Something almost spooled me at Lancelin.....what was it..?
Am new to this forum and fishing in WA in general but hope the veterans here can point me in the right direction.
As the title says, went up to Lancelin with a couple of friends for night fishing and almost got spooled by an unseen monster until the braid broke loose. Bait used was half a squid, unweighted and left to drift with the current from the northern end of the jetty.
The thing just took off and 20lb braid peeled quickly from the spool initially on light drag at a fairly constant speed to the north at first and as the drag was cranked up to almost max (abt 8kgs of drag), it headed straight west taking more line from the spool with no hint of slowing down. It did stop for about 5 secs and went off again when we tried to take some line back but looking at the way we were loosing line, we maxed out the drag and that's how we lost the fish.
The resident Stingray maybe? What do you guys reckon?? Tackle was a 10 kilo spin outfit loaded with 20lb Braid.
Cheers!
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15661
Date Joined: 29/11/05
Hey Mako
Hey Mako,
Welcome to fishwrecked. Certainly does sound like a stingray or a shark, but would be thinking more along the lines of a stingray. Were you using a leader of some sort and did you break on the braid or the leader?
Cheers,
Adam
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SHizz
Posts: 1556
Date Joined: 07/08/05
any head shakes or just
any head shakes or just pulling? Ill go for a stinyray or eagle ray too.
deefa
Posts: 642
Date Joined: 09/09/05
Lanno jetty
Having spent many a loooong pissy night on this jetty, based on your description, i can almost certaintly say it woulda been a ray. Theres some monsters that live under and around that jetty, nabbed a few m'self over the years. Have also managed small to medium mulla's and sharks, but mainly rays, and lots of em..... some big ol' bath mats live there....
10 kg gear wouldn't have touched some of those bad boys.... ;-)
mako24
Posts: 13
Date Joined: 22/06/06
Lanno Jetty
The braid could have busted near or at the swivel joining the leader bcos we got most of the line back.
Just to clarify, my mate was the one who got hit by the monster and he's just joined the forum last week under the nick of Shamu.
According to him and from the way it looked, there were no headshakes felt and it looked more like hooking up on a boat.....
By the way, how would you guys go about setting up your tackle to catch one of those bath mats? I reckon squid would be the bait of choice but how about the rigging and stuff...? Looks like I might have to bring out the 24kg gear!
Cheers!
deefa
Posts: 642
Date Joined: 09/09/05
24kg
Would be a start.... some of the monsters i've seen in and around that jetty would floss their barb with 24kg though...... Some freaking monsters down there....
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15661
Date Joined: 29/11/05
Monsters
Must say I saw the biggest one ever one day at Mindarie boat ramp. It seriously took up both boat lanes and had a barb as thick as both your legs which was a couple of meters long. I don't think anything short of the loud gaff would have stopped it, so wouldn't be suprised about some of the beasts up at Lanno.
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mako24
Posts: 13
Date Joined: 22/06/06
loud gaff...?
....what's a loud gaff?
Are the rays good eating by any chance?
deefa
Posts: 642
Date Joined: 09/09/05
loud gaff......lol
loud gaff......lol hahahaha funny.... :-D
yep, theres some biggens about thats for sure
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Bang Bang...Got him.
Nice Gaff "shot". Usuallly with a 303 or something equally lethal. Not that anyone on here would do anything like that.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
shamu
Posts: 99
Date Joined: 11/10/06
sometime we win, sometime we lose
i guess personally i enjoy the process of fishing, the preparation, the anticipation and the thrill of hooking on to some monster even with the odds against us is enough.... so what if the line snapped! sometime we win, sometime we lose......it would kill away all the fun using a loud gaff or dynamites!! if it is too easy, is no longer fun
lastly, alway interesting to meet up with fellow fishnos for a chit chat!
deefa
Posts: 642
Date Joined: 09/09/05
me thinx the term loud gaff
me thinx the term loud gaff was used tongue in cheek Shamu, too many ethically and morally responsible minded fisho's here to use a term like that seriously....
Actually my 1st interpretation of the term loud gaff was something along the lines of. in the panic and euphoria of finally nailing a "trophy" fish, ya pissed mate running about, torch in one hand, gaff in the other with you YELLING at him "GAFF THE F****R, QUICK, HURRY UP, GAFF THE F****N THING"...... hence loud gaff.... :)
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Agree Deefa
There is no way anyone on here would use one, I think these days it is just folklore passed down from previous generations that didn't know any better. In the rough tough world of the outback in the earlier days a shotgun to ward off crocs and large biteys would probably have been common as.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
Maverick
Posts: 1261
Date Joined: 06/06/06
SHARKS and guns
One old salt I know his first job was sitting on the big bouy in Albany harbour where they use to tie the whales up with a 303 rifle and a tin of ex army issue rounds and shoot the whites etc that use to come in and feed on the whales , back in the 70 and 80's there use to be people on the cliff above steep point and they use to shoot the sharks before they could chew on the tuna or mackie waiting to be gaffed.
12 g is still used in the north to prevent croc attacks .
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Ewan
Posts: 271
Date Joined: 15/05/06
loud gaffs
I reckon you'll still find some shiny shells at North and South Wall spots at Quobba - notorious for it!! Folklore has it that the loud gaff was also threatened with use at times, to secure the odd fishing spot from fellow homo sapiens at 4am on a July morning in some of these spots!! Twas the Wild West indeed!! People used to fish commercially (legally and illegally) from the rocks up there 10-20 years ago - high stakes!
shamu
Posts: 99
Date Joined: 11/10/06
fishing literature
looks like you guys know your fishing Literature pretty well! talking abt gaff, i have yet to commission mine yet! before my mates could get ready, that bastard bath mats gone! damn!