Simply Red

[Reefmaster]

Hi all,

Just a quick report. Did an over nighter off the Widebay region on the weekend. After reports of the current roaring only days before it was great to find no current at all. Typical of the current out there when it can be roaring one minute and gone the next and pick back up just as fast. Just need to take the gamble head out and see what is happening.

Worked hard through out the day with plenty of patience and persistence being the key to put fish in the esky on both new and old spots in close and out wide. In the afternoon I moved in closer to a spot I found last trip just in case the current picked up. Things were slow but I believed it had the ingredients for some good fish so anchored up and waited for the fish to come to us for a change. After a couple hours of waiting this paid off with the odd red coming aboard here and there and just on dark we had a good school of reds hit us. The bite finished around an hour later and a few more came on the bite at first light. Headed wide that morning for more good reds, snapper and red throat before hitting some good pearlies in some deeper water. Was running late to get back in that morning and hit an old red mark on the way in that fished great years ago. There were some great shows on it and we quickly pulled more good reds before having to drive away and head for home. A very successful trip and our patience and persistence was what got us the results in the end. Bait was Mullet, tuna and hussar fillets along with pilchards, squid and gar. Rigs were both paternoster and floating style rig with a 10 ball sinker. I used no heavier then 55lb for main and leader while the others used 80lb main and leader.

Ended up with a mixed bag of reefies and 34 reds up to 13kg. For peoples info Foxys commercial license was used on this trip (which is able to legally be used on my boat) and all the fish were being distributed through out Brisbane by Sunday afternoon. It’s good to see local product being used here in Brisbane and the surrounding areas for everyone to enjoy.

Regards
Greg

Just a few pics of the mayhem

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010017.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010003.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010006.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010025.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010027.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010037.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010043.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010061.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010071.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010072.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010075.jpg

The 300ltr under floor esky full of great colour
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010048.jpg

The big esky on deck being filled
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DI34Reds23-1-2010081.jpg

[-Beefa-]

Well done Greg and co, that is truly amazing

[whatscracken]

Another unreal report mate, excellant photos as usual. Thanks for sharing.

[honda900]

you blokes continue to set the bench mark well and truly high, congrats, One day.

Regards
Honda.

[brisbane_boy]

Looks like youve come thru under pressure and earned the no1 af red fisher title back.

ps, im not paying 50 bucks a kg to enjoy it while theres fresh bonito be be had lol!

[Goldfinch]

Bloody hell Greg....do you ever get sick of the colour RED???

Awesome haul, great photo's and BTW...you are still the Reefmaster.

Cheers
dave

[tfish]

sensational

[indy]

You might as well give up your day job greg must have been a good pay day.

[Getout]

did I hear you blokes on VHF21 on the weekend?

[Spot82]

Awesome fish as always boys! I'll be back to DI soon enough chasing some red ones, good news about the currents but like you said can be there one day and not the next.

Thanks for the pics and report

Anthony

[Heath]

Greg,

Great trip!!!!!

Hey, nice flex in that photo...hahaha

You still got my number?;D

[Whale Bone]

Awesome fish there. I love heading out anywhere off fraser. What size and type hook were you using and they were obviosuly ganged?
Cheers

[Horse]

What can you say about a trip like that. You guys certainly have the Reds sorted. any one of those fish would be a milestone for most fishos

Cheers

Neil

[jtpython]

Amazing Stuff . There are some great fish there
Awesome
JT

[Dean1]

Man they are very healthy looking eskies there :P Your'e the master Greg no doubt. Quality Reds im not selling my boat thats just got me going ;D

Congrats Boys,

Deano...

[hookinin]

Well done i'm gob smacked as usual.
Cheers Gaven

[vertico]

top photos and top fish lads....

[Anne-T-Dote]

Aaarrr Maannn.......

[JB]

Nice fish and nice guns mate LOL, what i wanna know is how many litres of ice break is hidden under all that red fish :p

[Rosco4x4]

Awsome catch. Serious Red haul. Good work

[1337]

Greg/Foxy,

Are any of those reds sold to public fishing co ops?

Any on the southside of Brissie?

Plse kindly advise.

Cheers.

[Reefmaster]

Thanks for the comments everyone



Looks like youve come thru under pressure and earned the no1 af red fisher title back.

ps, im not paying 50 bucks a kg to enjoy it while theres fresh bonito be be had lol!

hahahahaha BB...Give the number 1 to someone else.... I just do my own thing and enjoy what I do...That fresh bonito would go well on the reds lol.



Bloody hell Greg....do you ever get sick of the colour RED???

Awesome haul, great photo's and BTW...you are still the Reefmaster.

Cheers
dave

Dave you can never get sick of the reds mate... They are seriously addictive and can be the biggest pain in the arse to chase sometimes..


You might as well give up your day job greg must have been a good pay day.

Mate as good as it might sound it's not all what it seems... To become a pro you to complete various courses and then buy or lease a fishing license. There are many different types of licenses which determine what species you can target and sell commercially. Foxy's license is good one because it has reef quota which allows for fish like Reds to be sold and not just fish like pearlies and snapper. A license like this can cost around $80,000 and then you have on going yearly fees and fish quota to purchase as well. Not to mention all the paper work and rules that has to be 100% or you will pay the price by the fisheries. On top of all this it's such a seasonal job and if the weather is crap you have no income.

Combine all this I wouldn't be a pro fisherman for quids and this the reason why so many who have a commercial license only do it on weekends to pay for the trips and have a full time job else where like foxy does. After seeing what they are required to do to earn a pay you soon learn to respect what these guys do to get fresh seafood on your plate for everyone around Australia to enjoy...Hopefully this gives everyone a better understanding of pro fishermen and the challenges they face...


did I hear you blokes on VHF21 on the weekend?

Nah mate wasn't us... I was out of radio contact most of the time




Greg,

Great trip!!!!!

Hey, nice flex in that photo...hahaha

You still got my number?;D


hahahahaha no flex mate just holding the fish up that way as per foxys instructions lol... No mate have a new phone so no longer have your number...I'm keen to take you and JB for a fish one day so pm it through..


Awesome fish there. I love heading out anywhere off fraser. What size and type hook were you using and they were obviosuly ganged?
Cheers


Mate the boys were using Mustard 7/0 and 8/0 7766's ganged... I was using 7/0 & 8/0 mustard Hoodlums for a trial with good results

[Reefmaster]

Aaarrr Maannn.......

I know Macca I'm sorry mate.. Soon mate I promise..


Nice fish and nice guns mate LOL, what i wanna know is how many litres of ice break is hidden under all that red fish :p

Jesus should delete that pic i think and never wear singlets again lol..No mate no ice breaks under those fish... I have another esky just for foxys icebreaks lol.

Greg/Foxy,

Are any of those reds sold to public fishing co ops?

Any on the southside of Brissie?

Plse kindly advise.

Cheers.

A fish shop on the northside got this lot and sells them in his shop and distributes them to others in brisbane as well. Not sure of where else they end up

Regards,
Greg

[Greg P]

Very nice haul lads.


Dont worry about the baggers Greg - no point in owning a boat if ya cant take ya shirt off (as the ad says) :P:P:P

You should head out with Jay for a day on the water ;D;D;D

[ballsie]

Nice haul Greg and gang. It shows your patience works mate. We had to head in with the nav and alround lights on the blink. Hope it was a smoother run back to tin can. Can't wait to do it again!

[dfox]

Nice haul Greg and gang. It shows your patience works mate. We had to head in with the nav and alround lights on the blink. Hope it was a smoother run back to tin can. Can't wait to do it again!

Ballsie, we were hoping to call over to your boat and have a hot meal, no wonder we couldnt find you! Hope to catch up with you and the boys again soon... foxy

[-spiro-]

Greg did you get any good parrot for something different...lmfao

Good fish

[dfox]

Just for you chris ! 17lb got it a few weeks ago ...

[-spiro-]

Thanks for making my eyes bleed Dave....AWESOME

[Spot82]

That parrot would make good red bait foxy haha It is a stonker though, well done

Anthony

[wak69]

Thanks Greg, great report and top pics mate.

Sam.

[Getout]

Nah mate wasn't us... I was out of radio contact most of the time


Thought you would be too far nth for the repeater up there, but I heard a Reefmaster call sign on Sat morn and it made me a bit pissed that I was having poor reception, way sth of you, down off Noosa!!

[fishfreak01]

great catch guys,

I'm thinking of doing a charter out of tin can bay, can you recommend anyone.

Also do you use braid or mono on your reds?

fishfreak01

[revs57]

Nicely done Greg! Great to see the old fellas holding their end up...good to see Foxy can pull a red too

cheers

Rhys

[seapup]

Nice work GREG!

[Reefmaster]

Very nice haul lads.


Dont worry about the baggers Greg - no point in owning a boat if ya cant take ya shirt off (as the ad says) :P:P:P

You should head out with Jay for a day on the water ;D;D;D


Hahahaha nice one Greg...If Jay brings some of his lovely lady staff members with him I'm there for sure lol..


Nice haul Greg and gang. It shows your patience works mate. We had to head in with the nav and alround lights on the blink. Hope it was a smoother run back to tin can. Can't wait to do it again!

Yeah Ballsie spot on mate.. Patience certainly is the key..Pitty we couldn't talk to each other on the radio mate. You blokes could have anchored close by so you didnt have to worry about the Nav night issue. Pitty that area we fished up north didnt fire..How close were our marks lol...

Cheers,
Greg

[ballsie]

Not kidding on the marks mate, we should have moved on alot earlier though. How far south did you end up putting the pick out.

Went to your old man's today but he wasn't home, tell him to paint the branches you guys want gone and i'll knock em off when i'm round there soon.

Foxy, Brett stayed quiet all day hoping he could blow you away with a thumper, next time he reckons.

[dfox]

Foxy, Brett stayed quiet all day hoping he could blow you away with a thumper, next time he reckons.

Tell him "he's dreaming"... stick to the nobbies lol.

[Reefmaster]

great catch guys,

I'm thinking of doing a charter out of tin can bay, can you recommend anyone.

Also do you use braid or mono on your reds?

fishfreak01

There are some top notch operaters up there with most of them pro fishermen who know the area very well..Here are a couple that I would recommend.

http://www.unreelfishing.com.au/ or http://www.keelyrosefishingcharters.com.au/


In regards to using Braid or mono its always been a touchy subject...Each line has its place in fishing to suit various conditions. I prefer mono for its stretch when on big fish such as Reds. If you use Braid i would recommend you use 80lb and higher with a good 15 mtrs of similar sized mono leader. Braid is unforgiving and to use it succesfully on big reds you need to have a lot of experience and really be on the ball with your drag settings. Run light drags and get to know your limits because a big red will make a fool of you in no time. Fishing in strong current and when the fish are finicky is when Braid really works well but give me mono any day personally..


Nicely done Greg! Great to see the old fellas holding their end up...good to see Foxy can pull a red too

cheers

Rhys

Yeah the old boys do pretty well I can tell you.. The oldman had a shocker that trip but there is always someone on board that has a shocker and it just happened to be his turn on that one..yep the fox man pulled his weight again...

cheers
Greg

[Reefmaster]

Not kidding on the marks mate, we should have moved on alot earlier though. How far south did you end up putting the pick out.

Went to your old man's today but he wasn't home, tell him to paint the branches you guys want gone and i'll knock em off when i'm round there soon.

Foxy, Brett stayed quiet all day hoping he could blow you away with a thumper, next time he reckons.


Yeah mate i thought you blokes must have been getting a few being in that area still. So much ground around there you just never no when they will move through. I was about 20km SW of where you blokes were and I'm surprised you didn't see my lights when you headed back in.

Thanks for going to the oldmans Ballsie..I will let him know mate..


Tell him "he's dreaming"... stick to the nobbies lol.

Hahahaha that's a classic...Well if Brett can pull a Snapper almost 14kg then i wonder what sized red he might pull out of butt...

[addobaz]

Mate that is sooooooo impressive. You must have a lot of cold storage on your boat! I am surprised there is room for a fuel tank! Have you had many better days than that? Keep up the good work.
Adam.

[nickstock]

In regards to using Braid or mono its always been a touchy subject...Each line has its place in fishing to suit various conditions. I prefer mono for its stretch when on big fish such as Reds. If you use Braid i would recommend you use 80lb and higher with a good 15 mtrs of similar sized mono leader. Braid is unforgiving and to use it succesfully on big reds you need to have a lot of experience and really be on the ball with your drag settings. Run light drags and get to know your limits because a big red will make a fool of you in no time.
cheers
Greg

Greg,

I used to only catch Reds on sporadic occasions, i.e. one every 3/4 trips that would max out around 4 kilos.

After reading info from Foxy and yourself, about 2 months ago I decided to put the flash 20kg drag, 80lb spin outfit back in the gargage and go back to an old TLD 25 with 55lb mono.

Whether it is an incredible coincidance or not I do not know....... however I have caught more good sized Red Emperor (up to 85cms) over the last 2 months than I have ever caught in my life.

Sure I still get dusted on the odd fish which I put down to mono stretch perhaps but rarely pull hooks or snap the main line like I used too.

Most trips now usually see plenty of good Reds come aboard and the drought has finally been broken.

On friday night we fished the inside edge of the ribbons and pulled 160 odd kilos of fish from the one hang.


TLD 25, 55lb mono, big Hussar baits.................... Sure I flogged the ideas from yourself and Foxy, but hey, it works!;D

Many thanks to Foxy and yourself for always sharing info to all the clowns that often ask (like me).

Cheers,
Nick

[Whale Bone]

Yeah greg we have switched to the ganged mustad 7766's as opposed to the VMC's. They are much stronger and have not failed when a big knobby is beside the boat, yet! Which was a far too often incident when using the VMC's. Hoodlums sound like a good idea might have to give them a go.

Just wondering what sort of transducer set up you are running??? As we have a transom mount and just cannot pull the performance we need out of it. We are now thinking a wet box - shoot through set up might be the go.

[Reefmaster]

Mate that is sooooooo impressive. You must have a lot of cold storage on your boat! I am surprised there is room for a fuel tank! Have you had many better days than that? Keep up the good work.
Adam.


yeah I recently glassed in the kill tank which is now 300ltrs and I have another big box on the deck which is twice the size if not bigger. I could probally hold 400kg of fish with ice no worries. I hold 365ltrs of fuel which i could have made bigger but would reduce the size of the underfloor ice box/killtank. To be honest I have had lots of better red bites then that but many haven't been when I have had a commercial license on board so bag limit is reached and you start throwing them back..It's pointless doing this so I drive away from what could be schools of 50 or more reds. Some schools are around 6-8kg fish while others have been schools of reds between 10-18kg in size.


Greg,

I used to only catch Reds on sporadic occasions, i.e. one every 3/4 trips that would max out around 4 kilos.

After reading info from Foxy and yourself, about 2 months ago I decided to put the flash 20kg drag, 80lb spin outfit back in the gargage and go back to an old TLD 25 with 55lb mono.

Whether it is an incredible coincidance or not I do not know....... however I have caught more good sized Red Emperor (up to 85cms) over the last 2 months than I have ever caught in my life.

Sure I still get dusted on the odd fish which I put down to mono stretch perhaps but rarely pull hooks or snap the main line like I used too.

Most trips now usually see plenty of good Reds come aboard and the drought has finally been broken.

On friday night we fished the inside edge of the ribbons and pulled 160 odd kilos of fish from the one hang.


TLD 25, 55lb mono, big Hussar baits.................... Sure I flogged the ideas from yourself and Foxy, but hey, it works!;D

Many thanks to Foxy and yourself for always sharing info to all the clowns that often ask (like me).

Cheers,
Nick


Hey Nick thanks for your kind words and I'm glad we have been of some assistance in getting better results. I think the best advice i can give people on catching reds and in particular the big ones is not to go so hard on them. This accounts for most of the bigger fish being lost due to tackle failure or pulled hooks. I have caught reds up to 14kg on 30lb line and without any drama at all. Play the fish and let him wear himself out is a far better option in my opinion. Sure there are times when a little extra pressure needs to be applied but in general going easy and knowing your limits is whats needed. I'm going to try some very light line soon to try prove my point and I might join a club to see if I can get the records on a couple different line classes with the reds.


Yeah greg we have switched to the ganged mustad 7766's as opposed to the VMC's. They are much stronger and have not failed when a big knobby is beside the boat, yet! Which was a far too often incident when using the VMC's. Hoodlums sound like a good idea might have to give them a go.

Just wondering what sort of transducer set up you are running??? As we have a transom mount and just cannot pull the performance we need out of it. We are now thinking a wet box - shoot through set up might be the go.

The 7766's seem like a fairly good economical hook but I wish the buggers were a little sharper out of the box. The hoodlums are a thick hook for there size and good when using a snood with a floating style rig.

Mate I'm using a 600w through hull transducer which is situated about a metre forward of the stern along the keel. It works fantastic and to me is the most important part of offshore fishing as most of my spots have been found while travelling at full speed between various spots. I attached a pic of the transducer for your info.

Regards,
Greg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg161/Greg_L/DSC00113.jpg

[Benno1]

Please please PLEEEEASE keep posts like this coming Greg...all the yanks over here are green with envy at the size of these red fish. :P

Mrs Benno1
Sunny

[BigE]

Nice box ..... well done