Coffs Harbour May Mackerel

[skelly22]

Hey All,

I've been doing a bit of trolling dead baits last couple of weekends with some success. Got a nice 13.5 kg spanish on Saturday the 11/5 in some terrible conditions. My decky Matt hooked up 200m into the first troll run and after 15min, unluckily lost the fish boat side when it spat the hooks just before we could gaff it. About 5min later I hooked up and landed mine. Over the next 45 min we had 2 more "hit and runs" without a proper hook ups before the bite quietened off. We were using trolling chin guards made by Matt- Hutcho's Custom Jigheads.

Saturday just gone, I got this 18kg pig on one of the same chin guards! Picked him up in the first troll run again before the sun popped up. Had one more bait ripped in half a few min later but no hook up. Bite went as soon as the sun popped up in a really clear sky.

I have some video but it takes me ages to edit. might add it later!

Any advice on a mack box? its a bit late for more mackerel, and my freezer is full now! But I was going to buy an esky for winter kingfish-ing anyway so may as well get one to suit all. I have seen a few 1.3m long on ebay, but they are all 200L. I would prefer a 100-150L box which is stretched out the right length but with out the full bulk of a 200L. Any ideas appreciated.

Shane

[lbger]

Awesome fish mate...what are you trolling? bonito? funny about the bit before the sun up period.. i can only seem to get a bite at 9 till 10am!

[Giffo65]

Some nice fish there,congrats.I have a 115litre Mackeral box by Iceytek,dont know the lenght of it though but long not square.

[Moonlighter]

Nice spano's there Shane, well done!

Have a look at these - fish bags made out of neoprene wetsuit material. As well as the one shown at the link below, they also do a long version. I have one of these (see picture below) and the beauty is that they roll up into a small package about the size of a football, and store easily in your boat.

http://www.downriggershop.com.au/chiller-bag.html

When you catch a fish, bleed it, give it a wash down and open the bag, slide the fish in, pour some ice around it, zip up, and put the vercro tie around the end or the wrist of the tail to seal it up.

I recently had the fortune to nail the 22kg spano poctured below beside my fish bag on a soft plastic and it just squeezed into my long cooler bag. We packed ice around it and zipped it up and pushed it up the front of the boat out of the way. Nice and icy cold when we got back to the ramp.

The are about $60 delivered. Great value, and recommended by this satisfied customer.

[lightsout76]

good fish there mate and also interested to know what baits you're trolling?

Cheers,
Leon.

[Smithy]

There are some 100l long poly iceboxes getting about. Bit of Googling should turn one up. Hope they come back past here. Very slow for us so far this year.

[ozynorts]

Hey mate, have you seen the techni ice ones?
http://www.techniice.com/ice-boxes/t...g-ice-box.html

[bazinga]

Hey moonlighter,
how long is the infloor kill tank in your cruisey...just out of interest. Trouble there is, i suppose takes a lot of ice to fill whole box, i like the ice sock idea.

[lethal]

Awesome fish, I got one of these on special for $199 a little while ago. Never filled it but gone close, only ever fish 2 people.
http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/p...d=277096#Cross

[bazinga]

Skelly,
Very nice spanyard mate. We pulled in a 17 kg spanish a couple of weeks back. Good fight and good chewin.
Trying to get down coffs way for a bash. Is access out to offshore, boat ramps etc pretty user friendly, i usually fish goldy or tweed.

[skelly22]

hey Guys, thanks for your suggestions.

lbger- Thats funny about the bite times alright. I have found on the cloudy days I can fish for a few hours, but on the brighter ones they go off the bite real quick.

Bait wise I have been trolling a mix of small mack tuna and tailor. The tailor have been getting really smashed!They both swim really nice. I also tried a split tail mullet on Saturday but no good. It swims great so i will be trying it again!


Giffo- Nice box but i think a little short for macks. The bigger one i got was 1.4m to tip of tail and I figure if I have to do it I may as well get a box at least 1.3m long to fit the majority in.

Moonlighter- I actually used my friends bag on the bigger fish and they are great indeed! they would def be the best for value and neatest for storage. I just prefer the idea of a waterproof box that wont leak and i can leave fish in a bit longer if needed. Good know you rate them...for $60 it would be well worth picking one up for now anyway. Would fit a kingy well too! I suppose the disadvantage is that I might need a couple of them during mack season which might be better spent on a big box!! 22kg on soft plastic? now that would be a fun fight!! lucky you didnt get spooled on that gear!!

Lethal- thanks for the link- I will keep an eye out for the specials, $200 is a great deal!

Bazinga- and for anyone who wants to fish Coffs, the boat ramp is generally OK but gets a bad surge in rough seas. Teh water can go from the back wheels of the tow vehicle to beyond the end of the trailer really quick and leave your boat sitting on the ramp when its very bad!! there is talks of fixing it but yet to be seen. you have to take extra care on launch and retrieve and you should be fine. All that said, its a great harbour to fish out of because there is no bar to cross and in nearly all seas you will be able to get in and out.


Smithy,Ozynorths- I have had a search on google and I like length and price of the technice ones (about $250 on ebay if patient) but at 200L they are a BIG box and heavy! Also the length of iceytek is good but costly I think for what I am after. I think I may bite the bullet and got he 1.3m long 200L techni ice or similar if i can get something around the 200-250 mark!

Shane

[skelly22]

bazinga- how is Goldy and Tweed for mackerel at the moment? might have to take a run up that way when they finish up down here!

[thelump]

http://www.practicalplastics.com.au/...x-sh-long-esky

Skelly there are quite a few of these around under different names. I have one and they are a good length but the lid tends to warp a little.

[skelly22]

thanks Jason- I will give them a call and see if I can get one down here. Does the lid warp to the point there is an air gap in?


Shane

[Smithy]

Was just at the Boating, Camping and Fishing place and they do a 100 long called Frostbite.