Savage

Yeah, busy ramps suck.
Thoughts?
It is what it is, don't let it get to you instead work around the problem.
Avoid peak times if possible, if you can't do that then go a little further, Snowdon's is a good ramp and basically empty all the time, with the time saved waiting in queues the extra 15 minutes or so travel to/from outer harbour is a non issue if you have the range plus as a bonus you can troll the channel edges with deep divers and maybe pick up a surprise mully, kingy or accidental big snapper, it's not likely to happen but certainly not impossible either, especially on the mulloway.
Garden Island is another option, the ramp is not bad plus it's free, you can head out  via the channel towards St Kilda for a quicker run to open water.
It can even be fun and productive just exploring the Port and inlet areas for something different, being sheltered is nice too.
In that system besides mulloway, bream and STs (and rays, lots of rays) I've had some surprisingly amazing sessions on whiting (KG, YF and silvers) gar & tommies, big blue crabs and also there was one crazy morning when I didn't get out with my mate for once and he got mauled by a school of 8 to 10kg snapper in one of our mulloway holes, of course sometimes you also get nothing but but puffers and trumpeters but that's fishing.
Yes it's a bit of a longer run (compared to North haven at least, compared to west beach it is a lot further) to your spots so it'll cost a bit more in fuel if you go to the same spots still (offset by free launch at garden island somewhat) but if you're anything like me you probably enjoy just driving the boat anyway and you'll avoid those frustrating ramp dramas.
Finally yes, those have a bad reputation for troublemakers but during gentleman's hours they're perfectly safe in my experience, police regularly patrol Snowden's (not that it probably matters daytime) and there's generally people around, garden island is surprisingly popular with families and kayakers during the day so nobody is going to do anything stupid to your stuff, I must be up to triple figure launches between the pair (mainly garden island on Saturday mornings) and never had a problem.
 

Hi Rob. As long as you don't drop your pipe and your lighter still works, you should be fine🙂

Here's a couple of photos of what has become a common catch here in Tasmania nowadays, not only that, they are big fish as well..
They now have a bag limit of 5 fish per person & a 10 fish possession (house) limit placed on them which is good, minimum legal size 35 cm.

The seasons are changing. The temperature is rising.
The water is warming. It is all happening a bit earlier this year.
Lizards are crawling on the roads. And “Lizards” (flathead) are crawling in the sea.
Water birds are gathering, lining up for a feast of baitfish from above.
The Flathead are lining up for a feast of baitfish from below.
In these ambient temperatures, food is plentiful in the shallows.
The ecosystem has had a great kickstart with the rise in temperatures and every thing comes alive and thrives on the sandflats.

Temperature is the biggest driver for a series of chain reactions, in the sandflats ecosystem.
I am forever monitoring the water temperatures.
The rise in water temperature is early this year.

A series of natural events occur, which results in delivering us fishers, some fine Yellow Fin Whiting and Flathead.
Stimulated by the rise in water temperature about now our local Prawns, the Western King Prawn, start spawning in their mid gulf grounds.
Also now, the Haswell Shore Crabs shrug off their cold weather torpor and also spawn in the inshore shallows.
Post larval Juvenile Prawns start migrating from mid gulf to the warmer, shallow, inshore waters of the upper gulfs.
The Haswell Shore Crab larval zoea, now abundant, provides food for the juvenile Prawns and schools of baitfish.
There is a boom in the population of Juvenile Prawns, Haswell Shore Crabs, and Baitfish in the inshore waters … And also their predators. YFW and Flathead, have moved in, enjoying this abundance of food.
Having experienced a sustained period of exposure to higher water temperatures, the YFW have now, increased their metabolisms and have developed voracious appetites. The larger predatory YFW that I like to target are now aggressively hunting on the sandflats. Devouring juvenile prawns and shore crabs.
So it is a perfect time to place myself at the end of these chain reactions and target some YFW and Flathead.

I took advantage of the warm weekend.
Given the tides, I selected an area that amplifies the small tide movement and works best on the slower tides.
I started with chasing Flathead on the falling tide. The Flathead are very active chasing the baitfish as they retreat to the shelter of weedy areas in deeper water.
Fishing for them in heavily weeded areas does present it’s challenges.

Lures with trebles catch too much weed. And when a Flathead is hooked they will head into the weed. All the exposed treble barbs, hook onto the surrounding weed and help the Flathead throw the lure.
I have recently started to use floating hardbodies like OSP Bent Minnows, with singles and assist hooks, for these areas. These hooks pull through the weed easily. So far, I have yet to have a Flathead throw these hooks.


Look for where the Herons are feeding to show you where the baitfish are and the Flathead will be holding just downstream.
I was able to extract 3 Solid Flathead that were hiding around the weed, terrorising the baitfish, before the tide slowed.

Next on the agenda were the YFW. A good depth of water was holding over the softer feeding sandflat areas. Usually you will find this substrate holds more food and fish.
Whilst not feeding as aggressively as when there is more water movement, the YFW were still keen enough to take a well worked lure offering over the sandflats. My usual favourites, Sugapen, Ecogear ZX and Zipbaits Skinny Pop, were the more successful lures.
However it is a new season and there are always a few new offerings to try out.
They did not get too much time in the water but both these new lures took fish.
The New Sugapen Splash, which is perhaps better suited to a choppier day still took a fish.
Daiwa’s Slippery Dog 80cm in the colour “Ebi” that I had not previously come across, I thought could work well in this area, had some success.

A drop in air pressure with a change in wind direction from North to SW, pushed water up into the gulf and provided a small wind tide. The water movement, stimulated the fish to bite late into the afternoon. “Bob the bag snatcher” is also making an early season appearance. I normally don’t see them on the sandflats till November.
I kept 14 of the better YFW. Most are over 35cm. And the best a very nice 42cm.

The Flats are Firing early this year !!! Hopefully we can look forward to a great season ahead.
The only downside is the heavy toll the professionals have taken over this winter as they increasingly search for alternative species to supplement their restricted and dwindling catches.

 
Tight lines all.
Cheers, Des

Caught this decent Brown in the hills recently. In the Mid 50's. Went all arabattic on me jumping several times. Released well. Caught on own ruff tied fly. 

 

 

 

20230314_113820_1.mp4

I like fishing the Dodge tides for Yellow Fin Whiting.
 
I posted a detailed explanation of the factors in this post:
https://www.strikehook.com/index.php?/forums/topic/38765-dodgy-days/
.
So to start the New Year with a couple of days of dodge tides was something to look forward to.
It was a sunny day. The water temperatures were up there, at around 23C. The small tide was perfect to hold and concentrate the fish for me.
I went to work with my trusty Sugapen 95 in the MB16 colour. And there was plenty of interest straight away.
Pretty soon the polite enquiries towards my lure became full blown, “I’ll take that. Thanks.”
There was a purple patch in which I took 10 fish in the first hour of fishing. The temperature, the tide, the sun, and a perfect stiff breeze, all had the YFW at their aggressive best.
It got competitive with the YFW. What a delightful sight it is to see a gang of YFW all trying to shoulder each other out of the way, competing to be the first to jump onto your lure skipping on the surface.
Sometimes in a tight contest, there is close second. And so it was when two YFW hit my lure together.

For many I unusually use two sets of Assist hooks on my larger lures. I have Atomic Trick Bitz #8 hooks on the rear and Ecogear ZX hooks in the middle. In about 40% of cases the YFW will hit the middle assist hook. And when there is competition and a close race you wind up with a Double Header on a lure ! 

A special experience that I have been lucky to have had a couple of times previously. In the past, they have been mostly the smaller supper eager inexperienced fish.
Today they were quality fish. It was a struggle bringing them in … oooh! maybe a new PB. It turned out to be two quality fish at 35cm and 38cm. Both well hooked on the same lure.

I enjoyed that purple patch, for not long, as soon the wind came in stronger and stronger and the fishing got harder and harder. When it got to 20-25 knots wading got impossible and the fish no where to be seen.
I was able to bag 17 fish before the wind shooed them all away.

This is the prime time of the year for big YFW whiting. As the high water temperatures hold a lot of new season’s juvenile prawns in the shallows. And they are the right sized meal for the big ravenous YFW. Most fish caught were over 35cm and 3 fish were around 40cm.

Can’t wait for the next dodge tide. Hopefully the weather and wind will also be favourable.
.
Happy New Year and Tight Lines to all.
.
Cheers, Des

Hi all..
Went out for a scout/cast today.. Tried some where new.. Walked the out going and incoming.. About 5 ks.. Not a biggy..
Water temp was warmish, Getting there.. Water was clear but patches of tape weed about....
Found a spot where they were.. Only were about where I found noodling holes... There wasnt too many of those either. They were concentrated in a few patches/areas only.. They were active, but fussy. Lure changers was the key. New lure = 1 fish, repeat.. Managed to get 6,, Not big ones but ok.. From 30-34cm.. Fat and healthy though.. Lost 3.. Weed tangles... At one spot they were hanging in the deeper gutter edge/run off area. I had to cast over some weed mounds to get them.. They were moving around that area.. I just stayed put and when they swan by Ide cast.. I was sight casting them.. Great fun.. They would hit the lure just as it hit the water and I started to retrieve.. Had to be quick as it was very close to the weed edge when they hit the lure..
After a bit they wernt taking the lures, just follow and turn away.. I moved on and found some more in roughly same type of area.. Got 2, lost 1 there.
It died down as the tide went low.. So I moved on and explored the area.. Mapped where I was and did some marks..
Plenty of salmon trout about, again? There every where.. Mullet, and some baby King George whiting.. Little buggers were smashing the lure in one spot.. Plaques of them.. I moved on.. 
I didnt see too many crabs.. Only in the one area.. Roughly the same area where the YFW were lingering about..
Lost another lure to a salmon trout.. First fish of the day and drag was too tight and it went under some heavy floating weed... Im loosing a few this season.. I didnt loose any last season.. Lucky I buy 2 or 3 each time.. Dont tell the wife..
Used 1 spool.. Snapp off.
All in all it was a good day, very promising area which Ill go back to later..
Mike









 

Hi all...
I went out today..
Tried some where new.. Really a scout as winds and tides were good for me. Walked the out going and the incoming.. It was a long day.. Walked about 9ks today.
Anyways.. Water was coldish.. No warm bits really. Was clear but a lot of tape weed about...
Plenty of salmon trout about.. Says a lot!... Only found 1 patch where they were... There was a small group of them, all nice sizes.. Got one 36cm. Lost 1 about the same. Very timid/scitish.. They would only hit the lure once and go.. Change lure and again, hit it once. Then they would follow but wouldnt grab it, just turn away at the last minute. Frustrating... I recon I was lucky to get the one I did. Where they were was where I found some fresh noodling holes.. Muddy grew stinky mud..
I Moved on, walked about and as the tide started to turn I went there again on the way back.. and yep, they were there.. But same again.. Didnt get 1.. I couldnt hang around as the tide was coming..
As I was walking back to the car.. I was casting in the fast moving very weedy water, staying about shin deep.. I seen plenty zooming about, but I didnt have a chance to much fast flowing weed....
I didnt see one crab? Plenty of puffers.. Plenty of mullet and gar.. Too many salmon..
All in all it was a good day, found some new areas. Got a fish!.. and didnt loose any lures... Got 2 wind knots, 2 spools.. Ide rather change the spool when I get a knot I cant get out.. Way better than chancing a lure!.
Mike
 
 
 

 
 

This is my favourite Jig too!
I have 1 in a 3.0 the yellow/orange/pink shadow
and 1 in the 3.5 blue/purple shadow.
I had another 2 but lost them really early on. The dark red was my favourite 😭    
 
At the time these were around $28 and I'm talking 8-10 years ago
 

(1) DUEL Squid jig pheromone skin egi - YouTube

I would have closed it, did nothing, opened it on the actual opening date and pocketed the 5million 
Same thing really 🤣🤣 

Well, where do I start.
I managed to get out on the boat on Australia day and launch at the so called 'new and improved'.
On the fishing front, it was very slow and didn't do well. But more importantly the ramp itself (I was curious to see what the improvements were). 
First of all, I couldn't believe my eyes that $5million was spent to 'upgrade' the ramp. On what??
To dig a few more deeper holes for the new pylons? Come on!
To put on a steel capping to 3/4 of the the existing steel divider wall where sailing club boats launch?  
the pontoons were meant to go out deeper... I don't so and IF it does, we're talking centimeters not meters. This does not help with launching and retrieving on low tides and will still take the standard 10mins minimum to retrieve per boat (by the time you dock, walk to the car and retrieve), which is WAY too long when 30 boats want to come back when the weather turns.
I've been involved in the concrete industry for 17 years and lucky enough to work with one of the original persons who helped construct the first concrete slabs for the ramp. The new precast concrete floor slabs are a joke. Mark my words, in a year or 2 time, when the algae growth starts on them, there will be cars sliding into the water if the cars are borderline to boat weight ration. These slabs should have NEVER been a 'smooth' finish. They need to be abrasive / grippy and whoever managed to convince the designers to 'cut in the grooves' after the panel was constructed, is an imbecile. What an absolute joke.
I've been harping on about it, but how there wasn't a 3rd pontoon added is a lost opportunity to make this ramp the best ramp in metro Adelaide. 
Some of the original pontoons were kept and re-used. Fine. But the least you could do is apply new rubber edging so its all uniform with the new ones.
The pay machines, 1 is out of order and the other you can barley see the screen, yet you want $15 to launch.
Good to see the useless wind turbines disappear in the wash down area, another waste of time and money experiment. 
We want to visually see a change, improvement and get bang for our buck. Apart from the new precast slabs, they have purely just polished a turd!
What an embarrassment!
End of Rant.
 

Well, where do I start.
I managed to get out on the boat on Australia day and launch at the so called 'new and improved'.
On the fishing front, it was very slow and didn't do well. But more importantly the ramp itself (I was curious to see what the improvements were). 
First of all, I couldn't believe my eyes that $5million was spent to 'upgrade' the ramp. On what??
To dig a few more deeper holes for the new pylons? Come on!
To put on a steel capping to 3/4 of the the existing steel divider wall where sailing club boats launch?  
the pontoons were meant to go out deeper... I don't so and IF it does, we're talking centimeters not meters. This does not help with launching and retrieving on low tides and will still take the standard 10mins minimum to retrieve per boat (by the time you dock, walk to the car and retrieve), which is WAY too long when 30 boats want to come back when the weather turns.
I've been involved in the concrete industry for 17 years and lucky enough to work with one of the original persons who helped construct the first concrete slabs for the ramp. The new precast concrete floor slabs are a joke. Mark my words, in a year or 2 time, when the algae growth starts on them, there will be cars sliding into the water if the cars are borderline to boat weight ration. These slabs should have NEVER been a 'smooth' finish. They need to be abrasive / grippy and whoever managed to convince the designers to 'cut in the grooves' after the panel was constructed, is an imbecile. What an absolute joke.
I've been harping on about it, but how there wasn't a 3rd pontoon added is a lost opportunity to make this ramp the best ramp in metro Adelaide. 
Some of the original pontoons were kept and re-used. Fine. But the least you could do is apply new rubber edging so its all uniform with the new ones.
The pay machines, 1 is out of order and the other you can barley see the screen, yet you want $15 to launch.
Good to see the useless wind turbines disappear in the wash down area, another waste of time and money experiment. 
We want to visually see a change, improvement and get bang for our buck. Apart from the new precast slabs, they have purely just polished a turd!
What an embarrassment!
End of Rant.
 

Well, where do I start.
I managed to get out on the boat on Australia day and launch at the so called 'new and improved'.
On the fishing front, it was very slow and didn't do well. But more importantly the ramp itself (I was curious to see what the improvements were). 
First of all, I couldn't believe my eyes that $5million was spent to 'upgrade' the ramp. On what??
To dig a few more deeper holes for the new pylons? Come on!
To put on a steel capping to 3/4 of the the existing steel divider wall where sailing club boats launch?  
the pontoons were meant to go out deeper... I don't so and IF it does, we're talking centimeters not meters. This does not help with launching and retrieving on low tides and will still take the standard 10mins minimum to retrieve per boat (by the time you dock, walk to the car and retrieve), which is WAY too long when 30 boats want to come back when the weather turns.
I've been involved in the concrete industry for 17 years and lucky enough to work with one of the original persons who helped construct the first concrete slabs for the ramp. The new precast concrete floor slabs are a joke. Mark my words, in a year or 2 time, when the algae growth starts on them, there will be cars sliding into the water if the cars are borderline to boat weight ration. These slabs should have NEVER been a 'smooth' finish. They need to be abrasive / grippy and whoever managed to convince the designers to 'cut in the grooves' after the panel was constructed, is an imbecile. What an absolute joke.
I've been harping on about it, but how there wasn't a 3rd pontoon added is a lost opportunity to make this ramp the best ramp in metro Adelaide. 
Some of the original pontoons were kept and re-used. Fine. But the least you could do is apply new rubber edging so its all uniform with the new ones.
The pay machines, 1 is out of order and the other you can barley see the screen, yet you want $15 to launch.
Good to see the useless wind turbines disappear in the wash down area, another waste of time and money experiment. 
We want to visually see a change, improvement and get bang for our buck. Apart from the new precast slabs, they have purely just polished a turd!
What an embarrassment!
End of Rant.
 

I would have closed it, did nothing, opened it on the actual opening date and pocketed the 5million 
Same thing really 🤣🤣 

Well, where do I start.
I managed to get out on the boat on Australia day and launch at the so called 'new and improved'.
On the fishing front, it was very slow and didn't do well. But more importantly the ramp itself (I was curious to see what the improvements were). 
First of all, I couldn't believe my eyes that $5million was spent to 'upgrade' the ramp. On what??
To dig a few more deeper holes for the new pylons? Come on!
To put on a steel capping to 3/4 of the the existing steel divider wall where sailing club boats launch?  
the pontoons were meant to go out deeper... I don't so and IF it does, we're talking centimeters not meters. This does not help with launching and retrieving on low tides and will still take the standard 10mins minimum to retrieve per boat (by the time you dock, walk to the car and retrieve), which is WAY too long when 30 boats want to come back when the weather turns.
I've been involved in the concrete industry for 17 years and lucky enough to work with one of the original persons who helped construct the first concrete slabs for the ramp. The new precast concrete floor slabs are a joke. Mark my words, in a year or 2 time, when the algae growth starts on them, there will be cars sliding into the water if the cars are borderline to boat weight ration. These slabs should have NEVER been a 'smooth' finish. They need to be abrasive / grippy and whoever managed to convince the designers to 'cut in the grooves' after the panel was constructed, is an imbecile. What an absolute joke.
I've been harping on about it, but how there wasn't a 3rd pontoon added is a lost opportunity to make this ramp the best ramp in metro Adelaide. 
Some of the original pontoons were kept and re-used. Fine. But the least you could do is apply new rubber edging so its all uniform with the new ones.
The pay machines, 1 is out of order and the other you can barley see the screen, yet you want $15 to launch.
Good to see the useless wind turbines disappear in the wash down area, another waste of time and money experiment. 
We want to visually see a change, improvement and get bang for our buck. Apart from the new precast slabs, they have purely just polished a turd!
What an embarrassment!
End of Rant.
 

My money is on not being completed on time  
 

With 15 days to go to their anticipated 're-opening', will they finish on time 🤔 
With moving of the inner breakwall over to do works, there seems to be plenty of room still for the sailing club.  
If they don't add a 3rd pontoon, it'll be a robbery. 

The old ring wasn’t jumping the chain every time. I purposely made it small so it would be strong but I think I made it too small 
 
will see how a bigger fella goes
 
Here’s the old one 
 
 

Well it has started. Just saw the trucks etc on the camera
They've given themselves 12 weeks to rip up the old, dredge, install the new and extend the breakwater, pontoons etc...
I can see this blowing out until after Christmas...
https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/major_projects/westbeachboatramp

At least there is a start
 

Well it has started. Just saw the trucks etc on the camera
They've given themselves 12 weeks to rip up the old, dredge, install the new and extend the breakwater, pontoons etc...
I can see this blowing out until after Christmas...
https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/major_projects/westbeachboatramp

Well it has started. Just saw the trucks etc on the camera
They've given themselves 12 weeks to rip up the old, dredge, install the new and extend the breakwater, pontoons etc...
I can see this blowing out until after Christmas...
https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/major_projects/westbeachboatramp

Did anyone receive a fishing related Fathers Day Gift?
My son (9 years old) gave me a selection of squid jigs. Amazingly they are all jigs I would have selected 😉. My wife knows I'm a hard person to buy gifts for, so we have a simple arrangement; I buy what I want and store items away in a cupboard, then whether its my birthday, Christmas, etc,. and people ask her what to buy me, she can just go to the cupboard and grab an item. It's a win win, she doesn't have to shop for me and I get what I really want 😀.
The jigs are a mix of rattle, UV, and different weights for different sink rates. There are 3 size 3.0 rattle jigs that are slow sinking, 6 sec/m, for some shallow rocky areas I fish. The Yamashita Egi  OH K is a really nice jig, extremely well made; it is UV reflective and has a little fin at the back to help it stay balanced when sinking. This is a pretty heavy jig for a size 3.5 at 22g (the Daiwa size 3.5 are 18.5g), and has a sink rate of 3sec/m so sinks twice as fast as the 3.0 type S by Daiwa.

And probably costs them about 500k a year to dredge it 🤦‍♂️
The sad thing is, I've seen 'new' drawings for an 'upgrade' recently. 
The only thing that I see changing is removing the old 'tyre grip' concrete slabs to new ones. 
It needs a massive overhaul! Needs to go deeper because at low tide around 11.30-1 in summer is horrendous (1 maybe 2 smaller boats dock only), a 3rd lane added and a massive breakwater with 1 entry / exit point. 
Something like this should happen I think.
 
WEST BEACH.pdf