My first legal Blackfish

As I got into Iso fishing, targetting Blackfish (aka Luderick) was to be expected. With a lot of efforts going to various rock fishing locations, I still haven't managed to catch any decent blackfish (caught couple of baby ones when targeting Bream...).

This morning I went to Bradleys Head, a wonderful location if you are looking for a fantastic panoramic view over the Harbour Bridge, for another attempt. I started on the rocky patches on the left of the amphitheatre but the first hours was pure failure, not a single bite, the tide was at the lowest...

I then decided to change spot and went on the jetty right in front of the amphitheatre where a lot of weeds were growing at the base. All went very slowly, caught couple of Pufferfish, little buggers, but then the tide started to raise and I could see a big school of bait fish swimming in. Very soon after that, my float went for a slow dive so I strike and hookup with a mullet.

A nice by-catch to start the excitement.
As my float drifted away, I saw a big Kingfish chasing some of the bait fish at around 6 meters in front of me. He must have been about 1.20 meters! All I could do was to admire this majestic fish swim by.

Then suddenly there were some noise behind me, a couple of crow were trying to get a feed from the bread inside my bag... I chase them away and secure the bait.

Back to my float, it has drifted past the left side of the jetty and above some weed bed, it sank! Strike & hook up again! This time if feels bigger and the rod was bending nicely. That's when I had an experience of the self pulling action of the Iso rod. Those long rods are extremely flexible and because they are trying to regain their original straight shape, they are pulling the fish for you at the same time, all I had to do is holding the base of the rod straight up and the fish was being pulled towards me by the rod. Quite neat. The fish was swirling around in the water and I couldn't recognise this type of movement, until it started to swim straight that's when I knew it was a Blackfish, and a good size one. I haven't brought a net with me and wasn't too sure about lifting it up. Not knowing my new Iso rod well yet, I didn't want to risk breaking it by lifting the fish out so I worked it back to the stairs on the side of the jetty. On the way the Blackfish was trying to dive under the weeds but thanks to the length of the rod (5.3m) it was just a matter of extending my arm in front of me and the fish was pulled out from below the weeds. Awesome! I then just caught the leader and pulled the baby out of the water.

31cm it was, not too bad for a first legal size Blackfish on Iso rod. It was the first time I saw a legal Blackfish in real life, and I find it very a nice fish.

Both the fish were not a match to a size #2 Iso rod that is designed for Drummers, but it still was a nice fight and seeing the rod bending over is quite exciting. As I was away from home to work on a night shift in Sydney, the fish were released to fight another day.

Hopefully, I will catch more of them soon and looking forward to fight a Drummer too!