mac attack

[fishfreak01]

Hi all,

A bit of a late report as I was busy over the weekend and couldn't post anything.

I rang a mate earlier in the week and asked if he was keen for a fish friday as the weather, tides and swell was looking good also we were heading into the moon and I thought that the spaniards would come out to play.

We left the Grand boat ramp at 5.00 and crossed the bar with just enough light to see, our first stop was the 18's straight out from the seaway as this is where we got them a few weeks ago, but after a few trolls we couldn't see any bait so we trolled all the way to mermaid with no hits or bait to be seen anywhere.

Once we got to Mermaid we had one troll around a few of the boats that were there, but couldn't see anyone catching anything so we decided to anchor up and start a berly trail and see what we could bring to us, without a DOUT this is my preferred way of fishing.

There were about 10 other boats on the reef so we anchored away from them and started a good berly trail and had one of my mates jig up some live yakkas that we could send out under a ballon, we managed a dozen or so which I was pleased with, we set out the ballon first then cast two rods with half pilies and had two rods close in with small foam floats and kept on berlying, I love jigging up heaps of slimmies when I can find them and what I don't use I freeze, these make great berly because when
they thaw out, they become like mush when you try and cut them up which is perfect for berly.

I always have 3 soft rods with 6lb line for fun and a bit of sport, a bait runner with 8kg a spinning rod with 10kg braid and a TLD 25 with 15kg for ballooning, we had set all the rods out when my 6lb rod goes off, it was an unbelievable run on such light line and light drag and after 10 mins we gaff a nice 7kg spaniard, then 30 min later the bait runner goes off and another spaniard comes in, then the livie goes off and I get a birds nest as I had the drag set to lite but still managed to get it in, she topped the scales at 10kg, once I had her in the esky, it took me 10 mins to get the birds nest out before we could send out another livie.

Next rod that goes off was on the 6lb gear and we had a good fight on what I thought was another spaniard but turned out to be a small cobe, we dopped a few fish on the lite gear as we didn't get solid hook ups but we really didn't care as we were having heaps of fun, the next rod that went off was the livie and another spaniard goes into the esky, by this time it was almost low tide and everything was starting to shut down so we set out our last livie and we get another hit and eveything goes slack, when we bought the line in it had been snapped off at the knot where the balloon was attached to the line, I need to find a better way of attaching balloons so they let go when a fish hits. If any one can help me with this I would be grateful.

So the tally for the morning was 4 spaniard between 6 and 10kg, 1 small cobe and 3 missed fish. We fished for 7 hours and the fishing was fairly slow, there were 10 other boats around us that left early, we only saw 3 fish get caught around us from those boats, I have always done really well when all the boats have gone.

So if you don't see anyone on the reef, doesn't mean that the fish aren't there.

Fishfreak.

[nidrac]

They are some nice macs there... well done getting them on the light gear as well.. wouldn't dream of using anything that light up here out of the creeks... might be something worth trying...

Nidrac..

[two dogs]

Thanks for the report. When float fishing i use wine corks that I split in half and then slice half way through for the line to go through. not sure if it would have the buoyancy for a big live bait

[fishfreak01]

Thanks for the report. When float fishing i use wine corks that I split in half and then slice half way through for the line to go through. not sure if it would have the buoyancy for a big live bait

What I like about the balloon is that the wind carries it well away from the boat and my other baits and I can always keep an eye on where my bait is.

fishfreak

[Jeremy]

That's a good session on the spaniards.

For the balloon, pull a loop of your mainline through the knot in the balloon before you pull it tight. When you get a hit, the fish will pull the loop throught the knot in the balloon so the balloon is released and you can fight the fish.

I agree with you balloons are great. Usually goes in a different direction to your other lines so it is good for spreading your baits.

Jeremy

[hsv 408]

When tying balloons on i use old pieces of braid that have been nicked up on reef & stuff all i do is use pieces around 30 -40 cm long fold it in half over your main line ( no knot ) tie the balloon as you normally do & while still on your fingers pass the both the tag ends through the balloon knot (or an easier way is to lay the braid along your two fingers then loop the balloon knot as you normally do ) until the balloon is near the main line tighten the balloon knot up as tight as you can,this way the balloon can be slid up and down the main line to increase or decrease the depth you want to swim your livie at, when the fish hits your bait the balloon releases without spooking the fish which is what you want if they are a little shy, the only down fall with this way is you have to wind your livie in slow when checking your bait otherwise you will lose your balloon.

[Chopper Taylor]

when balloon fishing i use a small piece of styrofoam (2 inches square) i cut a slot about half way through the styro. the line is wrapped around the styro a couple of times leaving enough leader to present the bait at the required depth (the deeper the better for Spanish) and i then slide the balloon into the same slot. when the fish strikes the line splits the styro in two and the balloon drifts away leaving you to fight the fish.

Use different coloured balloons if you're fishing multiple rods. the balloons also catch the breeze and drift your bait away from the boat more effectively.

there is no better feeling than watching your balloon twitch and run as the poor little livie tries his best to swim away from the macky. The main hook and stinger in the tail make this a one horse race though.

[don-one]

thanks for the informative report ff. i was going to suggest the same method that Jeremy did, i have been doing it for years and it is quick and simple and works well.

[jarhead]

Nice spanos mate, top result.

Wal

[fishfreak01]

Thanks Guys for all your help with my ballooning problem, it all makes sense now so look out fish you wont snap me off on the bite anymore.

fishfreak.