Yon

Thanks for taking the time to write this. I consider myself a squid master and still gained a lot of great info from the article.

Thanks! Are the wrasse legal to keep? Edible?

To be honest we hadn’t planned on a fish dinner for Tuesday night, but I woke up late and completely forgot to put the bone broth on for the Ramen soup I’d promised the kids. Instead, I’d taken the kids to my parent’s place to swim and while there my mum had mentioned that it would be nice if I got rid of some of the squid heads I had stashed in her freezer. At about the same time, my wife called from work and asked if I’d remembered to put dinner into the slow cooker. Thinking on my feet I told her that I’d forgotten but would see if I could catch some fish for dinner. So... while the kids swam I set up my cliff fishing outfit and threw a paternoster rig over my parent’s backyard fence, 80M down to the water below. Due to the amount of line I have out and the delay in feeling bites, I use circle hooks over there and just pop the rod into an umbrella holder until something hooks itself. The squid heads with all the guts tend to self-berley too so it seems to be an effective technique for that spot. It wasn’t long before the bites started coming on pretty strong and after 4 casts I came up with a small but decent pan sized snapper. Having sorted out dinner, I thought I’d try something different and changed hooks to a 6/0 live bait hook, baited up with those little strips of cartilage that I cut off the squid wings. I thread them onto the hook through the middle so that they look like tentacles wafting in the water and usually get some good bites. In this case the bite came immediately and bent my 20kg rod right over. I struck immediately but it was too late and whatever it was swam off (I’m guessing a big snapper - I’ve caught several there before). I let the line drop for a second so that I could tension it onto the spool as I brought it back in. When I started to wind it back up I felt some weight on the line and then some wriggling, only to find that I’d hooked up one of these (not sure what it is, but catch a lot of them in that spot). Threw it back, put my rod away and took the kids home to cook up the snapper, thinking I’d get a couple of bites and leave some for the wife when she came home. While I was cutting up a salad and the girls were upstairs my son was sat at the TV downstairs with the fish on the table. I heard footsteps and arguing, so I walked into the dining room to find that my 7 yr old had sneakily eaten 3/4 of a 40cm snapper himself and was licking his lips! 😂 Not many fish, but a good day in the brown rainy water anyway. Having read some of @Scratchie’s reports, I am thinking that I may try a soft plastic on my paternoster rig next time. Will certainly make it a cleaner experience!

Thanks Pickles. Had the pipis disappeared for a while? I’ve read that people used to take them by the bucket full but that fisheries are strictly enforcing the 50M rule now.

Thanks! I’ll have to try that next time as we are on the way home. Looked like a fantastic spot when I scouted the headland.

Yeah I agree. I think that the bait is better and fresher this way anyway.

Mate that’s a solid king. Well done! I enjoyed reading that report!

Exactly. Also they’re still at the age that they enjoy hanging out with me (albeit with the odd eye roll when I tell dad jokes).

They had an absolute ball! I think the combination of collecting bait and catching their own fish with it is addictive.

My girls were so stoked after catching their first flattie yesterday that they were willing to battle the rain and cold water for another go today. It took us about half an hour trudging around the beach to find a pipi bed, after which the girls berleyed up a good looking hole while I rigged the rod up for them. They started getting bites immediately and my younger daughter hooked up what was likely a big tailor as it bent the rod over and then just bit the hook off. After re-rigging and casting back into the hole my older daughter caught a fat 34cm bream and I caught a baby flathead that was quickly released. Called it a day after that as we were all wet and shivering, plus the girls wanted to eat the fish fresh. 3 diagonal cuts each side, some salt and oil in the pan. Cook each side about 5-7 min with a weight on and squeeze some lemon over it. Delicious! 😋 My kids love fish. Literally nothing edible left on it.

Thanks Guys - yeah she’s keen to go again today, which is pretty cool 😎

Brought my rock fishing gear with us for a short holiday in Gerroa, but the wind was howling all day and I don’t feel very safe with nobody about. so instead, I walked the beach with my kids looking for a few good holes to throw a metal into. As I waded in to ankle depth I found myself surrounded by pipis, so we smashed a couple together as bait and I quickly swapped the metal for a running sinker rig. Casted into the longshore trough that seems to run the length of the beach and gave my daughter the rod while I went to pick up a few more pipis. 2 minutes later she pulled in her first legal flathead! The 20lb braid and 30lb leader may have been a bit of overkill but hey, she landed her dinner with bait she’d gathered herself and was damn happy about it. Kept trying for an hour after that for no return, at which point we were both shivering and decided to call it for the day. I think we’re going to have to return in the summer. Such a magic spot.

Spectacular catch! what’s the secret to actually finding them? I’ve fished spots that are right on the drop off with a mate. One day the spot can produce a fish a cast, and the next nothing. problem is that we aren’t always sure where to look when it’s not productive

I don’t think so. Usually when they’re spawning the males have a bit of sticky white stuff coming out of them when you pick them up.

Fair enough! I don’t catch enough to do that hahahahah