David_C

Got my first metro bag of whiting today down south. Found a big school and quickly had 12 decent whiting 36-37cm on board. Pretty chuffed as first time on my own in the tinny bagging out metro. I have a nice new mark for the collection too! Water pretty stirred up still so no squid wanted to play. Moved to the snapper spot but no legals wanted to play this afternoon only a 38cm whiting which hoovered a bid squid strip with a pair of 4/0 gamakatsus in it. Unlucky bugger got a free ticket as my quota was reached.

Had an arvo sesh South of the BHP at Ards on Friday just gone.
Stacks of squid in there, managed our 30 quite easily while at anchor chasing the Snotties.
Managed 20 Snotties.
Was happy with that.

I dont post on here anymore...   But theres plenty of winter fish to be caught, get out the you bunch of soft &@$%s 
 

 
 

Agree regarding the food (for those that made the wrong choice ). The night was a great opportunity for us to meet face to face instead of just here in the forum. Not suggesting we do exactly the same thing again but I would like to see some way to repeat the gathering while the weather is less favourable for fishing. I am trying to think of an alternative to suggest to the management.

Here is my version of a quick salt and pepper squid recipe. It made a nice addition to dinner.
 
I used a handful of tentacles, cleaned and cut into smaller pieces. I then ground my Chinese 5 spice powder in a mortar and pestle.  5 spice traditionally consists of star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon and Sichuan peppercorns. I didn't have cinnamon sticks so just used powder instead. I also added celery salt, coriander seeds and chilli flakes but this is non traditional. If just using 5 spice powder, add some salt for taste.
 
I ground to a medium texture then mixed in with the squid then mixed in cornflour till a thick coating formed then fried in olive oil. Some versions serve with chilli and spring onion flash fried and sprinkled on top but I was too hungry to bother. I enjoyed this dish with jasmine rice.
 

Did you ever notice a rusty old pole sticking out of the mud a couple of meters long on the eastern bank of the Onk a few meters south of the old railway bridge (now a path bridge) ever wondered where it went, well i'll tell you. Fly fishing around that area about 7 years back & i decided as it had been a bit slow that day & if i could get my fly close in on the deep side of the bridge pylon there might just be a bream there willing to eat the fly.
So having thigh waders on i stepped out into the water next to the the rusty old pole but found i needed to lean out just a bit further than i had waded to get the cast in & yes you guessed it it was one of those times your brain is saying don't do that but the desperation of of not having caught a fish for a few hours took over I put my hand out & put some weight on the pole & snap  in i go head first & I mean a full head first dive (lucky the water was nice & clear) it had been a mild day so on retrieving myself from the water it went from mild to bloody freezing, needless to say the walk back to the car after emptying the waders out was uncomfortable. Luckily I had a beach towel in car to dry off a bit & sit on for the short & wet drive home.

About 30 years ago, I spent a week away at Coffin Bay with the blokes. I was about 15 from memory. On the way back one of the adults, who was driving at the time, decided to try to hit one of the road signs on the left of the road with an empty glass bottle (southwark stubby probably). I forget what sort of boat he had, half cabin, fibreglass, about 19ft, it was very new anyway. Lobs said bottle over the top of the roof whilst doing about 90km/h, bottle sails through the air and straight through the windscreen of the boat, shattering it to shit.
 
Thats Karma!

Risk = Reward? Not Always!
 
Many moons ago a mate and I decided to attempt a beach launch at Sellicks Beach. Seas were flat, tide was in, but there was a fair swell running. After watching the sets for a while we both agreed "she'll be right". Mate backed the Jeep down the crummy ramp and I pushed the tinny off the trailer. As soon as the boat was free of the trailer my mate started driving up the ramp and I attempted to turn the boat seaward. As I was doing this I was horrified to see a wave at least 3 times the size of the others we had been watching just meters from me and the boat which was now parallel to the approaching green wall of water. Being on the beach side of the tinny I had nowhere to go. I grabbed the gunnel as the wave took us both back to the beach at a great rate of knots. I now had become a passenger. I remember quickly looking towards the beach horrified to see that my mate had not fully left the ramp and now I was effectively the meat in the sandwich between the boat and the trailer. I literally had a split second to make a call. I let go of the boat and somehow got under the water just as the tinny went straight over me and crashed sideways into the boat trailer whilst I slammed underneath the trailer. God knows how I didn't hit my head but my torso bore the brunt of the impact and I lost my glasses in the process. I have never been so black and blue in my life.
 
You know when people say that their life flashes before their eyes? This was one of those moments. I could hardly speak let alone drive home for a few hours after that episode. All I could think about was how stupid that I could have made my wife a widow and left my newborn son without a father just to catch a bloody fish.
 
We have since worked out that launching at Aldinga is a far better option

I was in my boat in the coorong and Alexsfishin came along in a yak. As he was leaving he decided to be funny and grab my line, well karma got him quickly as he capsized! Ended up losing 2 quality combos, his catch and a heap of other gear. As well as being freezing cold! 
 
Or it could be fishing port willunga and having a rogue wave come along, knock my stradic ci4+ and daiwa generation black combo out of the holder and wash it out to sea. Couple hours swimming to no avail. Packed up to leave, decided what the hell one more look! 50M down the beach, i couldnt believe my eyes... it washed up right in front of me!!!

Those spider crabs with the big claws are good eating... there's plenty of meat in the big claws and you'll find it a lot richer than bluey's. 

I always prefer the smaller kg they are a lot sweeter imo so the crew gets the biggies.The big breeders do take on a stronger iodine taste when they get ready for spawning and this is to do with their diet, i think  there must be something in the cork weed that they need to kick their cycle into gear.My family won't even eat them when they are like that.
                                          cheers b

Not looking to sell mine, but the Daiwa Seajiggers are awesome rods. I have the 325M which throws 50-60g metal lures quite far. If you need to toss heavier lures then the 325H would be the other option.
 
Just remember that Daiwa seriously overrates the weight their surf rods can comfortably throw. My Seajigger is rated to 100g but there's no way I'd try that much with it. As I stated the 325M is most comfortable around 50-60g, and I would guess that the 325H would work well for 80-100g.

I rate the 10ft. Sensor Surf.
I have mine paired up with the Stradic FJ 5000, balances well.
Perfect for those West Coast salmon.

Great thread
 
As mentioned already- bait comes from fishing sessions, burley comes from fishing sessions plus pellets from fodder store,
 
Ice from 2 + 3litr containers in bait freezer
 
lures and tackle always try to buy when on special and in bulk. in particular favourite squid jags bought 6 last time on special at $10.00 ea, normally $19 ea
 
Joined a boating club with 24 hr acces to ramp, water and lights and secure car parking,  no more 9.00 oclock shut off water, lights and limited access (12hr for 12 bucks ) went out 35 times last year
 
Do all my own servicing, with help from others as well, Buy oil when on sale, spark plugs from a mate at motor store and recently filters, impellors and parts from all over the place
 
 
If i cant do it myself I learn how.... You tube...amazing what you can learn
Tightarse plus..... ......

if u have a tucker box it becomes alot cheaper i use everything nothing gets wasted..i mainly fish for table fish no need for snapper as i use dynamic lifter in my garden lol (jokes)
 
only bait i buy is gents as i get my own cockles
 
whiting and garfish frames become crab bait all shit fish also become crab bait
 
crab shells guts ect become whiting berly
 
squid heads also crab bait and candles and flaps whiting bait
 
every year i go bloodworming and get a years suppy of them for KGs and YFW
 
i have a small ice machine and also freeze up 2lt water bottles ice for esky
 
so gents $5 ramp fees $7 and $20 fuel  go out and chase crabs squid whiting and garfish mostly and even if u dont catch anything its a cheap day
 
even if ya mates think the boat runs on thanks lol

Yep I miss having this on ready supply since the dog ate the chooks lol

I have been buying the food grade bulk boxed pillies for years. Works out to be far cheaper than blocks.
Also the bulk boxes of Californian squid too, same again,far more economical. Also the chicken pellets as previously mentioned.

make sure you've got a wake at the back before deploying the scaler bag...the bag should be just in the wash and the scaler bag tumbling over (hence the swivel on the scaler line).
Most have two bags...the inner bag you fill with the fish to be scaled and then that goes into the outer bag.
Some people dont use the inner bag, takes a bit longer to scale but not a lot of difference but make sure your fish are big enough that they wont go through the mesh of the larger outer bag.
Great for whiting to get rid of the slime and the scales and as jayman mentioned great for doing the squid (take out the head and guts first though!).
Would never put gar in them as you will destroy them (running your hand down the gar scales them pretty well).
great tool to have to save some time on the filleting table.

5 mins as your nearing the boat ramp 10 -14 knts should be enough to remove all scales without tenderising your fish,  squid tubes only and as long as you can, basicly tenderises the tubes.make sure the scale bag has a float/buoy attached ,good luck 

My 47Lb King Salmon from Alaska last year. MAN WHAT A TRIP 

Done. A photo of me and the family on the boat at our recent Point Turton trip

Done. A photo of me and the family on the boat at our recent Point Turton trip

Watching some video's of asian jig fishers and noticed that one of them had a very interesting deep water squid rig setup.

 
Rig at about the 3 minute mark.
 
Instead of using extra chin weights, head-cap weights or a paternoster setup for a deeper drop they have attached a small metal jig without any hooks up the line at the swivel. Would double as both an assist weight to get the jig to the bottom and a flasher to send out extra flash to attract squid. There are plenty of times I've been alerted to squid in the vicinity by plugs on my metal lure like a halco twisty so the metallic flash is a definite attraction.
 
Don't really get out deep enough to target squid with a rig like that but something to keep in mind to try if I do get out there. Anyone try it before?

Berley 20 kg $60
Iqf 14 kg $75