Poddymullet

Just upgraded the net mesh to HD silicone rubber 😀

It was a good save. I expect this one will be easier to catch. Could even do it with the landing net in an emergency landing.
 

Max Height legally is 120m and range is 2km however legally has to be in sight of the operator at all times. Being a small drone you would not see it 2km away.
Even though I'm growing in confidence using it, I still get scared as it flies into the distance hoping it does not loose connection. 

Jesus!!! They are monsters! How goes the fish taco my friend 🙂

Jesus!!! They are monsters! How goes the fish taco my friend 🙂

Headed out from Mooloolaba last week in some nicer weather. Well it might have been a bit too nice as the fish weren’t playing the game! Fished hard all day for a couple of tuskies, Maori cod, Moses, a nice snapper and the biggest hussar I’ve ever seen!
Between 6 of us on two boats we kept about 20 reefies for the day. 
Conditions were so nice my spearo mate was foaming at the mouth to jump in, even after we saw a decent shark on one of the spots! 
Brilliant day on the water nonetheless. 
Mmmm fish tacos!

1170 is **** fishing Robbie, better off going to 1770.
 

@demarc you using a bullet smoker too? That’s what I use....bloody bullet proof and way cheaper than other options out there. Use the brine myself for chickens overnight...hadn’t though of the soy though!

@demarc you using a bullet smoker too? That’s what I use....bloody bullet proof and way cheaper than other options out there. Use the brine myself for chickens overnight...hadn’t though of the soy though!

Smoking is all about the brine. Get that right, with a good plume of smoke, and its hard to fail. 
*Oily fish are best. Fat carries flavour and thats true in all cooking. That's why oily fish are most famous for smoking. (salmon, mackerel, eel, trout)
*Fresh water fish (eel, trout) need more salt (or brined longer) than Saltwater fish. 
*Flossy salt is best. Sea salt next. (arguably) A liquid brine will give more consistent flavour than dry rub.
* A standard brine may be; Try a cup (tea cup) of salt per 2ltr water. Add brown sugar (1/2 cup) if you like. Make sure its all dissolved. Other ingredients can be added to your taste. 8 hours for a standard trout, eel. 6h for saltwater fish.
*Take fish from the brine, pat off excess moisture and let the fish dry to the touch. (2 hours?) This will allow a 'pellicle' to form (sticky scum thingy) which will hold a lot of smoke flavour and give the fish a great colour.
*Australian hardwoods are excellent sources of woodsmoke. Yes, gum trees. You could also raid orchards and break off dead woods from fruit and nut trees. Personally I get sawdust from a hardwood sawmill, or chip up dead branches of gumtrees and soak them in water before smoking. Not rocket science, just get it smoking and not on fire.
*Forget cold smoking. We want enough heat to cook the fish. Remember you want to smoke for about 4 hours, so you want a low cooking heat. I'll leave that up to you to judge. 
Lastly, If you aren't happy with the salt flavour, don't play with the brine. Play with the brine time!  If too strong, brine for less time, if too weak, brine longer. Keep your brine recipe and learn how long you need to brine. If you keep changing the brine recipe you'll take a lot longer to get it right.
Don't release that next freshwater eel..  Its an expensive delicacy all over the world, and for good reason. We in Oz are blessed with an abundance of them. Give it a go.
Oh yes... SMOKING IS ALL ABOUT THE BRINE!
 
 
 
 
 

Quick update. Bought one of the really cheap ($15) smoker boxes from Bunnings along with some wood pis (seafood mix - mesquite and alder). Despite all my research and the responses on here, I still didn't really have a clue. Anyway I worked out that the box gets half filled with chips that have soaked for at least 30 mins and then placed between the burners and the grill on the old 4 burner BBQ. Let the bbq heist up until there is plenty of smoke.

I prepared the trevally fillets by soaking them in brine for an hour. Plenty of brine recipes on the www. Then dried them on paper towel in the fridge for an hour before salting them and covering in a thin layer of maple syrup. Put them on a rack with some baking paper under them and placed them on the plate side of the bbq, but without the burners on the plate being on. Cooked like that on a low heat (only the one burner under the smoker box was on) for about 30 mins. Smoke was running out (more chips next time) so I turned the other burners on for 10 minutes to get the fish up to cooked temperature (63 degrees centigrade according to my cooking thermometer). Back into the fridge and then eaten today with some anchovy mayo. Tasted great - a big like breakfast kippers. Now I know it what to do, I will be trying different things and will post some photos next time.

Apart from being hard to light, they are even harder to roll, especially when the tally ho gets wet.

I just use a hot smoker, then smoke my fish for 4 hours. I bought it from a BBQ shop and it is quite tall. You put the hot beads at the bottom, then there is a dish for water to control the temp. I smoke at about 60F and use chunks of wood for my smoking material.

Before I smoke the fish I put it in a salt water and soy sauce brine for an hour then dry this for another hour.

When I do my batch tomorrow night I can post up my guide with pics if you like?

The flavour is soooooo nice!

Ditto all the other comments Angus. Hope you Dad is better soon. You’ve only got one  
My old man got me hooked on fishing but before i bought my boat he had a stroke. I would have loved to spend time fishing with him and my kids. 
What a place though!

Thank you for the kind words ad so sorry about your dad.
 
Angus

Look like you got on to some great fish in the short time you were there. Always another year to get back there, but you only have one Dad. Glad he’ll make a full recovery. 
Still feel disappointed for you though. 

He is rovering. Some sort of stomach ailment. Treatment over there was intesne intibiotics so by the time we got him back to Australia to a hospital we could not pin point the cause. Also since he was so sick and immune system low and not able to take tablets he also got malaria 🤨 Anyway that is also being treated and he is well on his way to recovery. Already asked me when we are going back for revenge 😛
 
Angus

What a trip!
Not exactly the one I wanted but there are stories none the less. To explain briefly without going into to much personal detail 1.5 days into the triup and my dad got extrmely sick forcing me to leave and take him back to Kimbe for care. Gutted. I was happy to write it off as I have enjoyed the experience before. I was devastated for him as he was having such a good time. He managed one small black bass for his efforts. Thus I am left with not a lot to report except images. I am sure @John would be happy to fill in many details.
Points of interest were the bass were challenging to target due to an early arrival of white bait but some creative use of soft plastics enticed many to bite.
As far as hard bodies go trends moved back to my first trip experience with FCL Labo lures killing.
I do not have heaps of time to write paragraphs so will add some pictures now and more text later or reply to questions as they come.
Visit to the village:

Black  Bass (Have so many more but how many can you see?):


 
Other Lutjanus species for the trip:

Trevally:



 
Questions? I have so many more pictures of bass, cod, randoms, jacks... just trying to choose highlights.