Apollo Bay - 08/06 - AM

Apollo Bay, Port Campbell, Warnambool, Port Fairy, Portland, Nelson
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StarrangerAU
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Apollo Bay - 08/06 - AM

Post by StarrangerAU » Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:04 pm

A late'ish report... but better late than never I guess.

It has been more than several weeks since my last trip to Apollo Bay, and with the cooler weather settling in I thought to try for some salmon off the break-wall. I left home around 3am to time my arrival an hour'ish before sun-up. The last 40km drive through the Otways had me slowed down to only driving at 35km/hr after two very near misses at 80km/hr from collecting large gum tree branches in the middle of the road. I guess the cooler weather is making the gum tree loose their branches? Anyway..arrived just on sun up and in one piece.

Geared myself up, and found a decent rock-spot halfway along. With a light wind at my back, and an a very decent swell pushing through I only put one rod out to test the water so to speak. After 30 mins soaking Pillies I thought to throw about some lures to see if that might turn a trick... and nope! Just a single 15cm salmon. So I moved along the breakwall back towards the carpark end, to escape the big swell and seek some shelter of the rocky reef. By now its probably gone on 10am, with only the one hookup and nary a bite, the wind starts shifting around to more northerly and making it very conditions so I thought to pack up and move around to the other side of the bay and put the wind behind my back.

So, just where the northern Bay beach starts turning rocky is great little turn-out to park the car , I changed into my waders, carried only just what I needed and made for the beach. How great was this spot, I found a giant square rock 10-12 foot above the waterline, it had great access to the flat top, it had a natural rock well of saltwater for my catches.... perfect !! So I spent the next 2+ hours throwing pillies into the gutter 40 meters out and managed to land five x 35cm salmon and lost a few more on missed strikes. So an enjoyable day, and a new spot for me to try on my return trips.

Question: has anyone else sworn off from using Bonza pilchards from the servo's ? My gosh, they just turn to mush when they are defrosted completely. I wasted a lot of bait that just flew off the hook.

Cheers Folks :-)

Bugatti

Re: Apollo Bay - 08/06 - AM

Post by Bugatti » Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:10 pm

Great day out Mr Ranger, you are a Star for sure with a day out like that , , , , adapting instead of blindly persisting in the one spot.

Nice little haul too.

I posted in the Sardines v Pilchard thread, we try to get loose frozen food grade Plillies and stock our bait freezer for the same reason. Not only do some Plillies just fly off and become berley instead of bait , , , , they are that soft (even with half hitching the tail) that one tap from an inquisitive fish and they are off the hook, both the Pillie and the now grateful fish. It's a pain seeing a nibble and knowing there is probably nothing left on the hook for the decent bite.

Cheers, Bug

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Re: Apollo Bay - 08/06 - AM

Post by StarrangerAU » Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:43 pm

Bugatti wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:10 pm
....... Not only do some Plillies just fly off and become berley instead of bait , , , , they are that soft (even with half hitching the tail) that one tap from an inquisitive fish and they are off the hook, both the Pillie and the now grateful fish. It's a pain seeing a nibble and knowing there is probably nothing left on the hook for the decent bite......
Yep, that was about the long n short of it. Of the Bonza variety, I could only use the tail section as the gut area was nextt to useless. Looks like I will learn my lesson n stick with Gotcha pillies in future. Side note: I have purchased Marios pillies n other baits whilst driving through Geelong and found them exceptional quality on the occasion I purchased them earlier this year.

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Re: Apollo Bay - 08/06 - AM

Post by Wolly Bugger » Tue Jun 11, 2019 5:12 pm

StarrangerAU wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:43 pm
Bugatti wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:10 pm
....... Not only do some Plillies just fly off and become berley instead of bait , , , , they are that soft (even with half hitching the tail) that one tap from an inquisitive fish and they are off the hook, both the Pillie and the now grateful fish. It's a pain seeing a nibble and knowing there is probably nothing left on the hook for the decent bite......
Yep, that was about the long n short of it. Of the Bonza variety, I could only use the tail section as the gut area was nextt to useless. Looks like I will learn my lesson n stick with Gotcha pillies in future. Side note: I have purchased Marios pillies n other baits whilst driving through Geelong and found them exceptional quality on the occasion I purchased them earlier this year.
Bascially the pilchards had been allowed to defrost and they were frozen again. That is what makes them mushy.

Bugatti

Re: Apollo Bay - 08/06 - AM

Post by Bugatti » Tue Jun 11, 2019 5:20 pm

Wolly Bugger wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 5:12 pm
StarrangerAU wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:43 pm
Bugatti wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:10 pm
....... Not only do some Plillies just fly off and become berley instead of bait , , , , they are that soft (even with half hitching the tail) that one tap from an inquisitive fish and they are off the hook, both the Pillie and the now grateful fish. It's a pain seeing a nibble and knowing there is probably nothing left on the hook for the decent bite......
Yep, that was about the long n short of it. Of the Bonza variety, I could only use the tail section as the gut area was nextt to useless. Looks like I will learn my lesson n stick with Gotcha pillies in future. Side note: I have purchased Marios pillies n other baits whilst driving through Geelong and found them exceptional quality on the occasion I purchased them earlier this year.
Bascially the pilchards had been allowed to defrost and they were frozen again. That is what makes them mushy.
Yes, the defrosting and re-freezing mushies them all up. Any "unused" Plillies we have after a trip, get frozen again only for cubing/chuming or mincing for berley blocks.

One other thing I think affects Pillie quality is the temperature that some freezers are set at. Some aren't set very low (to save running costs) and cycle around that temp.

There's a "general store" on Yorke Peninsula SA, that we call their Plillies "Sticky Plillies" , , , , because they are that frozen cold that they stick to your hands when straight out of the freezer.

Cheers, Bug

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