Mindarie 02/09/06

Well here goes the full report.

Rory and Adam from my Exmouth adventures joined me on the good ship "Macattack" for a Perth metro sortie, the first since getting back from Exmouth. Rory (being almost related....when are you going to marry my niece????) had been on the boat many times before but this was Adam's first voyage. The guys met at my place at 5-45am and we headed for Mindarie Marina for 6-00am.

Upon arriving at the ramp there was only one other boat in the water and another setting up so it was easy as pie putting in. Rory made the mistake of wearing thongs so I made him launch the boat for me so I kept dry and warm (Jeez the temp was freezing). Thankfully there wasn't anybody waiting to put in as Rory took ages to get the boat in the water...practice makes perfect.

Finally we launched and the old girkl fired up first time (phew) and we headed out through a pretty big swell. I considered hitting some ground inside Staggies (Pamela Shoal) which has produced a number of dhuies for me at this time of year, but the wind was much lighter than I expected so we headed wider for a shot at some bigger specimens.

Mr Gallash knows my rule and still cringes when you ask him what he had to send back to the fish gods, but he also knows that good Karma comes to those that obey my rule. Well Adam had to face this issue himself. I asked the boys whether they wanted to hit the whiting grounds first but the were brave enough to say no. So I pointed the boat to a few spots I hadn't fished for over a year. These spots were flat coral that my father-in-law and I had hit a nice patch of smallish dhuies several years ago. We set up the drift, got it wrong by 20m or so but came across some more good ground,low and behold Adam loads up first and boats a nice 53cm Dhuie. You know what came next!!!

[img_assist|fid=46443|thumb=1|alt=Adam's first Pinky|caption=Lovely Pinky for Adam. A B2Lumo did the trick again.]

We moved a bit wider to hit some lesser fished spots and picked up a nice KG for Rory and a lovely Pinky for Adam. It was by now 10am and I hadn't raised a scale. I was using a Berkley Power Grub that John Abott from Complete Angler in Joondalup had slipped into my bag when I had bought the bait the day before. He was ardament that this would produce for me so being the kind of guy who likes to experiment (see my last FWA article) I couldn't resist. I put the power grub on the top dropper loop and my "Super Snell" on the bottom. I loaded up with a cocktail of whole squid and whole mulie as usual and first drop on the new spot saw me nail a 50cm Dhuie on the power grub. After a couple of attempts we got him back down to grow some more and I loaded up again this time with a couple of Seargent Bakers on the Power Grub. Notably both times the fish had ignored the fresh bait and hit the soft plastic.

[img_assist|fid=46439|thumb=1|alt=Adam's KG 02/09/06|caption=Beautiful KG, took a squid/mulie cocktail bait on a B2Lumo squid.]

We fished several more spots which produced a nice pinky for Adam (Karma coming back after the first release). A couple more fish then I loaded up on a massive fish.......whoops no fish but reef. Wouldn't you know it the power grub had hooked up again and this time it wasn't moving. The line snapped above the Grub so I quickly changed over to another set-up. Having just come back from Exmouth I had noticed the success they were having on the charter boats with small circle hooks. I had picked up a box from Complete Angler and decided to give them a whirl. Time to change to some Cuttlefish as bait at the same time.

We were now on about our 15th lump for the day and I sent down my offering. A big slice of cuttlefish on the snell and a small slice of cuttlefish on the circle hook. Straight away I loaded up with a constant pressure from my rod (rather than the heave ho with normal hooks) this fish hit the afterburners and powered away immediately. I controlled the spool with my thumb (careful not to over play the drag) and kept the fish under control. The first 10m are the toughest with a Dhuie and once I had his head turned the fight took on the tell tale signs of a big dhuie. Whilst I haven't seen the footage yet, all the way through the video I was saying "I'm not going to call it yet....I'm not going to call it yet" over and over again. I knew damn well what it was, but I didn't want to look like an idiot calling it for the mother of all dhuies only to see a big ray or shark hit the surface a few minutes later.

When I finally got colour there was no denying the dhuie call. Fish coming up in tight circles and away from the boat, white underbelly, has to be a dhuie. But you never know exectly how big they are until they break the surface, and this one was no exception. A beautifully conditioned fish of just under 12kgs was a nice way to get back into metro fishing.

[img_assist|fid=46052|thumb=1|alt=Dhuie 02/09/06|caption=Nice Dhuie caught this afternoon on a bit of cuttlefish on a 5/0 Gamatsu Octopus Circle hook.]

[img_assist|fid=46462|thumb=1|alt=Dhuie 12kg 02/09/06|caption=Apart from the small circle hook doing the damage, the other notable feature of this capture was the huge rusted Hook with about 40cm of heavy mono hanging out of its mouth. Someone was unlucky a month or so back.]

Then to follow that up with a lovely 4kg snapper from amother lump topped it off for me. Meanwhile Adam had chipped in with a horse of a snapper that gave his heavy gear a fair work out.

[img_assist|fid=46448|thumb=1|alt=Adam's best Pinkie 02/09/06|caption=This was a horse of a fish and Adam did well to get it alongside the boat, it had been hooked in the mouth then dropped and rehooked in the flank, a great capture to stay connected on a 6kg plus fish.]

We got back to the ramp with an esky full of fish (2 KG's, 2 Dhuies, 3 big snapper and a blackarse) everything else was released including 3 smaller Dhuies and a few odds and sods.

A great day on the water and proof that quality table fish can still be caught in metro waters. You just have to follow my 5 golden rules:

1- Appease the fish gods by releasing your first fish on board for every new angler.
2- Keep moving and hit 15 to 20 spots every trip. (spread the load)
3- Travel between spots a different way each time (only way to pick up new ground)
4 - stop and fish any likely looking spots as you are travelling between known spots.
5 - keep experimenting with your rigs (those Berkley power grubs were excellent this last trip).

Stay safe out there and tight lines.

____________________________________________________________________________

Cheers

Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)

Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club


Andy Mac's picture

Posts: 4779

Date Joined: 03/02/06

Use the wire and lumo tube

Sun, 2006-09-03 23:00

Use the wire and lumo tube as I described or you can add your own twist to the rig for added value.
I love experimenting with this stuff.


Cheers




Andy Mac

____________________________________________________________________________

Cheers

Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)

Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club

Adam Gallash's picture

Posts: 15607

Date Joined: 29/11/05

Good Read

Mon, 2006-09-04 14:14

Good read there Andy. From all accounts a beautiful weekend to be on the water and glad the fish were biting. So what did the fishing predictor say out of interest?

____________________________________________________________________________

Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance

Andy Mac's picture

Posts: 4779

Date Joined: 03/02/06

50% rating

Mon, 2006-09-04 14:47

But spot on with the major and minor bite cycles.

Cheers

Andy Mac

____________________________________________________________________________

Cheers

Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)

Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club

Andy Mac's picture

Posts: 4779

Date Joined: 03/02/06

Shogun Swivels?

Mon, 2006-09-04 15:28

I use them occaissionally when the current is running strong as they seem to provide less line twist. Otherwise I go with the twisted dropper loops.

Cheers

Andy Mac

____________________________________________________________________________

Cheers

Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)

Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club

Adam Gallash's picture

Posts: 15607

Date Joined: 29/11/05

Shoguns

Mon, 2006-09-04 15:58

I use the shogun double swivels for most of my bottom bouncing rigs. Have never done a twisted dropper loop, always just a paternoster, but I like the looks of the twisted. The shogun swivels get a bit annoying if your bringing up with bait as it twists around the mainline, also a bit annoying for deep water if your using long leader. On a relatively short leader they are awesome IMO.

____________________________________________________________________________

Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance

SHizz's picture

Posts: 1556

Date Joined: 07/08/05

supersnell?

Mon, 2006-09-04 16:53

supersnell?

Adam Gallash's picture

Posts: 15607

Date Joined: 29/11/05

Whats it worth

Mon, 2006-09-04 16:57

Whats it worth to ya Shizza, valuable information as such. :))

____________________________________________________________________________

Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance