Port Stephens snapper

[Peter Nelson]

Hi All

The weather was looking the goods so organised a trip with @Woodsy1 with the plan to target some snapper on plastics up around broughton.

We went out nice and early hit the bait grounds hoping to fill the tank. We were optimistic as there was a lot of garfish cruising around. The bait collecting was  a bit slow but we managed to find a school of slimies and got a few before the sun came up.

We got to our first drift finding the conditions ideal for the direction we wanted to go. My goal today was to catch a  snapper on plastics and it wasn't long before I hooked into what felt like a decent size one only to pull the hook after a couple of runs. I think now looking back I should have set the hook more( rookie mistake).

The live slimey went off as well but didnt hook up, it came back chewed up, so not sure what hit it.

Things were looking good but went quiet with only a couple of bites afterwards. We tried a few more spots and swapped to baits and both got a little snapper each to finished the day off. We came across @Berleyguts Out there but not sure how he went.

A big thanks and happy birthday  to @Woodsy1 for the trip out there.

 

 

[masterfisho7]

Nice report and some top fish Peter 

[saltrix]

Nice report and the sunrise photo is great

[rickmarlin62]

Nice report  even a bad day is good up there  happy birthday to woodsy  would have been nice to get a cracker  eh    hopefully next trip it all comes together guys

[Rebel]

Great report and pictures.

[Yowie]

At least something for the boat.

No need to worry about the reddie coming free after a couple of runs, sometimes they spit the hook, and I have found at times that a reddie is just hooked in the lip, and the lip breaks on the way up. Have seen it happen at the side of the boat when lip hooked reddies have broken free and swum away before being netted.

[Berleyguts]

Glad to see you got a couple, Peter and Woodsy! Pete - I didn’t realise that was you with Woodsy. Sorry! Happy Birthday, Woodsy!

I had a pretty disappointing kind of day. Checking my lights last night, the port nav light wasn’t working. Thought I’d get a stick on nav light in the interim but the only place open was Bunnings, so I bought a head lamp with a red light setting and cable tied it to the rail. That worked OK for the short time I needed it but it couldn’t handle the spray on the way home, so it went in the bin. $30 wasted.

Then my Humminbird transducer kept flipping up again, reading 300+m approaching Cabbage Tree. No problem, I thought, it will settle down when I slow down and want to sound around. How wrong I was! The mount itself broke and the transducer was swinging and banging around. It swung and banged around so much it wasn’t there by the time I got to Broughton - the cable broke! That made for fun - NOT! I only had the GPS to choose my spots - no sounder images. The readings from the exposed wires were interesting: water temp of 54.5° near Broughton. Later on, I got a reading of -16°! 😮 A new transducer and mount will set me back around $500 I guess. Makes me think about upgrading to a Lowrance HD7 or similar. but I can’t afford either at the moment! 🤬

Then Scratchie messaged me telling me to go to Channel 80 and see how Woodsy was doing. I called him up but couldn’t raise him. Come to think of, I hadn’t heard any radio traffic for a couple of hours.... So, I fiddled around with the aerial connection (unscrewed it, screwed it back in again, twice) and heard a bit of traffic. I called Marine Rescue for a radio check. They came back but were breaking up and I didn’t hear what channel to go to, so I climbed back under the console to fiddle with the aerial again. Then my phone rang and it was Marine Rescue checking in on me. Always good to know they’ve got your back! I probably need to clean all cable and electrical connections but I think I might be up for a new aerial, too!  🤬

Still, it was good to be out on the water anyway! I got one plate sized snapper, a big ass sergeant baker and a bonito for my trouble.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Berleyguts

[Peter Nelson]

Good bit of Bush mechanics with the nav light repair @Berleyguts

I wasn't sure it was you either until Scatchie messaged woodsy, but good to see you out again👍

 

[Scratchie]

Good to see you fellas hook up and get out there. Very tough fishing when the water is super clear if you soft plastics fishing. At least you didn’t come back with a donut! 

Happy Birthday Woodsy! Hope you enjoy your Greek dinner! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[Peter Nelson]

That water was so clear @Scratchie which your right it didn't help our cause. The weather man got it wrong again, it blew a bit earlier then dropped off.

I thought with the swell last week and overcast  conditions would have been prime conditions, but "beats working"

[Peter Nelson]

Finished product.

Baked fish with secret herbs and spices, duck fat roasted  potatoes and brocolini 

[Scratchie]

11 minutes ago, Peter Nelson said:

That water was so clear @Scratchie which your right it didn't help our cause.

When it’s like that and if there’s not too much current, drop your leader and jighead size. You also need super long casts which is hard if there’s no wind present. Or switch to bait which might entice the bite! It’s very hard to outsmart the buggers! 

Too add, if those conditions are present during a full moon period, either stay at home or go whale watching! 

[Welster]

Gee Berleyguts that’s an expensive day.    I’m glad you got some fish for the troubles. 

[GoingFishing]

Great work fellas. Good fun with good company. The fish are always just a bonus

[Woodsy1]

Thanks Peter it was a great day, the fish looks nice the chef did a good job. Thanks to Everyone for my birthday messages and yes Scratchie the Greek was beautiful.

Woodsy