Week in Review

July 24, 2020

All the action offshore this week. Late last week Alex Chin bought a jig selection and wrote to let me know they arrived just in time, for a run planned for Saturday:

Did they deliver results? You betcha:

Grateful for your report, Alex! They’re all good fish, but that closest king is a beast. More here:

Ten Pack Knife Jigs

Steve went wider and deeper with our Tanacom 750 combo. Good move:

Beautiful blue eye, Steve! Not as successful, but Andrew Waite and his son and heir had a ball out at Brown’s the same day:

Bob Greenhill out at Brown’s the same day and sends some interesting insights:

Hi Andrew, responding to your enquiry re the big bluefin tuna, no I wasn't on the boat. When we were cleaning our fish at the St George Motor Boat Club yesterday the owner of the 44 foot cruiser was about to clean the bluefin tuna. He told me he had gone to Jervis Bay in his boat and had hooked up with 5 tuna the same size as the one in the photo all at the same time. He said there were heaps of tuna down there. He was trolling. He did not use any particular make of lure. I am having some for tea tonight. Last night my son Craig showed me a photo of two blokes each holding tuna which were as big as them. I went out to Browns. What a glorious day. Seas were smooth as you know. It took me less than an hour to return to Botany Bay heads doing 35 to 44 kph. I could have gone faster but due to the possible presence of whales I kept speed down. There were a lot of boats out there. We only caught 1 blue eye cod and the largest silver dory I have ever seen. I did not see any of the heaps of other boats catch anything. There were fish showing on my sounder. I suspect they were gemmies. One of my fishing buddies, who caught the only fish, is the crew on a charter boat out of Port Hacking and after he sends the heavy rig down he holds onto the braid in his bare hands and feels for the bites and avoids being hooked up on the bottom. I copied him and now have a cut little finger which stings like buggery when I use hand sanitizer. I lost a few expensive rigs. I have been whale watching a fair bit lately and have seen quite a few. However, we did not see one yesterday although I know a mate of mine in his fathers boat saw quite a few off Botany Bay. As we were coming in I was keeping a careful eye out for them as it was late in the afternoon and a storm had started over the city but fortunately none appeared in our way. WE got bloody drowned when we got home. Did you know that it is only the male whale which jumps and leaps as the females are too heavy with calf. It was news to me until an expert told me. Keep up the good work. Regards Bob

This is why I prefer our lighter Tanacom 750 combo with the sensitive bent butt rod tip. You can see the bites on the rod tip – and free spool down five metres, which gives the fish a chance to swallow your bait. Never forget that, at 400 metres, the water is so cold, so dark, and most importantly so low in oxygen that the fish don’t have the energy for a big strike on your bait. Even large gem fish and blue eye nibble at your bait like a whiting. You need to read those bites:

The Daiwa Tanacom 750 combo is no longer stocked.

Heading north of the Tropic of Capricorn, and Kerry from Blackout Charters in Cairns delivering top results for his clients. As always:

Out yesterday, Thursday, on James T’s Black Watch. We went 45 miles out and trolled all day but never turned a reel. When we got back, a friend who works on Sydney charter boat sent a report:

Comforting to know we weren’t the only ones getting a duck. Canny Bob Greenhill made a good decision, swapping deep dropping for tuna trolling:

Heading out tomorrow for the last possible session before big rains and wind arrive on Sunday. Will report in on Facebook and Instagram if anything interesting happens. Thanks for reading
Andrew Hestelow