GoingFishing Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Gday raiders Well its been a learning experience for me since January. I've spent 90% of my fishing time chasing beakies with nothing to show for it apart from my first tangle in January with the inshore run of blacks and stripes. Lots of money spent on lures, tackle and fuel but hey that's fishing. By all accounts it was a quiet one off Sydney this year with a big ugly downwelling that parked its arse off Sydney pretty much Feb through March. Though some people still had luck. I will be ready for them come December. Anyway, decided to hang up my boots for the year on the marlin and get back to basics. The plan was to head wide and find some fishtraps that I had trolled past last week. I didnt have any light gear then so I kept going but today I came prepared with lures, plastics and a bag of pillies for chum. Dad and one of his friends were keen and the weather was good for it. Conditions were great and I was steaming out the heads at 60km/hr at 6am. Finally arrived to the spot I thought they were but they were no where to be seen. I was sure they would be close by so headed north and sure enough about 2km later I found them. Not sure if they had drifted or if the commercial blokes moved them, or if it was simply a different set of traps. This new trap was INFESTED with dollies. Water temp pushing 24.3 which was great. First attempt with plastic and I was onto a nice fish just legal in the kill tank it went. Dad and old mate were using pillies and were also killing it. We spent 2 hrs on this trap and after bagging a dozen good fish between 60 and 75cm we left them biting and headed into dee why wide and did a bottom bash for 15 or so flatties. Felt good to come home with a feed. I've missed this ! The neighbour got a few fish as well as the in laws. Everyone's happy! Thanks for reading Sam 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Well done- some great eating there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Mate smiles all around on that effort. Top report and top catch ! Glad you got out there - your dad and his mate must be chuffed to have their own charter boat at the ready.... hahaha. Cheers Zoran 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Back to basics mate! Nice work! Your pursuit of the gamefish will serve you well next season, I’m sure! That’s a tasty bag there! Cheers scratchie!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 18 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said: Well done- some great eating there! Cheers wazza ! Put one of the mahi in the oven and some flathead fillets for dinner. Same day caught. Just cant compare 👌 5 minutes ago, zmk1962 said: Mate smiles all around on that effort. Top report and top catch ! Glad you got out there - your dad and his mate must be chuffed to have their own charter boat at the ready.... hahaha. Cheers Zoran Cheers Zoran ! Dad has been patient hes not keen on 9 hrs sitting and trolling so hes missed out on most of the beakie trips but luckily he can get out during the week being retired. He prefers to go with me though ! Loading and offloading the 6.2m plate boat can be tough at 70 years . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Scratchie said: Back to basics mate! Nice work! Your pursuit of the gamefish will serve you well next season, I’m sure! That’s a tasty bag there! Cheers scratchie!!! Thanks Scratchie. I actually cant wait. I might have a go for tuna this winter season but again lots to learn first!!! I heard theres a bloke named Jeff who's the fish whisperer who lives up port way. I should swing by for lessons ! Edited April 20, 2019 by GoingFishing 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61 crusher Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 That’s a great feed there, it was a pearler of a day to be out on the water, terrific catch & report, nothing better than when the dollies play ball & your done and dusted in 2 hours 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 A great read Sam, perfect day... perfect result. YUM YUM on the table. Cheers buddy. bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Great stuff, Sam! Yeah, it appears that the marlin season has been a bit hit and miss this year. Good to see the dollies are still about! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 42 minutes ago, 61 crusher said: That’s a great feed there, it was a pearler of a day to be out on the water, terrific catch & report, nothing better than when the dollies play ball & your done and dusted in 2 hours Cheers mate. I averaged about 50km/hr there and also averaged about 50km/hr on the way back!!! But by far the best part of the day was having the traps all to ourselves. Not a boat in sight for milessssss 32 minutes ago, big Neil said: A great read Sam, perfect day... perfect result. YUM YUM on the table. Cheers buddy. bn Cheers big Neil. 4 minutes ago, Berleyguts said: Great stuff, Sam! Yeah, it appears that the marlin season has been a bit hit and miss this year. Good to see the dollies are still about! Thanks Baz. They will be heading your way soon and will be bigger by the time they get there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrone07 Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 I reckon it’s still worth a trip to that 130-160 meter mark for a good crack at a stripe, seems to be a consistent run of them at the moment. Can’t beat fresh dollies though on the tooth well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Sam Great catch and good report. How did you go with the riggers, have you tried them out yet ?. Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 12 hours ago, tyrone07 said: I reckon it’s still worth a trip to that 130-160 meter mark for a good crack at a stripe, seems to be a consistent run of them at the moment. Can’t beat fresh dollies though on the tooth well done Mate iv been through that depth almost weekly for the last 3 months.....u cant find bait to save your life ! Needle in a haystack I guess because some people are still getting them. That being said It is my first season and i could be doing it all wrong!!! 29 minutes ago, frankS said: Sam Great catch and good report. How did you go with the riggers, have you tried them out yet ?. Frank Thanks Frank They are great. I notched out the bottoms as we discussed and added a rope lanyard for the gear. Working a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poly2096 Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Out of interest how far off are the fish traps. I’m thinking of having a go for dollies this week but only a smallish boat so trying to assess the distance and conditions before having a go. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 21, 2019 Author Share Posted April 21, 2019 13 minutes ago, Poly2096 said: Out of interest how far off are the fish traps. I’m thinking of having a go for dollies this week but only a smallish boat so trying to assess the distance and conditions before having a go. Cheers 38km....they're sitting right on the shelf line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poly2096 Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Ah right. Too far for me to go I think. Thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rippinlips Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Well done Paid $55 a kilo for flathead fillets last week!!! What we use to call it was the flathead drift of shame, may need to be renamed!!!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Awesome fishing and a first class feed there. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 21, 2019 Author Share Posted April 21, 2019 1 hour ago, rippinlips said: Well done Paid $55 a kilo for flathead fillets last week!!! What we use to call it was the flathead drift of shame, may need to be renamed!!!! I've always loved fishing for flathead and I find there are some locations that have them consistently year round. My fav eating fish by far. 1 hour ago, Welster said: Awesome fishing and a first class feed there. Well done. Cheers mate thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Great report Sam, back to basics always works 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) Great effort Sam. Well done on the Dollies too (I always expect you to bag out on the flatties though so that is no surprise!) cheers Jim Edited April 23, 2019 by fragmeister 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 4 hours ago, fragmeister said: Great effort Sam. Well done on the Dollies too (I always expect you to bag out on the flattest though so that is no surprise!) cheers Jim Thanks Jim ! Dee Why wide always delivers the goods ! PM me if you want details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 You certainly found the fish, good work. Your dad and his mate would have been happy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted April 25, 2019 Author Share Posted April 25, 2019 20 hours ago, Yowie said: You certainly found the fish, good work. Your dad and his mate would have been happy. Thanks Yowie. It was nice to come home with a bag of fish. Dollies are always good fun too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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