Wattsy
Member
Fished by the old gasworks jetty from 18:00 to 22:00. High tide was 19:52 and one of the smallest in the cycle at 4.72m.
I had three rods out with 4/0 hooks on a two hook flapper and a couple of up and over pennels. Baits were squid rag and mackerel.
I wasn't expecting much from a small tide but figured there might be some whiting and was looking for sizeable fish (hence the bigger hooks).
First indication was a drop back on a pennel rag and squid cocktail but nothing came of it. I baited up again with a whole king rag and got another about ten minutes later at 19:40ish which resulted in a reasonable feeling fish.
In comes this bass of just under 42cm.
At first I thought the whiting must have taken the top hook but then I noticed it must have been on holiday in the bass's stomach.
I set up a 7/0 with a size 4 stinger tied on with a small strip of squid and put that out. It didn't take looking for a whiting to locate it and begin presenting itself as a perfect in-situ live bait. I wasn't totally happy with the 7/0 but it was that or a 4/0 which seemed too small.
I did hear a tug on the ratchet a couple of times but not the screaming reel I was hoping for. It could have been something hitting the line, the whiting making a spirited dash, the tension in the rod tip winning, or a bass that couldn't get that 7/0 in its mouth. We will never know.
Anyway, the speed at which the whiting found the small hook had me change to a boom rig with 1/0 circle hooks and squid or mackerel strip. This resulted in a steady stream of whiting but they were all small and the circle hooks were only 50% effective at hooking them in the corners of their mouths.
Hopefully the bigger tides will bring some bigger whiting. Although not all too big as I'll definitely have a stinger rod out for the next month at least.
Overall worth going as it confirmed what I believed about the bass fattening up on whiting.
I had three rods out with 4/0 hooks on a two hook flapper and a couple of up and over pennels. Baits were squid rag and mackerel.
I wasn't expecting much from a small tide but figured there might be some whiting and was looking for sizeable fish (hence the bigger hooks).
First indication was a drop back on a pennel rag and squid cocktail but nothing came of it. I baited up again with a whole king rag and got another about ten minutes later at 19:40ish which resulted in a reasonable feeling fish.
In comes this bass of just under 42cm.
At first I thought the whiting must have taken the top hook but then I noticed it must have been on holiday in the bass's stomach.
I set up a 7/0 with a size 4 stinger tied on with a small strip of squid and put that out. It didn't take looking for a whiting to locate it and begin presenting itself as a perfect in-situ live bait. I wasn't totally happy with the 7/0 but it was that or a 4/0 which seemed too small.
I did hear a tug on the ratchet a couple of times but not the screaming reel I was hoping for. It could have been something hitting the line, the whiting making a spirited dash, the tension in the rod tip winning, or a bass that couldn't get that 7/0 in its mouth. We will never know.
Anyway, the speed at which the whiting found the small hook had me change to a boom rig with 1/0 circle hooks and squid or mackerel strip. This resulted in a steady stream of whiting but they were all small and the circle hooks were only 50% effective at hooking them in the corners of their mouths.
Hopefully the bigger tides will bring some bigger whiting. Although not all too big as I'll definitely have a stinger rod out for the next month at least.
Overall worth going as it confirmed what I believed about the bass fattening up on whiting.
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