Haines Signature 602F

 I finallay bought a boat!! 2016 Signature 602f with 200hp Suzuki on the back. Time to up the stakes...

Before cut, polish and wax. 

After

Mount Martha Rocks

 

Date: 20th Feb 

Weather: Fine, around 18. 
Crew: Toon & Ross
Target Fish: Squid, snapper, whiting. 
Bait: - Squid jigs, squid strips, pipi, salmon strip
Gear Used: Rod and reel
Catch: 4x fidler rays 1x sambo
Report: Awesome. So good to go out for a proper fish again, and using bait was a blast from the past. Smelly fingers and all, this is a great way to fish - i forget how much fun it is! We were just happy to get down to the rocks and have a fish, wasnt expecting to catch much, if anything. As soon as we were in, Ross was getting bites so was great to have that feeling. Reeled in 4 fidler rays which was ok, at least we were on the board, when all of a sudden the rod started screaming. After a good fight and a few jumps out of the water, we landed a massive sambo caught off a snapper snatcher with combo'd pipi and squid strips. It was actually a double hook up with 2x sambo's but just as we were about to land them, one got off. Would have been epic to snag two, but still, managed to catch a beast, posisbly one of the biggest i have seen, and by the pic is around 60-70cm. Caught him at 10:40 which was just after high tide. Some guys rocked up before susnet and fished an hour after sunset, they caught 1 squid, so they're out there despite us not getting any hits. Fishing the jagged rocks can be hard on the feet after a while, but we found a better flatter spot, so moved there. Thats where we caught the sambo too. 

Report: 9/10. I need a boat. 

Big River

Date: 5-8th June
Weather: Cold but fine
Crew: adults and kids
Target Fish: Trout
Bait: - Spinners
Gear Used: Rod and reel
Catch: 1 Rainbow
Report: First cast landed the rainbow. Had a couple of hits but no further hook ups. Was challenging fishing conditions as all the kids wanted a go. So it really ended up being a practise session for the kids and trying not to loose lures they flick into the bushes. Lost only 3 in the end... Still, always awesome to drop a line!

Report: 6/10

Mary and Steve's

Date: 23 March 2020
Weather: Sunny
Crew: Dave, Dan HZ
Target Fish: Trout
Bait: - Fly - Royal Stimulator #14, #12
Gear Used: Sage Approach 4w, 9', Orvis Superfine Cabon 3w 7'6
Catch: 3 Browns, 1 Rainbow
Report: Started out at the Little Tagger, no action so drove up and had a look at Connie. Decided it was going to be challenging fishing, so headed back to Mary and Steve's. Snuck our way into an unfished stretch of the river. Dan hooked-up and dropped 2 rainbows within 10 min of getting started. Sealed the deal a little later with a nice little rainbow. Dan later managed an absolute ripper brown. Good session. Reminder to seek out the road less travelled.
Report: 8/10

Narooma, Sydney

Date: 26th Dec 19 to 4th Jan 20
Location: NAROOMA - Various spots in Narooma, NSW including the boardwalk, Wagonga Inlet, Bar Beach South and the Wagonga Rocks. SYDNEY - Gymea Bay Baths 
Weather: Various, but fine mostly. 
Crew: Toon, Jax (Narooma), Toon, Jax, Reinhard, Jake (Gymea Bay)
Target Fish: Anything
Bait: Metal lures, soft plastics, bibbed lures (Narooma) and pilchard (Gymea). 
Berley: None
Catch: 1 bream, 1 pinkie, 1 short finned snook, 1 trevalley, 1 tiny tiny trevally
Report: Great fun fishing these new waters. Narooma we only fished lures and caught 0. Lost my bloody $25 double clutch in the reeds when trawling in shawllow water. That lure seriously keeps its depth, but caught nothing on it. People were catching leather jackets on bait, but i cbf using bait. Soft plastics in the bar beach for flatties as well as in the inlet would have been best bet. In Gymea bay, this was great - got up early and caught heaps of little fish with the kids using pillies. Reinhard caught a freaking tiny trevally and we live baited it which was swallowed up by the pike. Good fight. We also caught a pinkie and thre it back, only to see a whopper baracouta go after it and eat it. Live baiting this area for couta would be awesome, but we ran out of time as Jax was hungry.   

Rating: 9/10. Sydney was the success, loses a point 

for the lost double clutch!

Portsea Pier

Date: 22 Dec 19
Location: Portsea Pier
Weather: High tide, moderate cool, water slightly murky. 
Crew: TvB fam
Target Fish: Squid
Bait: Squid Jigs
Berley: None
Catch: None
Report: Flicking squid jigs trying to catch dinner. Saw none. Wrong tide time and water was murky.  

Rating: 6/10. Was fun, but no catch. 

Gunnamatta Spinning

Location: Gunnamatta Surf BeachDate: 10-June-2019
Weather: Sunny, gnarly crosswind
Crew: Ross, Toon, Dave, Bilsy
Target Fish: Salmon
Bait: Metal lures:
Berley: None
Catch: 1 Salmon - Ross
Report: Very unpleasant conditions for surf spinning. Worked a few spots for about an hour and a half before throwing in the towel. Things looks promising for a moment when a seal showed up and started chasing fish. Was good to get out with a big crew and belt out some lures. 

Rating: 6/10. Was upped from 4/10 because of the post-session fish and chips.

Bright - Ovens River

Date: 19-22 April 19 - Easter Long Weekend
Weather: Fine 25
Crew: Toon & Mark
Target Fish: Trout
Bait: Green Spinner
Gear Used: Fishing rod
Catch: 1 small rainbow, 1 tiny Brown
Report: Bloody perfect weekend for fishing. Headed to Ovens river just out the back of Bright Accomodation Park where we stayed. Flicked lures upstream, snagging a small rainbow and tiny brown. Lost a horse of a trout in one pool he jumped off, was a heavy bugger!! Awesome times. Jax had a flick or two, but river fishing isnt easy for the little fella. 

Report: 8/10

Murrindindi River

Date: 26 Jan19
Weather: Hot
Crew: Toon & Willo
Target Fish: Trout
Bait: Green Spinner
Gear Used: Fishing rod
Catch: 1 small rainbow
Report: Very tough conditions fishing through Murrindindi. Low water levels this time of year and lots of overhang and fallen trees makes it hard to cast into good spots. Lots of fish around though, saw heaps as you walked through and over obstacles. Didnt lose a lure in all this stuff which was good, and caught the little fella on the last cast. Too relaxing and awesome as usual. Finished off by swimming at Wilhelmina Falls   

Report: 7/10

Cray Session

Date: 29 Dec 18
Weather: Warm, overcast
Crew: Dave, Bilsy
Target Fish: Crays
Bait: BBQ steak
Gear Used: Line, no hook
Catch: 6 (took 4 home)
Report: Been meaning to head out for a dedicated cray session for a while. Walked about 50 m upstream from the car, threw in the first line and hooked up a dirty eel in about 3 seconds. Saw a monster cray immediately after, spent about 30 mins trying to get him. Set about 6 lines, checked every 20 mins or so. Bilsy pulled in the first one straight after throwing the line in. We changed our approach, pulled in all set lines and decided to target specific spots. Next cray pulled was a monster, was a two man job to land him. Ended up taking 4, all caught within about hour. Could have easily bagged out. Saw a fight between an eel and a cray, and saw a couple of river black fish. Was a fun session. 

Boiled for about 8 mins, eaten with a bit of lemon. Delicious!

Report: 9/10

Portsea Pier

Date: 26 Dec 18
Weather: Perfect 25.  
Crew: Toon & Jax
Target Fish: Squid
Bait: - Squid Jigs - Black with red belly, and Purple with pink belly
Gear Used: Fishing rods. 
Catch: 3x Squid
Report: Hit Portsea Pier with Jax and fished for a total of 5 minutes. Both Jax and i cast out the jigs just 15 meters from the beginning of the pier and within 2 casts we had 3 squid. Perfect situation to then call it a day and get an ice cream from the dimmy van. Cooked the squid for dinner.  
Report: 9/10. Needed an ice bucket to keep going!!

Mordialloc Pier

Date: 11 Nov 18
Weather: Fine, slightly choppy 20. 
Crew: Toon, Jax, Millie, Sambo, Lisa
Target Fish: Sambo's
Bait: - Metal Slugs
Gear Used: Fishing rods. 
Catch: 0
Report: Another session to keep the fishing bug infused. Jax's casting getting better, and millie starting to get into it. We just need to salmon to run up and down the pier to cast into! No fish today to be seen, but pleasant 1.5 hours fishing.  
Report: 6/10

Farm

Date: 9 Sept 18
Weather: Overcast and 19
Crew: Toon & Jax
Target Fish: Trout
Bait: - Various lures 
Gear Used: Fishing rods. 
Catch: 0
Report: Went to the farm and had a crack at the monsters in the dam. No fish were interested in the lures, didnt see one swimming after them nor did we get a hit. Good day practicing to cast but Jax really needs a better reel.   
Report: 6/10

Mordialloc Pier

Date: 8 Sept 18
Weather: Fine and 18
Crew: Toon, Jax & Millie
Target Fish: Salmon 
Bait: - Metal slugs (bumpa-bar 25g, halco twisty 25g) 
Gear Used: Fishing rods. 
Catch: 0
Report: Jax again bugging me that we havent been fishing for ages, so needed to wet a line! Checked out MetEye and the bay was calm so took the fam down to Mordialloc pier hoping to cast into schools of salmon swimming up and down the pier. Got some hot chips, walked to the pier and starting casting some lines into the water. No salmon schools were in sight today though. Some decent sized bait balls around and birds diving into get them, but no salmon around. Very nice relaxing session with the fam.  
Report: 8/10 Perfect day for practicing casting. Jax has figured it out, but his $10 anaconda reel is a piece of shit.  

Mordialloc Pier

Date: 3 Mar 18
Weather: Sunny and 31
Crew: Toon & Jax
Target Fish: Salmon 
Bait: - Metal slugs (bumpa-bar 25g, halco twisty 25g) 
Gear Used: Fishing rods. 
Catch: 0
Report: Jax has been bugging me to go fishing again, good on him! So had to go on what was an awesome day. Was planning on just him and I, but lisa and the other 2 wanted to join so the whole family went. Girls did girls things, and Jax and I went fishing. Fishing didnt last too long as the kids got tired, so had to pack up after about 40 minutes of fishing which sucked as the action was just starting to hot up. Big school of salmon swam up the pier, and gars were everywhere just as we had to go. I did manage to cast my lure into some snag of line, and i had to jump into the water and swim out to retrieve it. Water was pristine, calm, blue, warm and just beautiful. That pier is fun to fish at because of all the boat activity and regular sightings of salmon schools to cast into.  
Report: 5/10 - if only we were there for another 3 hours!