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  #241  
Old 03-25-2023, 08:44 PM
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Again an awesome adventure and thx for sharing.


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  #242  
Old 03-25-2023, 09:31 PM
Howard Hutchinson Howard Hutchinson is online now
 
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Yes sir, love your shared family adventures. Thank you so much!
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  #243  
Old 05-20-2023, 04:13 AM
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Well, time flies doesn’t it. Last break it went from summer to winter pretty well overnight.
Winter brought with it heavy swell and 20-30 knot winds for the entire two weeks I was home. We walk the pooch down around the ocean every morning after we drop the kids off at school and it looked like this




This is from up on the hill




There’s a coast guard down in that pic in a 15ish meter cutter but when he went behind a wave he would disappear.



The water temp cooled down pretty much over night as well. I typically swim every morning with the dog in the river and it went from 27 deg water to 22 deg water within the two weeks. No more intentional swimming for me until next December.

Then I went back to work and the wind continued. I saw one morning at the Noosa bar on YouTube one of the charter boats screwed the timing pretty good. He caught every set. This is about a 10-12 meter cat.











While I was at work the little man got another package from the Australian game fishing association. He got some more swag and the awards.




This break I got home and had to drop the missus at the airport the next morning. Her mom had a stroke and she had to go be with her. So I’m holding down the fort and the wind was bad for the first week plus. Certainly not good enough to take all three of them out fishing. So we went and caught some small crabs for bait.







We filled that red bucket the little man is holding and will use them this winter for tuskies. We use a 12 volt hot glue gun and glue the hook to the shell so they look undamaged but that’s probably on next months agenda.


Then yesterday I went and walked the pooch and saw the wind had laid down





So after I got them from school we went for another walk and yep, wind was good.

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  #244  
Old 05-20-2023, 04:21 AM
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So today I wanted to go try our hand at spanner crabs. We’ve got five good eating crabs here but the only ones we’ve caught before are the mud crabs. The spanner crabs are out in around 40-50m of water on the sandy flats and the trap is flat and called a dilly.
The boys had soccer this morning but after the game we hit the water. I hit the slow boat ramp because it’s after lunch on a Saturday and I know the ramp I like would be busy.







Cruising up the river i again regretted not being born rich. We got a couple hundred mm of rain last week so the waters gross but the boats and houses are nice.



















We stopped at the other boat ramp and grabbed a buddy and his little boy. Then hit the ocean and we ran out about 5 miles until the reef turned to sand and I put the first dilly in 44m of water. I bought two dillies and had 100m of rope. I tied a float to each end of the rope, drove away from the floats holding the rope, evened it up and cut it assuming I had 50m in each string. First trap went out no issues. Then we ran another mile to 48m of water and I threw the second dilly in without thinking very hard. Well the rope went tight and then went under water. I saw what was happening just as it happened but we were to far away to stop it. I drove over to it and could see the float under water as a white glow.
I peeled my shirt off, grabbed some more rope and jumped in before we drifted off the mark and lost it. I swam down but couldn’t reach it the first time. So I came up and got my breath then went for it again. Idk how far down it was but I would guess 5-6m. I pulled the float back up, tied some more rope in-line then swam back to the boat. Once again, a few minutes of thinking would of avoided the polar swim in 22 deg water. You guys go ahead and laugh but I’m no fan of anything cold anymore.

We then went back to a reef and dropped a couple jigs for the few minutes we had to burn. Both of us just bought slow pitch jigging rods and wanted to see how they felt. I bought a PE3 rod and put one of my toriums on it until I find an Ocea jigger on the secondary market. He bought a PE4 and found a Ocea jigger 2000 on marketplace.

So away we went, my jig was on the bottom about 30 seconds when it got nailed. I was more shocked then I’ve ever been when a fish hit my line. He gave a good account of himself





In the end was just a dirty trevally. Not a fish I wanted to catch but it felt really good through that Daiwa and sparked an interest in the jigging game.





We drifted for another ten minutes then had to run back to retrieve the traps. They only soak for an hour and we had a ten minute drive to get there.

The first one had a bit of suspense. Considering it was a recon trip I didn’t expect much. The kids were all eyes and wouldn’t you know it we got a pair of the craziest looking crustaceans. Almost like a big red tick.











That was a good start considering we didn’t expect anything.



The second, deeper trap sounded like work so naturally I got my sidekick to do some of the work.







It got nearly to the boat and I couldn’t see anything. Then as it broke water I realised it was upside down and had a few on the other side.





The crowd went wild










We had six keepers all up out of a bag limit of 120. But we only had two dillies and we aren’t greedy anyway. So we rolled back home on a beauty winters day






Big tower on that black boat in the back.





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  #245  
Old 05-20-2023, 04:23 AM
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They got cooked in salted water and we tied into them. Very nice indeed.








Look at his eyeballs






Not much meat in the legs but the body is filled out. The meat isn’t as sweet as most crab. It’s very nice but not like any other crab that I could compare it to. Just mild and delicious.





I can see them becoming a little extra we pick up every time we head offshore. Now to sort out the remaining three types of crab we haven’t caught.


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  #246  
Old 05-20-2023, 08:35 AM
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Wow....what a great lifestyle you have...fishing, family, friends what more is there....ohh yeah work gets in the way

That charter heading out would have been a holy crap moment for those on board
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  #247  
Old 05-28-2023, 09:42 PM
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Default Skip the ice, let’s go billfishing.

In keeping with the thread, another update. By that I mean, I’ve posted after every outing, not just the success or instagram gold as some do.

Yesterday the little man and I took one of his school mates out for some crabs. We dropped three dillies. During the ~45 min wait we tried a few drifts. The boys struck fishing with bait, I picked up two tuskies, a grinner and this coronation trout on the new jigging outfit.



Then we pulled the three dillies and managed 37 legal crab. I never did a full count but it would of been 50+




The other day I picked up another man sized tiagra. Came with a 100m, 300lb mono topshot and ~2700 meters of 300lb hollow core braid.

Serious bit of kit for large billfish, next to the 30 I typically fish.











Or a 2500 spinning reel.




Not sure if I should mount it on a rod or the front of my truck.



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  #248  
Old 05-29-2023, 08:55 AM
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Love these updates!
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  #249  
Old 05-29-2023, 09:18 AM
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Crazy good. Obviously, we love your fishing trip reports, and all the different species you are catching, but seeing your kids and their friend enjoy things is what really makes us crusty old buggers smile.

My best buddy’s two boys, and then all their friends came hunting and fishing with us everywhere we went. Lots of trips called early cuz of kids. Now they take us. And one of em is an outfitter now and enjoying crazy success on bears this spring. When we hunt and fish now, they run the show. My buddy and I just smile and go with the flow. Whether it’s big game or birds we just defer to them for the most part. So rewarding.

At the very worst, you are gonna have three kids to take you out when you are a broken down old rig hand

Good deal!

You and the Mrs have any plans of moving back or will your kids be Aussies for all intents and purposes?
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  #250  
Old 05-29-2023, 09:25 AM
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that reel would be good on my quad as a hand winch .
or reeling up the anchor on the boat.
enjoy your posts keep them coming
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  #251  
Old 05-29-2023, 08:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sns2 View Post
At the very worst, you are gonna have three kids to take you out when you are a broken down old rig hand

Good deal!

You and the Mrs have any plans of moving back or will your kids be Aussies for all intents and purposes?


You’re not wrong Shane. They’ll be taking me out and if I’m lucky enough they’ll have the income to buy themselves a nice 60-90’ game boat. I told Nolan I’ll keep it exercised while he’s working and stay on top of where the fish are so he’s not wasting time finding them when he has time to go fishing. We made sure we have their post secondary education covered so I hope he will be a plastic surgeon or something similar. Truth is though, he can do whatever he wants. If I was him I would go be a mate on a game boat up north and then captain myself but it’s his life and only time will tell.

No we have zero interest in moving back. She was just there for two weeks and update me daily how much it’s not the country she grew up in and how bad it’s become. I knew that years ago but it took her a while to see it. I won’t bag it out to much on here but this place is paradise in every way in comparison. Happy to discuss with anyone via pm though if they’re curious.
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  #252  
Old 06-09-2023, 03:52 PM
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Default Skip the ice, let’s go billfishing.

We got out for some bottom fishing yesterday. Due to the previous success with the jigging that was the flavour of the day and the plan was to scout some new ground off Morton island and find some kingfish and pearl perch.
I bought the little man his own slow/fast pitch setup with the same line of rod as I’m using (different PE rating) and his own shimano Ocea jigging reel (smaller size). However I expected to have it in hand the day after I ordered it and they didn’t ship the day I ordered, instead they shipped the next day. So the rod/reel showed up while we were gone fishing. Figures. So I set him up with a different rod/reel and away we went.

We had great sea conditions when we left which quickly deteriorated on the trip out. After a 25 mile run we stopped on the first bit of ground. His first drop he managed a double to kick the day off. These are called coral cod





We picked up a half doz of them and a few grinners but couldn’t find what we were after so we moved around. Truth is we hunted all day and couldn’t put a solid fish in the kill tank. We eventually found a wreck and started pulling tiny amberjack off it. It must of been a nursery because the larger models weren’t to be found.





Some of the grinners made me wonder how they thought they would eat a bait that big.





He picked up a little jewfish




And a few other species we didn’t get pics of. Taylor, pike, small snapper, parrot fish. Etc.
All up we couldn’t find what we wanted and it was tough trying to drift with as much current and wind as we had. We saw a ton of turtles and whales. At one point we had a whale go under the boat at about 30m and he looked a cm thick on the sounder.

Seems my lack of attention on the demersal species front is coming to haunt us and we will have yet another learning curve if we want to succeed here on the local. Up north it’s easier because there are so many fish.

When we get a nice day we will head wide for some deep drop species. I got an electric reel and bent butt rod to facilitate this endeavour. A mechanic at work was straight out front here a week ago and they caught most of the deep species I want.











Luckily we have all winter to sort this out.
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  #253  
Old 06-10-2023, 07:39 AM
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58thecat 58thecat is online now
 
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Again huge wow factor!
Luv the ocean for all it provides on a daily basis, if one targeted species ain’t cooperating well move onto another.

Getting our boat ready to drop down some of your lures....hopefully a Laker gets interested....last outing was chasers but the bite is picking up

Keep posting please
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  #254  
Old 07-29-2023, 04:56 PM
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Well like most winters the fishings been on the back burner. I haven’t been home for a decent weather day yet and haven’t had a deep drop with the electric or sunk a sword bait.

We did head out for a jig the other day and struggled to find any quality fish. Caught lots of junk, put a red headed diver down on the troll while sounding out some new ground and picked up half a doz mackerel, tuna and Bonita.






This little sergeant baker was greedy.




Smashed a couple dozen tiny AJ’s off a wreck but couldn’t find a kingfish or full sized model.






A baby jewfish. These things can get huge.







Scorpion fish. These cary a neurotoxin and will spike you almost everywhere. Supposedly very fine eating.





A baby pearl perch. Seems we were in the nursery all day.














Last night the club had their annual presentation night.






The little man was requested to be there. I wasn’t home so mom had to take him. He cleaned house in the junior category. My boat ranked 8th in the under 7.5m category. I didn’t place anywhere at all as I didn’t catch enough fish.














The bodo trophy on the right side there is a annual perpetual trophy that was awarded to the club by the bodo family in 2017 which is why there are only five names in it. The club is still waiting for Nolan’s plaque to be cut before it’s installed which is why his name is missing.

To an Albertan the IGFA wouldn’t mean much but the Australian game fishing club and the international game fishing club have been aligned for a lot longer then I’ve been alive. I had to read about the Bodo trophy and it’s significance and within the game fishing fraternity it’s a milestone. To say I’m proud of the little man is an understatement.












Fingers crossed this next season is even better. Three more months before they’re back.
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  #255  
Old 07-29-2023, 05:39 PM
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I just realised I reported on the same trip twice. I need to fish more…
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