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mrfish

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  1. Like
    mrfish reacted to Hunter69 in P.B Trout   
    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
  2. Like
    mrfish reacted to Des in HOT SESSIONS   
    If a large morning tide occurs mainly before daylight, there is a higher incidence of Prawns in their guts. Prawns are primarily nocturnal. Although the YFW can access them buried in the sand where they hide during daylight hours and are occasionally disturbed out of hiding. Often by Stingrays. So it is not uncommon to see YFW close to feeding Stingrays. 
    I have only caught one YFW on a Cranka Crab lure. I think I have to use them in the Crab habitat and not on the flats.
    The Sugapen 95 in Col-MB16 I feel mimics the prawns best. The Ecogear ZX43 blade mimics a disturbed fleeing prawn in the sand. 


  3. Like
    mrfish reacted to Des in HOT SESSIONS   
    ALWAYS !!! 😅   I gut my fish before leaving the water.
    This lot ... Haswell Crabs in the larger ones and Lug Worms in the smaller ones. The big morning tide ( in daylight ) would have given them plenty of access to the Samphire beds holding the Haswell crabs. Lug worms are abundant on the sandflats. 
     

  4. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Des in HOT SESSIONS   
    Very nice catch. Did you examine gut contents at all? curious to know what they have been feeding on
  5. Like
    mrfish reacted to Des in DOUBLE HAPPINESS - HAPPY NEW YEAR   
    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
  6. Like
    mrfish reacted to Des in STRIKE WHILE IT’S HOT   
    With a very mild Spring and early Summer, Yellow Fin Whiting lure fishing has had a few challenges this season.
    The weather patterns have not sustained a constant water temperature. It barely heats up when a cold change with a series of cold days would chill off the water. It looks like we may have turned the corner.
    We have not yet seen a sustained warm spell to put the warmth into the water and hold it there for a prolonged spell. It is the sustained higher water temperatures that has the greatest impact on the ecosystem and the behaviour of the YFW. Yes we have been finding a few YFW on lures, but nothing like those hot bag out sessions of last year.
    So today after a few, rare consecutive days of 30+C I was off to seize the opportunity and “Strike while the water was hot”

    Comparative water temperature maps. What a difference a few warm days make
     
    I was trying to avoid the cooler water in the morning, by starting around 11.30am. Sleeping in ! The water was still surprisingly cold at the start. Thermal lag, meant the water was still holding onto a cool temperature after a spell of cold days earlier in the week. Hence the importance of a sustained period of warmth. It was hard to find fish showing interest in any of the surface lures in the incoming tide.  Fish would not rise for the lure. The few fish spotted, were hanging back from the lure and staying deep. They were keeping as cool and calm as the water temperature.  I went subsurface with the Ecogear ZX43 blade to catch a couple of good fish.

     

    The Salmon Trout have moved out & the Trumpeters have moved in. A sure sign of warm water.
    Still it was not until the tide started to run off late afternoon, and the water had warmed up from the heat of the day, did the fishing come alive. Increasingly overcast conditions did put a dampener on the fishing. You always catch more in sunshine. I had to resort to some UV enhancement tricks to engage the fish. UV sprays and UV flash tinsels can transform the standard sunny day lures into successful overcast day lures. A quick spray on your lure. It dries fast. Although it leaves a strong lacquer smell. So rub it over with some S factor or Pro-Cure scent to negate the smell. Today my ever reliable Sugapen 95 could only catch fish with the UV enhancements. 


     
    I worked through a variety of surface lures today. The other successful ones being Zipbaits Fakie Dog DS, Ebi Panic, MMD Splash prawn-AW Yabby, 

     
    And one I have not used for a couple of years, the Atomic K9 Bulldog which took the biggest fish.

    The smaller size lures where better in lighter winds and the bigger and noisier lures in the stronger wind spells.
     
    The day finished strongly with the fish more aggressive in the warm water late in the day. I released a few fish in the high 20s to 30cm and kept 17 fish in the 31- 40cm range. Most were in the 35 to 40cm range. A clear sign of the warm water attracting a new batch of juvenile prawns onto the sand flats along with the larger predatory Yellow Fin Whiting.

     
    Happy Hot days and some Hot fishing sessions ahead !
     
    Cheers, Des
  7. Like
    mrfish reacted to Des in DODGY DAYS   
    Fished the dodge tide on Saturday. 

    Unfortunately the wind and air pressure conspired to negate what little water movement there was. Rather than accentuate it which is what I was expecting. 
    Nonetheless got 16 from 32 to 40cm. Sunday was a blow out !
     


     
     

  8. Like
    mrfish reacted to MIKECATTS in YFW today.. First of the season..   
    Hi all.
    I went out today. Just went local... Walked the out going and the incomming.. Was a long day....
    Water was warm, clear and a little tape weed about.. Winds were all over the place.. Was 15ks first thing so a noisy lure was the go. As the wind dropped off I went to my searching lure..
    Not many about,, They were not in groups.. Only one here and there.. And they were not really interested in lures. I managed 1 @ 36cm and fat.. Lost 2.. Me stuffing around with drag and weed..
    Heaps of nice mullet about smashing lures. Nice sizes to.. 28cm and fat.. Lots of very small Silvers about.. Agressive little buggers today.. A few puffers about...
    Seen heaps of decent YFW as the tide turned when I was walking in.. But way too much fast moving weed.. I tried and failed.. Same thing.. One here and there and not really in groups.. But they were big.. And a few nice KGW swimming about as well..
    Lost 1 lure and changed spools 3 times.. Wind knots./snap off....
    Was a good day....
    Mike
     














  9. Like
    mrfish reacted to MAH in Coorong and victor harbor   
    Seacliff is a very good spot to practice. You don't need to be far offshore to catch squid and you can also pick-up other species like snook. It's a very popular spot so there will likely be others around you plus there is the Surf Life Saving Club and yacht club adding to activity and eyes on the water.
    However, practicing capsize and re-entry can't be over emphasised. Self rescue should be considered your primary method, never assume someone will be there to help, you must be able to save yourself.  I'm pretty confident on the water, including multi-day self supported tours  circumnavigating islands in West Papua. I still practice capsize and re-entry. As a kid we owned and sailed a Mirror dinghy, the same principle applied and my sailing school made us practice all the time. Even if there was no wind, they would tow us out and we would drill capsize and re-entry over and over again. I've had to call upon my skills many times and would have been in serious trouble if not well drilled.
    I make my son practice regularly, even though he hates doing it. One thing I drum into him is never let go of the boat, not only is something you can rest upon, but a kayak is more visible than a person bobbing up and down in the water. Remember that once you flip your capsized kayak back over, if there is a strong wind or swell. your kayak can shoot off from you much faster than you can swim.
    It sounds boring, but always plan for safety first and fishing second. Have a plan for the day, where you will be fishing, what time you will launch and return, etc, and make sure someone knows your plan. if you change your plan, let someone know (take your mobile phone with you in a waterproof pouch). Make sure you have all you safety gear packed before you start packing fishing gear. And do a safety check before you launch, bung in - check, hatches secure - check, etc.
  10. Like
    mrfish reacted to yellow door 1 in WINTER GARFISH   
    I like a burley float with a short dropper to keep them around the hook
  11. Haha
    mrfish reacted to Soobz in What would you do to get back your fishing gear?   
    I applaud your decision, and having done a number of night jetty dives I can tell you it's still eerie under the water at night. Then again, if anything had have brushed against you I reckon you would have done a good squid impersonation yourself.
  12. Like
    mrfish reacted to MAH in What would you do to get back your fishing gear?   
    Monday night I decided to head out for a fish, so I packed my squid outfit and a soft plastics outfit for some tommies. I packed it into my bicycle bags and headed off to Glenelg jetty. Got to Glenelg about 7pm and fished for squid till last light, then switched over to soft plastics for tommies. No joy with the squid but plenty of tommies about for a feed and to stock up on bait for crab nets.
    The jetty was pretty empty with only two other people, which was surprising because the conditions were excellent. Then about 10.30pm the wind started to pick up with increasingly strong gusts. Just after 11pm a really big gust came through and I turned to see my bicycle being blown over. All my gear was secure in the bike bags, except my box of squid jigs, which went over the edge of the jetty. There was no moon, so quite dark but with a torch I could see the box of jigs partially floating and heading out to see. Well, 10 quality jigs and the lure box sinking to the bottom was not something I was happy about, and I quickly said to myself "F*** it!", stripped off to my boxer shorts, climbed the railing and took the plunge into the inky brine. One of the other fishos shone a torch on the lure box and I swam out to get it, then back along the jetty and underneath to the opposite side to climb the ladder.
    By this stage my heart my heart was pounding pretty hard, not from jumping in (I was a regular jetty jumper as a kid), not from the swim, but from the thoughts racing through my head. With no moon, it was bloody dark down in the water and the fear of the unknown lurking below certainly put me on edge as I swam back to the ladder.
    Would I do it again? F*** yeah! I'm not letting $150+ of jigs and lure box get away that easy.
  13. Like
    mrfish reacted to Wert in Just how fussy could a Whiting be?   
    In my experience under 32cm KGs will eat 2 day old dog turd in the middle the day on a dodge tide, over 32cm however.... they may well be fussy but I reckon it's just a thing people say when they suck at catching them.
  14. Sad
  15. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from aitch.t in Cockle alternatives for KGs   
    Don't forget you an also catch kg's on soft plastics.
    have caught them on bloodworm wrigglers before but a worm or nipper plastic should work too. 
    recently saw this vid by Luben Pfiefer catching kgs on ned rigs, looks fun 
     
  16. Like
    mrfish reacted to doobie in Parsons Beach 24 May 2021   
  17. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Squid Inc. in Cockle alternatives for KGs   
    Don't forget you an also catch kg's on soft plastics.
    have caught them on bloodworm wrigglers before but a worm or nipper plastic should work too. 
    recently saw this vid by Luben Pfiefer catching kgs on ned rigs, looks fun 
     
  18. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Territory Lad in Cockle alternatives for KGs   
    Don't forget you an also catch kg's on soft plastics.
    have caught them on bloodworm wrigglers before but a worm or nipper plastic should work too. 
    recently saw this vid by Luben Pfiefer catching kgs on ned rigs, looks fun 
     
  19. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from yellow door 1 in Cockle alternatives for KGs   
    Don't forget you an also catch kg's on soft plastics.
    have caught them on bloodworm wrigglers before but a worm or nipper plastic should work too. 
    recently saw this vid by Luben Pfiefer catching kgs on ned rigs, looks fun 
     
  20. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from doobie in Cockle alternatives for KGs   
    Don't forget you an also catch kg's on soft plastics.
    have caught them on bloodworm wrigglers before but a worm or nipper plastic should work too. 
    recently saw this vid by Luben Pfiefer catching kgs on ned rigs, looks fun 
     
  21. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Wert in Garfish - how long in fridge and easiest way to cook   
    Gar are easiest to fillet once gutted. If you keep your catch cold from when you catch them there is no reason that they cant stay in the fridge up to five days no problem. Obviously the fresher you eat them the better the flavour but you definitely wont get sick if you've treated them correctly and kept them cool. Particularly with mild fish like gar a few days in the fridge they'll still be great but salmon/tommies etc will get a bit stronger but still be fine. If i know i wont be eating within a day or two i will just gut and gill and do the filleting on the day they will be cooked. This will help keep the flesh in good condition
    How old do you think anything you buy from a fish shop is?? You might be surprised
  22. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Soobz in Garfish - how long in fridge and easiest way to cook   
    Gar are easiest to fillet once gutted. If you keep your catch cold from when you catch them there is no reason that they cant stay in the fridge up to five days no problem. Obviously the fresher you eat them the better the flavour but you definitely wont get sick if you've treated them correctly and kept them cool. Particularly with mild fish like gar a few days in the fridge they'll still be great but salmon/tommies etc will get a bit stronger but still be fine. If i know i wont be eating within a day or two i will just gut and gill and do the filleting on the day they will be cooked. This will help keep the flesh in good condition
    How old do you think anything you buy from a fish shop is?? You might be surprised
  23. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Kelvin in Garfish - how long in fridge and easiest way to cook   
    Gar are easiest to fillet once gutted. If you keep your catch cold from when you catch them there is no reason that they cant stay in the fridge up to five days no problem. Obviously the fresher you eat them the better the flavour but you definitely wont get sick if you've treated them correctly and kept them cool. Particularly with mild fish like gar a few days in the fridge they'll still be great but salmon/tommies etc will get a bit stronger but still be fine. If i know i wont be eating within a day or two i will just gut and gill and do the filleting on the day they will be cooked. This will help keep the flesh in good condition
    How old do you think anything you buy from a fish shop is?? You might be surprised
  24. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from doobie in Garfish - how long in fridge and easiest way to cook   
    Gar are easiest to fillet once gutted. If you keep your catch cold from when you catch them there is no reason that they cant stay in the fridge up to five days no problem. Obviously the fresher you eat them the better the flavour but you definitely wont get sick if you've treated them correctly and kept them cool. Particularly with mild fish like gar a few days in the fridge they'll still be great but salmon/tommies etc will get a bit stronger but still be fine. If i know i wont be eating within a day or two i will just gut and gill and do the filleting on the day they will be cooked. This will help keep the flesh in good condition
    How old do you think anything you buy from a fish shop is?? You might be surprised
  25. Like
    mrfish got a reaction from Elecmuso in Simple rig for Coorong Mulloway in boat   
    They should do the trick
    Good luck
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