Ballina Black Tips

[deepfried]

Hi all,
First post for me in this section but good to have something to talk about. About 6pm yesterday Pommy and i went out off North Wall Ballina for a crack at some Jews using half mullet heads with the chance of some sharks and Tailor. Well the Jewie bit went out the window when a bloke beside us was bitten off about 3 or more times. The wire leader came out and we started to hook into some small black tips using Tailor fillets. All up we landed 3 little ones about 3 foot and scored a 4 and a half footer after a 20 minute plus fight. We lost a few more with bite offs and pulled hooks and a few other guys were bitten off as well. The Sharks were so thick that we could only fish 1 person at a time with 1 on the gaff, the baits only lasted about a minute before they were hit. Great fun. Pommy was using an Alvey with a 13'6" jew rod loaded with i think 20lb mono and i was using a Penn SSM 750 with 20lb Braid and long 40lb mono leader on a 13'6" Wilson Live Fibre Trophy.
The Chopper Tailor were thicker than i have ever seen of the end of the wall as well and i bagged a couple of these as well for bait or threw them back. A great night and thanks pommy for organising the arvo. By the way we were both shark virgins before this, good to loose that tag. I will try to get an image up soon.

Cheers all
Scott

[deepfried]

probably a common catch for the Qlders but we dont get too many down here, mostly bulls. It was great fun anyway and i hope they taste allright. Sorry only one image of the bigger one as the rest were shared around.

[CreelReaper]

Hard luck on the planned attack on jewie mate. Them black tips give a good account though and are a lot of fun if you can stay connected.

[stonecold]

Hard to keep a jew intact when the sharks are that thick Scott good fun though

[deepfried]

Hi Stonecold,
A few guys turned up just before the high tide to have a crack at some Jews but as soon as they heard that the sharks were around they went home without wetting a line. Rob and i had a ball though. Next time you are talking to Rob ask him about his knot tying skills.

Scott

[mattooty]

Good stuff man. Good to see you're trying with the mullet heads. The other bonus with them is that you'll get a lot less rays with the bigger harder baits!

[pommy]

G'day all!

I was using a 13'6'' 7wrap, 6'' Alvey and 500m of 40lb Schneider mono. Thought that this would be OK for fishing the mullet heads on the top of the tide (at last light).

Started to get hit by sharks and put on a wire trace under the 10 ball, running between 2 swivels. Use this to prevent line twist.

Broke one line just above or at the lower knot on the 20cm length between the swivels after about 10 seconds on the first shark.

Re-rigged but made the mistake of not changing the line between the swivels.

The second time I bust off at or just below the top swivel. Again, just as old Noah got into his first run.

Costly mistake. Scheider is fairly thick, tough stuff and (Scott) I normally tie sound knots with a 0.5cm tag.

Could have been my knots or damage to the short length of line as it was recovered up the wall.

Cost me two fish! Will double check them next time.

Regards, Rob.

PS A mate was fishing livies in the river at about the same time. Had a BIG jew on for 20min with the head shaking and initial long run. His line broke at the knot and away it went.

[richos]

good stuff guys sounds like a fun session

Mulletheads are a gun bait..we once floated 2 out off the rocks on heavy wire when the fishing was slow hoping for a shark run... both baits were nailed by big spanish mackerel, and both fish were eaten by sharks shortly after hookup! spewin' hard!

[deepfried]

Thanks mattooty and richos. Richos you kinda got the sharks you were chasing but a spanish would have been better.
Sorry Rob just a dig about the knots. I may have tied one of those knots so i should be quiet hey.
Cooked some tonight in a beer batter and it was pretty good.

Scott

[stonecold]

Scott I had a mate visit me in Alstonville at about 3 on Friday arv. He had a look and walked away without wetting a line.

[pommy]

No worries Scott!

Only grumpy with myself for not double checking knots and line quality. Will know next time, even when the action takes off.

Still, I got to practice my gaffing.

Any comments or tips on gaffing in general from you more experienced guys.

will put a post on the tackle section.

Regards, Rob.

[stonecold]

Rob if youre worried about your gaffing skills on sharks dont be to concerned. They are a pain in the proverbial at the best of times. The hard skin and tendancy to be "limp" along with the fact that they dont "float" like a jew makes them a difficult target. A jew or mackeral once beaten generally floats on the surface and is basically a straight forward target, their also body lies straight on top of the water. Most times they are not hard to secure, provided the gaff is sharp. A shark on the other hand wriggles and rolls and seems to be able to perform backflips on command to avoid the gaff.
Best advice is to make sure the gaff is sharp and have several ledges picked out before dark where you can get a good safe shot at a fish/shark.

North wall at Ballina is a mongrel to gaff from FULL STOP, but if your still concerned tie an orange to the clothes line and swing it round, practice gaffing that on the swing. Once you've mastered that you should have no trouble with a fish n the suds

Cheers Mark

[84mick]

Looks like a good night, how do you guys rig the mullet head on? Like a gag bait?

Cheers, Mick.

[mattooty]

Mick have a look in saltwater chat. Pommy recently started a thread on it, it should only be 1 or 2 pages back.

[deepfried]

Mick better to check the thread that pommy started. Mattooty and 35kg Jew answer this question better than i could. Great info.

Cheers