doing it hard in PPB a few weeks back.

I had the pleasure again a few weeks ago to fish with 2 of the nicest egi fisho's from Japan, Mr Nakahira (Chube) and Mr Kake (Kotaro) joined me for a pre fish for a couple of days prior to the Egi Grand Final. I have to say it was 2 of the toughest days I have had on the water, it did not help when I found out that they call Chube the wind God, it was blowing hard and made our drift fast thus making the fishing difficult and the teamp was about 35 degrees, I dont know how these guys lasted with all the gear on, I was sweltering in shorts and crocs. We covered a lot of water in 2 days for about 20 squid all up, I felt a bit better talking with some mates who said they could not find any at all in the same time frame. We battled the conditions all the same and had a ball doing so. Here is a few pics from the 2 days.

We also had a chance to play with some new light jigging gear that Gan Craft will be introducing to our market soon, PE1 and PE2 gear is a lot of fun and will suit our bays and outside in Vic waters perfectly and I look forward to seeing the gear here. Also had some fun catching flathead on the Big Spider Micro soon to be on aussie shelves.

After a days long fishing we managed to head to Gone Fishing Sales in Carrum Downs for another egi talk, another great night but this time we added a chef element to it, different thats for sure.

Jervis Bay

Image courtesy of Scott Thomas

A few weeks back I had the oppurtunity to head up to a place I have never before Gan Craft as they were in town doing some pictorial and film work with Fishing World Magazine, all started off well with the drive ufished, Jervis Bay in NSW was the destination. I drove up to meet with our friends Chube' and Kotaro from Gan Craft until a kamakaze Kangaroo jumped on to the road and made contact with the boat trailer near Broadford in Victoria, the roo managed to leave the left hand guard bent but no other damage, pulled into a road rest stop and managed to find some timber and used my jack to bend the guard back into shape. All good I kept on moving. I arrived in a nice small town Gerroa where I would be staying with our friends for a couple of days. I arrived to find both Kotaro and Chube' there but no sign of their fishing gear, was going to be a tough ask to catch a fish on film with no fishing gear, as luck would have it I had brought half my Garage up with me and included in the mess was a few Violence Jerks, this meant that the squid filming would go ahead. We had a fairly early night as the next morning saw an early start t a place called Hutchisons. In the dark of the orning we met with Jim Harnwell and his Camera man Scott Thomas who was kind enough to pop off a few shots of my boat floating something I dont have many of so massive thanks to Scott. Things started off a little slow but soon found the squid a long way from where we started off. We then got a call from the NSW sale rep Margret to let us know that they had arrived, Margret had picked up Yuki (osoi san) from the airport as he managed to miss his flight. It was good to see Yuki again, he always has a smile on his face. We headed back to pick them up and again headed back to where the squid were. Back in the same area Margret managed her first ever squid on one of the Gan Craft Australian Exclusive colors.
we spent a further 6 hours on the waters around Jervis and caught plenty of squid and salmon, although the kingfish were some what elusive, when we had arrived the reports from previous days had the Kings going crazy, however the should have been here yesterday phrase came up all too often., Not detered we kept at them and were beaten by them on the day.

The next day saw us again catching up with the fishing world team at the Shoalhaven River, this water way is known as a very versatile waterway with a good mix of fresh up high and salt down low with a brackish mix in the middle, the target was bass and again the should have been here yesterday phrase was baging between my ears again, we did manage one very small model that smashed a Gan Craft Big Spider Micro during lure testing, was a tough couple of days on the water but always great to fishi new water with ya mates.

Next couple of Days saw us head to Canberra, so far had done 1280km in 2 days looking at a few more to come.

Apologies

Massive sorry to every one that has been visiting this blog, I found out yesterday that my updates were not updating, for some reason the data was lost and I will update as soon as I can

Family Trip out on the PPB

Well it may come as a suprise too many that  with all the squid fishing I do that none of my family have ever caught a squid, the weekend gone saw an end to that with a family trip planned on Port Phillip Bay. Conditions started perfectly with no wind and a sunrise to die for, not sure how much the young one Maddison and my fiance Kim appreciated to early morning wake up at 0330 so we could be on the water by 0500 at Sorrento but we got up and made in time.

We did a few stops along the way starting in Sorrento and working our way over to the South Channel Marker picking up a dozen or so along the way, there is nothing like the look on a kids face when they get there first squid. Maddison had a grin from ear to ear and made all the right noises a kid makes when they load up on a fish, it was a very rewarding trip for me, I dont know who felt better me or her. Maddison was smashing them at one stage and had Kim and myself struggling for numbers untill we both struck back with a vengance.

Kim had never even been squid fishing before so this was also a first for her, in one trip we managed to break 2 squid virgins, from here we headed towards Portsea via Sorrento, cating away in Portsea I could hear a voice yelling at me from the pier, was good to hear Don Smith From Gone Fishing Sales in Carrum Downs getting a few from the pier, they ended up with 13 for the day between him and a mate. With only small squid around we headed for Point Nepean to see if we could find some bigger ones, not planning very well I arrived to find the tide gushing out at a rate of knots so finding a nice drift was tough. Packed up and again headed for Sorrento where I knew we would find enough squid to keep the whole family entertained for a few more hours.

These few hours shrunk very fast as some one on the boat turned as green as their shirt, although a bit of sea sickness never killed any one there was no need to stay out and be ill when we had caught and released more than enough squid to keep us all content, everyone had a great day I was wrapped to see the happiness on teh faces of my family as they caught there first squid cant wait to get out there again and do it with them some more.

Stage 1 of Boat pimping complete

Well part 1 of the boat pimping has taken place with thanks to Danny and Jo from Seaford Signs, they came in on their day off or should I say every one else's day off (public Holidy) to get the boat started, I have a big print to go in the middle yet and am excited to see how it will come up as it Danny the sign man, sorry about the pic it comes from my iphone and in my driveway will update when I get some on water pics over the next few days

Back blogging after the Christmas break

Taken a bit of time off to spend some time with friends and family over the Christmas break, was good to step away from the computer for a bit.

Dan with his deep fish on a UO-JYA

Did a couple of trips while I was off playing in the deeper water, with a mate Dan. We managed to find a couple of nice squid in those trips even though the calamari season normally slows at this time of the year with only smaller squid being caught.  We worked the deeper drops of Western Port from 8 to 22 meters looking for some squid that have been attacking baits of fishermen chasing Snapper and Gummy Sharks, many of the baits that have been presented for fish were coming back with the tell tale sight of the triangle bite in the back of the head so we put some egi in front of them to see what would happen and what do you know we found some squid and some good size for what we expect in February. Dan then took his son out to teach him the same as he has been learning and young Izzak landed his first squid egi style from a similar location, from what Dad (Dan) tells us he had only just cast his line out and before he could tie himself up he had this first coming back to the boat, great work from the young fella.

Young Izzak also on UO-JYA

With the change in many of the things we used to believe about the squid spawn and habits I have just written a letter of support to for Dr Corey Green at DPI to get some funding so we can start to get some serious answers about squid spawn, squid numbers and habitat. We hope that this research will get us on the way to understanding a bit more about the slimey little cephlapods and help us manage the fishery a little better if needed. At present we have zero scientific data for Southern Calamari in Australia, no one has ever conducted a census and no one has ever measured spawn cycle's. At first after reading the application I was a little concerned, in recent times fishermen in this country have been the subject to many species bans, closed seasons and unjustified closed areas for fishing, however, we have no data full stop on this species I decided that we as anglers have a responsibility to the species to ensure its future and we can not do this until we establish numbers, habitat and population doubling times.

Another deep squid on a UO-JYA

I thought I might throw this pic in while i was posting, on my return from a trip to Flinders a few days ago I came accross a massive boil in the water, the pic only shows a small area but note I was in the middle of the boil, fish were breaching for about an acre of water, at first I assumed they were just Salmon busting but with the water so clear I could see fish clearly, Salmon were in the school along with Couta, Pike and Slimeys all chasing Garfish. This means that there is lots of stuff chasing these fish into the bay, looking forward to the next few weeks when the Striped Tuna, Mako Sharks and Kings fire up just outside our great bays and harbors, no if only this wind would bugger off and let us all out to enjoy it.

Click on photo for better view

Merry Christmas.

Has been a massive year for me and all who have been involved in the Yamashita Squid Series 2011, from all of us here at Australian Egi Tournaments we wish you all a safe Christmas period and new year. None of which could have been possible without our supporters Yamashita, Gan Craft, Shimano, Fishing Fever, E J Todds, Gladiator Tackle, Lowrance and of course all those who participated in the events through out the year. I look forward to seeing you all at the Grand Final at Queenscliff in February.

Mid January I will be in Sydney to conduct a few Egi seminars in tackle stores, will also be hitting up Brisbane for a day or so to do another egi seminar and then in Feb heading to Japan for the Osaka International Fishing Tackle Show and to catch up with a few friends then coming home to Melbourne before heading back to Sydney for some filming, seminars and interviews with the team from Gan Craft Japan before racing home to get all ready for the Yamashita Squid Series Grand Final so its going to be a massive couple of months.

WP squid and a bass straight cruise

With the bashing that we have been giving Port Phillip Bay in recent weeks we thought it time to give the bay a miss and head over o Western Port for a quick look around for some squid and give the boat a big long run, we launched at Hastings boat ramp and made the long trip through the port to Cleelend Bight in the Eastern entrance to Western Port, was a great morning for a ride with the Northerly wind behind us we made it in short time, found my trusty patch of reef and though out the sea anchor to help maintain a lengthy drift. First egi to get tied on was the Gan Craft 3.5 Pink Shrimp head. First cast saw me strike into a half decent squid, not massive but nice for the first cast of the morning. After a couple more squid it was getting a bit crowded in the bight so we decided to head for Cat Bay in the western entrance for some peace and quiet. I thought with the Northerly blowing it might have flattened out the conditions in Bass Straight so the decision to go off shore rather than through the port was made.

At first as we stuck our nose outside it was swelly with no chop, the swell was only a couple of meters high but well spread out so it started as a gentle ride, then as we came around the corner into the full face of the ocean it started to stand up a bit with chop of about 1/2 a meter on top of the swell withe occasional 1.5 thrown in, driving front into the chop and swell the boat ate it up, it seemed to love driving into the conditions. That said I was not going to be able to drive into the swell front on for long with out hitting land so the tac off to the port side was required and a drive side on to the chop and swell was required. although a little damper than it was going into the swell again the boat loved it and with 3/4 throttle just cruised through and over everything that I threw at her, we did the whole trip across the bottom of Phillip Island and cut between seal rock and the nobbies, now I had a trailing sea and although the boat handled it just fine, with the massive chines that this boat has the trailing sea was not its fave position. It still went no dramas but lets just say I should have brought a snorkel or a stormey with me as it was a lot damper coming back in.

Safely back in the port we had a quick cast around Cat Bay to land a few more before we decided to head back home with the 30knot North blowing us all around the place.

Great day out on the water and thanks to Dan for making the journey outside easier, you feel a lot better about going outside in a new small boat that has had a couple of small motor issues.

Morning PPB session

With the weather promising to be good again in Melbourne I had to take advantage of the conditions and get out there and look for a few more squid, although the threat of a strong ESE wind had me worried after launching the wind stayed as a straight north until about 1100 and then it flattened off to a 5 knot south east breeze which made for a nice drift at the end of the trip.

I arrived at Sorrento at about 0630 with mate Dan who has been on many squidding missions in this part of the bay with me previously, the weather was a stark contrast from Wednesday as Wednesday was bright sun with slightly murky water, on that day I used a Gan Craft 3.5 Red Orange Shrimp that is bright orange with a shimp pattern and because the sun was high in the sky I picked this egi as it was translucent which made the egi stand out in the murky water. Today the water was gin clear and the sky was overcast, so it was back to my trusty Gan Craft 3.0 Pink Shrimp Head, this egi has a gold foil with an ivory body and shrimp pattern with pink head and olive body, the foil was perfect for the water conditions and light and the contrasting colors made for a tasty looking treat for squid.

First cast and I had a small squid of about 25cm hood along side the boat, pretty happy with the results I kept working the same area to land about 5 more of the same size, incidentally Dan managed a slightly better one of about 30cm hood, only hung up by both candles he made the decision to grab the squid by the head rather than lift by the jig. I dont know how he did it but he managed to get ink on just about every inch of the boat and not a drop on him, he got the second wave of the water blast and no ink, after a bit or laughter and banter egi back in the water to land a few more. The area quietened off a bit and the tide was still low we thought a trip to Point Lonsdale was in order to cast a few plastics around and wait for the tide a bit.

With a quick stop at Point Nepean we struggled to get a nice drift with the stiff North blowing us in towards the shore at almost 1km per hour, bit hard to cast a 1/32 jig head and a whiting worm around so we kept on to Point Lonsdale. As soon as we stuck our nose beyond the headland at Queenscliff the water became calm and we were protected by the land from the north. We spent about an hour flicking plastics around for whiting but could only manage to harass a few Wrasse, we were a bit time poor as I had a some stuff to take care of later in the day so we did a quick bolt around to Queenscliff to have a quick squid flick, again first cast with the Pink Shrimp Head Gan Craft 3.5 and I was into the squid again. Only 2 more from the area and we moved back towards Portsea.

Similar results to Queenscliff we found a patch of squid landed a couple and moved on back towards Sorrento as we looked at winding the day up. It was then that we found a Honey hole full of small squid, my mate Dan was after some snapper baits so we took a bag from the area and headed back to the ramp. Productive day squid wise but only average sized squid, looks like we are in between the spawn now and should not expect too many giants until June so I am going to have to settle for practice on the small ones until then.

Brighton Central Angling Club

After getting out on the squid on Wednesday I had enough time to wash the boat pack up my gear and head to Brighton to the Brighton Central Angling Club to talk all things squid with the members after their club meeting, during the meeting it was good to see a club involve them self in many of the political issues surrounding fishing and boating and also was refreshing to see a club taking advantage of the RFL small grants program to look at the future of fishing by running a clinic for kids teaching them fishing fundamentals by learning on bread and butter species such as carp. After the meeting a raffle was held and the members kindly raised over $300 for Beyond Blue (the shed program) a great initiative by the club to support a charity that Australian Egi Tournaments has been supporting through out the year, was a very humbling moment to see so many dig so deep for a great cause.

Meeting and raffle out of the way a sausage sizzle was happening and members both helped cook and demolish the stack of sausages on the table, I then spent the next hour running through what I could about squid and squid fishing in particular the varied Japanese styles that I have been learning over the past few years, lots of questions and no one fell asleep so it must have gone down ok, was a very friendly club that made me feel at home from the time I walked in to the time I left, the club was kind enough to present me with a club shirt and cap which will be worn proudly when the moment calls for it. Massive thanks to Steve Atto for the invite and for promoting the talk.

Some cracking squid

A few people have sent me some pics over the last few days of their catches in Victoria, certainly some nice squid getting about

First one is Daniel Windsor who landed this beauty off Waratah bay on a Gan Craft Uo-Jya in color 24 Drunken Red Stop

Photo By Benny Reinwald

and secondly is Luke Scicluna who landed a couple of nice ones on the same color egi in Western Port, looks like this color is doing its job a treat.

Image thanks to Luke Scicluna

Picture by Luke Scicluna

Normally by this time of the year the squid go a bit quiet or get smaller in size but great to see some bigger ones still about.

Well done boys.

For full size images click on the originals and they will open larger.

The ink Christening

Well I have done a few hours on the boat since I got her but today I finally took some gear out with me as she is now run in, was a cracking day on the water with a slight chop early ending with a calm flat day on the bay.





Started off doing some sight seeing and playing around with the trim but soon settled in with some squid. Started in Rye in the fields but only managed about 8 or so average sized calamari so I headed south towards Portsea, did not take long but in about 30 minutes I landed about 20 squid, no giants but still with hoods to 40cm they were great fun. With a heap of squid caught and released it was time to make my way over towards Queenscliff to see if I could find a few bigger models, not a taker there so headed towards Indented head where I found a heap of small squid to 20cm hoods. No luck on the bigger ones I made my way to point Lonsdale to some of my old haunts, again nothing of significance so I decided to call it a day, stopped at Sorrento moorings for a quick play when these blokes came and scared everything away so I just put the boat back on the trailer and went home.

New Boat

 Well as some folks already know while I was in Perth I bought a new boat from a dealer in Melbourne, settled on a Carolina Skiff Sea Chaser 1800 Offshore, its a nice 5.4m center console with casting platforms and all the nice options, took her for a wet run yesterday to start the engine run in, although I could not run her at WOT she was very nice on the water, I am wrapped with the ride of the boat, comfort and performance, buying a couple of sounders for her today and a lecky motor in a few weeks.