snake

ha... i keep forgetting, aarron was on that trip, which isnt bad because even his dad forgot he took his son! i think he was around 9 years old and he was the one who took that photo(which after finding that pic recently dave and myself were dumbfounded about who took that pic) he also got absolutely pounded by a freak back wash from a huge wave while he slept on the sand fully clothed which must have sucked but that was ok cause i caught a mulloway!! sorry aarron lol

hey jack your time will come and all those hours chasing that elusive ghost will be forgotten!! My start to catching a mulloway was a once in a lifetime experience not many people would have even dreamed possible!! It all came down to one thing and that is the great friendship i established with a true fishing legend "Dave Sheldon" who is the father of aarron who started this web site and locally known through the fishing store fraternity as the maggot man!! He took me under his wing many years ago when fishing to me was an obsession but slowly losing its charm with countless fishless sessions taking its toll. He decided to invite me on a mulloway fishing trip to a place only he and a couple of other awesome fishing mates new about which nearly ended up in a fallout between them and him when they heard i was invited. Anyway we arrived at hot spot and he dedicated most of his time teaching me how to rig, bait and understand the little things needed to be successfull in catching fish consistently and with new found knowledge and confidence we chucked in our lines and it wasnt long before he pulled in the first fish of the night around 20lb which totally blew me away at seeing my first ever mulloway!! within ten minutes he bagged a similar size fish and the utter excitment i felt at the chance of me catching one was unbelievable!! well nothing happened for the next 4 hours so dave decided to crash for awhile but there was no chance for me sleeping and i dedicated my self to work hard on baiting up how he showed me and constantly rebaiting and berley and generally not get lazy to give me every chance possible to catch my first ever mully!! well it was a bizzare feeling when i saw that rod double over and took a while to register but i striked it how he told me and i was on to the biggest fish i had ever hooked in my life, my heart was pounding and i was screaming out to dave but he wouldnt wake up!!! anyway after 10 minutes of total heart pounding fishing the experience turned into a nightmare when suddenly and so close too shore the line went slack, the hook had pulled and the feeling was utterly devistating as i stood there for what felt like an eternity trying to get to grips of my lost opportunity. man that sucked!! well i let dave sleep and put on a new bait of squid and cast it out feeling totally defeated as the sun started too dawn when i noticed a couple of small taps on the rod, thinking it was a little tommy attacking my bait i decided to give it a couple more taps and striked hard to something solid which instantly took off and to say i wasnt a little surprised was an understatement of worldly proportions!! i stayed surprisingly calm and played this fish like a seasoned pro i didnt call out to dave until i landed this fish and it was safely on the sand and at a respectful 35 pounds i was the happiest fisherman alive, to catch this fish on my very first mully sesh was a totally awesome experience and was the start of a unbelievable run of consistant catches of mulloway to 60lb on close to 4 trips in a row which even had dave lost for words!!! my tip jack, dont waste your time on metro mullies hit the road and fish those beaches further away and you might just crack that 50lber sooner than u think!! p.s. this was a yorkes beach no need to travel far west coast hope u enjoyed my story

jack i dont wanna have to crack a calculator out to read one of your post's again .i left school early cos of people like you all ya have to do is ha/ve + a/go x may/be = mullie???

Hi Freebez.:cheer: Its hard to tell if you want to fish with soft plastics (Jig Heads and Soft plastics) or if you want to jig for them.Both styles are completely different.:ohmy: Snapper respond well to soft plastics and the common size that you will have success on 15lb plus fish is the five and seven inch soft plastics. Twin Power has quite rightly mentioned that current or tidal flow dictates how much weight your jig head should be.Generally though (and this is only my opinion), I would be using a 1/2 ounce or 3/4 ounce jig head and a 7inch plastic.Plastics that I have had success on are the Gulp 7inch Jerk Shads in colours such as Nuclear Chicken, Sardine and New Penny. B) You can also use the Squidgie 110mm flick baits or other big paddle tail squidgies.I would also look into the Berkley 6inch curl tail grubs in colours like Nuclear Chicken, Cartruese (fluro green), Sardine and New Penny. Now Jigging is another technique and involves either knife jigs or jigs such as lucanus or octo style jigs (little octupus imitations) I have found that the 80-120gm weights are great and the lumo pattern is the best in the Lucanus jig.:cheer: :cheer: With Knife jigs you are best to choose a pattern that looks like a baitfish and you can use a cast and retrieve technique with a metre high lift or jerk the rod tip sideways by a metre when retreiving or if in deep water and you are directly above a school you can drop the jig vertically straight up and down and just give the rod tip some quick lift and drops. But most of your fish you will hook within 5metres from the bottom.Lucanus jigs are designed to be slow rolled or just slowly cast and retrieved back to the boat. But in saying this you can have either a soft plastic or lucanus style jig just set up on a rod that is in the water and is just sitting in a rod holder and the motion of the boat, ie movement up and down will impart enough action to entice a hook up. Just have your drag set firm so the hooks will set but the fish can pull line off under pressure.anyway, I hope this has helped you out a bit. Heres a pic of a Big Red taken on my favourite soft plastic, a Chartruse Berkley 6" Grub. These are dynamite on big hungry reds.Cheers Brett.

ok guys and gals just after your most memorable fishn moment/experience.mine came last year after purchasing my boat. i took it over to port victoria and got my first whiting in my own boat wasnt a monster just the feeling of launching, heading out anchoring,fishing then retrieving it all on my own at a reasonably busy ramp was shaking like a leaf through nerves but on the drive home thought how good it was to be finally doing what i love in my own tub. any way thats my favourite moment so far so please share your stories cheers 4THA.

I've used Daiwa TD braid (the orange stuff) on a few reels and was pretty pleased with it. I think it might be different to your stuff though, but that's a bummer of a time you've had with it.I wouldn't suggest for a second that it's your fault but just make sure that the braid is spooled up onto the reel properly, ie: it's not being twisted against itself. Another trick is to throw the spool into a bucket of hot water and wind it on from there (this apparently does something magic to the braid and makes it lay onto the spool nicely).Regarding Power Pro, if it's the Shimano Power Pro you're referring to then that's really surprising that you don't like it. It's the only braid I buy these days and am very pleased with it. Anyway, horses for courses.Cheers. Tight lines. (no wind knots, tangles or birds' nests)

Thanks for the heads up Snake:) Penn power pro is another for the crap list;) cheers

snake i use instinct zulu braid made in usa found it to be very good same group that make fins ive been told!

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what colour squid jag catches more squid? i like red but a mate only uses green and does well or does it not really matter, maybe size is more important! any thoughts on the matter? cheers snake

well done jack glad u persisted with your SP and scored a couple of fish, they arent huge fish but thats not the point, the point is u caught em on the lures u made which gives u the confidence too persist with them on future trips! u gotta be happy with that!! cheers snake

nice work jack would be a good feeling catching fish on lures ya made yourself

theres a show on ABC2 7.30 wed nights called river monsters, its a doco about an angler called jeremy wade who goes fishing for dangerous fish in fresh water. last week he was catching "pirhana" and tonights show he was after "giant alligator gar" which he catches weighting an awesome 125lbs!! definatly worth watching so remember too watch next week cheers snake

remember working with an old fella at mitsubishi 20 odd years ago and him and his mate would strip engine blocks and make numerous trips dropping them over the side not far from the stanvac refinery jetty, pretty sure they would have rusted away years ago now

cheers waterboy, its for a great cause and your the one who deserves a pat on the back!! Your commitment to the little ones charity is inspirational to say the least! love ya work mate... cheers snake

well done Snake ,very generous.Now that the comp is over i can put up my best for JanuaryYeah i know your all impressed,it went 14cm. cheers brenton

:woohoo: Awesome!:woohoo: Thanks Waterboy! & thanks for organising the comp was fun I won't be claiming the prize money as i'd like to donate it to Waterboys charity as those kids need every cent Cheers Simon

thanks again Darren for running the competition i was suprised there was only 2 fish entred ,the mulloway must be elusive as usual at the momment.. Thanks again

Yeah good on you for putting up the coin for a great cause Snake... Well done to the winners..

add "salt creek coorong" too ya face book, he will help with any queries regarding salt creek

well done statesquider thats an awesome fish on whiting gear!!! great photo!!!

South Australia's Recreational Fishing Advisory Council (SARFAC) e-mail: admin@sarfac.com website:www.sarfac.com Give these guys a buzz and lodge any complaints or grievance's with them.

LOL Snake it's going to happen this time... Just like stupid marine parks... The thing is they'd better ban crabbing too cause they are the pricks that are attracting the sharks, makes me laugh that Fisheries ban use of meat/Chicken then give them crabbers a natural burley source to bait up with who is running this GONG show.. Yeah im pretty pissed too....

I dont think he was having a go guys. ;) Probably just worded in a way that can be taken out of context.Im assuming that most shark fishos dont have the channel nine News phone number speed dialled into their mobile phones...lol.

On a lighter note;Maybe they should just ban SUCCESSFUL shark fishos, ie FSW and his mates Because me sitting out on the jetty all night catching nothing but a cold seemed to attract very little media interest