queensland A Bit Of A Cheat

[Tybo]

Between working full-time, studying part-time, and a new baby, spare time for over the last few months has been non-existent. Of the two boats I have, neither has seen the water since late summer.

So I decided I needed to get some runs on the board, took an RDO, and a mate an I did one of the half day charters off the Gold Coast. Easy enough, drive down, walk on, catch some fish, walk off before lunch.

I feel like it was bit of cheating, but here's the report anyhow:

Left Southport at 6am, and was fishing the first reef in 30m of water around 6:15. The usual methods of floatline and paternosters were deployed. I took down my own rods, which were setup the same, but I had the advantage of running braid over mono, which saw me hook a lot more fish. This didn't do me any favours as the first reef seemed full of rat squire, small parrot and scorpion cod. The skipper moved us on to the outer reefs, fishing the 35, 40, 45 and 50m lines, along with three other charter boats, and everyone on the GC that wasn't working. While I boated dozens of fish, I didn't get a legal fish until the 45m line of which was the start of many legal trag. After the 35m line and around 8am, all the normal reefies went quiet, and not a single legal squire or parrot was landed on the whole boat all day.

With the sun high very much up, and the weather simply magical, the boat spent the last few hours drifting over rubble around the 50m line. My mate hooked a spaniard on his float line in the first 5 minutes out there, to which the skipper called lines in. The fish came boatside twice, but was still very green and took off again and again. After ten minutes the fish won, pulling the hooks, and devastating my mate. It would've easily been the fish of the day. Around 9am, in 50m of water the tailor came on thick on both floatlines and paternosters. The trag hugged the bottom and were caught if you could get your baits past the tailor. One bloke got a decent flathead around 70cm, and the odd bonito came up, but apart from that it was tailor and trag for the rest of the day. Pillies seemed to catch all, squid couldn't be given away, and I found out late that the few white pilchards some bloke had brought, were the prefered bait of choice for trag.

I took out my gomoku jigging rod too, with a heap of micro jjgs and some oktas in the hope giving them a go. After catching myself a feed of tailor and trag I decided to have a play. The 60g jigs worked well, but I still only caught and landed more tailor. I lost several jigs however, I'm guessing to more tailor hitting the top and leader, and decided to stop donating them after a short while. I deployed the 80g okta I had, hoping to entice the wary snapper that may have been down there, but no takers.

The boat ended up with more than enough fish, these are just the tailor(fish were all around the mid 40s, with the biggest for the day going around 60), we caught about the same number of trag:

We also saw plenty of whales, had a few surprises(spanish mackerel in August?), so all up a great day. I only took what I thought I'd eat, and even then I gave a fair bit away to the neighbours who are always asking:

I was thinking how easy and close most of the reefs were to the Southport, and that these areas must just get hammered. But the skipper said he has fished 20 of the last 21 days, and has always managed to the get his customers a feed, so I guess it is good sign. Thank god for tailor and trag!

[Angus]

Interesting the tailor are thick out there as a lot of people I know in Northern NSW and Straddy have been struggling to get any.

[Tybo]

2 minutes ago, Angus said:

Interesting the tailor are thick out there as a lot of people I know in Northern NSW and Straddy have been struggling to get any.

I know, I read a post last week that travellers to Fraser Island this year have been disappointed in the lack of tailor. No wonder, they're schooled up in 50m of water off the GC. Why they're there and not patrolling the gutters of the surf beaches, I don't know. It's got to be water temps I'd say, there wasn't much bait on the sounder. 

[aussie123]

Tailor like to move deep on full moons and periods of extra calm seas.

It's not uncommon to find them on deeper reefs and rocky outcrops well out to sea.

That is a nice bag of fish tybo, well done

[kmcrosby78]

Nice haul of fish and great write up Ty, good to see you getting out on the water mate. Hope the bub is going well.

[Tybo]

31 minutes ago, aussie123 said:

Tailor like to move deep on full moons and periods of extra calm seas.

It's not uncommon to find them on deeper reefs and rocky outcrops well out to sea.

That is a nice bag of fish tybo, well done

Makes sense Lance, you could've gone out of the seaway in a canoe. The last few weeks have had magical weather. 

12 minutes ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Nice haul of fish and great write up Ty, good to see you getting out on the water mate. Hope the bub is going well.

Thanks mate, she's doing real well, can't complain there. It's work and study that eats up my time.

[Drop Bear]

On 8/15/2017 at 1:46 PM, Tybo said:

The boat ended up with more than enough fish

Great report mate. good to see so many Taylor around. I've had Trag Sashimi a few times. It is sensational!!

[Drop Bear]

On 8/15/2017 at 7:55 PM, Tybo said:

I know, I read a post last week that travellers to Fraser Island this year have been disappointed in the lack of tailor

A friend came back 2 weeks ago and said they got enough taylor in a gutter at the Wreck (Mahino?).

I don't think they were braining them but had fish for breakfast and dinner every night and brought a few home. 

[Drop Bear]

On 8/15/2017 at 7:39 PM, Angus said:

Interesting the tailor are thick out there as a lot of people I know in Northern NSW and Straddy have been struggling to get any.

We are heading to Straddie Weekend after this one. Hopefully this wind will bring them into the rock gutters!

And perhaps some Jew and GT's

[Tybo]

1 hour ago, Drop Bear said:

Great report mate. good to see so many Taylor around. I've had Trag Sashimi a few times. It is sensational!!

Nice white flesh, would be nice. Mind you, one of the trag I filleted had a tapeworm entwined through the flesh. Apparently it's common in them and Mulloway. I just trimmed it out and and I'm sure the cooking process should've killed an remnants. Sashimi on the other hand, maybe not.

 

1 hour ago, Drop Bear said:

A friend came back 2 weeks ago and said they got enough taylor in a gutter at the Wreck (Mahino?).

I don't think they were braining them but had fish for breakfast and dinner every night and brought a few home. 

Yeah, I'm sure they're around. I normally don't keep or eat tailor, I find the texture of their flesh too soft for my liking. Although I kept half a dozen this time and they were delicious! Don't think the old tailor will be happily released in the future.

1 hour ago, Drop Bear said:

We are heading to Straddie Weekend after this one. Hopefully this wind will bring them into the rock gutters!

And perhaps some Jew and GT's

Good luck at Straddie Robbie, let us know how you go!

[Drop Bear]

17 hours ago, Tybo said:

Mind you, one of the trag I filleted had a tapeworm entwined through the flesh. Apparently it's common in them and Mulloway.

hmmmm..... that would turn me off Sashimi too...