queensland I Want My Dolly!!!!

[Drop Bear]

Warning - Before reading this go make yourself a cuppa and grab a biscuit. Its pretty long with lots of pics and a video so only read when you have time.

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Dolly Lolly March 2018

I got a very exciting phone call last week from the legend that is @tugger. The plan was to go for a fish on Monday. If the weather was crook we would take my boat and go for a prawn and if good head offshore for a stab at some Spanish.

I spammed the refresh key on the MetEye all weekend and it seemed we had a great little weather window. Tugger agreed and we planned Boat Rock would be our location to target some xos Spanish that are normally around this time of year.

Monday dawned - well not yet  but the alarm went off at 3am and I jumped down to the car. 3 rods packed -  45kg sarangosa, 30kg sustain and... fiberglass bait jigging rod and this time I actually remembered to put in an eski! I think in the previous trips I was feeling it a bit too ambitious to actually put in an eski. After struggling with fillets a few time and whole fish from @rayke1938 I am glad I have growed up.... a little...

As I rolled around the courner Tugger was ready, probably as keen as me and we drove to the ramp. I'd had a dodgy curry the night before and was really worried that it was going to come back to haunt me today... offshore aqua nuggets were on the cards  probably more like a brown aqua oil slick that a nugget... Is that too much information?

We grabbed some fuel and I got to admire Tuggers... new trailer. Very nice bit of kit.... the trailer that is 

 

Then launched at Cleveland VMR and glided around the north side of Peel Island. The bay was nearly glassy. Forecast was 10-15 northerly offshore dropping during the morning. It was full glass out at Amity as we were in the lea. There was only a little light poking through on the horizon so we waited to cross the notorious South Passage Bar in better light and rigged up bait jigs in the dark.

There were a lot of clouds in the East and this delayed the bar crossing. 

I thought the bar looked pretty good at first but I was wrong. We headed out and it soon became clear that it was pretty rough going. We headed east along Flinder's but didn't find the channel so U-turned and back in. Tugger saw the channel really close to Flinder's Beach and carefully crossed the choppy washing machine waters to get to it. It was running along the beach behind some medium sized shore breaks. Tugger stopped for a bit and counted waves and had a few false starts before a nice gap opened. Flat chat out slowing at every big wave for a soft landing. The tide was running out so the waves were very sharp and short which meant for some very heavy landings off the back of them. Knocked me hat off!  But Tugger expertly guided us safely through without incident. 

It was really sloppy but with the the boat just on the plane doing about 20km/h we stooged along to the bait grounds. Little Yackers were on. Tugger called them Snapper Lollies (this name would change later) but we were after some Spanish so put about 30 of the small yackers in the tank as well as 5 whiptails (I used to call them hairy tails but most people call them whiptails).

We bashed through the slop over to shag rock to try for some Slimies. No bait schools on the sounder but we managed to bag 2 nice little Bonito. I would normally have eaten these as I think they are one of the yummiest fish to eat but Tugger smiled with glee and knew these would make super duper Spanish baits. 

We caught some pretty little reef fish that were nice to look at but all went back as they were too small.

We headed over to Boat Rock for a look. The current was insane! Pouring around the rock and creating eddies for miles out. Big whirl pools spun around us as we dropped the pick in about 35m of water. The sea was really washy making it hard to get my sea legs and making it impossible to anchor too close to the rock. 

Tugger put out one of the Bonnies our the back under a balloon and I put a whip tail out as well and we dropped some Snapper Lollies down to the bottom with heavy sinkers. 

The flosting baits didn't last long. Tuggers bonny screamed off under heavy drag and showed no sign of stopping.

It ran south and felt like it was going for a beer at The Straddie Hotel before slowing and... poping the single strand steel trace. Bugger. 

A few long toms turned up (AKA - Alligator Gar, Needlefish, Crocodile Long-Tom, Green Marlin ). I love Grants Guide to Fishes. I was lucky enough to find a first edition of this in a local second hand book store and I went and saw him up at Scarborough a few years ago to buy a book and I got him to sign this and the first edition. He told me a few stories and one of them was about some xxos Long-Toms he got off the cape on a windy day and cooked up for Christmas lunch.

I have eaten a few small ones that we have caught around the mangroves while chasing other things and was really keen to have a go at a bigger one. So when the dancing heavily toothed critters turned up I asked Tugger if I could put it in the eski. I think he thought I was a loony and I don't really blame him but he agreed and in it went.  

I floated out another whiptail. It lasted about 30 seconds before something absolutely screamed off! Under heavy drag and with 45lb line it just kept going and going. I was getting down to the backing and needed to crank up the drag some more but it just kept trucking away. I have never been connected to something this powerful. The Spanish Mackerel I caught just after wavebreak weekend pailed in comparison, but suddenly nothing...   Gone... I had to hide the tears from Tugger as he wouldn't understand...  

The current changed enough so we were properly in the lee of the island now. We got some baits to the bottom and both got bricked by monsters. The Snapper Lollies were a favourite and were mauled each time they got near the bottom. Then Tugger hooked up to a monster. He battled it down low. Giving no ground. Huge thumps and massive weight tested out the guns. It didn't give up and fought well all the way to the boat but was pretty much done when I slid the net under this stunning fish.

This was a PB for Tugger which is really saying something as he fishes this rock a lot and has caught many many fish. I have not seen a pink tusky before.  Tugger said it was a Pigfish and Grants also calls it a Gold-Spot Wrasse (boduanus perditio). It looked pretty good in the eski. 

My bait was hit by another leaping Long-Tom. They don't fight very hard but are spectacular leaping fish. This leaping was something we would get used to as the day went on 

Tugger wrestled with a huge shark for ages. We had hoped it would turn out to be a Cobia but no such luck and snipped it off. I had pushed my luck with putting the 2 Long-Toms in the eski so didn't even suggest we take a shark home... It was probably too large anyhow as it looked far in excess of the legal size of 1.5m not to mention it would have been quite a handful in the boat!

The wind was virtually non existent. And while it was still sloppy in the current the sea was looking a lot better now. With all our larger baits gone and only 3 fish to show for it (Tugger would argue 1 haha ) Tugger asked what my biggest Dolly was...  

Show stopper question!!!!!

Dollys are a pelagic fish growing to 1.8m long and nearly 90lb. They have the often confusing name of Dolphin Fish so to avoid confusion are mostly known as Mahi-Mahi or Dorado but I like the name Dollys... and have never caught one. 

I have heard a lot about the Wave rider buoy and how it doubles as a FAD that holds Dollys so was frothing to get out there. We headed out with about 10 livies that were very quickly renamed Dolly Lollies. 

There were some nasty squalls around so we did get a bit wet but the sea was calming and made good time.

The buoy was where it was supposed to be but the current was crazy!  

Tugger let me have the first cast. He was very careful to not go too close to the buoy so as not to scare them. I dropped my live bait in the water next to the boat to try and let it drift back and couldn't under stand why it was swimming back to the boat. I flicked it out a little wider and it screamed back straight at the prop so I had to quickly lift it out of the water just in time to stop the line from wrapping. Out again, a bit further this time and again it bolted to the prop but this time... it didn't make it and I could see what was causing its panic. A huge school of about half a dozen Dollys, lit up in vibrant Indigo blue charged at it, shouldering each other aside. One of them engulfed it only inches away from the back of the boat right at my feet! Lucky last nights curry wasn't causing me trouble or it could have been very messy. This stunning fish leaped high into the air. It had almost instantly changed from the full Indigo, to blue and white with a bright yellow tail. This stunning fish kept leaping time after time. So exciting! Something that has been on my bucket list for ages. I was glad that the circle hook was firmly in the courner of its mouth. It screamed away again and again and we drifted with the current for many hundreds of meters. Before long it changed colour again to stunning green and Gold. Go Aussie!  Tugger slipped the net under it and I had my first Dolly.  You Bloody Ripper!!!!!! It was a cracker too. Try wiping that smile off!!!

It was Tuggers turn now. We followed the same process and he quickly hooked another nice fish. Dancing and jumping all the way to the boat.

 

Here is a little Video I took of the action. The first 2 shots are from Boat Rock. 

This action continued until we ran out of Dolly Lollies. We burleyed up some pillies and caught a few more but they were no way as interested in them. I had a few casts with some micro jigs with no luck.  We ended up getting 9 fish one short of the bag limit. Left them biting  They had spooked a little and were much harder to catch but we watched them jumping around the buoy as we drove away. 

With a following sea we made our way back to the bay past the bar crossing lesson boat, through South Passage and into Rainbow Channel that was totally glassed out now. We could sit on the comfy seats resting our feet.

 

Glass all the way back to the ramp. A Few pickies at Tuggers and it took quite a while to fillet them.

The Long-Tom are hard to fillet. The pin bones go nearly all the way down to the tail and the ribs extend to about half way along the fish. I got nearly a KG of meat off them. I had a little bit sashimi style off the filleting table and it was sweet and good. Needed a bit of soy however  The bones are crazy green! Something that Grant is sure puts people off. 

There is a nice bit of meat in the head of the Dollies that I was keen to keep. It took quite a while to fillet them.

Tugger showed me all the strange animals that they eat. There was whole cuttlefish, small boxfish, small crabs and a strange Moreton Bay bug looking thing in there stomachs. 

So, sorry it was such a long report. I hope you can forgive my excitement for such a great day. My first Dolly PB Long-Tom and Tuggers PB Pigfish. The fridge is full of fillets for the weeks to come. I love nothing more than feeding my family fresh wild caught fish. So healthy and delicious. 

Now my dreams will be filled with plans to head back out there. Ahhh pretty cool stuff. Thanks Tugger.

Drop Bear

 

 

 

 

 

[Angry51]

Rippa report DB, You describe it like the reader is on board with you.

Thanks, great read.

   Cheers

    Gary

[Drop Bear]

6 minutes ago, Angry51 said:

Rippa report DB, You describe it like the reader is on board with you.

Thanks, great read.

   Cheers

    Gary

Thanks mate. I loved this trip.

 

[Old Scaley]

Holley Dooley @Drop Bear. It must have taken nearly as long to write the report as it did to catch the fish. Really enjoyable read, thanks Robbie.

[Simo68]

...big question, did you keep all your rods onboard? What a great report mate, awesome adventure!!!!!

[Angus]

Bloody ripper Robbie bloody ripper. Glad you got to that dolly while still lit.
Great report and great read.

Should we just do ROTM now?

Angus

[tugger]

That bar was a bit hairy and just needs the respect we gave it by having a long hard look at it no fish is worth the danger of flipping your boat but once I could see where exactly the channel was it was all good. I try to always have a plan b so when the Spanish wouldn't show at the rock I knew it would be alright out at the wave rider bouy as we didn't see any boats go past us which gives you confidence the dolly's are not spooked by traffic before you get there. Dolly's are plenty of fun and those fish definitely didn't disappoint most of them were nudging the 1 meter mark and gave us plenty on the light gear I thought you might enjoy that for our plan b Rob we will have to get you out there again and see if we can find even bigger models. Great report Robbie and no need to thank me you are welcome any time, we are planning our Friday bbq with the extended family so fresh dolly on the barbie for our clan to.

[Luke Landrunner]

I'll keep my comment short......YOU BLOODY BEAUTY !!!!!!

[kmcrosby78]

Cracking report and nice haul of quality fish there fellas, well done.  At first glance I thought you'd caught the worlds largest garfish ........

[ellicat]

Ripper report (with just a little too much information ). Glad to hear you had a good day with some quality fish.

[Drop Bear]

17 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Holley Dooley @Drop Bear. It must have taken nearly as long to write the report as it did to catch the fish. Really enjoyable read, thanks Robbie.

haha yep pretty much. It took a while to do the video as well. 

I enjoy writing. not quite as much as fishing

[Drop Bear]

17 hours ago, Simo68 said:

...big question, did you keep all your rods onboard? What a great report mate, awesome adventure!!!!!

Somehow I did and they came home unbroken! yay. Thanks it was a great day in the life of a mythical bear. 

[Drop Bear]

14 hours ago, Angus said:

Bloody ripper Robbie bloody ripper. Glad you got to that dolly while still lit.
Great report and great read.

Should we just do ROTM now?

Angus

It was a great thing to see. The blue with black bars or spots, not sure, was so intense. 

Thanks re ROTM but I am hoping to read a few that will be better than this.

[Drop Bear]

13 hours ago, tugger said:

That bar was a bit hairy and just needs the respect we gave it by having a long hard look at it no fish is worth the danger of flipping your boat but once I could see where exactly the channel was it was all good. I try to always have a plan b so when the Spanish wouldn't show at the rock I knew it would be alright out at the wave rider bouy as we didn't see any boats go past us which gives you confidence the dolly's are not spooked by traffic before you get there. Dolly's are plenty of fun and those fish definitely didn't disappoint most of them were nudging the 1 meter mark and gave us plenty on the light gear I thought you might enjoy that for our plan b Rob we will have to get you out there again and see if we can find even bigger models. Great report Robbie and no need to thank me you are welcome any time, we are planning our Friday bbq with the extended family so fresh dolly on the barbie for our clan to.

Enjoy the BBQ Tugger. I will be enjoying the fish down at wooli as well. 

[Drop Bear]

13 hours ago, Luke Landrunner said:

I'll keep my comment short......YOU BLOODY BEAUTY !!!!!!

haha thanks mate. It will be hard for me to not try and go to the buoy on every trip now

[Drop Bear]

9 hours ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Cracking report and nice haul of quality fish there fellas, well done.  At first glance I thought you'd caught the worlds largest garfish ........

haha yep great day thanks. It wont be long until you are out there in your boat. 

I did see a guy with garfish nearly that size when I was in Ningaloo reef a few years back. Keen to get one for myself. 

[Drop Bear]

8 hours ago, ellicat said:

Ripper report (with just a little too much information ). Glad to hear you had a good day with some quality fish.

Yep sorry about that. Lucky enough nothing untoward happened

 

[Tybo]

Awesome report! Nothing like braving the 'elements' and coming home with a feed. Without taking away from your dolly Robbie, I got to say the highlight is that pig! Man! What a cracker. I've only got a few of them and they're as tasty as they come. Nice fish.They're some stonker toms too, I've never seen them that big.

[Drop Bear]

1 hour ago, Tybo said:

Awesome report! Nothing like braving the 'elements' and coming home with a feed. Without taking away from your dolly Robbie, I got to say the highlight is that pig! Man! What a cracker. I've only got a few of them and they're as tasty as they come. Nice fish.They're some stonker toms too, I've never seen them that big.

Yes it was a magic fish that pig. Also the toms were delicious for breakfast today. 

[straddiebrad]

Nice fish mark and robbie 10 livies to 9 dollies who dropped one

[Drop Bear]

4 minutes ago, straddiebrad said:

Nice fish mark and robbie 10 livies to 9 dollies who dropped one

It was me.... i dropped about 3. Rest on pillies

[Luvit]

Such a good report and trip. Admin will have to suspend you at least one month Robbie or you will take out every ROTM accolades. 

[tugger]

7 hours ago, Tybo said:

Awesome report! Nothing like braving the 'elements' and coming home with a feed. Without taking away from your dolly Robbie, I got to say the highlight is that pig! Man! What a cracker. I've only got a few of them and they're as tasty as they come. Nice fish.They're some stonker toms too, I've never seen them that big.

The pig's are 1 of my favourite table fish and at 60cm my new pb we do get a few of them off spb always love them hitting the slurry 

[tugger]

23 hours ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Cracking report and nice haul of quality fish there fellas, well done.  At first glance I thought you'd caught the worlds largest garfish ........

The fishing was average at the rock but the wave rider bouy saved the day 

[tugger]

14 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

Enjoy the BBQ Tugger. I will be enjoying the fish down at wooli as well. 

Thanks Robbie you will love the dollies fresh

[tugger]

On Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 4:18 PM, Angus said:

Bloody ripper Robbie bloody ripper. Glad you got to that dolly while still lit.
Great report and great read.

Should we just do ROTM now?

Angus

They look great in the water and change colours from the vibrant blue and yellow to the green and golds 

[tugger]

1 hour ago, Luvit said:

Such a good report and trip. Admin will have to suspend you at least one month Robbie or you will take out every ROTM accolades. 

Robbies 1st go at the dollies and he loved it he is now hooked

[Luvit]

What a way to introduce him to them. 

Fav fish for me 2. 

[Drop Bear]

18 hours ago, Luvit said:

Such a good report and trip. Admin will have to suspend you at least one month Robbie or you will take out every ROTM accolades. 

Haha its easy when the fishing is so good.

[Drop Bear]

17 hours ago, tugger said:

Robbies 1st go at the dollies and he loved it he is now hooked

Guilty. I am hooked

[Drop Bear]

16 hours ago, Luvit said:

What a way to introduce him to them. 

Fav fish for me 2. 

That 1.2m one you caught must have been a beast!!!!

I'm so impressed at how hard they fight.

[Luvit]

2 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

That 1.2m one you caught must have been a beast!!!!

I'm so impressed at how hard they fight.

Yes it was a PB for me, Lance's estimate was between 12 & 15kg @1.5m.

Whats 12" between friends 

[tugger]

On Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 5:02 PM, straddiebrad said:

Nice fish mark and robbie 10 livies to 9 dollies who dropped one

i think we started with more tham 10 yakkas at the waverider as we dropped alot more than 1 dollie out there. They are good size dollies at the moment Brad worth having a shot at if you get a chance .

[tugger]

We had plenty of family around for a bbq on good Friday with the fish getting a big rap from everyone they all wanted to take the rest home for dinner as there was plenty to go around, mum and dad have had fresh dollie before but the inlaws haven't up till now they all loved it.

[Drop Bear]

We had the Long Tom. Had been frozen. Its stunning. Will take them home again. Highly recommended. Firm white (after you take the green bones out and cook it) tasty