A customer in the shop this week thought it was ok to put fish straight into a kill tank with no ice. This is not a good idea at all. With water temperatures around 28 degrees and outside temperatures close to 40 a dead fish in warm water will turn the flesh mushy and bacteria can set in instantly. A salt water slurry is the optimal option. This is generally block ice with salt water added to make an icy cold water slurry to put your fish into. It is important that you have the water icy cold.

A kill tank is usually not insulated either, so it will melt ice quickly. A good esky or insulated fish bag is the best place to have your fish once caught. Unfortunately, most boat makers don’t understand the how warm it gets in the north and kill tanks are large, uninsulated and hot. If you are going to keep fish to eat, you are crazy not to have the best methods for keeping it. Of course, it is also important to iki-jimi and bleed the fish for optimal quality of flesh.

Two English guys sauntered in to town with a fishing rod to hopefully catch a fresh feed of fish. They came in to the store to get directions and advice on fishing. With a packet of prawns they headed to town beach for the afternoon. They found large schools of hardy heads close to shore that were being attracted by the bait and berley the boys had put out. Then, to their surprise, large predatory fish came in close to them to feed on the bait fish. At dusk there was a feeding frenzy and the boys scooped up some live bait, threw it out and got blitzed. They then came back to the shop with big smiles and armed up again for the afternoon bite, only this time they had some heavier leader so that they could land the fish!

Peter ‘Baggers’ Baghonas caught his first sailfish this week. Onboard the boat Loaded Dice, the crew sighted nine free-jumping sails and raised seven, hooked five and tagged three for the day. Baggers and fellow angler Brad Gregory are pictured this week with a flash shot of the fish. As it is his first-ever sail, they took it out briefly for a quick pic, and will take future shots in the water. Last week I said I would give the reports on billfish a break, as it has been so thick this year, but I had to add this one in! Peter has entered his story and catch into the monthly fishing comp too.

Baggers sail