queensland Saturday morning beacon bash

[tunafreak]

Well it's that time of year that the Longies become scarce and the schoolie macks start turning up so the decision was made to brave the squally conditions and do a beacon run out in the bay this morning in search of a few of these fun little speedsters....

Pulled up to the first beacon at around 6:30 am, we both lobbed out our slugs and within a couple of cranks off the bottom bang bang it was double hook up first cast of the day, you beauty, first two macks in the esky.

From then on the action was pretty steady for the next few of hours with plenty fish landed as well as plenty of dropped fish and hits to keep us keen and we didn't have to move all morning which was good.

Kept fifteen for a few feeds each for ourselves and family and released the rest to catch again another day.

Don't really like posting pics of dead fish but will do anyway so I don't cop the "pics or it didn't happen" line.

Cheers,

Al

[tazzy.]

Sounds like an awesome day out mate, well done! Got any tips?? what slugs do you use and how fast do you crank em?? Cheers Tazzy

[tunafreak]

Hi Tazzy,

I mainly use spanyid brand 40 gram raiders and 35 gram snipers or you could use the surecatch equivalent, I also use some of the various halco slices etc from time to time, Big W and Kmart usually have the best prices on these lures.

I wind flat out as fast as I can wind with a high speed spin reel, you will get days where they will take or sometimes even prefer a medium pace retrieve but 9 times out of 10 they respond to speed.

Cheers,

Al

[kmcrosby78]

Awesome catch of macks there mate, well done. I enjoy your posts, you're obviously pretty switched on when it comes to pelagic fishing. Do you mind if I ask what pound leader is required for these guys, or do you use wire? Hoping to have my first proper crack at them this summer.

[tunafreak]

Hey mate,

I use 60 lb mono, brand doesn't matter but I generally use black magic or jinkai.

You can get away with 40 lb but you'll get a few more bite offs, you'll still get snipped occasionally with 60 but not that often to worry about.

I'm sure fluro would go just as well as the mono but I've never found them to be leader shy so I stick with mono.

I've never used wire as I don't see the need for it but I can't see why it wouldn't do the job if you wanted to use it.

Cheers,

Al

[cookie_7]

Well done! You got an awesome feed!

I can't wait until I get my boat back. Hopefully before the long weekend.

[jamocarter]

hey mate,

Never have much luck at the beacons, always live baiting so might give that a go!

Do you crank em around the bait schools? or sound em out with the sounder?

any help would be great!

cheers

[tunafreak]

Hey,

I don't bother looking for them on the sounder, I just work the beacon on different angles and if I don't get any action within say 20-30 casts I'll move on to another beacon and do the same till I find fish.

I have been doing it for allot of years so I can usually pick where the fish are at certain stages of the tide which helps but that all comes with time on the water.

When they are thick though it won't matter where you cast or what stage of the tide it is you'll be in for some fun.

Always let your lure hit the bottom before retrieving, don't just drop your lure down and vertical retrieve, I find it better to cast out around 30-50 metres so your lure comes up through the column on an angle, you cover more water this way and your retrieve lasts longer which all adds up to a better chance of a hook up..

Cheers,

Al

[billp]

What boat do you fish out of?

Would love to be able to get the yak over that side of the bay, but until I get myself a boat, I will just have to stick with Mermaid and Palmy in the yak, chasing the speedstars.

Definately one of my favourite forms of fishing chasing them around.

[tunafreak]

I have a quintrex 420 renegade with a 40 HP Etec on the back, perfect little boat for the job, safe in any conditions I'd care to head out in and cheap to run.

Yeah they are a top little fish to catch and tick all the right boxes for me......they are on my doorstep for a start, take lures with gusto, they are usually quite plentiful, put up a good clean fight with a few speedy drag pulling runs, very easy to clean/fillet and cook up well in a number of dishes......love em.

Cheers

Al

[cookie_7]

How much fuel do you use from boat ramp to beacons and back?

[livaio]

Hey buddy, not to disclose your spot but is the beacon sam as the shipping channel you are talking about?

[billp]

Grab yourself a beacon to beacon book. All the beacons over that side of the bay will hold fish at different times. Just remember to sound out the bait. No bait no fish.

[tunafreak]

Cookie_7, It depends on how much running around I do but on average I'll use a quarter or just over of a 50 litre tank, some days if I have to travel a bit to find fish I can use up to double......

On this particular day i used 11.70 litresI, I went out again Monday and had to head out further to get a bend in the rod (got into a few again), also dropped into Tanga's and I used just over 18 litres, both days I had two on board and it was pretty rough, on flat days I use less..

I launch from Clontarf and Scarborough..

Livaio, there are plenty of beacons along the shipping channel so as billp suggested grab yourself a beacon to beacon book and it'll tell ya where they all are..

[livaio]

Thanks AI. Saw a few in navionics. Will give them a go next week after offshore this weekend.. Cheers.

Richard