Mixed Bag

[Alchemy]

Our friend Matt from Perth was in town so we headed out to see if we could find some fish for him to take home. We left Lucinda about 6pm Friday night and returned about 5pm Saturday night (last weekend).

The most memorable things of this trip were;

Watching Matt catch some great fish and get smoked on his 110lb hand line.
Nic getting done over by an absolute screamer.
Me pulling up half a red that had been sharked :-( , then Matt hand lining one up with the shark hot on the fishes fins. (still managed some good recovery from the remains though).

The funniest thing; me hooking into a "good fish" on 100lb braid straight after the sharking. I pumped and wound that thing so hard to beat the toothies that i was totally rooted when the fight was over. Yes, I beat the sharks and the fish was a 36lb cod. Took me about 15 mins to recover!

Most interesting thing was Matt hooking a good fish too, which grew.... he played this for some minutes on the hand line before it shrank. When it surfaced it was a chinaman of some 6-7kg. it had scares and had obviously been in the guts of a much bigger fish. what fish is down there big enough to scoff a 6-7kg chinaman?

As other report indicated the wind came in about 2am Saturday. 15kts of SW held us side on to the sea, so there wasn't much sleep. The wind stayed up till lunchtime Saturday before glassing out in the arvo for a quick run home.

Dave.

[nickstock]

Good report yet again Dave,

At a guess, it looks like one of the cod you were catching had a go at the China.

Nice score on the LNE. I have never caught one up until the last 2 trips where I caught one each trip. Are the more prolific during the cooler weather or just a coincidence?

Nic's Nannygai is a ripper!

Cheers,

Nick

[backlash08]

Dave, great pics and great report again,

cheers - Craig

[jtpython]

Awesome report and pics some great nanny's and trout. The night pictures came out great
Nothings worse then tying to bring ya fish in to beat the sharks and they'll only ever eat the topself fish .
Great stuff
JT

[GBC]

Sounds like some fun's been had this week all round.

You just posing that china in the esky or gunna play russian roulette with it?

[Fisher4life]

Sounds like a good trip. Not a bad feed of fish their either.

You seem to be fishing the lucinda area a fair bit, dragging the boat up there and then heading to the reef would use almost the same amount of fuel as heading out of Townsville wouldn't it?

Nic that' a great looking Nanni well done.

[trueblue]

how did you find the handlining? good fun? very direct feel sort of fishing

sounds like a great trip

cheers

mick

[Alchemy]

Nick, we got two LNE. First I've caught since living up here, got no idea on seasons etc for them. I tend to agree that there are some big cod down there as we've been smashed on other trips here too.

Thanks Craig. Maybe you should drag that big Fisher north and join in the fun?

JT, the night pics are my favourites as there is good contrast of the fish and dark. Plus no need to worry about shadows. Seems as though the sharks have similar taste to mine.

GBC, the chinaman went back though it didn't survive that ordeal. Wouldn't risk eating one and no need with those other tasty fins.

Josh, this is our third trip up there. At this stage we aren't going too far out; eg around Bramble area. The benefits of launching up there are that there are more places to park, wash down hose, good shelter around the islands if needed, and its something different! I hope to explore a little wider on our next trip up that way.

Mick, I still haven't tried the hand line. Matt used it the whole trip though and caught more fish than Nic and I (eg; six trout to my two). Might have to harden up and give it a go I think.

[nickstock]

Thanks for the info Dave,

I agree with you on the handline part. Unless it is a ripper of a fish I seem to miss lots of bites. My other half Holly cleans up on the bloody things. She landed her biggest fish to date last weekend with a hefty sized GT. Not my idea of fun lol.

Nick

[trueblue]

Mick, I still haven't tried the hand line. Matt used it the whole trip though and caught more fish than Nic and I (eg; six trout to my two). Might have to harden up and give it a go I think.

100 lb is a bit small for a big fish handline. 150 to 200 lb is what you want. You don't need this line class to stop the fish, you just need the diameter to be kinder to your fingers.

Put a 2 metre leader of whatever you want on the end (ie, smaller like 80 lb flurocarbon)

Most trout that are lost up that way are lost in the first few seconds when the fish goes back into his hole in the reef. All the fish needs is the length of line required to load up a rod, and he's in his hole and not coming back out. A low stretch handline stops that quick smart.

Its actually a heap more fun catching a trout on a handline than a rod, especially when it wants to run and you have to let it take line.

Chinaman fish are actually ok eating in the smaller sizes (sig. risks are not as bad as generally thought). Several charter operators up north told me about this, and I tried it out and it tastes good. Only problem is now it is classified as a no take species.


cheers

Mick

[Nic]

I'm not keen to use a handline, as I have girl hands, but if Dave tries one and catches more trout than me I'll probably change my tune. I don't want to judge handlining solely by Matt's results as the bloke could catch a trout on dental floss.

Foxy just told me that a sharked fish, no matter how big its head is, has to adhere to the minimum legal length. Will remember that for next time!

[scorpionNQ]

It is good to see you and nic enjoying some new ground out from lucinda, there is plenty up there, not as far as either. It's on my to do list as well, let me know Dave if your looking for other boats to tag along (maybe a mini M&G at lucinda)

Good report and great pics.
Cheers
Lee;)

[GBC]

100 lb is a bit small for a big fish handline. 150 to 200 lb is what you want. You don't need this line class to stop the fish, you just need the diameter to be kinder to your fingers.

Put a 2 metre leader of whatever you want on the end (ie, smaller like 80 lb flurocarbon)

Most trout that are lost up that way are lost in the first few seconds when the fish goes back into his hole in the reef. All the fish needs is the length of line required to load up a rod, and he's in his hole and not coming back out. A low stretch handline stops that quick smart.

Its actually a heap more fun catching a trout on a handline than a rod, especially when it wants to run and you have to let it take line.

Chinaman fish are actually ok eating in the smaller sizes (sig. risks are not as bad as generally thought). Several charter operators up north told me about this, and I tried it out and it tastes good. Only problem is now it is classified as a no take species.


cheers

Mick


I've eaten them over in the west - they chew O.K.
I'd never have the nuts to try one off the qld reef though - just not worth it.

[Pazz01]

100 lb is a bit small for a big fish handline. 150 to 200 lb is what you want. You don't need this line class to stop the fish, you just need the diameter to be kinder to your fingers.

Put a 2 metre leader of whatever you want on the end (ie, smaller like 80 lb flurocarbon)

Most trout that are lost up that way are lost in the first few seconds when the fish goes back into his hole in the reef. All the fish needs is the length of line required to load up a rod, and he's in his hole and not coming back out. A low stretch handline stops that quick smart.

Its actually a heap more fun catching a trout on a handline than a rod, especially when it wants to run and you have to let it take line.

Chinaman fish are actually ok eating in the smaller sizes (sig. risks are not as bad as generally thought). Several charter operators up north told me about this, and I tried it out and it tastes good. Only problem is now it is classified as a no take species.


cheers

Mick

Sorry Mick,

But I think you are a fair way off the mark with your line strength for a handline for trout. Most blokes use 60-80lb, and 80lb is heavy enough. 100lb + is way too much, because if you get it snagged you'll need a freight train to break it.

I mainly use 70lb and have stopped trout as big as 15 - 20lb without too many dramas. The lighter line lets you feel more than the heavy rope you are referring too. To stop trout going back into their hole, you just need to get ride of the belly in your line and you don't have too many problems. The odd one will get you when they are biting finicky.

Chinaman are also a protected species now. Lucky DPI didn't pull you over otherwise they'll write you a nice ticket.

Pazz

[Nic]

Chinaman are also a protected species now. Lucky DPI didn't pull you over otherwise they'll write you a nice ticket.

It's OK we didn't hang onto it, Dave just had the esky open at the time so I rested it there for a quick photo. Don't think I would want to eat even a small Chinaman, as I have heard that the ciguatera toxin can be cumulative, rather like lead.

Of course, I could be getting doses with good-sized trout but I'm prepared to take one for the team in that respect!

[trueblue]

you don't need any feel when using a circle hook...... she just loads up

I also use a lighter leader (as stated), this way you can break off the leader if snagged and get your main line back.

Most handlining I do now is 200 miles offshore where I work, in 80 to 100m water depth. we have caught cobes on handlines there, and trust me, with 70 lb your hands would be in shreds.......

Off Townsville and Lucinda, we used to get the big handline out when we started being bricked on heavy rod and reel.

[GBC]

I'm with trueblue - did a fair bit of handlining up the Torres Straights for trout.
We drifted over the reef sight fishing below the boat for them. Whoever was on driving duty kept an eye out for the resident G.T./Turrum and once to call went out the race was on to get your gear OUT of the water - cause if you're too slow your fingers are be praying for 20mm hemp rope not 150 lb mono when a dining room table with gills shows up.;D;D Friggin funny to watch though.........
Also no need to spool the line each time with heavy gear.

[Spot82]

Thanks for the report it was a great read :o) good pics too!

Keen to do another trip to lucinda in the not to distant future, went up there a few years ago and had a ball!

Anthony