Evans Head 2022

[NAGG]

Part 1 (Maybe)

Well sitting here in the pavilion during a rain delay I’ve got a bit of time to ponder on the trip to date ……. What a trip
As usual I arrived at Evans Head & was greeted by crap conditions – wind & big seas (discoloured flood water) …. So it gave me the time to get organised before having my first fish on Anzac day - couldn’t get out to sea but managed to toss lures around the river mouth at the bottom of the tide for nothing more than one hit. … Th highlight being a low level pass by a Super Hornet down the Evans river

BRINGING A KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT
Now – I do a lot of shallow water snapper fishing ( typically 20lb braid & 40 FC leader & 30lb FC breakaway leader – 6000 Thunnus baitrunner ) & I generally have no issues landing most fish … till this trip.

Went straight to where we finished up last year – forever known as “Carnage Corner” . First bait & a nice better than pan sized snapper was brought into the boat . Cast again & started to bait up my second outfit when the reel starts peeling off line at breakneck speed – slammed the Thunnus into gear & I’m on big time …. A powerful run through the kelp & it’s gone. Cast again …..less than a minute later & the same deal - two outfits with broken leaders . Third outfit is my heavier Venom with 8000 Thunnus … so at least I’ve got a line in the water - started retying leaders & the rod goes off again ….. locked up with some good head shakes & another dive through the kelp …. Gone. Over the next hour I pulled the hooks on a couple & managed a couple of squire for the plate before it went quiet . After re rigging 2 outfits I tried making a call to my mate Steve who was on his way to join me - no connection . I needed to make it back before 1pm to let him into our accommodation so now knowing where the fish were decided to start heading back & look at a couple of other marks - caught a stack of squire at one spot (released) then headed in. Steve arrived & I told of my tale of woes at Carnage Cnr - Steve fished with me last year there & managed his first jewie & decent snapper there ….. so he was pretty excited.
Next morning we headed back to Carnage & after a little sounding settled in for what was to be a reasonable session . We both missed a few runs ( I was poleaxed again) before picking up a couple of squire & I managed a decent longtail tuna ( sashimi time) - followed by a cracker of a spotted mackerel of 101cm .. very chunky & my best to date . Steve got his best ever Snapper of 70cm then it went quiet ……. A little bit of running around & several snapper landed & released before pulling the pin for a fish cleaning session ….. a good day.
STEVES DAY TO REMEMBER
Steves a mate from my old Barra days – A good fishoe with a no nonsense Qld approach to catching fish ….. big gear & a give to em technique. He brought the gun to the gunfight.
Arriving at our previous location - bait & fish located we quickly got into establishing a cube trail & casting whole pillies (virtually uweighted ) out the back in what is typically only 5-8m deep (lots of kelp) . GAME ON . Once again I was absolutely poleaxed by another rampaging red in & out of the kelp ….. literally minutes later Steve’s into one he gives it to it before I hear …” $X@% --- nagg nagg get the net get the net “ . After some tense moments I netted a 80cm snapper . High 5s all round (deeply hooked on ganged hooks destined for the esky) Steve as you would imagine was on cloud nine but straight back into. We were both blitzed before I land a 60 snap & then Steve is on to something decent …. Quite a different fight before I net a 100cm kingfish ( a first for Steve) Followed by another . I then landed 3 decent grassies & Steve a Moses perch …. Both species I’ve never seen at Evans Hd . We released a few more snapper before heading wider where we got onto plenty of squire & a few trag before pulling the pin . Some great table fish – 2 Pbs for Steve ….. a long filleting session .

DOES IT GET ANY BETTER … FOR STEVE
Friday finds us back at Carnage nice & early …. It takes a little while & then we both get blown away before Steve hooks up to something pretty decent – not snappery I call it for a jew which is exactly what comes to the surface ….. 100cm & big yahoo’s a new Pb for Steve Then holy hell not 30mins later he boats an even bigger one @ 110cm - It’s a serious fish … A few photos & she is quickly released …. I manage a big Longtail (released) – then a spottie ….. we manage a few more snapper (most released ) & by 9am we had a very healthy looking ice box ( glad I upgraded to the 160lt Engel mackerel box) . By mid morning things quietened down . We did a bit of looking around & decided at around 3pm to return to our honey hole ….. after about 45 mins Steve was keen to leave & I was saying that this is primo (conditions , the lay of the boat – time) . This time I upped to 50lb leader - still got poleaxed by a couple of fish ….. then Steve does it yet again , this time bringing in a new Pb snapper @ 82 cm - the bloke is on fire . Not long after I’m into a solid fish in & out of the kelp before the leader pops “XXXX” cant take a trick ….. then land one finally ……. Steve looks at me & says …. “that’s an OK one” - 73cm is now just ok, Fish released . Anyhow our session was going to be determined by our pilchard supply …. Catch & release …. Burley pilchards became bait pilchards - Another unstoppable for me then we were done with a sunset run home enjoyed with a beer & tales to be told - memories to hold …. What a cracker of a day. Steve’s commented on just how awesome this shallow water snapper fishing is - “ it’s brutal specially with this class of fish - just how big were some of these lost fish ? “
YESTERDAY
With fish to clean from the previous day ( That large Salty Captain catch bag worked a treat) we decided just to do a morning session - then see if we could get out for a sunset fish . We thought we had ideal conditions but the NE wind came in early & it was a tough bite - I did mage to land a stonker of a Amberjack of 114 cm (my first) …. which nearly broke me after a long hard fight – quite a capture on snapper gear in 8m of water . With plenty of fish already waiting to be filleted & not knowing what the eating qualities were I decided to release it . (back at the ramp a couple of locals rated them highly) . We relocated to deeper water ….nothing , then to my nearest mark to home (North Evans) we had a fish for bugger all ( 1 snip off) then pulled the pin …… However as Steve burns his pillie back whammo ….. his on & it’s giving him what for - Steve came here with his aim of a big jew (tick) A big snapper (tick) , never caught a kingfish (tick) & now just ticked off his first Spanish Mackerel 134cm – what a fish.
Fish cleaning duties - Then back out for a sunset session at Carnage…. Unfortunately the NE winds kicked in pretty hard & the Minn Kota started to play up (disengaging spot lock) it turned out to be a poor session – a couple of snapper , a big grassie & 3 fish we couldn’t identify Painted sweetlip . We pulled the pin after dark & made the slow run into a strong NE wind in absolute darkness (new moon) Wondering what the bar crossing would be like - That was interesting & testing …. Managed to ride the back of a big breaking wave into safety … phew .
With today being a blow out & no better tomorrow - Steve decided to head back to Qld …… but not after deciding on next years dates. Hopefully I’ll get another session in on Tuesday & maybe Wednesday before I have to head home.

[Barry Ehsman]

Wow what a trip, great report with some very nice fish.

[NAGG]

Wow what a trip, great report with some very nice fish.

Thanks Barry - certainly no complaints on the variety & quality

Evans just keeps on delivering

Chris

[bluefin59]

Great trip with a fantastic bag of mixed species , congratulations great to see a plan come together. Matt

[chris69]

That’s the most fish I’ve seen on ausfish for a long time, fisherman of the year so far good haul of fish.

[scroman]

Gday Chris - nice woork - great part of the Coast Evans to Woody Head!!
Can I ask what boat were you in ? the ocean looked ok in most of the photos but during that time you were down I was looking at the forcast and thinking it looked pretty ordinary.
Looks like a fantastic few seesions regardless - great pics!
Cheers,
Troy

[NAGG]

Gday Chris - nice woork - great part of the Coast Evans to Woody Head!!
Can I ask what boat were you in ? the ocean looked ok in most of the photos but during that time you were down I was looking at the forcast and thinking it looked pretty ordinary.
Looks like a fantastic few seesions regardless - great pics!
Cheers,
Troy

Hi Troy

Yes it's a great bit of coast & why I keep coming back .

The boats a Barcrusher 615 WR (CC) .

We had a real mixed bag - I arrived to a blowout ..... first 2 days gone . Tuesday was pretty ugly at first - then came better.
Most days we had to deal with lumpy bumpy starts & finishes . I'm still in Evans & went out this morning - the bat crossing was fine but rounding the first headland it was pretty horrible ( not dangerous - just horrible) I still got a fish in but it was hard work in 2m swell & 15knt ESE winds .

Chris

[NAGG]

I thought I would brave the predicted forecast & have another crack (solo) today .

When I put on the water it was about 7 knots - the bar was OK ..... but that was the best of it - 2m swell & the ocean was a washing machine . A slow run down to South Evans reef & once I was on the leccy I was reasonably confident - the last of the run in tide & a bit of bait on the sounder .
Nothing much happened - a couple of runs .... then just on the turn I hooked up with a pretty decent NBT which wasted a lot of time before running under the boat & cutting the braid on the keel . A few pan sized snapper were landed & released before hooking up with what I thought was a decent jew ....... head shakes & a pretty stubborn fight - after about 10 mins I finally saw colour & realised it was a reasonable king (certainly on snapper gear & 8m of water ) . Got my net shot & it blew straight through it I forgot that a spottie snipped the silicon net a couple of days ago - So here I am with the net in one hand - rod in the other & a rod being pulled through the net by a feisty kingy . Luckily it was well hooked & I traced it - hauled it into the boat ..... phew glad I didn't destroy another expensive rod . anyhow a 98 cm king in shallow water is a fair old capture - destined for sushimi (I tested some a little while ago ...... magnificent)
with conditions deteriorating I decided to pull the pin mid morning ..... a slow run home - boat clean down & fish preparation . there were a couple of nice fellas who fished in the river with their missus & were cleaning a couple of small whiting while I was doing the kingfish ...... I had more than enough so gave them a primo piece of fillet ( none had ever tried kingfish ) ..... I'm sure they will enjoy it

It may be my last day here tomoz

Chris

[NAGG]

That’s the most fish I’ve seen on ausfish for a long time, fisherman of the year so far good haul of fish.

It's good to be able to put up a report with some decent fish caught - we certainly put in the effort in some pretty testing conditions at times .

Fisherman of the year I'll settle on guide

Chris

[disorderly]

Great report and pics..

Good assortment of quality fish there and always awesome when you can put your mate onto some PB's..

Well done..

[NAGG]

Great report and pics..

Good assortment of quality fish there and always awesome when you can put your mate onto some PB's..

Well done..

Ta

Steve joined me last year & got his first jew , spottie & snapper ....... so I certainly didn't need to build his expectations - The challenge will be to beat this trip .. next year

Sounds like a challenge .

It's pretty cool when you are averaging only 25lt of fuel used / day

Chris

[Billy C]

Awesome reports mate. Great reading.

[NAGG]

Awesome reports mate. Great reading.

Glad you enjoyed it

I know I did

Chris

[NAGG]

Great report and pics..

Good assortment of quality fish there and always awesome when you can put your mate onto some PB's..

Well done..

A bit of an ego trip - Yes I really do enjoy watching someone land a special fish under my watch ......

There is always that pressure when you're the skipper

What I love doing after a few successful sessions is asking the deckie to take the helm & put us onto some fish - Without a word of a lie ........ the offer has never been taken up - NNNNEVER

Now that floats my boat .....

Chris