KGW ....nup everything but!
Headed out this morning hoping to target some king George in my favourite area in 34 metres of water wide of garden island.
Intended using a technique I saw in Westernport a few weeks ago, two snooded size 2's on light line droppers and squid rings (yes rings) for bait. Rings cut only 5mm wide.
Out early and was as flat as, no breeze, didn't need the sea anchor
First drop, still rigging the second rod and the first screams off ......hell that ain't a KG, long and gentle fight with the light gear and a large dhuie swims up to the boat, dropped it when it did a sudden dive as it neared the hull but no matter as I couldn't keep it anyway. Second drop, still rigging the other rod and off it goes again, drag screaming but I accept lightly set given the light gear.....good fight and a horse baldie appears, quick unhook and away it swam which shows the advantage on light gear and gentle fight, no barotrauma at all in evidence.
then the ROT set in, despite the small baits the bronzies came on, it was bloody ridiculous, got 5 to the side and cut them off, all around 1200mm like peas out of a pod, lost at least another 7 more, got sick if rerigging so pulled stumps at 9.30
Is it me or are these toothy critters fast reaching plague proportions ?
Hutch
Posts: 2221
Date Joined: 21/04/13
Yeah no shortage of small
Yeah no shortage of small toothies around at the moment.
Bad luck about the KGs but guess you've got a spot to revisit after the ban
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
EAT!
should've eaten a couple of those bronzies?
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
1200mm bronzies are decent
1200mm bronzies are decent size to eat! They taste good too.
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
AlwaysFishin
Posts: 644
Date Joined: 13/11/11
Ever tried eating one of
Ever tried eating one of those small sharks. Done right, they are pretty good on the tooth.
sunshine
Posts: 2602
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Love gummies but how do bronzies compare
?? Don't much like bringing toothies into the boat when by myself, was going to try one but it snapped the little gaff hook clean off so I changed my mind
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
If you like gummy, then you
If you like gummy, then you will enjoy bronzies. Fish & Chips that sell "flake", are using 1 of a handful of different shark species. Gummies and Bronzies are 2 of the most popular sharks used in flake. Knew a guy that works at Kailis and told me that.
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
And reduce their numbers
fight fire with fire!
Notorious
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 23/02/12
Sub 2m bronzies are great
Sub 2m bronzies are great chew!
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sunshine
Posts: 2602
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Time to invest in a good donga
Still cannot believe they were taking tiny baits meant for king george but given the comments I will do my bit to cull the excess that is clearly there
Notorious
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 23/02/12
Kill asap, gut, take off
Kill asap, gut, take off head and all fins. Then an old Italian trick is to tie rope to the frame and soak in the sea water over the side to release any ammonia. The longer the better. Will come up perfect.
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sea-kem
Posts: 14989
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Best way to clean the shark
Best way to clean the shark is to cut off the tail then bleed them out. Gut and clean the blood line along the spine. The small Bronzies are beuatiful eating Gordon.
Love the West!
Madmerv
Posts: 672
Date Joined: 24/01/15
+1 for tail bleeding
As sea=kem said, cut the tail to bleed. I cut through 3/4, including into the spinal column but dont cut off completely, then tie a rope to the remaining part. Leaving 1/3 of th skin and tail stops the rope from slipping off. Toss over the side and keep fishing. Once bleed out dress out the fish including removing the spine/bloodline (reported to be where most of the amonia is), fins, etc.
As stated in a previous post, some people still soak fillets in sea water or freeze first to remove the remaining amonia taste. Up to you but maybe try both and include eating fresh to work out your own preference.
You get a fair chunk of fillet from a shark so the worst case senario is you have a bunck of fillets to give to those annoying people who keep insisting that because you go fishing you should be giving THEM your nice Dhu/Snapper/Baldie fillets.
Sometimes when the water is quiet, you can hear the fish laughing at you !
dano83
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 25/05/12
one or the old Sally's I go
one or the old Sally's I go fishing with fins them cuts tail off then blows the deck wash from up the whole in its tail
or if no deck wash he uses his mouth and blows the blood out, quiet disgusting as he gets a big red blood ring around his face and looks like his been chopping out a chick on her monthly's
sunshine
Posts: 2602
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Ha ha - yup gpt plenty of those
Who seem to think that two fish somehow provide unlimited fillets and hence you have plenty to spare. And yes Bronzies are certainly built heavier that gummies so should provide plenty of fillets for the freezer. Will try the tail cutting trick and provide some feedback on how they taste
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
good advice
I too will be following the advice given for preparing them.
Cheers
markj
Posts: 163
Date Joined: 23/12/08
Squid rings?
I'm interested to know what the thinking is behind the particular cut of rings rather than just a strip?
sunshine
Posts: 2602
Date Joined: 03/03/09
So would I .......but it seems to work
and once chewed or broken the charter operator insisted they be changed out, he also meticulously skinned them and they were really fresh being caught the afternoon before the charter. We got a really good gummy (me) and an 8kg plus pink......the charter was. "Think Big" ........the time he took to position the boat and quality gear used.....top top operator whom I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Westernport Victoria.......he also fishes bluefin out of Port Fairy when the season is on.
Given both the dhuie and baldie caught unintentionally on whiting gear it seems to work here as well, my first time trying it, now to try some hairy rigs which just arrived which he also spoke highly about, love the small size 2 circle hooks ......never stop learning !
sunshine
Posts: 2602
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Oh and I meant to add.....
That hooking the rings is done very carefully only just penetrating the centre of the rings perimeter with a pair of snooded circle hooks, so that you avoid the ring spinning on descent or in current ( plenty of that in Westernport) ......hooks therefore have maximum exposure which again goes against the grain of my thinking but it seems to work, only time will tell as I experiment some more
markj
Posts: 163
Date Joined: 23/12/08
Interesting
I've always been of the opinion that good baits presented well will improve catch rates, particularly when the fish are being finicky.
It'll be interesting for you to see if it consistently improve your catch rate, but a good start to the trial nonetheless!