Hi all
Completed my second coastal voyage today.
Just docked at the geographe marina.
Beautiful day, pity there wasnt much wind.
I took a handline this time and one lure just incase.
Caught two big bonito in half an hour so was pretty happy with that :)
Much more enjoyable than my mandurah trip.
I dont see why the sailing season ends at winter, seems to be the best time of year for sailing and fishing in this part of the state.
When you catch something like that give him a cap full of your favourite spirit. It really relaxes him prior to the butchering and bleeding you are about to give him. You might as well have a slurp as well.
The practice tends to keep the cockpit a bit cleaner and saves you having to dong him with a winch handle or club with which you might miss and hit your toe or worse, cause damage to the boat.
Select to expand quotestonedpirate said..
haha
there is no way a tuna will be getting any of my rum :P
Bonito are not a tuna species.
Cut the fillets into smaller pieces. Egg and bread crumbs with parmesan cheese added, fry hot and fast.
oh rite, always wondered about that :P
thanks for the recipe, will try it next time
one guy told me to use it as bait coz it taste like crap. Glad I tried it because it was really nice
just salted each side and quick fried in butter. Taste and texture just like a chicken breast :P
Used to pole the crap out of bonito during the winter months. The ethnic community were the big buyers and still are. They are good eating but need to be cooked fast or they dry out. Excellent bait too, salt the fillets and freeze.
Nice catch SP. We always trawl a lure going past Bunbury on the way to/from Geographe Bay race Week.
We even got vid one year of us butchering poor "Juliet Tuna" When it comes to fishing, we are good sailors 
hehe
good job
felt like posting you a decent knife after seeing that :P
At least you had the good sense to use a bucket, my cockpit looked like a blood bath after the second one :P
hmmmm ..... Yachties you are ....... Fishos ... you might be .......... Fishmongers ....NO WAY!
Just out of interest what rig do you use, I've tried several times and caught bugger all
Select to expand quoteblackswan said..
Just out of interest what rig do you use, I've tried several times and caught bugger all
About 2 metres of thick shockcord followed by 15 metres of 4mm cord of your choice. Swivel then 10metres of 200lb mono, swivel then 5 metres of about 100lb mono to a 3 or 4 inch Smiths jig in silver or white will catch all you need. Yellowfin tuna above about 30 kilos will snap off the trace and marlin which you don't want anyway.
Bonito will be off headlands or over reef, juvenile bluefin and striped tuna and yellowfin along the shelf. When the water is warmer along the shelf troll close to floating flotsam/jetsam for Dolphinfish/El Dorado/Mahi Mahi.
My rig was much simpler
I never meant to fish and bought a cheap setup before I left as I left all my fishing gear at home
$5 blue plastic hand reel
30lb mono
$12 Halco laser pro red head
Tied lure at end of line, let out 100m or so then tied line to jib sheet cleat.
Caught the first one, probably towed it for ten minutes or so, every now and then would pull the line in to see if I had anything and caught two without trying :p
Easiest fish I ever caught
Bonito require no thinking and no skill. Just cover the miles and you can't lose
I am a fan of Makka Spoons. I unbolt the hook, widen the slot it goes through with a file so that the hook can rattle in it and then rebolt the hook in without tightening the bolt up and then peen the thread so it does not undo.
Then when trolling the hook should make some clickety click noises as the spoon goes through the water. Works on mackerel.
The rig of course is trace, swivel, cord and rubber shock absorber. Sewerage pipe "O" Rings are good.
Select to expand quotePoodle said..
My goodness that all sounds complex. We just tie a red lure on a hand line! 
Yes, WA has juvenile Blue fin tuna but by the time they get up the East coast they have grown and the average size is about 40 kilos up to around 300 kilos. While these are extinct according to biologists they can be in plague proportions some winters up here. Lot of small yellowfin and a few Mahi Mahi around 10 kilos are worth catching and the long shockcord will stop ripping their jaws off. Bonito are particularly prone for ripping off the lure so the shock cord is a good investment. The cord and heavy line is mostly to enable you to pull the line with out gloves though gloves are handy if your getting a few as the swivels can hurt ripping through your hands!
Those Makka lures look good cisco, especially now that smith jigs are made in NZ.
Thanks guys will try the shockcord next time we go south, I lost all my lures and even the thin wire trace last time.
Select to expand quotePoodle said..
My goodness that all sounds complex. We just tie a red lure on a hand line!
Not at all Poods. An excellent lure can be made from a champagne cork (I am sure you have wasted plenty of those.) with a trace through the middle and part of a chip packet cable tied around the waist of the cork. The skirt of the chip packet is then cut with scissors to look like a hula skirt which conceals the hook behind the cork.
That has to look like the flashest squid a fish has ever seen.
I'm sure Poodle was cutting up that fish to eat. Just a reminder to NSW sailors that it is illegal to cut up fish at sea, you have to return to the cleaning tables ashore before cleaning fish. If your eating it straight away it must be ok! If your cutting off the tail of sharks to bleed them then you have to leave it attached by some skin. The problem comes about because the inspectors can not check for legal sizes unless its whole. I always ensure all fishing gear is stowed before crossing the bar. So far the inspectors ignore me and jump on the runabouts, don;t seem to realise yachties also fish.
