Everything days

I really wanted to eat fish. Maybe that sounds a little harsh, but it was true. I wanted to eat fish.

So what does any self respecting angler do? Go fishing of course. After all, buying fish is out of the question. Although I must say that with the current price of fuel, $2.50 per liter, it is probably cheaper to buy fish than take the boat out and catch fish.

Never mind, it's only money and besides I love fishing.

With the boat loaded we head out around 7:30 am.

Included onboard is Brendan, videographer and jigging mad.

John, business partner and always ready for a fish.

Rosie, partner in everything and always ready to show us how to fish.

And of course myself.

A little chop but otherwise a magnificent morning.

We come out of the river mouth like a race horse out of the gate.

A short trip across the channel and within 30 minutes our lines are in the water.

Rapala Lucanus jigs, River2Sea Octo jigs, Soft plastics, and a 3.5 ounce metal jig were the lure of the day.

Brendan's first fish on the boat was sent back to the deep as bait by Rosie. It took about 30 seconds before the bait was smashed. Whatever it was it had teeth and was really fast. It was probably a Spanish mackerel, but we never saw it before it cut three layers of 50lb leader. Note to self, bring steel leaders when fishing live bait.

Next up was an awesome surprise, I was using a little knife jig on a 30lb set-up, when out of nowhere, SLAM! I am hooked up and this thing is tearing off like a bat out of hell. After a good fight and a trip around the boat I manage to bring a nice GT onboard.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

Not long afterwards Brendan hooks up to a Rainbow Runner.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

A few more mixed species are caught within the hour nothing really picture worthy.

Then things slow down for a while and of course that means it is time to have some fun.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

Damn, why am I not catching any fish? The hooks are sharp.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

Now it is Johns turn to put one on deck. A nice little grouper.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

I then proceeded to land a Blue trevally on a knife jig.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

John now has the hang of this soft plastic jigging thing as is evident by his smile.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

I am only going to briefly touch on the subject of Brendan breaking his brand new jigging rod. I think the image of him pouting says it all.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

This was definitely one of those everything days. We caught 22 fish with maybe 10 or 12 species. We had sun, rain, wind and everything in between. Including a rainbow.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

We ended the day with fish in the ice chest and smiles on our faces.

From John, Brendan, Rosie and Callan

Until next time.

Tight lines

Soft plastics with a bit of popper thrown in

Some times one just needs to try new things in order to break out of a mold.

Rosie and I have been popper fishing for quite awhile now. As you know we love it and do alright in the fish category. The problem is, a lot of the better eating fish are found a little deeper in the water column. Therefore one must try a new style of fishing to get down were the tasty fish live.

So the plan is set to do a bit of deep water soft plastic jigging. Now I have read heaps, watched loads of videos and talked to everyone I know who does this type of fishing. I did not want to fail at this.

We head out of the break water to a flat sea with high hopes and new ideas.

From Soft plastic jigging

The first few spots and drifts produce nothing. We do however encounter a pod of spinner dolphins mucking around. Unfortunately for you all we are we too engrossed in fishing to shoot any photos of them.

We then move to an area that has a lot of small reefs in the 20 to 30mt range.

Jackpot!

Right away we find the fish and I work out the technique for catching them.

From Soft plastic jigging

A close up of this beautiful fish.

From Soft plastic jigging

Now that I have figured this out the fish start to come in with every drop of the jig.

From Soft plastic jigging

From Soft plastic jigging

Now Charlie is getting in on the action.

From Soft plastic jigging

And then Rosie hooks up.

From Soft plastic jigging

Now young cousin Marky has figured it out and he starts to catch fish.

From Soft plastic jigging

From Soft plastic jigging

From Soft plastic jigging

We continue to catch these cods and trouts for awhile. Then Rosie gets bored with all this jigging and she starts popping.

Tossing around her popper on 30lb gear while surrounded by coral reefs that just beg to break you off.

Of course she is going to hook up. And it is going to be a big fish that takes every trick we know to extract it from the depths.

From Soft plastic jigging

Once we have settled down after Rosies GT the wind starts to really kick. It is getting rough but we fish on.

Of course Rosie is still throwing a popper with her 30lb gear and wouldn't you know it she hooks up to a really big fish this time.

I jump behind the wheel and the chase/fight is on. At first she thought it was foul hooked by the way the fish was fighting, but it turns out it was just a big GT. After a prolonged battle due to fish size and weather conditions we finally boat a big, fat and pregnant GT. We move quickly to minimize out of water time and snap a few pictures. Then with great fanfare she swims away strong.

From Soft plastic jigging

It has now become so rough that we are having trouble standing in the boat without hanging on. That is the sure sign to head for home.

Ice chest full of great eating fish and Rosie with sore arms.

A success by any measure.

Tight lines