Has anyone used the very effective method of balloons in the Bay????If so what have you caught and what size!!!.......I used two choppers under balloons a few weeks back and couldnt raise anything and that suprised me......That was around peel!! Surely theres some good fish to be caught using this technique in the bay apart from mackeral!!
Cheers Shane
Hi Shane,
I don't use balloons mate, I use milk bottles with a link tied to the handle. I run the line through the link with a swivel as bottom stopper and tie an elastic band to the main line which allows me to adjust depth of bait (usually a full mullet flapper) as I please. I've had several species of shark, mackerel, a 3 metre shovelnose that took 6ft below the surface, and a leopard ray that must've gone 40 kilo. Unfortunately this rig also takes turtles :-( and on several occasions I have seen cobia following it in. I've had some real fast runs that have nearly spooled 400 metres and broken me off when I pulled 'em up. I use 50lb main line but I ain't prepared to up my breaking strain.....if it can snap 50lb line after running out over 300 metres under drag then I don't want it in the boat :-)
cheers
kev
So nothing real decent eg snapper, jewies etc.....i guess what else would take something that close to the surface!!!!............Where abouts have you used that rig?? Mainly in the rouse by the sounds of the species that were mentioned! Ill have to agree that you wouldnt want something that big in the boat!!!!!,........Cheers.....some good info!
do you ever have the bottle fall off under the pressure of something swimming off super fast kev ?
Quite often I'll fish it just off the bottom if grinners are a nuisance, although they still take it but not as frequently as a bottom bait. I have no idea what the fast runs would have been but they were way too fast for shark. It surprises me that shovellies and rays will rise up to take it though and the fact that they are inevitably lip hooked unlike when they are caught on the bottom is a bonus. Fish with their mouths "underslung" often register a false bite when their nose touches the line as they position themselves over the bait when bottom fished but waiting for a true run produces a gut hooked fish. This rig avoids that when fished close to the bottom for some reason.Originally Posted by bazzaman
Yes, I fish the Rous mainly, but the biggest sharks, shovellies and rays are nearly always caught at Chain Bank.
cheers
kev
Kev, have you caught big hammers? they go like the clappers! dont be shy about getting these big ones up close cant wait for the piccies
Only when broken off. The rubber band "stopper" has to be set sufficiently to stop the bait fishing deeper than you want but fragile enough to be pulled through the link when the bait is taken hard...........the kids think it's rather funny seeing that big white bottle zipping backwards and forwards :-)
cheers
kev
Never had a hammer bigger than a metre but I'll agree with you that they do run faster than most. I once got a species of shark to the side that then broke free but I've not been able to identify it. It gave me a terrific fight with very fast runs and played holy hell when it saw the boat. It looked like a black tip but it went about 3 metres and I don't think they grow that big. It was very thin compared to other sharks and this seemed to be it's natural build as opposed to it being out of condition. Now I've got a digital I'll be able to produce more piccies in future. This is the one that took the bottle rig.....I couldn't guess at it's weight but it took 45 minutes to get it alongside and nearly spooled me a couple of times.Kev, have you caught big hammers? they go like the clappers! dont be shy about getting these big ones up close cant wait for the piccies
cheers
kev
using ballons, i have managed to catch tuna, mackrel, a hammerhead...but no cobia yet!
also lost a few big ones.....i think some were sharks though cause the take and run was slow and steady till the hook was set.....but others were very fast and were just unstopable..resulting in lock ups to avoid getting spooled.......
its an exciting way to fish....especially when the bait sh!ts itself....followed by the take....
g'luck
Yeah should be a few tuna starting to show in the bay, so ill be starting to use the balloons more now!......Bring on mackeral season!!
insted of using balloons i use foam cut into cube's about (2 inches) tied with 2 half hitches.
Anything that vaguely resembles green seems to go down badly on this forum so i am hesitant to make a comment on the above - However I can't help saying that I hate all those half cubes of polystyrene on the beaches during the mackerel season, biodegradeable they aint and they are an eysore for people using the beaches.
in anticipation of some flack
Tony
No fair enough comment Tony. I also use polystyrene blocks on my lighter outfits for pilchards, but I use balloons for live bait on heavier gear. Same could be said of balloons which also float off into the distance never to be seen again.
I don't like the alternative of using a 'bobby cork' type setup, so is there a more 'green' alternative.
Speaking of colours....I have found red/pink balloons to work best for me. Anyone else?
Jeremy
"The underlying spirit of angling is that the skill of the angler is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish and the latter is entitled to an even chance for it's life."
(Quotation from the rules of the Tuna Club Avalon, Santa Catalina, U.S.A.)
Apathy is the enemy
Bazzaman. I used to do alot of livebaiting under balloons (early 90's) in the northern part of the bay and in particular western rocks. The rig was set up with the balloon on the tag end of the double(left uncut about 6" long with a single granny knot at the end to stop balloon coming of due to wave action etc.) this allowed for a crisp release when a fish took the bait. Speices caught using this method were black kings (cobia) spanish, spots ,school mackeral and big longtail tuna 15 to 25 kg models. The line classes fished where 6kg to 10kg. I also used a anchor setup that allowed me to drop the anchor rope once hooked up to a good fish and give chase. This was worked with a bouy and a rope suited to the depth fished. hope this helps. As far as greens go just have a think before posting photos of big catches. Don't get me wrong I enjoy seeing the fish others catch but hey iam not hardcore green. Roy.
What about cork? Unless you go through a heap of it, it would certainly be a greener alternative to foam or balloons.
I was out at Mud Island about a year ago and on the way there I stopped to pick up a big chunk of styrene foam that was floating in the water. When fishing in close and getting snagged a lot, I thought I would break off a small piece and cut a slot in it and added it to my line to keep me off the snags. Seemed like a good idea until my 6 year old son said something along the lines of,,, are you sure you should be doing that? That was enough to cure me of using foam.
But each to their own.
Cheech
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