Lazy Winters Day Swansea Offshore

[lakelad]

Has been a while since the last report, and no record were broken for this trip but my mate and I fished some new spots and had a good day catching up on the water.

Started off a bit later than usual, due to sick children up all night and giving the wife and kids a sleep in.. our sunrise session turned into almost mid day but was a top day and better than cleaning up after Chernobyl at home. Got to the ramp and the brilliant Sunday weather meant a small wait but the little 4.5m aluminium stacer is very easy to launch and with the old 2 stroke fired up first at home first we were off out the heads. It was still quite glassy and only 1.2m of swell.

We trolled some lines out the channel hoping for a hit straight up but no such luck and settled into a drift over virgin territory which has some fish showing on the lowrance. Saw some larger bait balls with larger fish on the sounder but nothing hit as we trolled over it with a deep diver rapala, surface skirt and blade lure out. We also tried dropping baits and paternoster rigs into the activity we saw on the sounder but n luck using this method, much of our fish were found at anchor in around 15m off the rocks. Any tips for these situations mentioned would be appreciated so we can get a feed next time!

The offshore game is new to us, the days plan was to find some decent eating fish, and whilst we only managed one legal squire at 30cm we caught plenty of fish and found some new species. We managed a single squire/snapper, many small non legal flatties, bonito, sargent baker, red striped fish (id please?), parrot style fish (id?), shark, yakkas (but no hits on the livies) , other small species on the bait rig (trumpeter by the looks).

For anyone local to this region if you can send some tips on targeting decent eating fish around Swansea heads (within range of a 4.5m stacer with 50hp) that'd be appreciated, we seem to do much better in the lake as we have more experience with techniques and spots that work consistently. 

 

 

[lakelad]

[wcurrall]

They are both types of wrasse, 1st is a crimson banded wrasse, 2nd is a southern maori wrasse, theyre not to bad to eat if fried whole, flesh is a bit mushy 👌

If you're looking for fish species the below website is good

http://fishesofaustralia.net.au

[Blackfish]

Certainly a array of different fish there L.L.

The shark is a Port Jackson and the fish on the bait jig are Mado.

[Rebel]

Great photos and report. Top stuff.

[GoingFishing]

Nice report mate.

If your at anchor 15m off the rocks that might explain alot of the various reef going species your getting

I dont know swansea at all but If you move into deeper water, say 25m plus you mind find a few flathead about drifting on a paternoster.

Sandy/gravel bottom adjacent to reef is what you will need to look for in the deeper water.

In decent conditions your 4.5m stacer is more than sufficient to get out offshore from the headlands.

[Yowie]

A mixed bag, some can be eaten. Sgt Baker can be eaten, but they need filleting, and the bones (many of them) need removing.

The maori wrasse (also called a butcher's %%%%%) are edible if big enough to fillet.

Out off Port Hacking a few weeks ago, were large schools of slimey mackerel in bait balls. They were in deeper water than you fished. The schools you picked up could be yakkas, or pike, as pike will school up in large numbers and swim about closer to reefs or rocky shorelines.

[lakelad]

Thanks guys,

yes @Yowie Certainly plenty of yakkas off Swansea, you can see one in the bait tank photo above many 30cm plus, they looked a bit too big for close coastal fishing but I guess you never know.

@GoingFishing will try some deeper water for the flatties parents we caught on Sunday. I heard 40m for Swansea a while back, but not tried as yet and not sure which direction for the known grounds.

@Blackfish I thought those fish were trumpeter, but wasn’t 100% so appreciate your id.

thanks @wcurrall i’ll checkout the fish id  link that will be useful for sure!

Edited July 10, 2019 by lakelad

[joshgraydon95]

hey mate shoot me a message. would be keen to swap some marks, tackle, rigs - - i do well offshore of swansea but can’t catch a cold in the lake. same boat situation, 4.5m with 60hp

[Peter Nelson]

Hi mate, straight out to the gravel you will normally catch a feed of flatties, your boat will get there safely on days like you just mentioned.

Lake macquire marine rescue web site has gps marks on there plus a lot more.

The paternosta rig is all you need out there or you could try some different techniques.

[lakelad]

Thanks @Peter Nelson, that looks like a good start, here's the link for anyone interested: https://marinerescuelakemacquarie.com.au/images/public_docs/Fishing_Ground_Locations2.pdf

@joshgraydon95 great will do mate 👍