain though, self employed and work is keeping me busy.

Chris

18 hours ago, Ryder said:

Well done Chris, sounds like a great day out.

I don't see a baitfishing record for Goatfish? Only lure at 30cm.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for that.  I'll add it to the fishraider record.  Sounds good.

18 hours ago, hawkesbass said:

Very nice.

Good to see you out and about.

 

Thanks.  You know me when there's no work (which isn't often) I'm out on the water.  The Chrissy break will be good.

18 hours ago, Yowie said:

A good sized goatfish there Chris, and the mako would have been some fun. Had a few of them cruise up to the boat over the years, not too far off the shore line.

Dave.

Hi Dave

Been a workaholic in 2016, can't complain though.  The Goat fish was an amazing site to see in the water, it's equal to the red gurnards which I have let go every time I have caught them but this poor goaty had to come home as I was well over buying fish.

The Macko was a beauty, you never know when they are going to pop up and not far from my boat was a man paddling a kayak.

On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 8:29 PM, Blackfish said:

Thats a fair Goaty there, nice one.

I've never seen one that size, it was nice to bring it in.  Tasted great too, baked in the oven.

On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 7:51 PM, blackfish angler said:

Well done nice report looks like you got some fine fish

The fish was very tasty compared to eating from the fish shops.  Kids made a short way of the Trevally, they love it cut as sushimi.

On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 7:32 PM, stephanb79 said:

Nice good job feels good when u haven't been out in ages .. 

Thanks Stephan.  Can count my fishing trips this year on my left hand. It's great to be out on the water fishing.

Hi Raiders

It's been a while so just thought I'd put in a report on my last Wednesday's trip to the Hacking.

Fished Bate Bay early morning and was happy with anything really as haven't been able to get out in a while due to work commitments.

Tried all different reef areas in the bay on the drift and found it was very quiet until around lunchtime where I started my berley trail in the northern side of the bay.  Anchored up in 60ft of water.  It was a nice feeling pulling up fish (haven't done that in a while).  From 12.30pm to 2.30pm I was able to bring up some Trevally, Snapper, Black Spotted Goat Fish (which is a first for me), Flathead and a few squid and the usual reefies.  The finishing touch to the day was having a very large Macko come up to the boat which I got him on the heavy gear with a floating pillie soaked in tuna oil which gave me awesome fun and then released him boat side.

Only used Pilchard for bait.  Was a great day out.

As us Greek's will say "to barbouni irthe spiti".

Sorry, only have pictures of the goat fish as fishing took over that day. 

Wow they are nice looking trag. Have only ever caught one fishing in eden years back while snapper fishing, will make for a few nice dinners.

Chris.

Plenty to go round Groper you are a freak you always find them.

Hanging for some fun on the water in a few months, catch up soon.

Chris.

Nice morning to be on the water Dave and a great mixed quality feed too. Haven't wet a line in ages myself due to work overload, soon I hope.

Hopefully the fish stay on for a while before the water cools off.

Chris.

Fine bag of fish Dave, those bream look so tasty

Chris .

Hi Andrew, many years ago I installed a bilge pump to my 18ft pongrass I owned. What I did was cut a section out of the rear floor and there is plenty of room for you to put a bilge pump in. And I then just sica flexed a Perspex sight window over the hole neatly to close the opening.

Chris.

Wow cracker pb Nathan, peters bait is working a treat.That big jew won't be far away

Chris.

Nothing beats a feed of flatties great fishing.

Chris.

Consistent weekly feed Dave, bet a lot of boats did zeroes amongst the traffic and noise.

I can't bring myself to eat those gurnards they look so bloody nice, groper pounced on my last one he wasn't letting it go.

Chris.

Great snapper, always nice to go home with a quality fish.

Moving around till you find the fish helps a lot great work

Chris.

Onya Chris, tell the boys uncle bass is comming to eat there fish, haha I know how to wind them up.

They said you can join us, your most welcome .

good stuff mate looks like the kids had a ball

Thanks crispy fishing with family is awesome but having the boys gather a bag of fish is a treat.

Chris.

Nice work! I only caught a handful of undersized snapper in the morning at lilli pilli also.

Those little snapper sure entertained them through the first part of the trip, one after the other.

Chris.

Good work Chris, they will provide a feed or two. Something for the kids to take home is even better.

Thanks Dave,

Kids had a ball, even releasing undersized fish with proper respect to grow bigger they are learning fast.

Chris.

Smiles all round

Well done boys, I can't wait til my kids are old enough to enjoy fishing.

Harry

Thanks Harry,

I held the kids off until they were able to have some swimming skills, looks like they will be with me on a regular basis now.

Family outings are the best mate and teaching your kids your knowledge is priceless.

Chris.

Took my family out for an afternoon fishing trip in the Hacking. First place we pulled up and anchored was Lilli Pilli where we had a late lunch/dinner. Wasn't long before the kids were all fired up to start fishing. They were pulling up plenty of snapper but no keepers amongst them all. Being late and the tide heading to low I headed upstream to a spot where I have done well in the past. It wasn't long until the kids started putting some keepers on ice for tomorrow's dinner and a nice full plate of sushimi.

All fish were caught fishing in a berley trail using cubed pilchards.