Banks Saturday 20th

[sacman]

Went out to the Banks for the first time on Saturday. Caught a good variety of fish. Had a dolphin hang around the boat for 1/2 an hour. It was waiting for undersize throwbacks. After it ate 3 we had to move to a new spot - very friendly it was too lying on its side looking at us and begging. We drifted first until the wind came up and then anchored over some weed. Caught an AJ, kingfish and a trevally on jig, rest on pilchards were 3 snapper, 1 AJ, 5 parrot and some grassy sweetlip. There was zero current where we were anchored and we only needed small ball sinkers to reach bottom, but only have 100m of rope so we were limited to @ 45m depth. Got wet coming back, but it was good going out there after reading so many reports about the place. Cant wait to go back, it sure looks good out there.

[sacman]

Another Photo

[Anne-T-Dote]

Awesome catch there guys - Those tuskies are HUGE !! Did you measure or weigh any of them?

What part of the banks were you at?

Wasn't it really blowing hard on Saturday? you've done well considering the weather and the fact it was your first time out there. Good on you.

[flickflack]

Good catch there guys.

[-spiro-]

nice fish there. What time did you go and come back 8-)

[sacman]

Robbie - The biggest tuskie was @ 4kg gutted. We were in the middle area of the banks on the east side where it starts to drop off. It blew a bit, not too bad. Took us 80 to 90 minutes each way. Fuel consumption was a pleasant surprise, I have a 90 Optimax and only used @ 50 litres.
Spiro - we left Mooloolaba at 5h30 and came back at 4h30. There were 2 other boats nearby in the morning and 2 trawlers anchored east of us all day.
Robbie I see you have a nice size GT photo. I will try to post a photo of one which I caught on a popper off a rock point in Mozambique a couple of years ago. Weighed 52kg. They are the ultimate challenge.

[sacman]

GT

[Fishin_Dan]

Nice catch there Sacman!!! And that GT is MASSIVE!!!

From the look of your first pic though, your not sneaking in illegal cartons of ciggies are you!!! ;D he he he...

[reeldreamer]

Mate you could saddle that GT and ride it! Good catch at the banks it can only get better too!

mitch

[Anne-T-Dote]

WOW Sacman - That is an Awesome GT - Did I understand you correctly - you caught that while LAND-BASED on a rock point? GEEEZ you did well to land that beast from the shore.

The one in my Avatar I nabbed on a soft plastic up at the Percy Ilses in January this year - we guessed it at about 35kg.

This one i got out of Townsville back in 1998 - we guessed it at around 55-60kg - but that's just a guess - probably an over-estimation as usual - but the point is that it pulled like a freight train and no way would I have been able to land it from the shore - bloody WELL DONE.

PS - 4kg tuskies (gutted) - that's the biggest I've ever heard of - well done again - awesome stuff.

[fella]

great catch guy's..
i,m still yet to head out there , been a bit wary :-/, so far and not knowing the area , did you just go off your sounder ?

[SeaSaw]

Top catch there. Those parrot are top quality.

Great GT also, yours too Macca.

Cheers,

Mark

[sacman]

Nice GT there Rob, yes they pull like the blazes. It is difficult to explain what they are like to someone who has not hooked one. It sure helps having a photo as after battling with them you are too stuffed to remember the detail of the fish. Yes it was caught from the shore, we had a spot next to a deep channel with a flat rock ledge in front of a point and they would take the popper as it was about to meet the ledge. On a good day we might hook 10 and land three. You have to balance tackle light enough to cast popper all day and heavy enough to hold one. 18kg line, drag set to 14kg, test knots and line before each session on a scale attached to the bullbar and pray regularly. Best was to make him cavitate as he took the popper, and dont get pulled off the ledge into the water. We had the spot to ourselves for a couple of years and released all we caught. But then the word got out and you struggle to find one there now. This was the biggest landed but there were bigger one's lost, maybe up to 60kg. Do you know of any being caught from the shore around here ?

[philip_thomson]

well done sacman they are some good fish that you caught. those tuskies are real solid.
keep up the good work.

cheers phil

[sacman]

fella - we got a general mark from the local fishing shop which gave us the high spot and then worked east on the sounder. It was not so good coming back alone as there were not any other boats around in the afternoon. Next time I think it will be better to link up with another boat, and take more rope.

[fella]

yeah sacman . sounds good . i,ve a 5.3 stessle truck centre console. only powered by a 50 2 stroke but will plod along at about 20 knts on a good day. i,m keen for a tag along if weather and work don,t stuff it up.

cheers :)