[Sandy Nelson]

Today, as i was sulking at not being able to go to the Don Funday
I went to learn how to skipper the club boat.

I don't think i'll ever make a sailor It was not a bad trip and the boat was easy enough to handle, it just this kind of fishing doesn't really do anything for me.
However we had a local guy on board so he took us to a couple of spots offshore where he know where are some fish.
There are very few fish holding features around the coast here, except for the oil rigs and you are not allowed within 500m of those . This is an enforced rule with a polis boat patrolling the area all the time Yes, we did get stopped but the guys were more interested in where we had found a few fish
What the locals do is get a load of tyres and palm trees and sink them with cement blocks to form a mini artificial reef.
after a few weeks the fish find them and move in, then they are the fishing spots.

anyway after some unproductive trolling looking for Spanish Mackeral and Wahoo, we did some baitfishing and hooked up with red and ruby snapper,i haven't killed fish for a long time but they are very good to eat so put a good few on Ice.
I apologise for posting picture of dead fish, but they are very good to eat



They were all rather decent sized, but even with lightish boat gear only the largest ones put up a decent scrap, i had 5 for my morning. I kept two of the reds including the largest one at about 2.5kg's (its the upper one in the picture)



Something different, might try it a few more times while here, but it won't be like float tubing haddo twice a week

Sandy

[Noel Kelly]

Yummy I love red snapper, very pretty fish. Its been raining heavily at the airport all morning so hope the fun day is not going to be a washout. Forecast to clear anyway.

[Matt Henderson]

Sandy,

I'm not sure why you are apologising for pictures of dead fish.  As long as they were taken for the pot then what is the problem? 

I was watching "Extreme fishing with Robson Green" the other night.  He caught a good sized shark just off an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, brought it in to the boat, put the gaff to it and then put it back in the water again.  I'm a complete novice when it comes to shark fishing but surely there is a better way of unhooking the fish than putting the gaff to it and then throwing it back again?

Cheers

Matt

[Rob Brownfield]

Mmmmmm..snapper...the SRC used to do "fish and chips" that consisted of battered snapper..the best!!!

Shame you can fish the platforms anymore. I learnt to dive off them, we tied up to the legs and down we went. Sometimes we used hand lines to get a few fish or actually dive down and pick up lobsters by hand

Trolling close to the platforms also produced Tuna and Cuda and the odd silver torpedo that was never landed.

Nice catch, jealous as hell!

[Steven Kidd]

I'd like to gaff Robson Green!

Hate that program.

[bruce]

Fishing round the rigs is brilliant, we have had Baracuda, jaks and the odd shark.

there was also a few Dorado but we never managed to get near them they didnt like the local delacays (spelling is rotten) that we had on the hooks.