brutus

I caught some 50 cm kg’s off the reef close to shore past Cape Elizabeth half way to Balgowan a few years back at the beginning of summer and was not happy with the taste. My usual catch is around the 36-44 range and my family of 7 all love and devour them. It’s usually a squabble who gets the most. The day I bought these big ones home everyone was keenly awaiting their dinner. I’m a retired chef and cooked them in my usual way which is just dusted with flour and pan fried in butter. 
First personto turn their nose up at them was my daughter, quickly followed by the rest of us.
They had a most unusual flavour that was not enjoyable. It was the first time ever that Whiting was left in touched on their plates.
so in my opinion bigger Whiting DO NOT taste better at all.

I agree brutus......the bigger fish are a bit flowery tasting .

Victor Harbour is a popular spot. You have many accommodation choices as well as eateries. 
Granite island is a good family destination, there is a horse drawn tram thingy that crosses the causeway to the island (quite cheap). Once on the island there is a nice walk around it (not too far or strenuous) with ocean views everywhere. Calble lift to the bottom. At night on the island you can watch the ferry penguins come ashore. People fish of the wharf area, the causeway and off the rocks on the island. 

Victor Harbour is a popular spot. You have many accommodation choices as well as eateries. 
Granite island is a good family destination, there is a horse drawn tram thingy that crosses the causeway to the island (quite cheap). Once on the island there is a nice walk around it (not too far or strenuous) with ocean views everywhere. Calble lift to the bottom. At night on the island you can watch the ferry penguins come ashore. People fish of the wharf area, the causeway and off the rocks on the island. 

Victor Harbour is a popular spot. You have many accommodation choices as well as eateries. 
Granite island is a good family destination, there is a horse drawn tram thingy that crosses the causeway to the island (quite cheap). Once on the island there is a nice walk around it (not too far or strenuous) with ocean views everywhere. Calble lift to the bottom. At night on the island you can watch the ferry penguins come ashore. People fish of the wharf area, the causeway and off the rocks on the island. 

Carp carp carp.

hey SC i swear by carp!! everytime i go out for some blueys i will only use carp they are amazing! i will usually chop it into steaks and put them into the round black pots you can buy from tackle and tucker at saintkilda! and if i have heaps of carp i will usually zip tie half of one into the bottomAndrew

I gather the gar & snook are also in the Hughes bay area Brutus, where its a bit more sheltered?

Not just crabbing, would be handy for Whiting as well. Dangle the bait, camera shows a small fish about to bite, pull it away and wait for the bigun. 👍👍👍

Not just crabbing, would be handy for Whiting as well. Dangle the bait, camera shows a small fish about to bite, pull it away and wait for the bigun. 👍👍👍

Great footage bringing back fond memories.
I lived up in the Pilbara during the 80's and fished from Coral Bay to Broome, and as you say, awesome country and fishing.
Highlight for me was spending 8 days starting on Boxing Day 1985 on 2 Marlin Broadbills camped out on the Monte Bello islands about 80km off the Dampier Archipelago.
Fishing and diving there was the best in my 58 years of fishing. Where we camped we had large turtles coming up the beach to lay their eggs whilst other eggs were hatching and thousands of little turtles scurrying to the water to avoid the gulls.
During one hookah diving trip we managaed a crayfish that fed 6 of us and some seagulls, it was a monster!!

Hard decisions

Have to love suppliers that reward you. "pick something from this list" they said. - SCORE!
 

Got some fishing gurus in here with lots of good info! Will be taking all this onboard when I go wet a line on the weekend. Cheers

I always look for the ol' stains on the jetty if there is fresh sprodge that would be the area I would try first 
above weed 
then again ....What would a port soaked river fisher know 
 
and that don't mean I fell in the Port River ...

Damm you!! You've gone and spoilt my day 😂😂🥂 now all I can think of is all those delicious muddies👍
I love my blue swimmers, but muddies are hard to beat.

Wow brutus, sounds like an epic trip - and to live there it must have been amazing!
I briefly hooked a marlin out the back of cassini Island on spin gear. Massive fish and I've never seen line get stripped from a reel so quickly!
Plenty of turtles on the beaches and in the water too, simply magnificent to watch
Didn't dive for any crays for fear of being eaten lol however we did get some magnificent mud crabs and black lipped oysters.

Great footage bringing back fond memories.
I lived up in the Pilbara during the 80's and fished from Coral Bay to Broome, and as you say, awesome country and fishing.
Highlight for me was spending 8 days starting on Boxing Day 1985 on 2 Marlin Broadbills camped out on the Monte Bello islands about 80km off the Dampier Archipelago.
Fishing and diving there was the best in my 58 years of fishing. Where we camped we had large turtles coming up the beach to lay their eggs whilst other eggs were hatching and thousands of little turtles scurrying to the water to avoid the gulls.
During one hookah diving trip we managaed a crayfish that fed 6 of us and some seagulls, it was a monster!!

yo are onto it Brutus, good luck.  here is a cray producing piece of bottom, remember you don't need crazy big ledges.

Pickling is done with vinegar, lemons or limes.
It's also a personal thing in that there are no hard and fast rules for what amount of vinegar to spices.
Personally I wouldn't do so a fine seafood as Scallops, nor any other seafood as I am not a fan of vinegar.
But if I were I would use cider vinegar say roughly 60%, white wine roughly 30% and the rest in lemon juice.
Then it's up to your own taste buds. Like it hot? Slice a chilli or two and throw into the mix with seeds and all, the longer you leave it the more kick you get.
Other ingredients include some or all of the following. Bay leaves, whole peppercorns, coriander root, lemon grass, ginger, palm sugar, ETC... and again, up to your taste buds, no set amount I can give you. This is where some chefs can't give you a written recipe as it's all about tasting as you go and adjusting.
You can put your raw scallops straight into the mix and leave till it's pickled (possibly overnight, possibly longer, size dependant.
You can kick start the whole process by warming the liquid to just below boil point then throw the scallops in.
As we spoke te other day Lindsay my fav was whilst out on the boat dice up fresh snapper or other firm flesh fish like queen fish, throw in lime juice with ground pepper and a few hot chillies. An hour later delicious, next day delicious with a bigger heat kick.
One thing I have never understood is why people like taking something as delicate and sweet as blue swimmer crab and subject it to pickling? All that vinegar destroys that delicate wonderful flavour

Thanks BB, for the life of I don't know why I didn't look there first, looked everywhere else except there (Couldn't see the forest for the trees )
 
By the looks of it no licence required 4 per person max 8 per boat.
Hopefully when boat up and running a trip or two down to Corny Point with a Hookah to grab a feed and avoid "Bruce"

Thanks BB, for the life of I don't know why I didn't look there first, looked everywhere else except there (Couldn't see the forest for the trees )
 
By the looks of it no licence required 4 per person max 8 per boat.
Hopefully when boat up and running a trip or two down to Corny Point with a Hookah to grab a feed and avoid "Bruce"

How to keep the kids happy

Marinated land ribs over the coals, spuds with coleslaw sour cream and cheese and roast capsicum garlic and olive oil.
Followed by 5 kids fighting over the marshmallow sticks.
Nothing fancy, in the backyard enjoying the sunset over Bird Island sipping a nice wine.
Gotta love spring 👍