St Leonards 24/4

Portarlington, St Leonards, Queenscliff
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Trumpeter
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St Leonards 24/4

Post by Trumpeter » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:51 pm

Hi All

I experienced one of the best sessions on the 'ting I've ever had on Sunday morning. Went out again solo to the usual spot for an early tide change and was anchored and the berley pot down before 4am. It took probably all of a minute before the light stick on the tip of the first rod in to dip down into the water and what followed was just mayhem. I was using two rods with two KL 1/0's on short, twisted dropper loops to help minimize tangles in the dark and had several double hookups, it was just incredible fishing. By dawn the 'ting had slowed down and all my lines started mysteriously getting snipped off, I lost rigs at the sinker, the top swivel, my whiting snatcher, which I didn't bother with in the dark, got both the flies removed promptly, then I managed to land one of the culprits, a Couta. By this stage I had 18 KGW on board, a nice Flattie and a couple of squid which fell to a jig hanging out the back in the tide and only had a couple of my pre-tied rigs remaining so I decided to go out deeper and tried a spot in 8m. I was hoping to perhaps get onto a couple of leatherjackets or even some Pinkies for a bit more variety but it wasn't to be, I couldn't not catch whiting! The conditions were just fantastic for fishing, the sun was mostly hidden by thick, patchy cloud, the wind had dropped out and the water was as smooth as oil and dark but incredibly clear. As soon as my bait hit the bottom I had a solid bite and boated a 40cm ting, it put up a great fight and I could see it way down, looked like a meter long due to the magnification. Landed another great specimen the same size straight away so had now reached the limit. I couldn't help my self and dropped my line down one more time just for fun and bang, hooked up straight away, the fish again 40+cm was released and I decided to leave them alone and head back in and face the now chaotic ramp and the tedious task of cleaning the catch.

The moon was just past being full and provided good light early.
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Another awesome sunrise, then an ominous looking shadow cruised by (above and left of bowsprit.)
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I had mussels, pippies and squid candles but best bait hands down were pilchard fillets cut into halves.
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Love conditions like this:
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And the catch...
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:cheers:

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Tackleberry
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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Tackleberry » Mon Apr 25, 2016 11:02 pm

:fishing: :thumbsup: noice

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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Nude up » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:42 am

Great report nice when it all comes together

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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Lightningx » Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:41 am

Really nice bag of KGW! Well done :thumbsup:

Buckle&scream
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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Buckle&scream » Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:38 am

Well done there mate, good catch! :thumbsup:

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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Buckle&scream » Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:49 am

I always use pipes and squid for bait but recently Iv had a few whiting take half pilchards, last week I got one on a half pilchard on a 4/0 hook lol and 2 days ago while working soft plastic nuclear chicken minnow I caught a king George whiting lol first time that happened to me king George whiting on a plastic, makes me think if dragging the berkly 6" sand worms on the bottom will get whiting??
I'm definitely gonna try it I don't see why they wouldn't.

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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Lightningx » Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:55 am

Some of my biggest KGW I have also caught on pillie fillets cut in half :)

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Marty.A
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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Marty.A » Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:25 pm

Top effort mate by your recent catches your getting a fair dose of omega 3 in your diet. :-D

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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Trumpeter » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:30 pm

Lol, yes plenty of omega 3 , I think we're starting to grow gills here and B&s it would've been a very good day to try out an sp, perhaps rolled in a bit of Pilchard juice?

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Re: St Leonards 24/4

Post by Lightningx » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:38 pm

Nothing wrong with plenty of omega3 mate :)

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