Apollo Bay - Sat 10/6 - Report

[ChrisAbout]

If it makes any difference I'd prefer to target schoolies with a chance of a barrel rather than exclusively chase big fish

Not in my boat you wont :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[purple5ive]

There's something different about casting stickbaits at surface feeding schoolies.
I have never caught one that way. But have certainly tried. At prospective spots.
But if you want only barrels then it's a waste of time to do this. ....

[Nude up]

Great read chris you are certainly putting in. The lumo sprocket is an awesome lure and comes in many sizes. Those halco's look good killer vibes are good to but I really like x raps the 40 holds in has never popped out sometimes the 30's pop out when the boat has accelerated down a swell when this happens we either juggle the throttle to maintain an even speed but that requires a lot of concentration. Or adjust or max speed to the down side of the swell.
Good luck on your hunt for the barrel

Does the style of lure head make much difference? Looking for 'lumo sprocket' has turned up 'original hotheads', 'paua hotheads' and 'paua jets', not to mention the 3D printed heads

If it makes any difference I'd prefer to target schoolies with a chance of a barrel rather than exclusively chase big fish

I am not 100% sure but the sprocket with hard heads are the 13" sprocket and the medium/small 10" the jet paua sprockets have the soft vinyl heads with the normal jet holes medium 11.5" and mini 8.75"
I would choose lures in the 6" to 8" range some times the sbt will only take the really small lures.
The normal rule is short head close to the boat long head further back. But as always you don't have to follow the rules. The lures should get progressively smaller ie 10" corners 8" riggers 6" shotgun
I like to run xraps off the corners skirts on the riggers and shotgun with a teaser down the middle

[4liters]

Great read chris you are certainly putting in. The lumo sprocket is an awesome lure and comes in many sizes. Those halco's look good killer vibes are good to but I really like x raps the 40 holds in has never popped out sometimes the 30's pop out when the boat has accelerated down a swell when this happens we either juggle the throttle to maintain an even speed but that requires a lot of concentration. Or adjust or max speed to the down side of the swell.
Good luck on your hunt for the barrel

Does the style of lure head make much difference? Looking for 'lumo sprocket' has turned up 'original hotheads', 'paua hotheads' and 'paua jets', not to mention the 3D printed heads

If it makes any difference I'd prefer to target schoolies with a chance of a barrel rather than exclusively chase big fish

I am not 100% sure but the sprocket with hard heads are the 13" sprocket and the medium/small 10" the jet paua sprockets have the soft vinyl heads with the normal jet holes medium 11.5" and mini 8.75"
I would choose lures in the 6" to 8" range some times the sbt will only take the really small lures.
The normal rule is short head close to the boat long head further back. But as always you don't have to follow the rules. The lures should get progressively smaller ie 10" corners 8" riggers 6" shotgun
I like to run xraps off the corners skirts on the riggers and shotgun with a teaser down the middle

Yeah, I was going to go with the smaller skirts. Both fish we lost took small skirts including a Richter lure with a lumo skirt. Plus they're cheaper and I'm a tightarse.

Do the jets make much of a difference in your experience or are they just a feature to catch a few more fishermen?

[Nude up]

Great read chris you are certainly putting in. The lumo sprocket is an awesome lure and comes in many sizes. Those halco's look good killer vibes are good to but I really like x raps the 40 holds in has never popped out sometimes the 30's pop out when the boat has accelerated down a swell when this happens we either juggle the throttle to maintain an even speed but that requires a lot of concentration. Or adjust or max speed to the down side of the swell.
Good luck on your hunt for the barrel

Does the style of lure head make much difference? Looking for 'lumo sprocket' has turned up 'original hotheads', 'paua hotheads' and 'paua jets', not to mention the 3D printed heads

If it makes any difference I'd prefer to target schoolies with a chance of a barrel rather than exclusively chase big fish

I am not 100% sure but the sprocket with hard heads are the 13" sprocket and the medium/small 10" the jet paua sprockets have the soft vinyl heads with the normal jet holes medium 11.5" and mini 8.75"
I would choose lures in the 6" to 8" range some times the sbt will only take the really small lures.
The normal rule is short head close to the boat long head further back. But as always you don't have to follow the rules. The lures should get progressively smaller ie 10" corners 8" riggers 6" shotgun
I like to run xraps off the corners skirts on the riggers and shotgun with a teaser down the middle

Yeah, I was going to go with the smaller skirts. Both fish we lost took small skirts including a Richter lure with a lumo skirt. Plus they're cheaper and I'm a tightarse.

Do the jets make much of a difference in your experience or are they just a feature to catch a few more fishermen?

I run a jet head in the shotgun position a black bart one they do tend to give a bit more of a smoke trail but when you have the pakula lures running at the right speed they pop out read breath then go under with a shimmy leaving a great smoke trail thats what you have to aim for a beautiful smoke trail then just as it stops the lure should breath then repeat.

[Bayrock]

Man that;s painful.
Will make the victory even sweeter tho!

[ChrisAbout]

Gents, see below to a complete insight on lure trolling from the man himself

http://www.mbglac.com.au/game-fishing/g ... -trolling/

[Born2fish]

Will have to agree with nude up i go with target in mind tuna schoolies or barrels that way its a good day!!
The number one thing to look for when targeting barrels is wales if possible there your barrel fish finder most if the time.
Barrels swim with the wales due to food aka the crill they love crill for there high protein in them = makes em grow big.
But in saying that its not allways the case plenty are caught year in year out with no sight of a wale . It dosnt mean the wales aint around they will be in the general location might be deep or just out of sight. But if i cant see wales ill look for what look likes blood patches on the water (aka) crill if u find the crill tuna wont be far or the bait what the tuna eat wont be far. Allso water temp can sometimes play a part is well. Im not saying im a expert in this but this what ive lernt over the years by some of the best in fishing just happy to share the info. Cheers

[scott__henning]

15mins later, Ian takes over the rod and the fight continues. He was giving it his all, giving the tuna a good fight whilst I was using the boat to tire the fish out.
After 30mins of fighting he indicates a switch is necessary, so I take over the rod and Marek takes the wheel.
She was indeed a BIG tuna, I could feel it in the rod and it wasnt long until she went for her famous run peeling a good 500m of line from the 50VSW.
No matter, I still had 700m left to play with.

You've done well to get the bite a few times Chris, but sounds like you need to bite the bullet and get a proper black magic equalizer. Not only will you not have to swap the rod around all the time, you will be less likely to lose the fish next to the boat due to fatigue. :thumbsup:

[barra mick]

Thats a great read chris.

Hopefully you can have a fraction more luck next trip.

Cheers bm