Out from Tunks To DY wide Thursday

[saltrix]

Launched from Tunks with my mate at first light and headed straight out to the flathead grounds.

Bit of a westerly and some chop from rebound  around North Head but got better further out.

The drift was too fast with the westerly so we deployed the sea anchor which slowed us down and got us a few fish.

The Australian large squid which I bought at a fish shop proved the best bait with Mowong and even a good sized Pearl Perchcoming in on strips from it.

The Flathead were not as active as usual this time of year but the Morwong were a good size and so were some of the Flathead, a mixture of marbled and bluespot.

Wasted time as usual on  a large Port Jackson shark, Sergeant Baker, u/s reds and spikey Flathead but came away with a good feed.

 

 

 

[fragmeister]

Nice,

There are some tasty specimens there.

 

Cheers

Jim

[big Neil]

Pretty good haul there Saltrix. What is the thinner fish located about 5 fish in from the right of the picture? bn

[saltrix]

It is a slimy makerel that was caught on the flathead grounds and was intended for bait but the squid and pilchards were doing so well it was not used and is the freezer for next trip. 

It is usually too soft after freezing so I should have salted it before, but I was a bit weary.

[GoingFishing]

Great work Alan....a nice mixed bag of tasty fish. ! Were the flatties in roe?

What depth were you fishing ? Ive only ever caught port jacksons in shallow water.

[masterfisho7]

Great photos well done with the fishing also

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, saltrix said:

It is a slimy makerel that was caught on the flathead grounds and was intended for bait but the squid and pilchards were doing so well it was not used and is the freezer for next trip. 

It is usually too soft after freezing so I should have salted it before, but I was a bit weary.

I do OK with unsalted frozen slimies as bait and don’t really find them too soft. I cryovac 2 or 3 in small vac seal bags and just take them out of the eski as needed. I take a fillet off each side and I’ll usually just make 2 strip baits out of each fillet. I cut them in more of a triangle than a strip though. Then I just put the hook through the fat end of the triangle and it seems too waft nicely as it floats back in the current. I also use the slimy head as a bait sometimes, although I haven’t had the success with big reds that @rickmarlin62 has. He swears by slimy heads! The rest of the frame goes in the berley pot.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Berleyguts

[saltrix]

Replies to questions

Thanks for the information on slimy mackerel Berletguts .

Only 1 flathead had roe and 1 milt the other 3 did not.

I was fishing in 48 to 52 metres and from my 40 years of scuba diving I can assure you Port Jackson sharks are found in these depths although I think they congregate in breeding time in shallower rocky gutters.

Thanks for the comments

[GordoRetired]

Good to see that you did better than us on Thursday. We went off Palm Beach and Whale Beach for lots of big slimies, big yakka, undersized Snapper, small Naniguy, small Trevally and 1 keeper Mowong. Also caught a big Port Jackson which went back.

[sam bros]

Nice work mate

That is gonna taste amazing for sure