Nice way to start your travels mate
Well , here I am at Crowdy Head NSW for my first fishing trip - Day one done & dusted but with some shitty weather today I'll put up a little report .
It's not often that you have the kind of day that I experienced yesterday at a new destination - which literally was a case of having a wow moment in the first 10 mins.
I arrived on Sunday evening & swagged t the boat ramp planning for an early morning fish but the storms in the area & a screaming noreaster had me doubting it- set the alarm for 4.30 am & it was still blowing … so I did what most people would do , go back to sleep . Big mistake - I woke at about 6am to pretty good conditions & so by the time I launched it was near to 7am . I'd been given some tips from a bloke who I met at South West Rocks back in Sept ( thanks Dan) & so headed north to spot X . It took me about 5 mins to find what I was looking for - deployed the minn kota & hit spotlock .
Here's the deal - In my excitement to hit the water - I forgot the decent bait & only took the remnants of my pillies & some frozen slimies from my last trip . plus a lot of whitebait that I collected off a beach near the boat ramp to use as burly .
Anyhoos what happened over the next 90 mins blew my mind - the 10 slimies (fished whole) were converted to 7 snapper over 60cm - the best going 73cm . The pillies took smaller fish in the 45 - 50cm class . Then I ran out of bait . It was so hectic that I could only fish 1 outfit my plan was to fish two . There were a couple that I couldn't stop on 20 & 30lb … both felt like snapper so no doubt there are those 20lbers there. As this was the start of a 2-3 week road trip I kept 3 fish for meals over the coming days & the rest were released.
At this point I've gotta say that there is something specially about fishing for snapper in shallow water (<20m) on baitrunners . When a decent snapper hits - that whirring spool gets the blood running & when you turn the handle loading up the rod with the drag screaming - it's addictive & something that has reinvigorated my enjoyment of bait fishing.
Knowing what I just experienced I decided to search for some slimies to stock up for the next session - filled the livewell & went prospecting - A couple of livies were hit but nothing much & as I needed to book into the caravan park I pulled the pin at around 2pm in what were still very good conditions.
No doubt over the coming days if the weather improves I'll do some placcy fishing or micro jigging but I'll find it hard to go past that shallow water baitrunner fishing. Who knows my planned 4 day stay might stretch out a few more before I head to Evans head .
More to come
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Nice way to start your travels mate
Ahhh but will the rest of the trip ?
fished this morning & the current has swung from a little south current to a rippin north …… fish were harder to find & they were not of the same class as Mondays fish - Normally you'd be pretty pleased to land 10 around 45cm ……. kept 3 for meals .
Apparently the rain is coming - so lets see what pans out
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Great fishing report. Sounds like one of those days to remember well. Hope the rest of the trip goes well.
Sent from my Moto Z3 Play using Ausfish mobile app
Definately shows how fickle fishing can be - tides , weather , current etc …… & those bloody mutton birds
Still managing to get some fish - best ths morning was a 63cm snap most were around that 40-45 mark with these two being the smallest 1 bait = 2 fish
Kept the 63 for lunch & dinner
The rain has come & settled in …. & the seas are pretty shitty .
Mind you it's a pretty good & safe base ….. a small harbour with no bar crossing is a rare thing in mid & north NSW
Cheers
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Would love to catch a snapper that soze well done looks like the overcast day produced
Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app
Done good Nagg
Great read
Thanks for sharing
Be interesting to have seen how your jigs would have done day one
Took a mate out deeper water but his five biggest snapper were all on jigs
Cheers Chris
Trevor
Sent from my VOG-L09 using Ausfish mobile app
Cheers
Trev