Another big couple of days on the yellowtail kingfish off Portland, with catches from the breakwall across to North Shore. Plenty of boat traffic over the long weekend, with a decent share coming home with the goods, and as is fishing plenty not so as well!
Aboard Cassius Cray yesterday, we were one of the boats that went home without a fish, second-guessing ourselves and questioning methods, tackle, and crew members (George Leishman dropped one…). But today, the only way Cassius was getting out was if the whole family was on board, and after bribing children with iPad turns, ice creams, lollies, and in the end one of my kidneys, we had the tribe aboard. An hour spend catching some live baits and an hour spent a couple hundred metres outside the Lee Breakwall and all was good, with two kings on board, Steve’s at 107cm and Oska’s at 100cm…
Many other boats have had absolutely epic sessions, reporting multiple hookups and big numbers. Methods have included casting stickbaits and soft plastics, squid strips or heads (fresh best but plenty of fish have taken purchased squid) – both under balloons or unweighted, and not to mention the humble pilchard accounting for a few. Mick Allardyce even reported yesterday, after casting half a tackle store’s worth of surface lures, having a triple hookup on 3 pieces of fresh salmon caught earlier since they hadn’t brought any bait!
