Fraser Still firing( final roundup )

[Lucky_Phill]

Yeash, still going strong in the spotie department.

bagin ot everyday now. #the buga's don't seem toi get going til midmorning. #only lost 4 " rob's " special slugs in 200 mack hookups.

Managed a14lb #neat Golden trevor in a ampongst the spotties on Sunday. #Another victimtofall to the pillie tr9oller was a 4ft black tip reefie.

Winds have been strong, but not enoughtoholdus at home. #Yesterday was the pick aswinds dies toinil by 2pm.

This bad spelling is not. me, it's this u-beaut machine.><>>><

Macks have been from Arch Cliffs up to Wathumba with reports of shoot loads from the gutters area.

Rain and wind and now heat, ya gotta love thisplace. nottomention the fish. #And the wildlife is notbad either. #

cheers # Phill

[JB]

Damm u phill, i'm sittin here working (well when i'm not reading posts anyway) while ur out there baggin out on spotties... just a bit jealous

Its a top area that inside part of fraser, after my recent holiday i would love to live up that way.

Anyways nice work

JB

[craigie]

Way to go Phill, you'll be wearing out the 'Donger' catching all these Mack's.
Have you got any Pic's of the Wildlife

Happy New Year,
Craig.

[Lucky_Phill]

bloody Nth westers

[opimax]

giday phill
at least your catching a feed , did`nt get to your marks, boat only got out once. anyway good luck for rest of hols. lee

[Lucky_Phill]

Pics from trip , followed by report.

This one is of inside the campsite proper. Yes, we took a few extras. TV, Fridge, Fans, Kettle, fry pan, well shoot........I was going for 2 weeks.

Yes, if you look closely, there IS a kitchen sink.

[Lucky_Phill]

Front of the campsite, displaying Ausfish name.

[Lucky_Phill]

an average mack from around the Wathumba area. And this was a rough day ! checkout the water behind. !!!!!

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Jeez Phil, try and be a bit better prepared next time; do it for the kids.

[Lucky_Phill]

and a nice surprize. in amongst the Macks was this little terror of a Trevor. went of the lie detector at 14lbs neat. you'll have to work out KG's ?

Just one of many ' crew ' from near and far for the trip. In all we had 9 different crewies. and everyone got fish.

just gotta love that H/bay.

[Lucky_Phill]

and a good mack from earlier trip. with the mackerel Girl holding it.

[Lucky_Phill]

The report card goes something like this.

If anyone is thinking of donging Spotties in one of the most pristine waterways of this great country, get your ass's to Hervey Bay.

There are various reasons for my belief in the above statement.

Firstly, on some days the forecast was for 25-30 SE'ers, and that was NOT a problem there. Once across the open channel between Big Woody Island and Fraser ( 7k's ), it was smooooooth sailing all the way. Even up to 5 k's off Fraser near Wathumba, the water was good. NO SWELL in H/Bay.

The fish there are profilic and great fun. Some days they wouldn't bite til mid morning and other days, anytime was ' mack ' time. On more than a few ocassions, you'd get a hit cranking in the slug and miss, no prob, just keep cranking, as more than one Spottie was fighting for that lure. Many times, I had up to 4 hits before a hook-up.

As previously reported, the Rob Special Slugs, worked a treat with only 4 losses in 200 Macks ( not all those were kept, far from it ). Lost 1 of those lures that Rob trolls for Wahoo with, took the wire off and used 60lb mono leader. But, it did account for some fish in the esky, as did the old " pillie Troller ".

This piece of equipment, for those who need to know, is a set of gang hooks, ( 8/0 ) with the first hook having a moulded piece of lead on it with some bright coloured feathers attached. ( Lead to stop spinning and take bait deep), ( feathers to attract macks ).

The Pillie is attached as per normal, but upside down and the nose tied off with a piece if copperwire to the troller to keep mouth shut.

This rig worked everytime it was put out. The reason we trolled, is that on some days, when we went wide looking for Spotties and none could be seen in the bino's. we trolled back to close areas.

Funny thing happened, went to a particular ' corner ' fishing tackle outlet at H/Bay looking for more ' pillie trollers ', and was instantly told," we don't sell 'em, I threw them in the bin 5 years ago, I couldn't sell 1 ". " No-one trolls for macks up here ". Well, blow me down..........no-one, except for this little black duck. I even saw some pro's trolling spoons for ,mack's.

Rarely saw Pro's workin.

Having been all ' macked' out we fished for reef species at various places up and down the inside. Most of this isolated areas of coffee rock and ' washing machines ' are small and hold allsorts. Red Emporer, Grass Sweetlip, Parrot, LeatherJacket, Squire, Morwong ( Blackall ? ), Cobia, and a variety of juvenile offerings.

Baitfish everywhere, from stuff around the 20cm mark upwards.

Finding the schools of Spotties is easy. Look for working birds, mainly the Turns ( white birds ), as there are a million MuttonBirds out there ( Brown ones ) and they'll be feeding on baitfish alone or Tuna ( Bonito ).

The only time it is impossible to fish the top end is in a N/W er.

Then, it's off to River Heads ramp to fish the Susan and Mary Rivers for, Barra, Trevally, Jack, Flathead, Whiting, Bream, Grunter and need I go on.

If ya reckon ya tinnie is a tad too little to go the 50k's to Wathumba and beyond, Gatakers Bay offers great respite from S/E winds. Fishing is only less than 500 meters from the shore and species we encountered are Grass Sweetlip, Squire, Coral Trout, Stripies and, bugga me, Happy Moments !!!!!!

I fished this area in " Skanky Hoe ", 2 up in a 25 knot S/E wind. It was like a lake there.

I didn't get to traverse the area south of Kingfisher Bay as hoped. Still, plenty of time.

By the way, ReBait, is still at Hervey Bay, just waiting for that 10-15 S/E, N/E forecast.

Cheers Phill ( with the big mack muscles, now )

[mackmauler]

Top report Phill, the forecasts have been very uninspiring, finally a gap starting today it seems, that average mack in your pic is a spaniard, I hope you didnt poison anyone cheers rob

[Lucky_Phill]

Well Rob, we thought that to. But a very close inspection confirm it was Spottie. We did however, come to the conclusion that it had a Spanish Father and a Spotted mother !

We checked the anal, Dorsal and Pectral fins to confirm our suspicions. Lateral lines and Tail Fin also confirm Spottie. Why the heck it had spots elongated at the front half of it's body is ?/????

anyway, it tasted good !

Phill

[mackmauler]

Phill, small spaniards are very common there, side by side they are clear as day different, the teeth on a spaniard are about twice as big and the head is larger as well.

Actually the head on that fish not the markings stand out the most as being a spanish, what was the dorsal fin ID, difference? as it dont appear to have the black line along the top of a spotty, anyway Phill, its a mackerel and a nice one