On the Reefs in November

With the curtain closing in on the Bass season and the weather taking a turn for the worse, my mood followed suit. Spring is a long time away ….

A weather window had presented itself and it was decided that Pat was gonna get the Wahoo wet one more time this year, one last throw of the dice for the Soft Plastics over the reefs of Kilmore was on the cards.

Barry, Crevan, Pat and myself were on the slip for first light, boat launched, gear on board and smiles all round as we rounded the West pier and pushed out into the calm morning.

November morning in the South East

Rigging up the Soft Plastics on route to our first location, sure the buzz was only mighty, I was in my element. This was only my second trip on board Wahoo this year… scandalous carry on!!  It then came to light that some members of the Crew brought bait … Sacrebleu !!!  They doubted the pulling ability of SP’s over the reefs this late in the season.  Undeterred Barry and myself would not be turned, we would fly the flag for the lures 🙂

The fishing followed a similar trend that we have come accustomed to over the last few years, excellent fishing early in the morning, which then turns patchy as the day progresses over the neap tide.

As the tide ebbed it created a nice rip over some of the marks which is ideal for some good Pollock on the SP’s

This 8lb+ Pollock took a Lunker City Fin S + 35g Jig Head twitched over a 30ft drop off.

Pat landed this fine Pollock when he switched back to the SP's !

We picked up cod to 5lb over general ground, hitting the SP’s hard and giving a very good account of themselves.

Barry with a nice cod caught on a Hazedong.

Crevans Cod was not caught on Bait !

We picked up 4 Ling on the SP’s, and lost some better ones when they cut through the 25lb leader with their razor sharp teeth. Excellent fight out of these fish on the light gear.

A Storm Sand Eel & a Hazdong ensured this double hook up over a small peak.

Again I encountered a lot of Wrasse while experimenting with different lures, the lads had a good laugh every time I pulled one up…. It became ridiculous at one point, a Wrasse a cast for a duration 🙂

A Specimen Wrasse in November. This Wrasse took a One-Up shad on a 25g Jig Head.

Happy Days.

The fish seemed to be hitting above their weight at this time of year. Some fantastic battles played out over the day with a boat full of smiley heads all round.

Barry battling a morning Pollock.

Pat having success Gilling the SP's.

Meanwhile on the bait rods...

The bait the lads brought along was fresh Sprats averaging around 3 inches long and frozen Mack. These were tried in various ways; on jig heads/feathers/hokkai’s/jigs/flying collar etc and the results were not good. The lads switched back to the SP’s after awhile and got in on the action. They tried the bait at various times through out the day but it was not attracting much attention from any species on the day.

We encountered 6 species in total; Pollock, Cod, Coal Fish, Wrasse, Ling & Poor Cod. Quantity wise I reckon we hit a few hundred ( I didn’t take many pictures – caught up in the buzz!). which brought an end to another season afloat for us. New Years resolution is to get out more on the boat next year!

Another Wrasse.

Fearless.

A Kilmore resident.

Where the rough meets the smooth.

Rear view from Wahoo.

The Killarney heading out to meet one of her colleagues from across the water.

A great sight.

Well that’s another season over from the boat perspective. What fishing we had was of excellent quality and quantity.
Casting up tide of underwater structures and waiting for your lure to hit the zone is something I will miss over the next few months after getting the buzz back from this trip. If you have an opportunity to out in Kilmore late in the season either on a mates boat or a Charter boat I would highly recommend it 🙂

The Lure Boat season comes to an end for us in 2011.

  Your next one could be your best one.

Danny.