Sunshine Coast Bonito $75 per kilogram

[TREVELLY]

Left home at 1am Saturday (midnight - SWMBO corrected me) got half way to Mooloolaba and realised after filling boat with fuel I forgot to put sinkers in the boat before we left - sneaked home and got them.

Launched at 2am and at The Banks fishing just after 3am - an easy trip out with no wind - fish on the sounder - things were looking promising.

After half an hour and no one getting a bite we get the Southerly hit at a modest 10 knots. We tried one spot after another till 7.30am and could not even get a bite let alone a fish. Wind picked up to 15knots from the south.

We decided to push up to Hards trolling for 2 hours to get there - no takers there either even though we did circle a school of fish feeding on the way - just put them down.

Took an hour to get anchored well at Hards in a 15 to 20 knot Southerly. We set up a burley trail and floated pillies down it. The water was 20 deg and no current so only the wind was the nuisance. Hour an a half later we were the proud successful three fishermen of two bonito!

Wind was now 20-25 knots and the sea not so pretty. Pulled the pin about mid-day and took 5 hours getting back to Mooloolaba. We did troll for about 4 hours of this at 15-20kph for nothing. And did stop and spin the Mooloolaba wave bouy for nothing.

End result (car and boat) $300 worth of fuel for about 4 kilograms of bonito (2 fish).

Fish were on all the marks but nothing interested in feeding on squid, pillies, flesh baits, jigs. I think dynamite is about the only thing that would have worked.

My wind measure is:-
10 knots ruffled
15 knots white caps
20 knots white caps everywhere and a respectable chop on top
20 to 25 knots white caps everywhere with an angry wind ruffle - serious crap !
25 - 30 knots we really shouldn't be here - don't stop!!

The bonito are a good size to troll for spaniards when the time is right :)

[charlie09]

You didnt have any livies Trevelly?

[Bull]

Thanks for the report Trev. Lucky you only caught 2 bonito at that price lol

Cheers Bull

[cuzzamundi]

Quiet times. Still, you got out and had a go. You did well in those conditions getting back in.

How big is your rig, and what size motor?

Cuzza

[TREVELLY]

You know charlie - I am always in too much of a hurry to get out there and drop a line.
Yes I should make more effort to have live bait.
I have promised myself to do so. ::)

You are dead right Bull - I couldn't afford another fish ;D

Cuzza the rig is 6.25m and a 175 Suz. Must admit we were the only clowns out there in the arvo. Saw two boats at The Banks in the morning one a blue 5m cat doing it tough. Had Hards to ourselves all for nothing :)

What is it at the moment - moon!!

[charlie09]

I was on SEQ charters on Wednsday in that general area. Fishing the bottom with dead bait was slow but on livies it was immediate hits as soon as you got the livie to the bottom. If you want to read the report its title "17/08 charter with Rob Smith"

cheers
Vince

[steelydan]

Tough trip trev, have found similar things offshore recently as well, not sure whats below- fish not feeding despite good shows?

[TREVELLY]

Vince I had read your report with Smithy - I don't miss those and yes I got a few tips from him on where to get livies up Mooloolaba - must admit though I would not approach a shark net or close in around Point Cartwright at 2am for livies.

Weather permitting I will try off Moreton this coming weekend and will dedicate a couple of hours before getting there to having some livies onboard - hopefully with a better reception.

Steely it wasn't an easy trip - I spent most of Sunday flat and with no real desire to even move. With some drifts you could feel down the braid to the hook that the fish were pecking at the bait not to eat it but rather to tell it to nick off as it went by and they had to move out of it's way - strange. The bait came back up a bit mangled but not eaten. From the whole day I got two bites worth striking at and lost one fish and landed the other a small bonito - recon the other was another the same. We hooked four fish boated three fish for the 15 hours we were out there 1 iodine bream and 2 small bonito - gotta laugh. And so many shows on so many pinnacles for zero. As we drifted we would see the big show and say okay get ready - NOTHING!! That's fishing for you.

The five hour slog back from Hards was no surprise but not and easy run either - did a 6 hour trip back once in 25-30 knot wind that hurt - this one didn't hurt was just slow and staying awake was the real struggle.

We tried and we'll be back again for more.

The sea was nice below the surface - clear blue warm 20 deg water with no real current.

[timddo]

However those bonito's can be converted to 2x 20kg Wahoo's, so that equates to $7.50 a kg of fish Plus fuel.

[TREVELLY]

However those bonito's can be converted to 2x 20kg Wahoo's, so that equates to $7.50 a kg of fish Plus fuel.

That's the plan! :2thumbsup:

[jason p]

your a glutton for punishment trev lol. maybe next time head into the wind on the way out when she's picking up, so you have a "softer" ride home. mate those murphies marks woulda got ya a feed and perhaps brought it down to $40 a kilo lol. better luck next time.

jp

[Boat Hog]

Left home at 1am Saturday (midnight - SWMBO corrected me) got half way to Mooloolaba and realised after filling boat with fuel I forgot to put sinkers in the boat before we left - sneaked home and got them.

Trev, I still remember the time I got out to the Inner Wides (30km offshore of 1770) after a 2 hour slog into the chop and then realised I hadn't packed the tackle box!! My wife was less than happy about it. :-[

Had about 4 sinkers and 6 hooks as spare to what was on the rods. Had soft plastics and no spare jig heads. So all in all, you did okay to get the sinkers before it was too late.

Now I always have spare tackle stashed around the boat.

Cheers,

[TREVELLY]

JP you are 100% right - I am going to have a look at that new ground next time - my back says thanks for that sanity reminder.

BH, yep I was thinking the same about stashing a box that stays onboard with enough gear to get me by in the case of the impossible - like me forgetting something.

[Tinlegs]

I reckon all-in, the fish I keep cost about $15,000/kg. It's still good value ;)

[jarpunna]

haha @ $75 a kilo.... but sad @the same time. We went out to our spot @ murphy's the same day and seemed to have the same sort of result. We usually do well but for some reason couldn't even manage a bite even though it was showing good fish. Not even the neusance little pickers towards the very bottom were interested!! Also had trouble anchoring from the high winds and the "easing wind" forecast didn't look very promising so decided to call it a day early. It does p#s! u off especially coming all the way up from Brisbane after a long day @ work!! ....... Oh well. Next time hey?