G'day again. Been away for some time from Jigcraft, its damn fine humans and the fishy-fun, inspiration and shared passion it houses. Work was the initial reason for the absence.
Then, well, no other way to say, but a life changing experience. Resulted in brain surgery a bit over two weeks ago. Then 12 days in intensive care. Close call.
Back home now and am off work for six weeks
. Hope to be able to do some fishing which isn't too taxing on the body (gotta keep blood pressure down) soon.
Anyway, no moaning. I ain't left this mortal coil so that's a win, and several separate very lucky events put the odds on my side.
So just wanted to put up a post I had been about to submit when stuff happened!
Something I love about jigs is their versatility. This is a little 1/8th ultra minnow head, tied with arctic fox (damn I lurve that fur):
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We were out on the Harbour, late winter.
Gulls were working some surface bait beside the towering cliffs of the Harbour Heads, but dispersed before we could even get a cast in.
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Next stop was among the moored yachts, in a bay just round the corner from the heads. I was flicking the minnow jig down deep, maybe 25 feet, when I felt a little tap. The strike was rewarded with, well, nothing but a bit of weight. Started winding in and really thought I'd just collected some weed. Then a little kick. So then thought I'd hooked a tiddler snapper which had itself been wound through drfiting weed. But no! It was a John Dory!!! Or Saint Peters fish in other countries.
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That spot on their sides is said to be the finger print of the saint. They hunt by drifting along, incognito, then extending their amazing mouth (I could fit my fist in even this smallish JD's mouth!). Very very very rare lure capture in the harbour (they spend most of their time in open ocean, down deep in hundreds of feet of water and even then rarely take lures).
We then scooted up past the coat hanger (Habour bridge) and found some surface action. The same jig took a nice Australian salmon (not a true salmonid, they are actually a type of perch) when cast to the splashes and greedy gulls and retrieved at speed. Didn't take a pic cause wanted to take advantage of what looked like a brief surface bite. Next cast scored a bluefish (called tailor here). Didn't get bitten off (miracle on 6 pound leader, which was attached to 6 pound braid mainline). Shouldn't have pushed my luck. Next cast, goodbye jig. RIP fella.
So to show you an Aussie salmon, here's my mate Al, fishing guru, with one of the sambos we got from that brief bite. The closeup I think shows how solid and powerful they are: leap like crazy, long powerful runs and lugging finales.
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Love how one jig can catch slow moving deep water lurkers and fast sprinting top water leaping predators.
And it's good to be back at Jigcraft!!!
Then, well, no other way to say, but a life changing experience. Resulted in brain surgery a bit over two weeks ago. Then 12 days in intensive care. Close call.
Back home now and am off work for six weeks
. Hope to be able to do some fishing which isn't too taxing on the body (gotta keep blood pressure down) soon.Anyway, no moaning. I ain't left this mortal coil so that's a win, and several separate very lucky events put the odds on my side.
So just wanted to put up a post I had been about to submit when stuff happened!
Something I love about jigs is their versatility. This is a little 1/8th ultra minnow head, tied with arctic fox (damn I lurve that fur):
View attachment 3
We were out on the Harbour, late winter.
Gulls were working some surface bait beside the towering cliffs of the Harbour Heads, but dispersed before we could even get a cast in.
View attachment 8
Next stop was among the moored yachts, in a bay just round the corner from the heads. I was flicking the minnow jig down deep, maybe 25 feet, when I felt a little tap. The strike was rewarded with, well, nothing but a bit of weight. Started winding in and really thought I'd just collected some weed. Then a little kick. So then thought I'd hooked a tiddler snapper which had itself been wound through drfiting weed. But no! It was a John Dory!!! Or Saint Peters fish in other countries.
View attachment 4
View attachment 5
That spot on their sides is said to be the finger print of the saint. They hunt by drifting along, incognito, then extending their amazing mouth (I could fit my fist in even this smallish JD's mouth!). Very very very rare lure capture in the harbour (they spend most of their time in open ocean, down deep in hundreds of feet of water and even then rarely take lures).
We then scooted up past the coat hanger (Habour bridge) and found some surface action. The same jig took a nice Australian salmon (not a true salmonid, they are actually a type of perch) when cast to the splashes and greedy gulls and retrieved at speed. Didn't take a pic cause wanted to take advantage of what looked like a brief surface bite. Next cast scored a bluefish (called tailor here). Didn't get bitten off (miracle on 6 pound leader, which was attached to 6 pound braid mainline). Shouldn't have pushed my luck. Next cast, goodbye jig. RIP fella.
So to show you an Aussie salmon, here's my mate Al, fishing guru, with one of the sambos we got from that brief bite. The closeup I think shows how solid and powerful they are: leap like crazy, long powerful runs and lugging finales.
View attachment 6
View attachment 7
Love how one jig can catch slow moving deep water lurkers and fast sprinting top water leaping predators.
And it's good to be back at Jigcraft!!!
