FishStickSteve Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Today started off as any other day. A mate, my misses and I decided to go to a fishing spot that not many people go to. (It is technically private property, but the owners are cool if we drop off a fish or two.) I had bought a cheapo fishing rod from kmart the night before and thought it would be a great idea to see how it goes. We got to our spot and dropped our lines into the water. My misses as per usual was reeling in fish left right and center while my mate and I exchanged top shelf banter while pulling in snapper the length of a whole avocado... Half an hour into the session I experienced something I very rarely feel. A good solid bite and a bending rod. I fought this sucker for at least a solid 30 seconds, 30 seconds to at least a minute. When It came out from beneath the rock I saw it's head, thinking it was some sort of weird deformed flathead I squealed with excitement, but that feeling was very quickly replaced by sheer terror as it's head broke the surface of the water and I heard an unholy gasp of air. As I pulled it out the water I saw it starting to inflate itself. My mate said that it was the biggest puffer he had seen, so i grabbed my phone and took a photo to post it here. I reckon it has to be at least 35 to maybe at a stretch 40cm. I caught it on basic banana prawn from woolies. Once I unhooked it, it was around the size of a football. I used the butt end of my rod to push it back into the water. It rolled down and bounced off a small rock and plopped back into the water. I almost wet myself laughing at the sound of it rolling along. I don't think it is near to a record on the forums, but it is by far the biggest puffer I have ever seen. The rest of the day saw me catching plenty more snapper, wrasse, a few blackfish, a rock cod and a few flatheads. It was a really good day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Careful with those big puffers Steve, they can bite hooks clean in half! We spotted one at Cremorne wharf on our recent fishraider trip with Big Neil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 I enjoyed the excitement in your report. Sounds like a good session for you all. One of those was the very first fish I ever caught in Australia, a long time ago. Wierd the defensive mechanisms which some marine life possess, eh? Cheers, bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 That's not a puffa fish...…..............................…………...this is a puffa fish ? Caught this one in Yowie bay about 3 years ago, weighed in just over 3kg on my manual scales. Its a good thing you didn't net yours, it was a bugger to get out when its the size of a basket ball ? Thanks for post & bringing back a similar funny memory 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Same as BN's, "Australian saltwater hedgehog" was my first local catch too, many moons ago at Balmoral . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Geeze We used to get them nearly a metre long out at the peak, at 60cm they were small ones. From the rocks that one was fair size. Frank 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishStickSteve Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 7 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said: Careful with those big puffers Steve, they can bite hooks clean in half! We spotted one at Cremorne wharf on our recent fishraider trip with Big Neil Oh yeah. I am well aware. I used the longest hook remover I had and resisted the temptation to kick it around like a football. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 We commonly find them snorkelling at night, some can be quite huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 23 hours ago, savit said: "Australian saltwater hedgehog" ??? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kracka Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 Haha they are a real bugger of a fish to catch and even moreso to release. Pretty funny watching em drift off with the current when u release them inflated like that though lololol. Glad to hear you guys caught some other fish too. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishStickSteve Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 58 minutes ago, Kracka said: Haha they are a real bugger of a fish to catch and even moreso to release. Pretty funny watching em drift off with the current when u release them inflated like that though lololol. Glad to hear you guys caught some other fish too. Well done. Haha, Wasn't too hard to unhook, but it was so damn funny watching it roll off the rock, almost pissed myself laughing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchh Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Contributing my photo to your post: I caught this one last Friday off Wanda beach and it was the first for me. It was definitely over 40 cm. It did not cut through my 80lb leader but flattened a good 5 cm of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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