McCrae Beach 11/3

Gummy Sharks, Mako Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Elephant Sharks, Banjo Sharks, Port Jackson Sharks, Seven Gill Sharks, and more
Post Reply
User avatar
4liters
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:05 am
Has liked: 6 times
Likes received: 673 times

McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by 4liters » Sun Mar 12, 2017 1:18 am

Took the yak down to McCrae beach tonight for my first shot at a big shark. Not much to report. Nice conditions to begin with, almost glassed out.

First trip out I got all the way to the yellow marker before realising I'd forgotten to bring a sinker. Second trip out went to plan and I dropped the squid tube I caught on friday with a butterflied silver trevally stuffed inside it over the side and paddled back to shore. I reckon it was about 300m out, which would've left about 700m of 50lb braid on the Squall 60 - hopefully that is enough but I really have no idea.

After about an hour and a half I woke up to the sound of waves breaking on the sandbar about 200m out and got to the yak just in time to pull it up the beach away from some big waves that had come from nowhere. Not sure if it was just a random bit of swell or maybe the wake from one of the ships going past, it died down after about 10min.

It started raining about midnight so I pulled the bait in and started packing up, it was a bit chewed up by the sea lice but still good enough to have lasted another hour.

I think I'll do a bit more of this, it feels like a pretty laid back way to fish and when it works out the rewards are pretty good. Gotta bring a long handled prawn net out with me next time though, there's a lot of gars out and about at night. I might try the WPB side, arrive a bit before sunset and spend an hour trolling and squidding for some fresh bait. Can fish for gummies while waiting for the big baits to get hit over there too I guess.

The rig was 400lb clear mono leader with 2 10/0 circles, the top hook was tied using a uni knot snell, the bottom hook was just crimped on. I had about 1km of 50lb Rovex depth finder braid with a 150-ish meter 50lb mono top shot on the Squall 60LD. Strike drag is set to 8kg. I put a float on abut 40cm up from the hooks to try and keep the bait off the bottom and away from the worst of the sea lice. I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of people who have done this before as I'm kind of just making it up as I go along at this stage.
2015/16 Fisting Victoria Species comp total: 289cm
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle

Bar002811
Rank: King George Whiting
Rank: King George Whiting
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:58 am

Re: McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by Bar002811 » Sun Mar 12, 2017 8:10 am

Nice report mate good try!!

User avatar
Brett
Moderator
Moderator
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:23 am
Location: Mornington Peninsula
Has liked: 138 times
Likes received: 223 times

Re: McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by Brett » Sun Mar 12, 2017 8:47 am

Let me know next time and I'll try come with. I could of headed down last night lol, was just sitting home bored anyway.

I'm keen for a WP session myself, maybe not for the next 2 weekends though as I've got 2 much on.

If at mccrae, I'd be paddling another 200 or 300m out, it's shallow for a long way their and 300 to 500m of line should be heaps left on the reel.

Suspend your bait mid water if possible, it's not the lice you need to worry about it's the big black freight trains that are a pain. Lice can also be anywhere in the water column, generally with the moon nice and bright they aren't as bad as on a dark night.

Your setup sounds ok, but you might lose a few to bite offs with the mono, especially using 2 circle hooks.

User avatar
4liters
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:05 am
Has liked: 6 times
Likes received: 673 times

Re: McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by 4liters » Sun Mar 12, 2017 9:24 am

Brett wrote:Let me know next time and I'll try come with. I could of headed down last night lol, was just sitting home bored anyway.

I'm keen for a WP session myself, maybe not for the next 2 weekends though as I've got 2 much on.

If at mccrae, I'd be paddling another 200 or 300m out, it's shallow for a long way their and 300 to 500m of line should be heaps left on the reel.

Suspend your bait mid water if possible, it's not the lice you need to worry about it's the big black freight trains that are a pain. Lice can also be anywhere in the water column, generally with the moon nice and bright they aren't as bad as on a dark night.

Your setup sounds ok, but you might lose a few to bite offs with the mono, especially using 2 circle hooks.
Cheers, how would I go about suspending it mid column? Put the sinker 3-4m further back and use a bigger float nearer the bait?

What depth water should I be looking for? I assume dropoffs and other structure helps?
2015/16 Fisting Victoria Species comp total: 289cm
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle

User avatar
Brett
Moderator
Moderator
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:23 am
Location: Mornington Peninsula
Has liked: 138 times
Likes received: 223 times

Re: McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by Brett » Sun Mar 12, 2017 10:06 am

4liters wrote:
Cheers, how would I go about suspending it mid column? Put the sinker 3-4m further back and use a bigger float nearer the bait?

What depth water should I be looking for? I assume dropoffs and other structure helps?

We use a brick as a breakaway, tie it to the hook with light mono, then a balloon tied off to the leader once the brick is on the bottom.

I prefer 5m and deeper, but that can be hard to find without a long paddle in that area. eg, We have been paddling 300m out from Rosebud pier and still only just hitting 5 to 7m deep, add the length of the pier on and that's a friggin long way from the beach.

User avatar
4liters
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:05 am
Has liked: 6 times
Likes received: 673 times

Re: McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by 4liters » Sun Mar 12, 2017 10:19 am

Is this what you mean? (apologies for the crappy MS Paint job)

Image
2015/16 Fisting Victoria Species comp total: 289cm
Brown Trout: 37cm
Flathead: 51cm; Squid: 36cm; Australian Salmon: 51cm; Snapper 46cm; Silver Trevally 23cm; KGW: 45cm
Major Sponsor: Rim Master Tackle

User avatar
Brett
Moderator
Moderator
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:23 am
Location: Mornington Peninsula
Has liked: 138 times
Likes received: 223 times

Re: McCrae Beach 11/3

Post by Brett » Sun Mar 12, 2017 12:40 pm

Nope, have the dropper on the brick tied to the hook, no ezi rig.
suspend.png
suspend.png (9.7 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

Post Reply

Return to “Shark Fishing”