Fadtabulous Port Stephens

[Berleyguts]

A couple of weeks ago, I caught numerous small dolphin fish around 50-55cm off Port Stephens. Good fun but undersized. I know they grow quick because Scratchie and Woodsy got a few at the FAD on Monday at 59cm. Well, I’d like to thank Scratchie and Woodsy for fattening them up for me! 🙏😂 I made my first ever trip to the FAD today and had a ball!

I left the ramp just after 5am and cautiously headed for Cabbage Tree Island in the dark. Got plenty of slimies and a few yakkas then headed for the FAD. It was a fairly slow trip as the sea was sloppier and the wind stronger than I had expected but I took my time and trolled a couple of skirts on the way. Its quite a way out to the FAD! Picked up a bonito on the way and a legal dolly as I approached the FAD, both on purple skirts. I then proceeded to have a lot of fun casting soft plastics around the FAD on my Shimano T-Curve 3 piece travel rod that I normally use for snapper. I released 3 or 4 just undersized but managed another 4 legal to 81cm.  The 81cm model really tested out that T-Curve and making the gaff shot solo was a challenge, too! The best bites appeared to be just before the wind picked up ahead of a rain squall... and there were a few of them! That rain stung! There were 3 or 4 other boats there but they appeared to be using livies. The lure that did the damage for me was a 7 inch Zman jerk shad in coconut ice. 😉

With the wind picking up, I decided to head for home about 10:30. However, as I got closer inshore the weather improved, so I tried a flathead drift in an area that worked well for me this time last year but did not meet with the same success. Eventually got back to the ramp at around 1pm.

Gotta love Port Stephens!

On a footnote, my outboard’s running great now but my Humminbird sounder is really starting to give me the irrits! 😡 It’s giving weird readings - sometimes too deep but mostly too shallow - out around the FAD the depth alarm was almost continual. I don’t know whether it’s the transducer or the head unit!

2nd problem was that all my live baits died. For some reason, the pump stopped working. But it seemed to work fine when I got home! Go figure.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Berleyguts

[Ojay Samson]

Awesome post! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for my trip up in a weeks time... hope I can get on the dollies to while I'm up there to. 

Pictures tell a thousand words as they say... brilliant pics.

[Scratchie]

Hooray Bazza! Finally some success! Good to see you found some legal ones out there! Also using the coconut ice! 👏👏👏

Well done mate and yes it’s a long way to the fad. Have to agree, “gotta love Port Stephens”. 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[masterfisho7]

Well done top photos and top fish top stuff

[Yowie]

Good work there Baz, some very nice fish. No complaints about that lot.

[rickmarlin62]

Nice work baz  do u hav a pikup that works on your livie pump when travelling  if not your pump is probably out of water while travelling thus no water flow and dead baits

[Ryder]

WOW, Great catch!

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, rickmarlin62 said:

Nice work baz  do u hav a pikup that works on your livie pump when travelling  if not your pump is probably out of water while travelling thus no water flow and dead baits

Thanks Rick. I assume by pickup, you mean a bent pipe that points forward? I just have the mesh covered intake but the tank has always been full as far as I’m aware and it always seemed to circulate before, although I guess I did do a 12 nautical mile run to the FAD! I might need to take a crew with me so they can check it while underway! What’s weird is that I noticed the pump wasn’t running even at rest but back at home when I flicked the switch it ran fine. It and the bilge pump failed on an earlier trip and the fuse box needed replacing. Just a bit weird but not as annoying as the sounder!

[rickmarlin62]

While underway your pump will be out of the water so u need a pipe pikup to force feed water while on the move 

[Berleyguts]

9 minutes ago, rickmarlin62 said:

While underway your pump will be out of the water so u need a pipe pikup to force feed water while on the move 

Makes sense. I guess it hasn’t been much of an issue before because I haven’t travelled too far, so fresh water gets pumped in often enough. I guess a trip to the FAD will do it! I don’t think the tank emptied though. Still odd that the pump stopped working. 🤔 How to fit a pickup to a factory tank???

[rickmarlin62]

Externally mount pipe pikup with tap inline in hose

[Berleyguts]

2 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said:

Externally mount pipe pikup with tap inline in hose

Thanks Rick. Some more research required, me thinks!

[Woodsy1]

Top Work Baz, port Stephens fishing fishing is great there are so many options out there it’s hard to decide which one to go for.

Woodsy

[kingie chaser]

Awesome stuff Baz, good to see your motor woes behind you & your getting onto some crackers.

Ive heard that mahi mahi makes fantastic sushimi but yet to try it.

 

[Berleyguts]

3 hours ago, Woodsy1 said:

Top Work Baz, port Stephens fishing fishing is great there are so many options out there it’s hard to decide which one to go for.

Woodsy

That’s for sure! With light winds and slight seas forecast, I decided to bite the bullet and try the FAD for the first time. It was sloppier and windier than I would have liked but I’m glad I made it out there! One target species achieved - check! The 8:30 high tide helped, I think, as it started to slow about 10. I intended to try for a beakie but as my live baits died, I gave that idea a miss. With my sounder increasingly playing silly buggers, it made it hard to find the bait schools anyway. 😡

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, kingie chaser said:

Awesome stuff Baz, good to see your motor woes behind you & your getting onto some crackers.

Ive heard that mahi mahi makes fantastic sushimi but yet to try it.

 

I’ve had mahi-mahi sashimi in Hawaii, also poke. I had a small piece as sashimi right at the fish cleaning tables yesterday! 😋 One thing I noticed when filleting yesterday was that some fillets seemed a little mushy, making them hard to skin. After a couple of botched jobs, I brought the rest home, skin on, and skinned them after they’d been in the fridge for a few hours. Much easier!

[Rebel]

Great Report and Photos. You are still the King of Pt. Stephens.

Cheers.

[Berleyguts]

19 minutes ago, Rebel said:

Great Report and Photos. You are still the King of Pt. Stephens.

Cheers.

No. Scratchie is the King. I’m just a court jester! 😂

[Berleyguts]

10 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said:

Externally mount pipe pikup with tap inline in hose

I know I’m getting off topic here but wouldn’t I just be able to fit a pickup somehow on the existing intake and run it through the pump, which sits inside the boat?

[Peter Nelson]

Nice one Baz.

I hit Swansea FAD on Monday and managed 10 just legal and there were heaps just under.

I've had similar issues with my pickup in the past and trialled an elbow on the bottom  of the pipe with the opening facing towards the front of the boat.

It worked a treat when driving but just need a tap inline as Rick suggested.

All my live squid stayed healthy even right back to the boat ramp.

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, Peter Nelson said:

Nice one Baz.

I hit Swansea FAD on Monday and managed 10 just legal and there were heaps just under.

I've had similar issues with my pickup in the past and trialled an elbow on the bottom  of the pipe with the opening facing towards the front of the boat.

It worked a treat when driving but just need a tap inline as Rick suggested.

All my live squid stayed healthy even right back to the boat ramp.

Good effort getting your bag limit, Peter!

I’d be interested in seeing a photo of your intake setup because I just can’t get my head around how to do it! Like, where do you put the inline tap, for a start? At this stage, I can’t seem to remove that mesh covered intake anyway! Maybe I have to disconnect it from the inside?

Edited March 21, 2019 by Berleyguts

[rickmarlin62]

Pikup under pump  pushes water thru pump when under way  then turn pump on when u stop

[garfield28]

Good report Baz, and good to see you nail a feed, so well worth the trip.... Question how did you get the perfect pic with the fish solo?? :-) 

Also, were you at the FAD at first light or a bit later? I'm told the fishing at the FAD is better at first light rather than later in the day. 

If all goes well I'll be heading out to the FAD myself on Saturday morning for the first time also, so fingers crossed the conditions stay as good as they are meant to be and that I can land a few Dollies myself. 

 

[Berleyguts]

18 minutes ago, rickmarlin62 said:

Pikup under pump  pushes water thru pump when under way  then turn pump on when u stop

OK. So, your pickup just points down and the angle on the pipe catches the water - you don’t really need the pipe coming down then elbowing forward again under the hull. 😎 Where is the in-line tap? I don’t understand why you need a tap if the water goes through the pump anyway. My pump is mounted inside the hull, like the bilge pump.  I think the intake comes into the side of the pump. Would this work in my scenario?

[Berleyguts]

2 hours ago, garfield28 said:

Good report Baz, and good to see you nail a feed, so well worth the trip.... Question how did you get the perfect pic with the fish solo?? 🙂

Also, were you at the FAD at first light or a bit later? I'm told the fishing at the FAD is better at first light rather than later in the day. 

If all goes well I'll be heading out to the FAD myself on Saturday morning for the first time also, so fingers crossed the conditions stay as good as they are meant to be and that I can land a few Dollies myself. 

 

FAD arrival time first: it was still dark when I reached the bait grounds at Cabbage Tree. It was very dark... a fair bit of cloud and no moon. I got sweep and yakkas first but slimies at the first glimmer of light behind Cabbage Tree. It was a slow trip for me out to the FAD. Bigger boats passed me at much greater speeds. It was more comfortable for me to troll at 8 or 9 knots. Setting the spread is a bit fiddly fishing solo as the boat won’t track straight in a swell if I’m not holding the wheel! After stopping to fight a bonnie and resetting the spread, I approached the FAD about 8. High tide was at about 8:30, which is when I caught the biggest dolly. There were a lot of dollies to be seen and every boat was hooking up. The action definitely seemed to be more fast and furious when the souwesterly picked up ahead of the rain squalls. The current appeared to be fairly strong as my drift was from the north east to the south west against the wind! The cabin boats were more affected by the wind, so I had to start the motor a couple of times mid-fight to avoid them.

Now, for my selfies with fish... I mount my iPhone on a clamp on the rail of my console. I use the GoCam app and the “shutter” is activated by a self timer set by opening and closing your hand. The longer you hold your hand closed before reopening it, the longer you have to get in position and pose. You don’t always get the perfect pic, though, particularly in a swell, as can be seen by these shots! 😂

Good luck on Saturday! I’ll be working! 😔

PS. If I had another metre behind the console, I could fit more in the pics! I basically have to stand or kneel on the rear casting platform hard up against the transom!

Edited March 21, 2019 by Berleyguts