New gaff works

[Neil Stratford]

Still had a dozen or so small Bonito in the freezer , so took my brother out for a late in the season troll for Spanish  last Tuesday morning. Conditions were a bit how’s your father with about 15 to 18 knots of south west creating a bit of wind chop, this combined with a chunky 1.5 m swell swayed us to stay  in very close to shore.Put the baits out and got a fish in less than 5 minutes , then dropped another one probably less then 30 seconds  later. Was hoping for the bigger winter fish but beggars can’t be choosers so we settled for the school size fish . We got a feed very easily and left early , washed the boat and dressed the fish out at the ramps facilities, only to get caught in a traffic jam from hell just north of the Caloundra turn off. Better than watching the grass grow I suppose and a least  got to test my new home made gaff out. I tried to post a video but it got rejected , must have been too big , so I’ve just put up a couple of photos.

 

[Bretto77]

Awesome. Gaff looks very, very posh. It clearly functions as well. Nice fish.

[lachrdr]

Hi Neil, some good looking fish there.

Do the Spanish hang around as it gets colder? 

Cheers,

Lachlan

[Rebel]

Great report.

Nice fish.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Great session Neil. 

[Kat]

Nice feed Neil.  Your freezer must be full by now - we have spare freezer space if needed

[Junky]

Now that's a sexy looking gaff.

Custom grips I take it? 

 

Nice fish. 

I know you have before, but can you possibly post up a pic of your Bonnies rigged up? 

 

I know what you hook rigs look like, just want to see how you're rigging Bonnie's. Mine seem to turn to mush and fall apart on the hooks. I'm just towing in gear at idle, but they just don't hold together and swim like mullet do. I'm doing something wrong. 

I'll be back out there by the end of year so I want to get organised again. 

 

Cheers

Damo. 

[Neil Stratford]

Hi

Lachrdr,

The Spanish mackerel are now moving north , I find them  more difficult to find come the end of May in waters around Brisbane , but if you find a few , chances are they’ll be trophy size fish.

Kate ,

sorry  already given nearly all of it away already . 

Junky ,

next time I go out I’ll attempt a video on my iPhone of rigging a bait for you , it only takes about 40 Seconds , I use home made bait needles ( old alloy knitting needles)  .
Common mistake made is failure to tightly wire the baits mouths shut  . If the baits mouth is left open-  even a little ,they fill with water, spin and become soft and soggy and fall apart very quickly when trolling  .With the mouth wired shut , it’s very easy to make a small tuna swim  like a live one and can be trolled very easily all day and even refrozen and trolled next time . Sounds like this maybe your problem.?? 
 

regards

Neil

 

[Angry51]

30 minutes ago, Neil Stratford said:

 

 

 mouths shut  . 

 

Does that mean you only use male baits. hahaha

[Neil Stratford]

These are my arts and crafts bait needles.

Approx 20c per needle from the charity shops , I get ones sized about 2.5 to 3.5mm ,  make sure you get the alloy ones  ( alloy ones are colder to touch than the plastic ones ) simply flatten the pointy end with a hammer on some concrete , file and shape to a nice sharp  thin point and drill a 1.5mm hole towards the point.They’re very cheap and easy to make and don’t rust . I probably just created a rush on the charity shops knitting needles , the price will now most certainly inflate !

I use pieces of  thin flexible copper wire pre cut to lengths about 20mm long to tie the mouths shut. If you have this all ready to go baits can be rigged and reset very quickly.
Neil

 

[Neil Stratford]

Orrr …… never thought of that ,dangerous ground you thread there! 
signed 

anonymously

[Angry51]

It was just a thought that wizzed thru the space between my ears and before

I knew it I was posting said comment.

It was out of character, your honour.

[Junky]

Thank you Neil. 

 

I'll concentrate on tying that mouth shut good and propper. 

I've got bait needles, but will definitely keep and eye out for those arts needles. 

 

Cheers. 

Damo. 

 

[Sylvathorn]

17 hours ago, Neil Stratford said:

Hi

Lachrdr,

The Spanish mackerel are now moving north , I find them  more difficult to find come the end of May in waters around Brisbane , but if you find a few , chances are they’ll be trophy size fish.

Kate ,

sorry  already given nearly all of it away already . 

Junky ,

next time I go out I’ll attempt a video on my iPhone of rigging a bait for you , it only takes about 40 Seconds , I use home made bait needles ( old alloy knitting needles)  .
Common mistake made is failure to tightly wire the baits mouths shut  . If the baits mouth is left open-  even a little ,they fill with water, spin and become soft and soggy and fall apart very quickly when trolling  .With the mouth wired shut , it’s very easy to make a small tuna swim  like a live one and can be trolled very easily all day and even refrozen and trolled next time . Sounds like this maybe your problem.?? 
 

regards

Neil

 

I'll look out for that video too Neil 

[rayke1938]

Knitting needles are what old blokes call them.