piratepom

A before and after pic of today's smoke up, with a dry rub on the chicken and snags with just a quick sprinkle of salt

Dug up a bit of old footage - enjoy!

89cm wading Franklin Harbour. Was mad on my 1-3kg stick, 5lb and only 8lb leader on!
Never seen anything like it before or since. Perhaps for the boaties?

been a b@$%@&d of a winter for Super G & I. Either family commitments (new grandson  ) or weather (crappy on days off  ). Last winter we fished 3 out of every 4 weekends so looking forward to getting out. Those that know us will see us doing our usual thing, puffers and undersized KGW's  . We will target legal Whiting, crabs & Squid. By catch of Flathead usually happens and a few Red mullet for the neighbours. Maybe Snapper on the Crusader if I get an invite

Feels like ages since last Spring/Summer! 

Well I dry brined the salmon late afternoon yesterday with 1 part salt and 2.5 parts brown sugar and stuck in the refrigerator.
 
This morning I took out the fridge, drained the liquid out, washed under the tap and pat dry with paper towel.
 
Put on a wire rack and outside to dry off and some gum wood sitting in a bucket of water.
 
3 hours later, the webber is firing up ready to put the fish in.
 
I'll have a few photos soon and put up.

That is my next target too. I think the step from 42-43cm to 45cm is the real challenge. Very rarely you see photos or reports of the really big Bream, but around, and just over 40cm are way more common. A fish around that 45cm mark would have to be around 30 years old. Would be awesome to see. 
 
First legal Mulloway in the Onk. Have never specifically targeted them but will attempt it soon.
 
Flathead 50cm+ would be sweet. Again, haven't gone out specifically for Flathead but have caught them targeting Bream in the surf. 
 
85cm Snook - probably not anything to brag about. I'm sure many of you catch them that size regularly. 
 
What is the biggest Snook you guys have caught? Just curious what size they get to. 
 
 

Yeah I too just add salt and brown sugar dry to the fillets and smoke. Saves a lot messing around and they taste great. Smoked Tommies and a cold beer.   :wub:  

Yeah I too just add salt and brown sugar dry to the fillets and smoke. Saves a lot messing around and they taste great. Smoked Tommies and a cold beer.   :wub:  

The usual local rock fishing targets for me.
Bream 45+cms would be nice
Flathead 60+cms
Snapper, legal
Gar and Squid
 
My Dads coming over from Pommieland to celebrate his 75th in a couple of weeks, so hoping to get him onto some thumper Bream locally and some decent Callop as we celebrate his birthday with a few days at the River.

PP, if your aquaponics system does well I can see you getting the 45cm+ Bream

Ive always wanted to get a couple of 'bigger' bream in the onk on soft plastics/hardbodies. Having mainly fished hardbodies and weedless plastics around snags in the old noarlunga parts in the warmer months ive never come across anything bigger then late 20's.
 
I decided to hit the onk in the kayak to sound around and find some deeper parts as i have heard that as the day goes on the bream go deep. The past few weeks i did 5 sessions, morning, afternoon and midle of the day.
 
So first session i kayaked around with the fishfinder found some deep parts around river road. And some bits that drop off going south towards seaford. So it was a start for that area. Paddled to south road bridge afterwards remembering some likely spots aswell.
 
Had a land based flick one morning the other weekend and pulled one 33cm at sheep pilons and a little tacker. Got my first mulloway on sp's aswell 😃
 
As winter came to an end i actually concentrated in bits that were about 700mm to a 1.5m deep and found more bream waiting in these areas. I would drift over these areas looking at my sounder finding schools bunched up paddle to the bank and cast over them. If i was fishing plastics a would cast against the tide and bring my plastic back with it for a more realistic presentation. Hardbodies i would cast whatever way. I found the hidden weight jigheads by TT worked a more finesse presentaion and got more fish. Got 5-7 fish a session. Biggest went 39cm! Almost got my goal of 40cm. It will come soon. Heres a veiw pics. Happy fishing

Nice work Alex.

Here's a little video I put together. 


  That's a very good point, I struggled with that when I first started targeting them. But once you land a few, you will feel more confident and persistent. Always worth the reward when you catch one, nonetheless. 

Headed down to the river today. The morning was sensational, glassy conditions, fog and clear skies. Ended up catching around 10 fish between James and I. Biggest went 37cm on the Squidgy Lobby.

Just a little one from afew weeks ago.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kv2ibltt0nkq4k8/FSCN3770.MOV?dl=0

Nice work Alex.

Ever since the first time I hit the Onk this season, I've been hitting it almost every week! It started off with a slow session on the salmon, so our plan B was to fish the Onk, although we didn't have the right gear, we emphasised and managed to land a few good fish! 4 fish were landed the first time between James and I. Biggest went 37.5cm.    
 




 
The fish turned off for a while so we finished the day off at the jetty. A nice school came by and James and I landed 2 fish each around 45cm! We were stoked and wanted to do it again.

 
The next time we headed down, it was a lot more breezy and cold.  The water was a chocolate milk colour and our hopes were lost. We started flicking and soon found a school! We both landed a decent fish each and dropped some too. We continued and found another school, same thing happens. Biggest fish went 39cm and FAT! But the majority of fish were over 35cm. Killa fun. 















 
Once the tides changed, the fish turned off so we decided to check out the jetty again.. Unfortunately, the salmon did not want to play this time. 
 
With the bloodworm run taking place around metro waters, we hit the Onk again!     This time the condition were nice. We were welcomed to the spot with a glassed off river and a slight breeze. The water wasn't as murky as last time, but it was still quite dirty. We fished the same spots, and soon found a school. They weren't as active today, but in the end, we managed a couple of good fish. James hooked a bream that would have easily tipped 40cm but unfortunately it spat the hook!   Loved the photos James took today, epic!!   







 
I had planned to fish with Nathan, Kwok and Kelvin on Sunday. Same plans! It was one of the best days (weather wise), but the fishing wasn't up to standards. As Nathan and I moved along, Kelvin and Kwok decided to hit another spot in the Onk. They caught a lot more than we did! We worked hard for the fish all day, but I only managed 3. Biggest went 35cm.




 
Now for my trip to Port Augusta! I'm sure there will be a report, unless I donut!!   
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the report.     
 

Did a quick dish of cockles with squid and pasta (toooo much I think but nice) All left overs will get recycled through the muncher as berley.


 
Cheers

So,

I get home from work with some holidays booked and keen as to get away for some time to unwind with the only problem being where to go, tossed around hooking up the boat for a river trip but when in I walked in to the shed and seen the surf rods that haven't had a run in close on 8 months my mind was made up a over nighter to Goolwa .


Thursday morning with last few items throwen in I hit the road at 6.30am. Pulling in to the beach car park around 8.00 am, I set about dropping my tyre pressures via the strawn's. It really drives me nuts seeing 4wd still running road pressures chewing up the beach for no reason. Anyway after a easy drive to the mouth, I spent some time watching the dredge working and at the unbelievable numbers of seals around . I picked out a nice little hole set up camp and had the rods in by 10
 
With the 1st rod loaded with a st fillet

 
2nd rod with a pilly and a popper

 
The first bite came around 1pm and  soon had a beautiful salmon on the beach ,bled and in the esky .

 
A long wait till the next bite around 5.30 and was surprised to have caught my 1st salmon on a popper

 
After missing a huge hit on a whole squid head, the cold and poor footy game I decided to  pack it in around 9.30pm and climbed in the swag.
 
Friday morning rolled around still bloodly cold but great conditions I had the rods back in by 6.30am. I fished hard again all day changing bait every 20mins till the next bite around 1pm again, this fish didn't fight very well the reason eviedent with a trace and hook coming out through the gills. I don't know how long fishing line needs to be in the water for the growth on the line to get to that stage but it couldn't have been pleasent


 
Come 3pm and I packed up for the drive home , with 20 hrs of fishing for 3 fish not the best, it was great to get away and enjoy some great weather and camping.
 
A quick pic of tea, fresh salmon patties yum yum

No fishing here either. To much other stuff getting in the way.
 
 
Going to have to get my shite together and get a full mash brew down.
 
Strike and Hook beer tasting day!

Maybe time for a re run of this gathering?
 
http://www.strikehook.com/index.php/topic/7538-port-river-dinner-cruise-saturday-may-15th/page-1

No fishing here either. To much other stuff getting in the way.
 
 
Going to have to get my shite together and get a full mash brew down.
 
Strike and Hook beer tasting day!

As a matter of fact I'm having a crack right now

Whiting are firing around metro
 
Landed my first samson wide off marion bay