Successful weekend

[Mick Baker]

Last weekend was another round of our club competition.The way our pointscore is run is 20 points per fish plus 10 points per kg with a bag limit of 5 fish per species.This means that to remain competitive you need to target a number of species and not just concentrate on one species.
I decided to target bream, whiting and tailor.Normally I would also include flathead but the cooler water lately has seen the flathead slow down in the channel.As a result I included salmon as a target.They are good fun to catch and weigh well and there has been a few in the lake recently.
My first location was just inside the bar at the entrance to Lake Macquarie.I anchored up,dropped a couple of bonito and a loaf of bread into the burley pot and started a burley trail.A pilchard was placed on an unweighted 4 hook gang rig and cast out into the burley trail and the rod placed in a holder.A light spin stick was baited with live bloodworms for bream and whiting.First cast produced a nice whiting.This good start was maintained over the next couple of hours with a steady stream of fish coming on board.Most were legal size and it seemed like no time and I had my bag limits of bream,whiting and salmon with a by catch of a tarwhine and a leatherjacket.The bream were all in really top condition and very fat fish.The largest bream was 43 cm and weighed in at just on 1 kg gilled and gutted




A large school of sea garfish were feeding in the burley trail.As there was still a couple more hours before it would be worthwhile fishing for tailor, I decided to catch some gars to add to my bait freezer.A tiny no 8 hook was tied to a 3 lb line and a small bait floated out into the burley.The gars co-operated and a couple of dozen were landed.Trevally also got into the act and livened things up on the light line.Most were just below the 30 cm legal size but were still good fun.Two around 35 cm were added to my bag to weigh in.
As evening approached, I moved a km or so up the channel to the dropover where the channel enters the lake proper.This is where I hoped to catch my tailor.The anchor was dropped, the burley started, a pilchard cast out,the rod placed in a holder while I sat back and had a bite to eat while waiting for darkness to set in.
It didn't take long for the rod to bow over as a good fish hooked up.Looked like the tailor were also here.Not so.It turned out to be another salmon that was quickly released.Some time later and a couple of changes in location and all I could add to the icebox was one tailor.The bream and salmon which had been so welcome earlier in the day were now becoming a nuisance.Virtually every cast if a salmon didn't take the bait a bream would.All I could do was release them and hope for a tailor or some other species to come along.This was not to be so I called it quits and headed for the cleaning table and then home.
I had a top day fishing,a good feed to take home,A nice bag of fish to weigh in,my bait supply had been topped up, saving me having to buy pilchards for the next few outings.Even the salmon were appreciated by a mate who turns them into fish cakes.Certainly a successful weekend.

[LostNearBribie]

Fantastic Mick.

[JUSTIN_]

nice healthy looking bream.

Justin

[Didley]

Great report thanks Mick

[ActiveAngler]

Thats a cracking Bream Mick...great trip...

[Lukeyboy83]

stonk bream mate...well done

[ffejsmada]

Onya Mick, that's a cracker of a day!

Did you win your comp or is it tallied up at the end of the year?

Jeff.

[Bazil Brush]

Well done mate look's like there are a fair few fish down your way (Nice bream)

[Bracey]

Nice day on the water Mick! How did you go in the weigh in?

Dave

[3Macks]

Nice bream Mick. You seemed to have a great day.