Winter Reddies

You guessed it, Peter Oberg's does it again and this time it's an ANSA NSW State Record - All Tackle Division

With two rods out, one rod was set up for the big fish with 40 pound and a big cuttly strip. The other was a basic paternoster rig with smaller hook (4/0), smaller sinker, and a smaller bait that was a small strip of almost fresh striped tuna. The cast on this rod however was further out where I want it. This rod was for my daughter Anysia.

Damo and I took the two kids in, naturally I had Anysia and Damo took in his son Jacob. Naysh and Jacob decided they wanted to have a drink and a bit to eat so I ended up looking after two rods, both of which were being hammered by little reddies. Fifteeen minutes after starting fishing I had the 20 pound rod in my hands and away it went. Ten minutes later there was the reddie on the rocks.

This fish was a female and Damo momentarily hooked up on what we think was the male. These bigger fish seem to hang around in pairs and it's not uncommon to have two hooked up at once, with the male being much bigger. I would have loved to have seen the partner of this fish.

We ended up with a few little fellas, as well as a big blue mowie and all in one hours fishing at the critical time of the afternoon.

To quote one happy angler, 'I love it when a plan comes together'.

Darwin Jetty GTs

While the NSW scene is slowing down the NT is starting to fire. Member Blue13 hooked the fish off the bottom and in close vicinity to pylons, where in true GT fashion it was determined to stay. After a few minutes the fish, still very green, succumbed under 7kgs of drag pressure and landed by a brilliant gaff shot (Thanks Sizie).

Caught on a Dakau 11’ Longtail, "the rod has a great curve loaded up and the length helped keep the fish away from the pylons. Although the fish was straight down, the rod felt comfortable and easy to control even with the high drag setting".

Product testing NT style!

Wrapping up the North Coast LBG season

In typical north coast fashion we hit the stones with visions of putting a good fish on the plate. The timing was right and over the years my fishing partners and I had seen the patterns emerge. Having a few like minded friends, that are in the know, never hurts either. Given the fish were periodic, here one day gone the next, it could have been extremely tough going but the idea and method were simple. Get in, get rigged up, get quality bait, get a hook up and get a fish on the rocks! Keeping in mind, this fish was to be for the table so it was equally important to treat it with kindness, and get out so it could be iced down asap!

Well, as it was it didn’t take long. A screaming run, a massive fight and some classic gaff work followed by a celebration that a plan well executed deserved! What better way to finish an April mid north coast adventure than to put a fish on the plate in fine style.

Just to prove a point he headed south and caught another oversized solid JB longtail two days later!

The ‘Guru’ with fish in transit, literally minutes from the ice, and minutes after capture.

Northern Blues

ALBAA club secretary Matt (Blue) Selwyn has been making the most of the change of season in the Northern Territory. After heading down to his local ‘rock ledge’ looking for a brawl with some of the larger local GT population Blue ran into this speedster.

Weighing in at 10kg this Long Tail tuna made short work of the big ‘blooper’ and headed for the horizon.

Unfortunately for the tuna the gear was more than a match, designed for pulling big GT’s out of dodgey territory (land-based) the custom Hastings rod, matched with a Diawa Saltiga 4500H running 40lb braid over a 60lb trace allowed more than enough breathing room for our secretary to have a bit of fun!

The irony is that Blue has spent a considerable amount of time over the last year or two in an effort to work these fish out and consistently take them on spun metals.

Well done Blue!

This just goes to show that once you break the duck the runs flow freely!