marzoe
30-05-2006, 08:21 AM
After hearing great reports about terrific weather and great catches last #weekend off Gladstone I was chafing at the bit to get out on Monday following an enforced weekend of work.
Initially the weather report for Monday and Tuesday wasn't good but 15-20 knot southerly's were downgraded to 10-15's increasing in the afternoon.
High tide was at 10.36 am and I #was heading out of Auckland Creek at about 6.30.
Should be great, light winds, good conditions.
I had planned to go out to the Bindaree, a sunken trawler about 6 NM off the north entrance, but it was a bit blowy for my 16 ft tinny, so I decided to fish the close inshore ground off Facing Island.
My first drift with a beautifully presented pilly on a balloon and another pilly on a running sinker rig yielded nothing
No bites at all.
I tried the drift once more with the same result so I thought I would anchor up and burley.
I found a spot which I have marked on my GPS which always has fish present, and could see fish #holding on the bottom on the sounder.
Used chicken pellets, old pilchards and tuna oil as burley while I reset the floating rig and bottom running sinker rig with a prawn this time.
I was rewarded with a couple of bites, then caught a stripey and a cod, both undersize.
I could see a school of spotty mackerel or mack tuna in the distance and burleyed up some more.
They were attracted around the boat swam around my floating pilchard and buggered off. Not a touch.
This happened again before #I decided to ditch the #bottom basher rod and attach a metal slug, which maybe I should have done before.
Anyway the school didn't come back again and when I went looking for them, they'd gone.
By this time the wind had arrived and I had to go.
I know that fishing can be like this and the fish go off the bite, but I thought the conditions were favourable.
I am only relatively new to offshore fishing and I'm wondering whether I'm doing something wrong. Looking forward to your feedback.
Tim
Initially the weather report for Monday and Tuesday wasn't good but 15-20 knot southerly's were downgraded to 10-15's increasing in the afternoon.
High tide was at 10.36 am and I #was heading out of Auckland Creek at about 6.30.
Should be great, light winds, good conditions.
I had planned to go out to the Bindaree, a sunken trawler about 6 NM off the north entrance, but it was a bit blowy for my 16 ft tinny, so I decided to fish the close inshore ground off Facing Island.
My first drift with a beautifully presented pilly on a balloon and another pilly on a running sinker rig yielded nothing
No bites at all.
I tried the drift once more with the same result so I thought I would anchor up and burley.
I found a spot which I have marked on my GPS which always has fish present, and could see fish #holding on the bottom on the sounder.
Used chicken pellets, old pilchards and tuna oil as burley while I reset the floating rig and bottom running sinker rig with a prawn this time.
I was rewarded with a couple of bites, then caught a stripey and a cod, both undersize.
I could see a school of spotty mackerel or mack tuna in the distance and burleyed up some more.
They were attracted around the boat swam around my floating pilchard and buggered off. Not a touch.
This happened again before #I decided to ditch the #bottom basher rod and attach a metal slug, which maybe I should have done before.
Anyway the school didn't come back again and when I went looking for them, they'd gone.
By this time the wind had arrived and I had to go.
I know that fishing can be like this and the fish go off the bite, but I thought the conditions were favourable.
I am only relatively new to offshore fishing and I'm wondering whether I'm doing something wrong. Looking forward to your feedback.
Tim