Snapper time

[GoingFishing]

Gday Raiders

Life appears to be heading towards some type of normalcy, COVID restrictions aside, the family have settled into the new home and i am winning the war against the housework that forever seems to pile up. I am really starting to think that the never ending housework is really a creation of my own boredom.

I recently decided to re-landscape the small patch of grass at the front of my place. Working from home, lunch breaks and late afternoons were dedicated to this little project. Amazing what one can achieve doing the hands on work ! For a fraction of the price of paying someone to do the work i am chuffed at how it looks. The wife is still waiting for me to stop gloating haha.

 

Anyway, with the forecast looking positive, dad and i decided to head out and chase some reds. An interesting start to the day when i turned on the chartplotter to see that for reasons unexplained, on its own accord it had conducted a hard factory reset. years of marks lost? I dont know i will have to read the manual later this week to see if they can be retrieved. Not to worry as most of the spots i fish, i fish very often and i know them very well and dont need to the GPS. A relatively slow start to the day between 6am and 10am we boated a few pannies, a tiger flathead, 3 jackets and a piggy. We also boated a nice squid, a few slimies and a pike which we kept for butterflied/strip baits.

Just after the tide change around 11am we decided to make a move towards a spot that looked really "fishy" in deeper water. First drop i flicked the bail arm over and the line is already buzzing a 50cm red comes up, must have taken it on the way down. Dads rod goes off immediately after for another one at 45cm. We had a solid half an hour with consistent action boating some really good reds, most around 40cm with a few bigger ones up to 50cm. The fresh squid and slimies proving to be deadly on the snapper. 

Dad got smoked by what i am sure is a snapper over 70cm, took a slimie frame which was pinned through the nose. 

I fished three rods today, two with 20lb trace and the third with 30lb trade. The 20lb trace produced most of the fish. I am wondering if i should even downsize to 15lb but am worried about increased rate of bust offs. Keen to hear everyones thoughts on that.

We closed the day with a nice mixed bag, 15 snapper, the jackets, flathead and piggy.

Put one of the snapper straight in the oven for dinner - perfect.........delicious.

Thanks for reading.

[GoingFishing]

 

 

[antonywardle]

great read!

 

[kingie chaser]

Nice work on the pannies GF, great size.

 

If your sounder has the ability I would be sending your waypoints to the memory card or even asking the GPS to store them on the memory card.

 

They could still be there, have you had a look at what it on the card?

[New Signing]

Seems to be a real abundance of pigfish around this year which is certainly a welcome addition to any tub. Supposed to be a pretty big blow this coming weekend and some nautical swell. That should really stir the snapper up

[GoingFishing]

4 hours ago, antonywardle said:

great read!

 

Thanks Antony

1 hour ago, New Signing said:

Seems to be a real abundance of pigfish around this year which is certainly a welcome addition to any tub. Supposed to be a pretty big blow this coming weekend and some nautical swell. That should really stir the snapper up

Fingers crossed, a good stir is always good. problem is its forecast over the weekend and i work Monday to Friday !

2 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Nice work on the pannies GF, great size.

 

If your sounder has the ability I would be sending your waypoints to the memory card or even asking the GPS to store them on the memory card.

 

They could still be there, have you had a look at what it on the card?

Thanks KC, ill look into it and report back on what the issue may be. Very strange as it has happened without any interference from a user.

But if theres one thing ive learnt over the years, bloody strange things happen to boats and all their gizmos. must be that darned (iloveit) saltwater

[Guest Guest123456789]

11 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

Gday Raiders

Life appears to be heading towards some type of normalcy, COVID restrictions aside, the family have settled into the new home and i am winning the war against the housework that forever seems to pile up. I am really starting to think that the never ending housework is really a creation of my own boredom.

I recently decided to re-landscape the small patch of grass at the front of my place. Working from home, lunch breaks and late afternoons were dedicated to this little project. Amazing what one can achieve doing the hands on work ! For a fraction of the price of paying someone to do the work i am chuffed at how it looks. The wife is still waiting for me to stop gloating haha.

 

Anyway, with the forecast looking positive, dad and i decided to head out and chase some reds. An interesting start to the day when i turned on the chartplotter to see that for reasons unexplained, on its own accord it had conducted a hard factory reset. years of marks lost? I dont know i will have to read the manual later this week to see if they can be retrieved. Not to worry as most of the spots i fish, i fish very often and i know them very well and dont need to the GPS. A relatively slow start to the day between 6am and 10am we boated a few pannies, a tiger flathead, 3 jackets and a piggy. We also boated a nice squid, a few slimies and a pike which we kept for butterflied/strip baits.

Just after the tide change around 11am we decided to make a move towards a spot that looked really "fishy" in deeper water. First drop i flicked the bail arm over and the line is already buzzing a 50cm red comes up, must have taken it on the way down. Dads rod goes off immediately after for another one at 45cm. We had a solid half an hour with consistent action boating some really good reds, most around 40cm with a few bigger ones up to 50cm. The fresh squid and slimies proving to be deadly on the snapper. 

Dad got smoked by what i am sure is a snapper over 70cm, took a slimie frame which was pinned through the nose. 

I fished three rods today, two with 20lb trace and the third with 30lb trade. The 20lb trace produced most of the fish. I am wondering if i should even downsize to 15lb but am worried about increased rate of bust offs. Keen to hear everyones thoughts on that.

We closed the day with a nice mixed bag, 15 snapper, the jackets, flathead and piggy.

Put one of the snapper straight in the oven for dinner - perfect.........delicious.

Thanks for reading.

Nice report Sam. Shame about the marks. The best ones would be in your head though - might serve to filter out some of the less productive ones anyway.

 

i highly doubt 30lbs spooks the fish deeper than 30 metres. 

[GoingFishing]

4 hours ago, flatheadluke said:

Nice report Sam. Shame about the marks. The best ones would be in your head though - might serve to filter out some of the less productive ones anyway.

 

i highly doubt 30lbs spooks the fish deeper than 30 metres. 

Thanks FHL. Your right the best ones are all in my head as i fish them very regularly. 

RE 30 lb trace...I was fishing all day in water 30m plus...and there was a very noticeable difference in strike rate on the 20 vs 30 lb line

[Yowie]

I would stick with the 20 pound trace, not go to 15. If you hook up to a decent fish, like a kingie, your weakest point will be the 15 pound leader.

Very nice catch there, will make some great feeds, and one of those days when the fish are ON.

Handy work in the garden, might be a new profession for you.

I would classify that flattie as a Marbled Flathead.

 

[Scratchie]

Good to see you back out and getting a few! Nice garden too Sam! 👍

cheers scratchie!!! 

[Rebel]

Great story,Super photos. My wife loves your garden.

[GoingFishing]

2 hours ago, Yowie said:

I would stick with the 20 pound trace, not go to 15. If you hook up to a decent fish, like a kingie, your weakest point will be the 15 pound leader.

Very nice catch there, will make some great feeds, and one of those days when the fish are ON.

Handy work in the garden, might be a new profession for you.

I would classify that flattie as a Marbled Flathead.

 

Thanks Yowie. I might trial the 15lb just to see how the strike rate changes, if at all. I'm not too concerned about Kingies but would love to stay connected to the larger reds.

Thanks for the correction on the flathead, it had noticeable colored stripes so I called it for a tiger.

1 hour ago, Scratchie said:

Good to see you back out and getting a few! Nice garden too Sam! 👍

cheers scratchie!!! 

Thanks Jeff. It's good to be back. Have missed it lots

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

Great story,Super photos. My wife loves your garden.

Thanks mate. Glad to hear others like the garden too ! Spent a considerable amount of time debating the layout but eventually wanted something that would cut down maintenance and pleasing to the eye.

[zmk1962]

Well done all around ... top job on the garden, top job pleasing the Mrs and TOP JOB on the fish - you have really worked out the Sydney schnapps !  

Cheers Zoran

[GoingFishing]

12 hours ago, zmk1962 said:

Well done all around ... top job on the garden, top job pleasing the Mrs and TOP JOB on the fish - you have really worked out the Sydney schnapps !  

Cheers Zoran

Cheers Zoran ! The Mrs is happy with the front garden and now shes asked me to move onto the next project, the kids bedrooms. Apparently and i quote, they are "vanilla-too simple" 

Regarding the reds, i just realized i had not mentioned where we were fishing, those werent from Sydney, they are reds from further south ! Port Kembla

[rickmarlin62]

I fish straight 15lb  to the hook   you get heaps more bites   i still get smoked sometimes  but it doesnt matter what trace you use they will still smoke you  i run a light drag most of the time that way they dont freak out an crash for the bottom

[GoingFishing]

1 hour ago, rickmarlin62 said:

I fish straight 15lb  to the hook   you get heaps more bites   i still get smoked sometimes  but it doesnt matter what trace you use they will still smoke you  i run a light drag most of the time that way they dont freak out an crash for the bottom

Cheers Rick, I'll definitely be giving the 15lb a go. 

How do you set the hook with light drag

 

[rickmarlin62]

Most times leave rods in holder  sometimes hold onto   i fish smaller hooks than most   strip baits pillys squid i use 2/0   heads  5/0,     i mainly use short strong black titanium hooks  similar to  mustad big guns  i use them also   smaller chemical sharp hooks tend to find a hold better than larger   the snapper has less chance of crushing and breakin hook as well

[rickmarlin62]

Ps  as mentioned i fish light to mod drag  big reds can be like kings   the more hurt you put on them in shallow reef the more likely they will go to ground   i caught a 93 last year that had 120mtrs of line off me then buried in weed  after 45 secs he came out then landed after 5 mins  epic battle   straight 15lb to hook  no sinker  slimy head on 5/0

[anthman]

On 5/17/2020 at 11:17 PM, GoingFishing said:

Gday Raiders

Life appears to be heading towards some type of normalcy, COVID restrictions aside, the family have settled into the new home and i am winning the war against the housework that forever seems to pile up. I am really starting to think that the never ending housework is really a creation of my own boredom.

I recently decided to re-landscape the small patch of grass at the front of my place. Working from home, lunch breaks and late afternoons were dedicated to this little project. Amazing what one can achieve doing the hands on work ! For a fraction of the price of paying someone to do the work i am chuffed at how it looks. The wife is still waiting for me to stop gloating haha.

 

Anyway, with the forecast looking positive, dad and i decided to head out and chase some reds. An interesting start to the day when i turned on the chartplotter to see that for reasons unexplained, on its own accord it had conducted a hard factory reset. years of marks lost? I dont know i will have to read the manual later this week to see if they can be retrieved. Not to worry as most of the spots i fish, i fish very often and i know them very well and dont need to the GPS. A relatively slow start to the day between 6am and 10am we boated a few pannies, a tiger flathead, 3 jackets and a piggy. We also boated a nice squid, a few slimies and a pike which we kept for butterflied/strip baits.

Just after the tide change around 11am we decided to make a move towards a spot that looked really "fishy" in deeper water. First drop i flicked the bail arm over and the line is already buzzing a 50cm red comes up, must have taken it on the way down. Dads rod goes off immediately after for another one at 45cm. We had a solid half an hour with consistent action boating some really good reds, most around 40cm with a few bigger ones up to 50cm. The fresh squid and slimies proving to be deadly on the snapper. 

Dad got smoked by what i am sure is a snapper over 70cm, took a slimie frame which was pinned through the nose. 

I fished three rods today, two with 20lb trace and the third with 30lb trade. The 20lb trace produced most of the fish. I am wondering if i should even downsize to 15lb but am worried about increased rate of bust offs. Keen to hear everyones thoughts on that.

We closed the day with a nice mixed bag, 15 snapper, the jackets, flathead and piggy.

Put one of the snapper straight in the oven for dinner - perfect.........delicious.

Thanks for reading.

Great post, and great haul! Was this off Bondi?

[GoingFishing]

On 5/20/2020 at 6:23 AM, rickmarlin62 said:

Ps  as mentioned i fish light to mod drag  big reds can be like kings   the more hurt you put on them in shallow reef the more likely they will go to ground   i caught a 93 last year that had 120mtrs of line off me then buried in weed  after 45 secs he came out then landed after 5 mins  epic battle   straight 15lb to hook  no sinker  slimy head on 5/0

Thanks for a tips Rick, much appreciated.

that a nice horsie too !

[GoingFishing]

On 5/20/2020 at 7:10 AM, anthman said:

Great post, and great haul! Was this off Bondi?

Hi Anthman, no mate that is down south off port kembla

I am yet to see Sydney produce reds like this in all my years of fishing. (not suggesting is wasnt like that once upon a time)

[61 crusher]

Great report & photos, nice job on the garden 👍

[GoingFishing]

14 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

Great report & photos, nice job on the garden 👍

Thanks Crusher. Now planning the next project, the backyard !