Backup Blackies

Down to Middle Head in Sydney Harbour this morning (Monday 13th April.) The primary mission being finding a groper - but took the blackfish gear, in case groper wouldn’t play ball. What got me motivated is finding a fantastic fishing channel on Youtube – Gido’s Fishing Adventures. He’s a groper specialist who catches some absolute monsters off the rocks. Check this out:

Really keen to find a big one because so many of our clients – who spearfish, as well as fish – tell me Sydney’s swarming with them. Caught a few last year, but nothing big:

Great team on the mission today. Number two son Chris, who caught all the fish:

And best fishing friend Fitz, who provided all the laughs:

Tackle of choice was (of course) heavy. Groper have to be stopped with brute force or they’ll reef you tout suite. I used our 802 popping combo with 50 pound line and 80 pound leader. The same outfit used for popping whaler sharks on Norfolk Island:

First job was to get the burley going. I used a mix of cheap breadcrumbs from Coles - and prawn shells I’d been saving up. A beautiful morning but there was a pretty solid swell, so we selected our fishing spot carefully. Note that Middle Head is inside the Harbour:

While Fitz and I focused on groper, Chris went after blackfish. And did very well indeed:

Our $140 blackfish combo was the winner this morning. Two piece eight feet rod, Lesson 3000 reel spooled with three or six kilo colour change braid, floats and rigs all pre rigged – meaning all you need is the weed. Which is free, at your feet. Call or email me at any time for news on where the blackies are operating:

$140 blackfish combo, fully rigged

Groper? After 2.5 hours fishing Fitz and I hadn’t even hooked one. So we gave ourselves an early mark. Chris was the star of the morning, with a steady procession of blackfish washed up onto the shelf. Here’s the smallest one he landed:

Email received! Chris cooked one up for dinner tonight. Delicious, he tells me:

Giving up? Not on your life. Back out later this week and trying again – with a slightly different technique. Will report in if anything interesting happens. Thanks for reading
Andrew Hestelow

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