Hard work today

Headed out early this morning hoping to find a dhuie to refill the freezer which is looking somewhat bare.  Whilst I got a nice 60cm model the drift was impossible to predict, strong currents from the north, ESE winds, which then died, then S which again died, then SW which brought the fish on the bite before it died to a whisper.   Drifting so slowly rays became a nuisance including what appeared to be a perfect albino, white on both sides and seeming to have a deformed tail with no barb.  Sorry no photo, it was a horse and I wasn't going to waste any more time on it. 

Still a day on the water in calm conditions was very enjoyable


Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 18027

Date Joined: 11/03/08

 gotta be happy just getting

Fri, 2018-02-16 16:29

 gotta be happy just getting out there. 

it sux when you cant get the drift working for you. 

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

beau's picture

Posts: 4104

Date Joined: 24/01/10

That wind was all over the

Fri, 2018-02-16 20:34

That wind was all over the joint south of rotto!

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beau's picture

Posts: 4104

Date Joined: 24/01/10

That wind was all over the

Fri, 2018-02-16 20:34

That wind was all over the joint south of rotto!

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little johnny's picture

Posts: 5360

Date Joined: 04/12/11

4 wind

Fri, 2018-02-16 20:37

Changes in close also

kirky79's picture

Posts: 1354

Date Joined: 13/01/12

Glad we weren't the only ones

Fri, 2018-02-16 20:59

Left Mandurah just after 5:30. Found a good school of SBT's got our 6 in no time. Hopes were high, out to the 40's... Very quiet, decided to go wider, 60 m and dropped one good fish but still very slow. Came back into 39 and got a nice Pinky, last drop of the day a small but sized B Arse. Weird day for sure but still beats working. 

Anyone else notice how ravenous the mutton birds were?

sunshine's picture

Posts: 2602

Date Joined: 03/03/09

Yup the mutton birds were in plague ppns

Fri, 2018-02-16 21:25

 Saw one big bust up on the way in, we dropped a good fish through poor technique so no excuses but drift patterns were crazy drifting south into a southerly we had one good drift when the SW kicked in for literally minutes and everything seemed to want to bite but it was only 10 minutes otherwise really slow despite it supposedly being a very good solunar day 

Posts: 308

Date Joined: 28/05/15

 Found it the opposite and a

Sat, 2018-02-17 04:24

 Found it the opposite and a very fishy day. Couldn’t get away the dhus, ended up with a 12.7 and an 8, harlequin, KGW, sbt. Released back another 8kg dhu and a heap of 50-60cm dhus in shallow that all released well out of Mandurah.

Posts: 574

Date Joined: 24/04/11

Nice

Sat, 2018-02-17 06:34

was nice where I was (off hillaries). A few wind changes but all light. A bit of current, but not too bad.

The fish were hungry.  

We put the anchor out for about half an hour but for the most part it wasn't needed. 

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

Interesting to read the

Sat, 2018-02-17 08:10

Interesting to read the different reports all from a relatively small area!

 

We also had a very slow day fishing and had to work hard to get our fish. We got 2 nice snapper - both on fresh cuttlefish for bait - and 1 dhu on a jig. Lost a few as always but bait certainly seemed to be working better than the artificials. Saw a few schools of tuna but couldn’t get close enough to them to cast a lure.

 

Current and drift weren’t a problem for us. Wind was nice for the most part and our drift was always in line with the wind.

hodge's picture

Posts: 71

Date Joined: 03/09/07

Interesting

Sat, 2018-02-17 08:35

 Did a quick solo run south of rotto yesterday too, fished the 30s and managed a decent dhu and black ass before 730. 

Ended up going for a quick troll and picked up my 3 southern blues reasonably quickly too. Love being back at the ramp by 9ish for a change

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 Nice work  what lures did

Sat, 2018-02-17 10:00

 Nice work 

 

what lures did the damage on the tuna ? There were no shortage of schools - maybe I’ll try trolling instead of casting next time 

beau's picture

Posts: 4104

Date Joined: 24/01/10

I picked up 4 first thing in

Sat, 2018-02-17 10:22

I picked up 4 first thing in the morning, 3 casting a 30g metal rigged with wire for mackerel and one on xrap trolling, they werent fussy at all or flighty from the boat, I managed to pull up right next to them

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hodge's picture

Posts: 71

Date Joined: 03/09/07

Lures

Sat, 2018-02-17 10:31

Hey mate.

Just using those little richter jelly babe lures, the little southern blues love them.

Francis's picture

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 17/06/08

 Cool - cheers guys. Will try

Sat, 2018-02-17 11:02

 Cool - cheers guys. Will try a bit harder next time. I gave up pretty easy when the first few schools spooked. 

Alpha's picture

Posts: 194

Date Joined: 13/02/17

Awesome day

Sat, 2018-02-17 10:06

 Great day on the water and better than working, bit of a shame about the fish. We fished south of Rotto from 30's 40's through the depths to the 90's picked up 1 dhuie, snapper and few undersized models, as mentioned current was from the north, wind from the south creating issues, struggling hold bottom with 32 ounce sinkers in the 90's.