fenton patches trip

Jewies, big reds, macks & more - tell us how you went. NT, FNQ and Norwest.
pelletouse
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fenton patches trip

Post by pelletouse »

Hello guys
I just wan to share my fishing trip about last saturday. The weather was good enough to manage to go to fenton patches with our 4.4m boat a bit rough early in the morning but around 10 am really calm flat sea. we went and try to chase any reef fish on all of the wrecks and eventually looking for pelagic if we were lucky enough or good enough.
So, we've been fishing from 8 am till 1-2pm around all the spots at fenton apart catching a lot of batfish on many different location within fenton. We missed 2 big fish on a jig and that's it. Not many boat out there on saturday, I was really surprised. I was expecting to see a lot of boat there with such a good weather forecast. That was my first time there so I don't know if I was there at the right moment regarding tide, weather, moon or period of the year. So I was wondering what are the good day to go out there for a nice fishing trip and what are the tackle to use.
We tried many things jigs, soft plastics, baits we only got batfish on squid. So we might have use wrong technics as we are new for boat fishing in Darwin but before to go there we gathered a lot of information from experienced fisherman and from tackle shop in Darwin.
Apart that i that was a beautiful day, we managed to see a big whale jumping far away from us when we first arrived at fenton and around 12pm until 1-2pm 2 whales were cruising around fenton 1 big and a baby at 400-500 to 1Km from us, It was just amazing but kept our distance to be safe. So I was wondering is it common to see whales in fenton or around Darwin?
cheers
Last edited by pelletouse on Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:13 am, edited 1 time in total.


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theodosius
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by theodosius »

Cool. Never seen a whale up here, I've also never heard of octopus for bait. Maybe try squid next time, also chuck a small reefie out the back of the boat unweighted in the current for a spanish mackerel
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by mickkk »

I have had more luck out there at night then day time. Bat fish are always a pain, doesn’t always work but I go big baits to try to avoid them a bit.
pelletouse
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by pelletouse »

theodosius wrote:Cool. Never seen a whale up here, I've also never heard of octopus for bait. Maybe try squid next time, also chuck a small reefie out the back of the boat unweighted in the current for a spanish mackerel
my mistake for the octopus i wanted to say squid and we tried some live bait unweighted on the surface but didn't get anything too.
Maybe next time we will be more lucky if not it's not worth the long way.
thanks for the advice by the way.

mickkk wrote:I have had more luck out there at night then day time. Bat fish are always a pain, doesn’t always work but I go big baits to try to avoid them a bit.
what type of big bait are you talking about we used some 6-7/0 hooks with big stripes of squid or full pilchard, what else should we try?

cheers guys
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by NinjaFish »

I've seen pods of up to 20 whales between there and Bynoe that I think are Pilot Whales.

If your going to use jigs and plastics on the wrecks you need to be right on top of them or drifting over them and I find a 4 or 5/0 hook with squid or fresh caught fillets/strips best - you should attract something if you're off the mark a bit.

Sometimes the fish are just not on some wrecks and sometimes the Jewies school up 30 metres away.

Fishing an hour both sides of the low is easiest and most productive out there as it's easier to anchor and just let out more rope and if the fish are there they bite best on the outgoing.

Spend a bit of time out of gear and see how the boat drifts against the tide and factor in the wind. If you see structure on the sonar and just chuck the anchor out you can miss by 30-40 metres and waste your day.

I personally detest a full moon in the salt water but still doesn't stop me from trying. :)
pelletouse
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by pelletouse »

Thanks Ninja for your really good advice.
I'll take that in board.
I might try again anytime soon with a local fisherman
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STANDY
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by STANDY »

Try going past the sounder marks by 20-30 meters against the current throw the anchor and drift back over them and tie off the anchor as soon as you see reef on the sounder.

Have had luck with big octajigs with a bit of squid on the hooks.

Top and bottom of tides with half hour each way is your best bet.
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by Simmo83 »

I was out there a few weeks ago looking for Sailfish, the place was dead, of course i watch the sounder and went over a few of the wrecks and they where dead and barely anything in between. They might be getting flogged too often.
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by Simmo83 »

try Charles Point if you get another nice forecast, or Bynoe harbour if you're looking for bottom fish
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pelletouse
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by pelletouse »

Simmo83 wrote:try Charles Point if you get another nice forecast, or Bynoe harbour if you're looking for bottom fish
Thanks for the advice i'll try on another good weather but at first i'll start to focus on closest spots.
I'm looking to get some goldies and jewfish. Is it better during the night?
pelletouse
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by pelletouse »

Simmo83 wrote:try Charles Point if you get another nice forecast, or Bynoe harbour if you're looking for bottom fish
Thanks for the advice i'll try on another good weather but at first i'll start to focus on closest spots.
I'm looking to get some goldies and jewfish. Is it better during the night?
NT Wombat
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by NT Wombat »

Yes night time is better, you could save a lot of fuel and target them on some of the harbor wrecks, a search through this forum should give you an idea of good wrecks to target, like others have said anchoring is 90% of the challenge, the rest is using fresh bait. Fresh chunks of tuna and fresh whole squid (not frozen) are the best dead baits, but if you are fishing a wreck put down a small squid bait and you will catch small stripies, red fish etc. You can either hook them up live, or cut them in half as dead baits and you will stand a much better chance of temping a big jewie or snapper than using normal bait squid. Fish either side of the turn of the tides, neap tides tend to fish best as the water is starting to slow down and speed up, neap tides fish best over the slack water period. so on neaps you get maybe an hour either side of the turn, springs maybe half an hour. They are only short windows but if you are in the right spot, with the right bait you will do well, go chase barra in the shallows or pelagics once the water starts running too hard.
pelletouse
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by pelletouse »

NT Wombat wrote:Yes night time is better, you could save a lot of fuel and target them on some of the harbor wrecks, a search through this forum should give you an idea of good wrecks to target, like others have said anchoring is 90% of the challenge, the rest is using fresh bait. Fresh chunks of tuna and fresh whole squid (not frozen) are the best dead baits, but if you are fishing a wreck put down a small squid bait and you will catch small stripies, red fish etc. You can either hook them up live, or cut them in half as dead baits and you will stand a much better chance of temping a big jewie or snapper than using normal bait squid. Fish either side of the turn of the tides, neap tides tend to fish best as the water is starting to slow down and speed up, neap tides fish best over the slack water period. so on neaps you get maybe an hour either side of the turn, springs maybe half an hour. They are only short windows but if you are in the right spot, with the right bait you will do well, go chase barra in the shallows or pelagics once the water starts running too hard.
Thank you very much NT Wombat for your really good advice, I'll definitely take that in board. I am going to focus more in the harbor for the next couple of months and practice a lot but I think I need to find a good local fisherman to show me how to fish well on the boat, what to do and where to go.
Where are the best spots to get some squids?( i'm not asking for a secret spot but just the main spots).
And what about the tackle you use for jewfish and goldies? (look at the picture and tell me if it's right, the only difference with what I use is the swivel I don't use any and only a single hook 6-7/0).

cheers
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NT Wombat
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by NT Wombat »

The wharf in town or Nightcliff jetty on Dark moon nights under the wharf lights is the best place to get squid. Either use very small squid jigs or a drawstring throw net. That rig is basically right, just make the dropper between the swivel (or knot) longer to keep your bait out of the reef. Use at least 80lb florocarbon leader, any less will wear through on a long fight with a big Jewie. Big circle hooks give better hook ups, I use 10/0 circles chasing Jewies. The fish will generally be on the part of the reef/wreck facing into the current, so try to anchor upstream of the reef, and let your anchor rope out until the reef first starts to show on the sounder. I always pull up close to the wreck, cut the engine until I start drifting with the tide/wind. The direction you drift will tell you which direction to approach the reef from to drop your anchor. I.e if you pull up and start drifting from North to south, you need to anchor North of the reef to end up fishing on it. when the tide is running you might need to drop the anchor maybe 100 meters from the reef to get on the right spot. by the time the anchor has hit the bottom and you have some slack in the rope you need to be a fair way upstream from the reef.
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Re: fenton patches trip

Post by NT Wombat »

A big Jewie is a very powerful fish, it would pull that nice Mackerel you got at Lee point backwards, albeit at a much slower pace. Make sure you have good quality gear that can handle a big fish.
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