Some big ones out there.....

[Damned67]

Although, sadly not landed by me.

I'm a sucker for good advertising, so after seeing this thread:http://ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?176572-Some-more-Hervey-Bay-Snapper-....
I ran out and picked up a packet of the Squidgy 140mm Wrigglers in Glo.

Headed out to Harry's yesterday morning, on a solo run. Forgot to set my alarm so didn't get there until after the tide change and sun was up.
Luckily, despite there already being a number of boats out there, my new 'fave' spot was free and well clear of any other boats, allowing me to drift to my hearts content. I actually found the fish showing well off the structure that I was aiming for (by about 75m), which was even better in case anyone else came along to check the spot out (one of the piles of pipes).
Next job was to find out how the fish wanted to feed, so out went three lines. One floating a whole 'bay squid' (which was fairly big), one paternoster rig with half a pillie and a peice of squid, and one with a 140mm Squidgy Wriggler in Glo. I can tell you this now, those baits lasted the entire session. The same can't be said for the Wriggler.
As much as I love fishing with plastics, I always find myself struggling with them when the water is over about 10m and the current is flowing fast, which was how I found it yesterday.
Regardless, on about the third or fourth drift, as I was jigging the plastic back to the boat, I felt a 'tap'. I let the plastic sit for a few seconds, gave the rod a jig, and as the plastic was (presumably) dropping back down... WHAM!!! Rod just about came out of my hands, as it was initially only a very light tap. The drag was screaming off, so much so, I thought that I must have left it too loose. So, over the next 30 sec (?), I gave the drag a couple of nudges. Just as the fish stopped pulling as much line, and I felt the hefty weight of it, there was that heart breaking 'twang'. It was gone.
I'd just learnt to tye the 'slim beauty'. Previously I'd always used the uni-to-uni for leader to main line joins, which, if the line ever broke under strain (ie snag), broke at the knot.
This time, the 10lb FC leader gave way above the jig head (maybe the jig head knot) and came back stretched to the point of breakage. It wasn't bitten through, just gave way under pressure. Probably the first time I've seen this on 10lb FC. Oh, and I checked the drag. It was almost locked.
Replacement jig head and Wriggler went back on, and I made sure I was comfortable with the drag before casting out. Another 3 or 4 drifts later, we wnet through the now familiar 'tap... wait... jig... wait... WHAM!' scenario. This one was even bigger at a guess. Settled into a rhythm of let it run, then pump and wind, run, then pump and wind... After a few minutes, I was lost in thoughts of PB Snapper (current is 78cm) as despite the fact that it was still comfortably taking more line than I was gaining, I thought that if I was till on by this stage, I was going to win. Wow, was I ever wrong. During one of the pump and wind sessions, it took a huge lunge, and TWANG!. All over, red rover. Same deal, tip of the leader was stretched to about 1/3 of its original diameter. I guess my drag was still too tight?
I'm not completely convinced that these were Snapper either, as there wasn't the overly noticeable head shakes, just power and weight and an amazingly fast first run. Maybe Jew?
Anyway, time for a leader upgrade to 20lb FC. A few drifts later, my wriggler got taken on the drop. Being the third hook up of the day, this one felt like nothing. Still, it went 40+ cm (didn't measure it on the mat, but it was a few cm past my 40cm ruler).

And that was it for the day. I always had at least one bait line out, and often had other SPs out (4" minnows up to 7" Jerkshads on other rods), but the only touches were on the wrigglers.
Yeah, not much of I report, I know, but I love hooking unstoppables. They're what keeps me fishing!

Cheers!

[robersl]

May off been jew i have caught a few of them on bait not plastics that just give a little tap and you leave it for a few seconds then strike and they go like crap and a few in the bay at the moment seen a pic of one over a metre caught near mud is a week ago

shane

[nathank]

i would rather have two big bust ups than catch a whole heap of just legals mate.... it obviously means your doing the right thing to attract a pb fish.. nice report :)

[Apollo]

Good stuff Jas. Perfect reason to get back out there and continue the battle. Best of luck.

Steve

[Scott Mitchell]

I'm a sucker for good advertising, so after seeing this thread:http://ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?176572-Some-more-Hervey-Bay-Snapper-....
I ran out and picked up a packet of the Squidgy 140mm Wrigglers in Glo.


but the only touches were on the wrigglers.

Cheers!

I told ya ;D

Try the Glo heads as well - I know they are a little exy -but they won't let you down & add a little extra light to your wriggler ;)

Go The Squidgy - Scotto

[the sheriff]

good to see harry's throwing up a bit of action.
Nice to drift when not crowded.
My achors sitting still on the Tiwi pearl from my last trip.

Damned What size jig head and guage of hook mate ?

Cheers

Peter

[Damned67]

Peter,
I find I typically have to change the jig head a couple of times a session depending on current flow, but like to stay between 1/4 and 3/8oz. 1/8oz is great right on the turn of the tide.
While I know a quite a few like to use 3/0 hooks, I tend to prefer 4/0 on plastics the size of the 140mm Wriggler.
So, 5/16oz with 4/0 hook is my preferred rig in that water.

I've had some really good hits out at Harry's in the last couple of months. Scored a legal Jew out there, and in previous trips have been hammered (on very large baits) by big, heavy, razor-toothed sea creatures.

If I landed every fish I hooked, I'd soon get bored.
It's those big unstoppables that keep me going. The challenge of trying to catch them, all while dreaming of what they might be.

Cheers!

[the sheriff]

Thanks for that.

There have been some big tuskies taken around Harries area over time.
Mostly at night

[warrior]

be a jewie i reckon mate landed one 1250mm on sunday

[Damned67]

be a jewie i reckon mate landed one 1250mm on sunday

I'd love to know what it or they is or was. There were no discernable headshakes or anything, just some serious power and weight. Granted, it was only a 4-8kg rod.. but both fish turned that into a noodle stick.

I guess the best thing about this for me, outside of landing a PB or a new species, is the learning aspect. My best fish to date are a 8kg Samson, 76cm jew and 78cm Snapper. I've caught a good number of snapper in the mid-50s to low-60cm range, and these certainly weren't one of them. So when I hook onto something decent like in this post, it's about me learning when to let them run and when to really stick it to them (coupled with a knowledge of what my leader/line can cope with). Both hook-ups were 75-100m from the nearest bit decent structure (a pile of pipes), so I no doubt could have backed off the drag a bit and let them run themselves out (hindsight is always 20/20), but I guess the adrenaline kicks in.
Either way, it's a fun learning game!

[grinnerking]

Like Warrior I landed a good bay Jew on Sun as well. It looks like there are a few getting caught lately and I wouldn't rule them out around the new structure at Harries.

This one took a freshly caught bait with initial long powerful runs before a dogfight closer to the boat.

I also like to fish plastics and always set my drag about the same for mono (about 1/3) and adjust throughout the fight accordingly. This has accounted for some good fish for me with not too many bust offs. A mate of mine continually gets done with a locked up drag as his thoughts are the fish head for structure and have to be turned, but I'm sure the extra tension is the issue or maybe I'm just lucky?

[Scalem]

Good report Damned67,

I still think they are snapper. My last report for Matt Chew I didn't mention my bust off which sounds similar, only I preferred to leave the drag alone thinking the fish would stop and allow me to get some line back eventually. But I was wrong! Reduced to backing Matt started the engine to give chase, by which time the fish found bottom and rubbed the leader to shreds. Keep at it, one of us will reach the holy grail of a 1mtr fish from the bay, I'm sure of it!
Scalem

[Damned67]

Certainly could be large snapper, sadly, I'll never know. My only real reason for calling a jew was the fact that I pulled my only legal jew off those pipes, and these fish didn't hve the typical head shake. That said, i've read plenty on here about jew having head shakes or tail beats, and my PB snapper didn't have a whole lot of head shaking going on (although, that was caught on mono).
Either way, I need to pay closer attention to my leader size and drag setting (although I thought I did on the second hook up), and maybe my leader to jig head knot.
Regardless, as Steve/Apollo said, it's just more of a reason to get back out there!

And while Harry's is a car park at the best of times, for those of us who sound around for the fish away from the crowd, there's still plenty of opportunities for good fish.
The day in question I had the one pile of pipes all to myself and 100s of meters to the nearest boat (and there would have been 20-30 boats out there). Even if someone else used their GPS and sounder, and jumped on the pipes in question, the fish I found were holding way off the mark. So people fishing Harry's, use your sounder and get away from the crowds (that is, if you can... sometimes there's no escaping the crowd).

[ddobson]

Good post Dambed and on the plastics to. I use light leader all the time lately and my drag is so light to start with for the strike and only just tightened through the fight and i have had good results but some are just to big to stop but worth it as the adrenlin is huge and i have had to sit down after a big fight some times thats the rush after we have had that big hit. I have never tried the wrigglers only all burkley so might have to give it a burl eh. Well done and good fun. DD.....