Australia 2012 Report 6

[Snatcher]

This little session had me fishing Little Manly Point Park again and this time my fishing companion was Steve Pope. Steve Pope is a quite famous barbel angler back in the UK and does guided trips. See - http://www.stevepopebarbelfishing.co.uk/ My daughter just happened to mention that her friends dad was also a keen angler and he and his wife were also having a 3 month holiday in Sydney.

We met up initially in the Wharf Bar,Manly,and hit it off straight away. The language barrier proved a bit problematic at times and he struggled with my Geordie accent. Also the fact that Steve was a bit "corned beef" did not help either. I did have him saying "wheyaye maan" before I left Australia though !!!!

My daughter dropped me off at the mark first and by the time Steve arrived I was already set up,ledgering squid on a running rig. Steve had bought a spinning outfit when he arrived in Australia but it was a bit lighter than mine. He also set up similar to me,ledgering squid on the bottom. Check out Steve looking pretty relaxed in this picture.



After about an hour or so with no bites forthcoming I decided to try deadbaiting with yellowtail. First off I had to catch one which proved very difficult. I crumbed some bread into the water to try and attract some Once some yellowtail were near the surface I lowered down a tiny bit of squid on the smallest hook I could find.

I really did struggle for ages with loads of missed bites and a few dropped fish. All of my cursing seemed to amuse Steve very much. Eventually my bait was taken by a larger fish which I carefully managed to lift up the harbour wall. It was a wrasse and positively identified later as a red banded wrasse. After a quick picture it was returned to the water to fight another day. Another new species for me on this trip so I was made up.



After a great deal of persistance I did eventually manage to get my yellowtail for my deadbaiting attempt. I was wishing that I had asked Ollie if he had a heavier rod and reel that I could borrow but I had not and it proved to be a mistake.

I cast out the deadbait about 25 yds into fairly deep water,set the drag on my fixed spool to zero,as had been advised by Ollie, and settled back and waited. Steve was persisting with the squid but was having no luck. The yellowtail had been out for about half an hour untouched and I was just thinking of packing in when the spool slowly started turning. I carefully picked up my rod,opened up the bale arm briefly whilst I tightened up the drag then struck into the fish.

The fish felt very big and to be honest did nothing much for a minute or so. Steve grabbed the camera and took this shot. I am quite certain that the fish,whatever it was, did not know it was hooked.



After this initial period of relative dormacy it woke up and shot off at speed towards the middle of the harbour. Steve managed to get this last shot before it bust me off. It stayed near the bottom as it sped off so I may have been cut off on the reef.



As to what it was I will never know,there are plenty of candidates in Sydney Harbour though. Some of the possibilities include - shark,large ray,grouper,jewfish,kingfish. Back in 2008 I had caught a few large GT's on this outfit out on the Barrier Reef but this fish appeared to be more powerful than that. After this incident we decided to pack up as we both had other plans for the rest of the day. One promise I did make myself though was to invest in some heavier gear for my next trip which hopefully will be early in 2013.

My next report sees us flying up to Queenslands Sunshine Coast.

John

John

Edited November 23, 2014 by Snatcher

[Zigs]

Smashing report again Snatcher

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Newt]

The ones that break off are often the most fun since you can let your imagination decide what species and how big.

 

Thanks for doing these reports Snatcher. Fun to read and a nice glimpse at far-away places.

[captain cojones]

Cheers Snatch. :)