Hunting with a hook!

[topgear]

Great photo's and stories guys and thanks for taking the time to post them up.

Branx - the redfin I reckon are one the best eating fish. My old man tells stories of catching hundreds of them in a single day outing with a "bobber" before the European carp was released which seemed to knock their numbers back a lot. Down here in the Murrumbidgee and in the irrigation channels its getting rare to actually catch one now.

David - I reckon 1.25 kg!

Aaron- that's a great catch by your young bloke. One to remember.

 

[sako 22 250]

My son also has the fishing bug ....real bad
Picture below is a 120 lb GT he caught last year of swains reef QLD
Took him 20 mins to land and had bad arm pump for the next 1/2 hour!
He released it

 

[David_S]

David - I reckon 1.25 kg!

Come on John, don't short change me!

2.5kg or 5½lb at least (Always sounds better in lbs).

For the non-engineers the calculation is

(Wt of water +bottle) X (distance of bottle from fulcrum i.e the string supporting the stick ) = (Fish Wt) X (Distance of Fish from fulcrum)

i.e. 1.5kg x 2.5 = F x 1.5
i.e F = 2.5kg

If you hang the stick by its balance point you don't need to worry about the stick's weight. And you don't need an actual tape measure - any improvised measure will do such as a stick or cartridge case. And remember 1 litre of water weighs 1kg.

The final step is to multiply the actual weight by the FEF (Fisherman Exaggeration Factor) which varies wildly from fisherman to fisherman but is usually in the range of 1.2 to 2 but is never constant as it tends to increase over time.

Here endeth the lesson. RIP - David

PS
I know the string in the picture looks tangled but it is all one piece as I did not want to cut my tent guy!

 

[sako 22 250]

And old picture but is has special memories it was the first Jewfish (mullaway) that I caught on a lure ..a lure I made myself from and old chair leg whittled down..still today it's my biggest 52lb
It was caught off the rocks on the Central Coast of NSW ....the Hawkesbury river was in flood and all the fresh water pushed baitfish out the heads and around the reefs at the headlands ..the Jewfish lined up for a easy feed!

 

[Branxhunter]

That is a cracking jewie there .22-250! Do you still have your old lure?

Marcus

 

[sako 22 250]

Hi Marcus
Yes I do belive it's still out in the shed
Will have a look and post the pic
Cheers
Mark

 

[sako 22 250]

My son has just returned from a weeks fishing off swains reef QLD
On a charter with 10 others
They got 550 keepers
Son caught 24 Spanish mackerel biggest went 20 kg
He had a cracker of a week!
Cheers Mark

 

[topgear]

They got 550 keepers

That's a lot of fish fingers! Great stuff, it looks like he had a lot of fun on the trip!

 

[L-46]

That's some trip they had!
Like TG has said they will have to get creative to find new ways to enjoy all that fish!
Great pics too.

 

[sako 22 250]

Found this old pic today ..my first Yellowbelly caught back in the 80s at Windamere dam NSW on a deception lure ..its was a new dam and some the fish were as fat as soccer balls cheers Mark

 

[topgear]

I thought I'd post up a few photo's of some fish we caught over the last week. I managed to get the kids out again on the Murray Cod over the Christmas/New Year break. Just two short afternoon trips and we managed to land 25 cod and 1 carp.

A lot were around this size which the kids love catching as they tend to come on the bite in 3-4 fish pretty quickly.



We also managed a few slightly bigger versions.


Its all river fishing and the cod seem to be doing pretty well at the moment. Photo below is typical of the environment in which you catch them.


We also managed to spot 3 koala's as well from the boat which was pretty good. You can just make this one out in the tree at the centre, top of the image. My phone camera doesn't zoom too good!


Anyway it was good fun and hope to get back out a few times this summer!

 

[sako 22 250]

Hi Topgear
A great start to the new year ....25 cod that's sensational!
Cheers & all the best for 2016
Mark

 

[topgear]

Well to finish off 2016 I managed to get my young blokes and the old man out for fish on boxing day. We managed 16 Murray cod for just over three hours which was pretty good. There has been a recent flood on the river so they seem to have moved around a little. Lots of size variation so hopefully some of the little ones can grow into a 100 pound monster! We caught nothing massive but the kids just have so much fun when you are constantly pulling in fish so that was really good. Anyway a few snaps below. Hopefully I'll manage to get in another fish and a goat hunt before the year ends!

Anyway I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Santa was kind with the sako deliveries All the best to everyone for 2017.

 

[Branxhunter]

Great going Topgear. All augers well for the mighty Murray Cod in that river system. I assume you were lire fishing?

Marcus

 

[Branxhunter]

Found this old pic today ..my first Yellowbelly caught back in the 80s at Windamere dam NSW on a deception lure ..its was a new dam and some the fish were as fat as soccer balls cheers MarkView attachment 8175

Great yella there Mark! Only bested by the hat - very stylish!

Marcus

 

[sako 22 250]

Topgear great to see the cod in such good numbers
Top way to spend Boxing Day
All the best for 2017

Branx as for the hat I think it was an 80's thing

Cheers Mark

 

[topgear]

Thanks for the comments guys. We Managed another two afternoons fishing today and yesterday for a total of 38 cod which was probably the best I've ever done. Old man remembers it better when he was in his 20s but I've never caught so many fish. Nothing massive but good sized fish to pull in and constant. Boys had a field day which was the best part and I think it brought back a few memories for the old man as well. All were catch and release and it would be nice to see the stock continue to grow.
A couple more snaps.

Anyway hope everyone sees in the New Year in style and it's a good one for all!

 

[David_S]

Great pictures and fishing, Topgear. Nothing quite like a dad fishing/hunting/shooting/tramping/etc with his boys. Trouble is they grow up too fast.

Happy New Year to you and all SCC members too. David

 

[sako 22 250]

Spent the morning chasing kingfish with my eldest son
(David S I know these are tiddlers compared to the NZ torpedos)
Got 3 ....2 on jigs and one on bait
Cheers Mark

 

[topgear]

I've been in Scotland visiting the wife's family for the last couple of weeks. I really enjoy it over here and this year we also got to do some fishing last week on the west coast of Scotland. Its been a drought over here apparently and the farming brother-inlaw tells me its as dry as its ever been. Even though it looks better than oz in a wet winter! We are staying on the farm on the east coast but the boat is on the west coast so the drive over was pretty amazing for me and my two boys to see in such fine 'drought' weather!


We were staying on a boat my father inlaw built about 40 years ago from concrete in his backyard! My wife said it took him about nine years to complete. It was back in the day when the UK was capable of winning wars, conquering the globe and never, never , never , never, ever giving in as Winston once said! He launched it on the east coast of Scotland and sailed it around to the west coast after a while and has had it moored there ever since. He passed away about 4 years ago, so to go back to it and spend a few nights with the wife our kids and one of her brothers and his two boys was something special. Her brothers and there family still look after it and get out on it a bit too. It weighs in around 32 tonne and we all slept on it for a few nights which was pretty cool for the kids. Living 6 hours from the coast in Australia it was something different they really enjoyed.

The scenery was spectacular! If hunting and fishing is as much about the journey as it is the kill or the catch then this hunt was a 10/10!


Now I'm no sea fishing expert so left it up too the locals to guide us on prey for the couple of days and mackerel was what they wanted to target as a chance of catching a few for kids to stay occupied. We managed to get onto a fair few but they certainly were hit and miss depending on the tide. At one stage a few of the kids had four hooked up at once and it was pretty fast paced action when they were biting! All were caught on what they call 'feathers' bobbed up and down when drifting.

My youngest bloke just loves the 'processing' as much as the hunt, whether it be fish or game. After a quick tutorial by his Scottish older cousins it wasn't long before he looked like an old hand at processing mackerel

One of the best experiences of the trip was having the mackerel caught, gutted and on the BBQ in minutes for lunch. From sea to plate was under 15 minutes and they were beautiful.

Anyway I'm sure its not the most exciting sea fishing going but for us it was something we will all remember for a long time!