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Doesn't look like you bled either fish mate ? Secret drill hole somewhere
I’ve been having some bad luck chasing the Spaniards this year, with big baits being bitten in half and wire rigs going missing in the blink of an eye and jerk of the rod. I’ve also been waiting for some days at sea like last year when it was blue skies and glassed out ocean – ideal for exploring shallow country where you can see the bottom and sometimes long silver fish cruising around. Yeh, right…
Well, despite seabreeze’s long range predictions for glorious conditions, Friday turned out to be just as bad a day on the water as my other outings this year. I nearly didn’t go – it was blowing and raining when I went to thecar at 3:15am, so seeing as I had no crew to meet up with, I made the decision to go back to bed. I didn’t last long though – changed my mind and decided I should harden up and enjoy a day off on the water. Oh well, at least it was still shorts and t-shirt temperature.
Launched at first light, and checked out some usual bait spots but to no avail. Tried trolling some bonito, but the wind and slop made it difficult to maintain direction. Finally found a few little yakkas, but then realised I’d forgotten my tackle bag. Ooops, this isn’t going well – maybe I should have stayed in bed. Fortunately had a few spare hooks on board, so rigged up some heavy mono and did some drifting with the breeze. Managed a nice little longtail (just under a metre long) which made me think the mono was not a bad idea. But next drift the bite offs started happening. I found some wire on board (an advantage of a half cab – you always have some bits and pieces lying around) so made some mackerel-proof live bait rigs with stingers. I decided to continue with the mono as well, just in case there was a fussy cobe, snapper or sweetlip lurking below the bait schools. A couple of near misses followed, but eventually the wired up livey went off in a sustained, though short run. I nearly got it all the way back to the boat, thinking it was obviously a little spotty or schooly. But the next run made me quote Johnny Mitchell from his mackerel DVD – “That’s a Spanish” I said out loud, even though there was no one else on board! I’ve been practising that line for ages - it felt good to finally say it in a real situation!!
Anyway, after a few more minutes of heart-in-the-mouth action wondering if the 17lb wire was going to hold, I got a first look at the fish – it looked quite a decent size, but fortunately not a monster. One successful gaff shot later (not like the cobe the other day) and I was joined on board by a 1m plus Spaniard – my first for the 2011-12 season. Over and out!
Cheers.
Jono.
Doesn't look like you bled either fish mate ? Secret drill hole somewhere
As they say "don't you worry about that"! No drill used, but a bit of slicing with a sharp knife seems to do the job.Originally Posted by Dicktracey
Doesn't look like you bled either fish mate ? Secret drill hole somewhere
Jono
Good times mono, congrats.
all you need to do to bleed any fish is put a cut in their gills with scissors or a sharp knife and they will bleed outDoesn't look like you bled either fish mate ? Secret drill hole somewhere
Great story Jono_SS! Did your moo-cow boots get wet?
Nice work Jono. I am yet to nail any sort of Mack this season.
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Great fish.
I've moved away from cutting the throat latch, to just running a knife into the gills. Seems to bleed out a lot better.
Nice catch Jono and tasty,we had some more Spanish tonight from my Sunday catch last week,yum.I am all for the throat cut Mackeral and blood all over the boat,shows you have had a good day on the water !
Nice one Jono. You'll have to leave the "bad luck charm" behind more often...
Well done Jono,always good to get a fish on a day like that.
Life is short fish hard!!!
21,6 Sea Fox WA Pro ....
By the look of those perfectly kept, and for the most part, wholly in tact fish I guess you also forgot to take the soy and wasabi offshore. Nice slay by the way!
No way - they stay on board! It's just that I was too busy stuffing around on my own that I didn't get a chance to carve off any thin, succulent slivers - not until the fish hit the filleting board that is!
Jono
(that's still a nice looking rod in your avatar, by the way!)
Top work mate, that looks epic. Remember to keep any off cuts not consumed for burley for the upcoming snapper season! Haha!
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