tugger

Good to see you getting the boys into camping nothing better for young kids exploring new placez and there is a great social side for kids in the camp grounds with all the orher kids there. Good for us big kids to come happy hour hehehehe

Well Sunday was perfect weather it didn't get above 5 knots all day so we checked out a few different spots off stradie. I had a mate with his boat wanting to get a few fishing marks for his gps so he followed me for the day. We got over south passage bar at 1st light and stopped at our fishing hole and started a few drifts bagging a couple of snapper biggest going 65cm early and lost a couple of brutes before it shut down just on sunrise. We moved out deeper with the next spot only giving up a couple of Moses perch. The whales were thick typical now for this time of year we had them breaching all around us and even saw a large group of male humpbacks chasing a female at speed but they chased her in circles and never got to far away so we saw the whole whale sex thing bit brutal as they rammed each other often. Soon another move was on the cards so we had a look out wider again at the waverider bouy and found a few dolphin fish. They were only small so all returned to swim off with their bright colours still vivid. We moved again back inshore and anchored up hoping for a Spanish mackerel to hit a bait. We.managed a few more Moses perch but no luck on the Spanish. We did catch plenty of dart and queenfish here which kept us entertained with their power and jumps like mini game fish. There were also a few more snapper to be found along with a lot of big silver trevally that pull like trains. Before we headed home we decided to do some more drifts in a new area I haven't fished before with some great results. We caught good tuskies to 45cm and snapper to 55cm and lost a couple more monsters. My son hooked a big spangled emperor which gave him plenty of stick head shaking and peeling line like he had a light drag setting but I know how heavy he fishes it soon was netted and released at 70cm they are poor quality that size. We then caught a 40cm pearl perch and we were baffled as we were fishing in 25m of water. Finally the time came to head home in near perfect conditions topping off an awesome day.

Hot bite you won't forget in a hurry

Good luck and have fun Wayne

Yeah went alright I will put up a report

Some solid tuskies Brad and a horse nanny that lost its bearings

Good snapper would have been fun getting the old spots to fire

Good luck Robbie

Its not free but worth it I use it on my tablet that's 10inch gives great definition and a awesome sonar map option which I use to fing the structure and drop offs.

Let me know how the bait reef mark goes i hope the slimie mackerel are there for you

This sounds like an amazing trip I hope you get some great weather my tips would be to download the HD navionics app on to your phone or tablet it gives great definition of depths, drop offs, reefs etc I still use it to find new ground. If your chasing Spanish look for lots of tight lines next to the reefs on the navionics it will show where a ledge is that has deep water right up next to the shallow reefs. I like to troll these or anchor and float baits out off the drop off a good tactic in windy conditions where you can get on the Lee side of the reef and get baits out in to deep water but you are still in flat water. Trout and other reef fish will be every where just Mark all reef bommies you pass over and look in different depths of water because fish may feed better in different depths depends on the day. We fish for Reds predominately in 50 to 60m so don't be afraid to look around any little bump may hold good fish. I like to use mullet fillet for bait as it stays on the hook well but keep any legal size fish and fillet them especially Hussar. I use 6/0 and 8/0 true turn hooks in a double gang with a swivel in between.

It's school holidays would your boys be keen to come up

Yeah I am going up during the school holidays so my daughter can come up with the misses

After this week of big seas it will be worth a look next week there as the snapper like it there after some rough weather

I will keep in touch as we get closer Brad I reckon your keen to see some more red fish in your boat soon

It 3 months away now I have got plenty of places I want to see while we are up there. I haven't been to Bastard Head yet just a 30 minute run north along the coast. I have heard some good 4wding to be had to that brings you out to some isolated beaches as well. Getting keen for my 1770 fix again.

Plenty of fish life there Robbie but there would be plenty of crustaceans, worms etc as well as we saw last time we dived on that reef

The Fads are long overdue in Qld though they work so well down south I have fished the 1 off the Tweed and it always has fish over the warmer months.

Yeah I was thinking the same but was not saying it out aloud

That bird was a little to friendly and I love the video footage those whales must of been close to that Spanish.

I love those big head shakes from the silver slabs you know what you got on congrats on a beauty

We had a couple of runs on the lives down on the bottom to I forgot in the report. There was plenty of action there at the rock I haven't fished it for a while and has got me keen to get back out there.

It was 23 degrees I am still going to fish the rock for a little while till later in winter when those reefs fire up out on the 33s and 35s

Thanks Geoff

Got to be happy with the boat and fishing result I always love a plan coming together