Scratching the Red Itch

[vertico]

Made plans with Spot82 (Anthony) to head up to 1770 and show him some new areas to target Red Emperor and Coral Trout. We had both been hanging out to catch some Reds as it had been two months since either of us had caught some, and those who go Red fishing know what the fever is like. We headed out from Round Hill Creek about 5:30am and traveled a short distance to our live bait grounds. Live bait was few and far between and after a good hour we decided to try some other bait marks further north but not much of a detour from our intended final location, Sykes Reef. Arriving at the new bait grounds, about 12 mile from the bar, we had a sound around and found giant schools of lolly pop sized yakkas. Bait was still hard to get to the boat with mackerel and big cod busting up or cutting through bait jigs. Eventually we were happy with around 30 liveys so we fired up the etec and started the final 40 nm or so of our journey, with conditions getting better the further we travelled.

Arriving at the desired area we intended to fish, east of Sykes Reef, we proceeded to have a look around and straight away found some awesome structure / fish in 70m of water. Big Mullet baits on PEtackle flys were quickly dispatched to the bottom and straight away we knew there were some Reds on this spot. What was to follow was mayhem. Bust ups and double hookups were the flavour of the afternoon and soon we had a very healthy looking esky with around 8 red emperor and 2 solid coral trout. The best fly of the day was probably either the Hussar fly or the Slimey Mackerel fly but some others also achieved good results. Maori cod followed us around like the plague and we soon bagged out on them too. We fished into the night chasing some larger reds to complete the bag but the wind started to crank from the north so we decided to head into Fitzroy Lagoon for the night.

The next morning we were up early at 4am and after a quick breakfast we decided to head further north about 16 mile from the lagoon to chase the final Reds of the bag. Fishing was slow in the morning so we hung around some likely shows for the 1pm peak bight and anchored on a nice looking patch of weed. Midday came around and the fish soon came on the chew. Massive Spangled emperor, Red Throat Emperor and Red Emperor were all slamming huge mullet baits on our custom flys rigs. However with the current ripping and the reds loving the slack line we lost many more fish than we landed, little to say there was some choice words mumbled at those points in time. A friendly tiger shark around 2.5-3 metres also followed up a few fish and from then on we had to lock up drags and put the hurt on everything to try to boat the fish prior to the shark enjoying a tasty lunch. We managed to get the last two legal reds to the boat after many bust offs and then decided to call it a day with a very healthy looking esky, and shaking arms after monstering 2 nice reds 6-8kg to the boat in 70m of water. By this stage a strong 15-20knots of North Westerly was blowing and it was time for us to head home. The trip home took 2.5 hours at 35-40km/hr in the washing machine that was the ocean between the reef and the mainland. Anthony was pleasantly surprised about the ride of the 5.3 metre stabicraft in the not so pleasant conditions however a freshwater shower would have been preferred to the long saltwater one on the trip back.

Another successful Red Emperor trip on some new grounds this time and was good to test out some new custom flys and hook rigs. Thanks for coming up Spot82 (Anthony) was a trip requiring stamina and dedication to the cause, especially the 8 hour drive home after 36 hours on the water, with some locals at the ramp in a 30ft cat being amazed that we did so many kms in a small boat. We also shot some video of most fish landed and we will post up a edited version soon.

Total for the trip was 10 reds (4-9kg), 2 Coral Trout (3-4kg), 8 Maori Cod, 3 Spangled Emperor (4-6kg), 5 Red Throats (1.5-4.5kg), one Coral Cod and 8 Hussar to complete the bag.



http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Red%201.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Red%202.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Red%203.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Red%204.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Red%20Throat%201.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Red%20Throat%202.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Anthony%20Trout.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Hussar%20Fly.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Sean%20Red%201.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Sean%20Red%202.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Sean%20Red%203.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Sean%20Red%204.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Sean%20Red%205.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/catch1.jpg
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/coral%20shrimp.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ_FVj4fgpk

[vertico]

http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/sunset.jpg

[Dantren]

That is way cool vertico.
A very healthy looking esky.

[Spot82]

Thanks for an awesome trip Sean! Won't forget that one anytime soon, however there is so many memories it will be hard work remembering them all!

Next time we just need to land more fish than we loose, rather than losing twice as many as we catch, oh well thats why that call it fishing not catching!

Anthony

And to all reef fishos I would strongly recommend trying the PETackle flys shown in the pics! Great product and the really do help get the fish on the bite especially when they are finnicky. Used them for a few trips now and will continue to use them ;D

[Alchemy]

Great fish and photos. As a matter of interest what were the flesh baits?

Thanks,
Dave.

[JB]

Top catch mate, you have them sussed now!

[vertico]

Thanks JB last 3 trips we have had the reds sussed but will have to see how we go in the future....

Most flesh baits were whole mullet or legal sized reefies.

[Schuey]

Great catch there fellas. That would have been a good trip. Sure as hell would have fixed the itch anyway ...

[Angla]

Good pics fellas. You have to love the lawn of death. You won't need to go back for a month with that lot.

Good stuff Sean and Anthony

Cheers
Chris

[brisbane_boy]

Reefmaster is going to have to do something special next report, your my new no1 vert, got any marks? did you drop a zammy down for the trout at any stage? what line did you have on to let all the trout get away

[vertico]

Yerh dropped the zammy down I'll post A shot of what was left haha we both got blown away on 80 lb in 40 m of water for trout running a sweet ballz rig

[-spiro-]

Man wheres the message? still hungry.......

Top SH!T man

[trueblue]

well done there Sean

cheers

Mick

[jtpython]

mate magic report and amazing pics. Took some reading had to slide right to each side of screen LOL
Thanks again great work
JT

[barra_cuda81]

Awesome stuff boys. Sykes is a long trek from Gladstone let alone 1770 especially in your size boat.

[matt__hill]

im on the next one heh heh

[vertico]

vertico's PEtackle red emperor cherry popping expeditions :P

[indy]

good one shaun sounds like you did the miles and got rewarded justly

[Spot82]

I've just finished cleaning all my reds and the ones which had food in their stomachs had baby moray eels in them! Anyone else found a similar thing?

Anthony

[FireFly]

Man...Dreams are made from trips like this!! Top fishing guys and thanks for posting those awesome photo's. Never caught a Red but after seeing reports like this you keep the dream ALIVE! :laola:

[vertico]

its easy just look for shows like this one :P
http://www.petackle.com/images/reports/Show.jpg

[marto78]

Another awesome trip Sean.
Am going to have to do something about this itch Ive got very soon, your report has just about pushed me over the edge. I think its time for some serious discussions with the missus to see if we can fix this problem ;D

[Dean1]

I've just finished cleaning all my reds and the ones which had food in their stomachs had baby moray eels in them! Anyone else found a similar thing?

Anthony No mate, usually little crabs in the ones weve caught up that way. Remember they are guts's!!

[Bear001]

great report and photos's.......so what size boat?

Wonder if the 4m hornet would get me onto some beautiful fish like that...::) ;)

[Spot82]

great report and photos's.......so what size boat?

Wonder if the 4m hornet would get me onto some beautiful fish like that...::) ;)

5.3 metre side consol stabicraft..... sean is a hardcore fisherman tho, no shade for 2 days as the boat doesn't even have a bimini!! but hey it gets the fish and is a good boat, handles awesome and great ride for a boat of that size!

You could do it in a 4.0m boat but fuel would be an issue and the weather would want to be spot on. I used to go up to Rooneys in a 4.0m edgetracker from Hervey Bay (65km each way) but if the wind comes up from the east you have Fraser to protect you for the trip home. Monday morning was almost a glass out and by 11 am the NW had kicked in and it was quite ugly.

Anthony

[coraltrout68]

Great report.

Do you use the flies as an added attraction - as it seems you add bait to the fly hooks?

Where do you get flies like this? What is the hook size?

Do you use on a standard Paternoster rig?

Thanks

Shane

[vertico]

Shane,

yerh its just an attractan to stimulate that timid bite that we all know well from Red Emperor.

Min hook size I like is a 10/0 circle.

thanks
Sean

[-spiro-]

where can you buy them from Sean?

lol you ow me a red now

[vertico]

spiro just click on my signature picture and follow the address from there...
i know i owe you a few reds..come pick one up, Iam just over the bridge.
sean

[Tangles]

good stuff sean, those flys are great

[aerordauto]

hello anthony one of my reds had a sea snake in it skinny and long, also a small red throat sweety.
cheers mark

[Redhunter]

Nice catch there vertico well done

[Reefmaster]

Nice catch there lads and some good pics as well..



Reefmaster is going to have to do something special next report, your my new no1 vert, got any marks? LMAO I guess i need to finally take you red fishing to be your favourite again..hahaha



No mate, usually little crabs in the ones weve caught up that way. Remember they are guts's!!

Exactly they will eat just about anything..absolute scavengers they are...



Shane,

yerh its just an attractan to stimulate that timid bite that we all know well from Red Emperor.
Sean

Red Emperor Timid? not often

Greg

[vertico]

finicky then mate :P
sean

[childers]

Vertico thats a great catch , luv those flys cheers.

[Fixation]

Nice work Sean. Love that place up there. Great report mate.

Regards,
Craig.

[vertico]

hey craig thanks mate that livey mark save the day for the liveys pitty there was mackerel all over it :P
sean

[Spot82]

Greg,

Considering the conditions - NW'erlies on top of numerous dropped fish and a fair amount of current running both days we had reds biting for numerous hours on one spot, now as far as I know this is very unusual, especially the combination of all of the above...

Reds will eat almost anything but they do tend to play around with baits a lot and love lots of slack line when in these moods, sometimes yes they will just smash ur bait, but a lot of the time they will play around with it.

I wouldn't use something if i didn't think it helped catch fish and my last trip to 1770 also showed that the flys helped get more bites and fish compared to the two guys in the boat fishing without them. But at the end of the day nothing is certain, all i know is that i believe they are a good product and increase your chances of catching fish of a variety of species.

But I'll let the punters make up their own mind, not trying to shamelessly promote a product just giving my opinion of it after using it for several trips.

Anthony

[vertico]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ_FVj4fgpk

a quick video of one of the reds we got which went over 8kg....

[Smithy]

Looks just like a DI red show on the sounder in similar depths!

Well done again!

[wak69]

Awesome report guys, and great pics

cheers

sam..

[Spot82]

Here we go the edited video for everyone, my first go at capturing and editing so feel free to provide constructive criticism...

Anthony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tz5leJOjvU

[nickstock]

Greg,

I wouldn't use something if i didn't think it helped catch fish and my last trip to 1770 also showed that the flys helped get more bites and fish compared to the two guys in the boat fishing without them.

But I'll let the punters make up their own mind, not trying to shamelessly promote a product just giving my opinion of it after using it for several trips.

Anthony

Anthony,

These flys are worth their weight in gold mate! When the fish are biting their heads off sure, anything will work and I do not bother using them. However when things are slow, P.E fly's usually turn things up a notch.

I used my last of these flys about a month ago and got absolutely hammered. The other blokes in the boat could not get a bite (and are better fishos then me lol) and I got hammered on every drop until I lost all of the fly's.

That sold me on the things................


Great work on the Reds boys...................

Cheers,
Nick

[Lucky_Phill]

Thanks for the report Sean and Anthony.

Those bigger fly's seem to do the trick Sean.

I'll give you a call soon. 1770 is calling...



Cheers Phill
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[insideout]

Good footage , and well done on the catch. Looks like the red itch has been well and truely scrached...

[vertico]

very true when the reds are chewing anything will work but when they are finnicky and hook shy the flys can entice that bite. This goes for a large range of fish i have found. Look forward to hearing from you phill
Sean

[Spot82]

Just quickly did another video of some of the other fish we got and some of the good ones we lost. Hope you all like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASsOBiK2dHU