dt27

Well done mate, the old fluorocarbon upgrade I've been banging on about for the past 3 years has finally come up with the goods!! It was tough going but we finally found some for the morning. Nice to have Broughton to ourselves on a Sunday with flat seas ??

Cracker for Sydney, great effort.

Didn't mention the mad boat driver who thought it would be better being airborne than in that mess!!! Ha you had white knuckles mate hanging on tight!!! Great to see Jake getting his first on the plastics, always good to see a first timers ripping it up. Everyone loves fishing for reds!! Cheers Dom

Nice work Mate!!! But all soft plastics?? You can't resist the prawn on the jighead. Bet you had some in your pocket while the boys thought you had a plastic on! It's alive up there at the moment, haven't seen it better! Cheers Dom

Thanks Guys, was a memorable catch in trying conditions. The boys were brilliant, anchor stuck, five rods out and a fired up hammerhead lurking. Big shout out to the boat next to us for pulling anchor and moving to let us out in the depths. Great to see!!! Next ones yours Scratchie, can't believe how nice the guy is keep feeding those Bakers whilst we chase the Kings!! Good times and great way to see out 2015. Cheers Dom

Hey GUdude, Thanks heaps, yeah the ramp wasn't too bad but I left my boat at the marina for a few days so I only had to put the boat in and out once for the four days I was there. They have dug out some more of the wall to assist which seemed to work when I was there.

Lure fishing only mate, not sure if you could get away with your deadly technique!!??

Hey Brandon, yeah fished north cause we knew the nor Easter was predicted to go large in the arvo. The afternoon storm stirred them up!! Great comp and awesome fun for everyone. Great to see the Kids fishing up there catching heaps.

Very kind words mate, just wanted to share the technique so we all can save time and catch some fish. I have spent only a few years throwing plastics at reds but have that addiction. Our few sessions last month around Port stephens was good practice!! Even if you did stick a prawn on the jig head!! See you soon mate for some more Cheers Dom

Hey Guys, Spent the weekend up at Coffs (Dave Irvine Snapper Classic) had a blast on the Reds. We fished Friday (Pre fish) and Saturday and scored over 50 reds over two days with the biggest at 82cm. Sunday was cancelled due to strong winds. Friday we found the fish caught one and moved on ready to hit them on Saturday. Worked well with the bait still there! All caught on plastics in shallow water 8-15m. Long casts were the key cause the water was crystal, I fished 20lb Fluro leader and 1/4ounce jig head. Clear colours worked a treat. Love my Red fishing, particularly in Coffs where they are addicted to the plastics! Cheers Dom

No sign of plastics been worked mate!!! What happened to the "go to" technique?? Wollies out of prawns!!! Cracking bream by the way. Cheers Dom

Great stuff Jnr!! Good call from your dad, and the bonus you are not getting snagged!! Have to come down to Sydney and smack some salmon in the harbour!!

Hope it comes with a life jacket Jnr!! I could just see your old man taping a life jacket to the Stella and strapping the rod to the cleat with a cable!!

At least you won't get snagged Junior!!!

Good read Scratchie, was another fun day in paradise. Yep we were all surprised at the ball of snapper on the surface!! Think I would have thrown jnr at them had he been standing next to me!! Just glad I landed the popper in the 'red zone' at the right time and had something in my hand to throw at them. Your boy is growing up, great to see him plugging away all day with his humour and enthusiasm. Look forward to teaching my new boy the art of chasing fish (particularly up here at Port Stephens!). Thanks for your company mate always good fun.

Speak for yourself Scratchie!!! He looked happy to see Gerry and Cliff, just concerned about the bloke behind the reel locked in the chair!! Great day out with the comedy club!!!

G'day Raiders, Spent 4 days up at Coffs competing in the Dave Irvine Memorial Classic. Weather was pretty good for few days with my mate Jarrod pulling in some great reds up to 79cm on the Thursday. Saturday was competition day and it turned ugly with 25 knots from the south and seas getting bigger all day. We went 14 miles north after finding the reds on the Thursday and left them on Friday looking for other spots. Saturday morning we hit a patch up bait that produced 5 cracking reds and a bust off in 12-15 metres of water. We landed 7 reds on Saturday and with Sunday cancelled took out third prize as a team. My 88cm Red won the biggest fish (and probably ugliest head!) and I was honoured to win the first place angler with 5 fish including the 88cm and an 80cm fish during the hot bite. Was great to fish the Dave Irvine, being a lure only comp and focussing on snapper only really lets you focus on one technique and takes out the thoughts of what else we should be chasing. I hear Dave was a champion bloke who put in a great deal of time into the sport, Its an honour to win some awards in his name. Best lure was a Squidgy whipbait in white lightening, fished with 20lb and 20lb leader. Big thanks to my fishing teammate Jarrod who managed to pull in two sea anchors, his line and drive off and chase to two big reds then land them in Dave's designed environet. Thanks for reading, Cheers Dom

Glad I could entertain you great man!! I have heard this saying before 'All the gear and know idea'! Mate we stuck to our plan and spent a great day up at Seal Rocks. That place is amazing and we certainly didn't have big enough gear to stop those kings. Petrol was never in doubt with the Etec mate haha. Glad I could get you home safely. Appreciate all you do on this site you have certainly taught me a great deal, even how not to use a sabiki!!

Pleasure to have the great Scratchie on board! Even better to see him so excited by the yellowfin on light gear. Thanks for your intel over the weekend mate makes trips like this more enjoyable. Gods country up there can't wait to continue exploring.

Frigate was 40cm caught him on the standard xrap!!

No mate just rolled back to the Spit even with 10kg extra weight on board!!

Punched in at 10kg. Still feeding the neighbourhood !!

Hi Guys, Spent the longer than usual weekend in the new boat seeking something to write home about. Well after a great gathering of bait on Friday off we went to the inshore reefs for zip, headed out to the peak and the 12 mile for the jackets to nail us, headed north and back in for a donut, only a playful group of dolphins entertained us for an hour while trolling. Saturday plan was to head north, in fact all the way to Avalon downrigging, throwing slugs, jigging, bait you name it we tried it. Again Zip! I looked at the petrol tank only to realise 8% and I'm at Avalon so decision was made to head back in case we ran out! Hit North head so I said to my mate lets try a few plastics in the wash, Bang that paid off a nice 49cm snapper was pulled out of the only wash along north head. After I noticed 2% left in the tank it was a slow troll back to middle harbour, on the way around north head we hook a frigate, stick him on the downrigger and see if any big Kings are along quarantine. Next minute bang, thought I was snagged at first and then head headed into the deep. After ten minutes my dream of a metre king was confirmed with the hoodlum hitting 110cm and one happy man! Got to thank my mate Bevy who has spent the past 6 months with me chasing this kind of fish. He drove me to the deep and netted him like a champion. Caught on 50 pound braid and leader. PB's for both me and Bevy's snapper, would have headed straight back in if I had more fuel, Must be a fishing god somewhere up there! Big bait Big fish so they say!! Good way to finish the summer, time for some snapper.