Guest Post - Ross'old man

Location: Next to the channel marker straight of Phillip Island House

Date: Early March
Crew: Tony, Mario
Time: mid day
Bait: Pilchards
Catch: 9 x Pinkies

1 x Whiting

1 x Blue Mackerel

Report: Mackerel ! Cut into steaks, tasted great, red flesh.

Secret Lake

Location: Secret Lake
Date: March Sessions
Crew: Dave, Ross
Time: 5:00pm- 7:30pm
Weather: 20 + degrees, no wind
Target Fish: Carp
Bait: Corn
Berley: Nil - Did throw out a bit of corn
Catch: Min 3 each session
Report: Finally figured out how to catch these bastards consistently. Various size catches, had some great fights.
Rating: 7/10

Johanna

Location: Johanna Beach
Date: 10 to 11 March 2012
Crew: Dave
Time: 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Weather: 18 + degrees, windy
Target Fish: Salmon
Bait: Metal lures
Berley: Nil
Catch: Nil
Report: Nobody catching anything. Had good fun, though Johanna beach is extreme surf fishing...be careful
Rating: 5/10

Guest Post - Simo in Thailand

Location: Thailand
Date: February 2012
Crew: Simo
Catch: Tuna, Barracuda, Reef Fish, Grouper

Report: Went out on a couple of boats. The first one was with a group of people and not much happened.I managed to catch a really small Tuna that wasn't even 2kg.
The second time I went out was much better, hired my own personal boat for the day so the only people were myself, the captain and the deck hand. For the whole day it only cost me around $150 Aus! Amazing considering I had the whole boat to myself. I managed to catch a couple of nice size Barracuda (round 5kgs) while we were trolling. We also did some bottom/reef fishing and managed a large bag of Grouper and other reef fish that I am not familiar with. I would have liked to throw back the Cuda but the boat owners use them to feed their families and also sell them to the market so all good.

Port Phillip Bay Charter

Location: Port Phillip Bay - VIC
Date: 26th February 2012
Crew: Easty, Dave + Charter guys
Time: 6:00am - 11;00am
Weather: 1.0m swell, windy as hell, high tide at 6:42am
Rig: Running sinker
Target Fish: Snapper
Bait: Pilchards, squid, mullet
Berley: Mixed bag
Catch: 25 + Pinkies, flathead.
Report: Fun morning had by all. Pinkies on the bite all morning.
Rating: 7/10

Secret Reservoir - Victoria

Location: Secret Reservoir - Victoria
Date: 25th February 2012
Crew: Easty, Dave
Time: 6:00pm- 8:00pm
Weather: 30 + degrees, no wind
Target Fish: Trout, Redfin
Bait: Lures - inline spinners and hard bodies
Berley: Nil
Catch: 2 x Redfin ~30cm
Report: Really nice afternoon. Both Redfin caught within 15 mins after sunset. Definately worth putting in some time at this place. Redfin are a nice looking fish.
Rating: 7/10

A typical day in the tinny - '06

Location: Phillip Island
Date: 2006
Crew: Luke, Ross, Toon
Catch: 1 x squid, 1 x salmon, 2 x Whiting, 6 x Flathead, 2 x Snapper

Old Random Photos

Location: Phillip Island
Date: 2006
Crew: Ross, Toon, Luke
Catch: 17 x Whiting, 2 x Snook, 1 x Salmon

Guest Post by Easty – Port Phillip Bay Charter - Carrum

Location: Port Phillip Bay - VIC

Date: 28th October 2011
Crew: Easty, Sam & Reeltime fishing charter crew (11 people)
Time: 3:30am - 6:30am
Weather: 1.5m Swell, thunderstorms, 14 knot winds. High tide @ 2.50pm.
Rig: Paternoster w/snapper snatchers
Target Fish: Snapper
Bait: Whole Pilchards
Berley: Cubed pilchards and pellets
Catch: 34 x Snapper (all over 40cm), 1 seal (almost, it took 2 snapper off the hook)
Report: Charter operator knows his stuff. Plenty of big fish caught by all. Good session
Rating: 9/10

Sandy Hook - Late Oct'

Location: Sandy Hook - NJ
Date: 22nd October 2011
Crew: Toon, Austin
Time: 6:30am - 11:30am
Weather: Calm. Low tide @ 10am.
Rig: Running Paternoster Rig
Target Fish: Stripers
Bait: clam and bunker
Berley: N/A
Catch: 1 X Striper (20 inches), 7 x Skate
Report: Slow morning getting up and hitting the road by 4:20am. Hit tackle shop at 6:00am, then first cast at 6:30 whilst still dark. Small bites immediately, before landing a small skate around 7am. Sunrise was great, and the weather wasnt as cold as thought. Striper hit just after sunrise, and we were pumped to have that on the board. After that it was just skates, but Austin landed the granddad of all skates - with damn whiskers on its cheeks! Not much action around low tide, it really was sunrise that was the peak fishing session. Overall, Dick Proenneke would be proud.
Rating: 7.5/10

New Jersey - Sandy Hook

Location: Sandy Hook - NJ
Date: 19th June 2011
Crew: Toon, Austin
Time: 3:30pm - 8:30pm
Weather: Inshore breeze around 0-5 knots, warm
Rig: Running Paternoster Rig, surf rigs
Target Fish: Stripers, Bluefish
Bait: bunker and squid
Berley: Chook pellet mix
Catch: N/A
Report: Slow session, with only one real zzzz. Austin went for the hook up but the fish had already snapped his line, taking his rig. The one that got away. Bunker wasnt fresh, and we know fresh bait is key. If the weather wasnt awesome, it would have been a standard fish session, but good weather made it more enjoyable. Fished the low tide at around 4:30, but no action.
Rating: 4/10

New Jersey - Sandy Hook

Location: Sandy Hook - NJ
Date: 22nd May 2011
Crew: Toon, Austin
Time: 1:30pm - 8:30pm
Weather: Inshore breeze around 5-10 knots, cloudy and chilli
Rig: Running Paternoster Rig (metal leaders)
Target Fish: Stripers, Bluefish
Bait: Worms, bunker, and late on - bluefish
Berley: N/A
Catch: 5 x Bluefish, 1 x Sea Robbin
Report: First session for the 2011 season turned out to be a ripper. Aside from one sea robbin, no fish from around 1:30-6:00pm, as high tide was just missed. Low tide hit from 6:00pm-8:00pm and thats when the action was hot. Hooked up 5 bluefish in this time, the biggest probably 15-18lb. Lost countless fish due to snapped lines and missed hook-ups, but to snag 5 big blues off the beach was simply awesome! All blues were taken on bunker. Great fighting fish, full of muscle and jumps out of the surf! Baitrunner reel was a real bonus in this situation, as it helped increase hook-ups as the fish takes a big run with your bait...then BOOM, strike! They like to run hard, which made the fight more enjoyable. Solid session.
Rating: 9.9/10. If we could eat them, it would be a 10.

Shark Skin

An electron micrograph reveals sharkskin’s secret to speed: tooth-like scales called dermal denticles. Water races through the microgrooves without tumbling, reducing friction. They also give the shark’s skin the feel of sandpaper.

Sandy Hook

Location: Sandy Hook - NJ
Date: 14th Aug 2010
Crew: Toon, Austin
Time: 10am - 2:30pm
Weather: Calm
Rig: Running Paternoster Rig
Target Fish: Fluke, Bluefish
Bait: Mackerel
Berley: N/A
Catch: 2 x Fluke, 3 x Sea Robbin
Report: Good morning session into early arvo. Very calm waters and lots of boats out drifting for fluke. Caught 2 fluke, largest being just under size limit at 17 inches. Sea robbins were hitting early, but that action stopped as soon as we cut one up for bait. Walk back to the car saw a small snake eating a frog - that was wicked.
Rating: 5/10. Relaxing session, but no keepers.

New Jersey

Location: Bay Head - Jersey Shore
Date: 20th Aug 2010
Crew: Toon, Austin
Time: 10pm - 3:30am
Weather: 0-10 knots, 3/4 full moon, warm and fine
Rig: Running Paternoster Rig
Target Fish: Brown Shark
Bait: Whole Bunker, Mackerel
Berley: Frozen gatorade bottle of chopped mackerel.
Catch: 1 x Smooth Dogfish, 1 x Skate
Report: Perfect night, warm water, warm evening. Cast first lines out at 10:30pm, fishing the runout tide. Waded in about 50 meters to get further cast distance. Low tide was at midnight. First run on the line was at about 12:30am, zzzzzZZZ, but we missed the hook up. This got the blood pumping and at about 1:30am the second zzzZZZ began on the baitrunner. Hooked the fish, and it gave a decent fight for about 5 minutes. Pulled it in and was foul hooked, but still landed the bugger. POssibly smaller baits would be better for these dogfish or at least double hooked baits. Targeting big sharks though, so big baits = big fish. The final 15 minutes Gus pulled up a slimy skate. Threw it back and packed up.

Next time look for constant berley trail, and double hooked baits to secure hook ups.
Rating: 7/10. Bring on the big boys this weekend...