benj

Took my 2 boys out for a quick fish out of Hamilton Island. We headed up past Whitehaven Beach in our open Grady White Bowrider and out towards the outer Whitsunday Islands. We found a spot that looked a bit fishy so anchored the boat. The boys immediately dropped a couple of baits to the bottom for whatever might be down there and I floated a large Fusiler under a balloon in hopes of nailing a large Mackerel..... I didn't have to wait long. The next thing I knew the balloon was gone and I was on! At first I thought it was a large shark but when it finally got close to the boat one of my sons yells, "dad it's not a shark it's a monster mackerel!" Well after a few attempts we finally get a gaff into it and get it aboard. Close to 1.7 Metres and just under 40 Kilos..... A great day out on the water!

We did thanks, but we caught fish, or saw fish and birds, pretty much everywhere. The trick is getting the larger ones.......

We headed out past the Heads on Sunday in the heavy rain, fog, and dark clouds. We started trolling until we hooked up on some nice Dollies and then kept them by the boat with lots of Pillies. Ended up catching a heap, letting most go, and still having plenty for a feed.

Hi Fellow Raiders, we just caught a 70 centimetre Eel in Sydney Harbour. Are these good to eat? If so, how do you clean and prepare? Any advice would be appreciated!

Sorry for the late post (this all happened last Sunday) which happened to be one of the most spectacular days on the water that I can remember for a long time! Great weather, great sea conditions, and lots of fish everywhere. We went out of the heads at around 10:00am and went to the Colours where there was lots of bait but no Kingfish. We then went to North head where we caught some Yakkas, slimies, and some massive squid, and (there were also massive schools of slimies just on the surface). We then fished near the shore off South Head and then North Head and ended up catching 4 nice Kingies (the 2 bigger ones are in the photos, we released the other two.). Alex also hooked this nice Bonita on a small surface slug in the middle of a school of slimies....! All in all, a great day on the water and worth leaving the Harbour for.

We were near the Heads when we caught it using a Yellowtail and a small sinker. The photo was taken at Clifton Gardens. There were no 'followers' and no other action at the spot, so must have been a lone fish with an appetite!

You may have seen the post 2 weekends ago where I took my 10 year old son out for a fish and he surprised himself and me by hooking onto, and landing a 90 centimetre Kingy! Well, this morning we went back out again (he's been bugging me every since!) and sure enough he hooks and lands another one! This one was just over 80 centimetres. Caught on a yellowtail like the last one, he brought it all the way to the net on his own.

Hi Fellow Fishraiders, Kingfish in Sydney Harbour have been a bit scarce lately so my son, 10 year old Alex, was very excited when he hooked onto this 90 centimetre fish! He had been trying to catch Salmon and Bonita at the time using live Yellowtail so to find this on his line was quite a suprise. He kept saying, "Dad, Dad this one is really big!" Of course, I just said, "just hang on you can do it" not realising just how big it was! It took him over 20 minutes as he was using a 5kg rod with 30 lb braid and a 30lb leader. It was a big high five when we finally got it in the net! Just goes to show that you can catch Kingies on Yellowtail and you don't have to have an 80lb leader!