Peel Island 05-05-08

[Hamish73]

The plan was to get up early and head out to the cape, but when the alarm sounded at 4am the call was made to go back to sleep for a few hours Got up about 7, and decided to spend a few hours over at Peel. Having bever landed a table fish in the 'new' boat, I wasnt expecting too much. Went to our spot and before too long the TLD 15 copy was screaming zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and a few minutes later a gummy shark came aboard. He was just over 1m long, and had swallowed the hook completely, so off to the esky he went. Bait was squid.

Whist the mrs was doing the deed on the shark, her line started moving, so I plulled it in and there was a baby little reef(?) shark on it, so it went back.

I thought I'd try a pilchard unweighted on the spinning reel. Just left the bail open for 5 min and the slowly retrieve. bang! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. A few minutes later a 56cm Spotty Mackeral was in the boat! 1st mackeral, 1st pelagic... things were looking good. Any tips on a good way to cool Mackeral? Its already been fillited and skinned.

Not long after that more action on my rod, again the drifting pillie doing the work. Another gummy shark, this one a bit bigger at 108cm.

We also got a visit from the fisheries guys, who were friendly enough. Let me off with a warning for not having a rego label, which was nice of them. All in aall a nice morning on the water. Was funny sitting back at the ramp watching the idiots attempting to launch and retrieve.... ohh how I love public holidays

Baby reef (?) shark

[Fish_gutz]

nice goin hamish, I think you`ll find the shark is actually called a tawny shark. no teeth but with a mouth like a ray. pretty sure thats what it is. not sure on eating quality. Cheers muz

[Fish_gutz]

the mack is a schoolie also not a spotty.

[For Steve]

Nice work Hamish73. You've picked up a nice feed there.

The mac is a school mackerel (known as schoolie or doggie). They are still nice eating and thats a good fish. The school mackerel have fewer larger spots and a white patch on there dorsal fin. Spotties have heaps of distinctive black spots. Just as well it's a schoolie though - spotties have a 60cm min length. The fisheries guys wouldn't have liked that.

I like to bbq the fillets with a squeeze of lemon over the top as it cooks. Mmmm - now I'm hungry.

All the best,
Brad

[Hamish73]

thanks for that guys
Mackeral tasted great, shark wasnt so flash
I had shark once before (not sure what type it was) and it tasted ok

[Hamish73]

thanks for that for steve, learn something new everyday
Is it common to get mackeral in the bay? I was especially suprised since the bait was a long way from the surface when the fish hit

[shorty 01]

nice spoty n shark mate it sounded like a reely good day. well done

[For Steve]

thanks for that for steve, learn something new everyday
Is it common to get mackeral in the bay? I was especially suprised since the bait was a long way from the surface when the fish hit

No worries, it's a honest mistake that would happen all the time.

I find that spotties, schoolies and rarely spaniards come into the bay mainly from October through to February. This fella must have got left behind. Sometimes they hold down deeper and other times on the surface so if you're trolling lures and floating baits, try varying depths. Also, the unweighted pillie you had out may have been sitting up higher than you think, especially if you were anchored and there's some current around.

I'm looking forward to chasing some around the bay after snapper season and the water has warmed up and winds start blowing again.

Cheers
Brad

[alleycat]

I fished north of peel for a nice feed of whiting , got to wellington point ramp at 7 and not 1 carpark left, the artificial reef looked like bunnings on a sunday arvo.

[Poodroo]

thanks for that guys
Mackeral tasted great, shark wasnt so flash
I had shark once before (not sure what type it was) and it tasted ok

There is only one shark IMO that is fantastic on the table and that is the Black Tipped Reef shark. They are easily identified by the black tips on the dorsal, both top and bottom of the tail, and also the ventral or anal fin (from memory). To date it is still one of the best tasting fish I have had on the table. Well done on your schoolie. Nice going.

Regards,

Poodroo

[bar raider]

is this hamish from DBW fame ?

[dnej]

This may help.As mentioned,School mackeral have the white on the fin,where as spotted dont
David

[GES]

Hamish

When you catch a shark and intend to eat it... IMMEDIATELY you get it on board and subdued, you have to gut it, cut off its head, tail and fins to let it bleed as much as possible. Then, wash it thoroughly in sea water and put it straight on the ice. Otherwise it will taste very strongly and unpleasantly of ammonia.

GES

[Hamish73]

thanks guys... we gutted and cleaned it immediately, but as you can see left the head and tail on.

bar raider - yes this is I As you can see I know more about dirtbikes than fishing

[Breambuster33]

i was out at peel at 5. i was on the tuna landed 3 70cm plus.
i wuldnt of minded a gummy or two
cheers