Blackfish & farewell to a friend

I spent this past Sunday reacquainting myself with Sydney's blackfish population, in the company of good friend Alex Donnini. The fish were around in good numbers and we enjoyed action throughout the morning and well into the day.

Alex is a good blackfish fisherman. It's a skill he unselfishly shares with me during our far too infrequent blackfish raids. Alex's expertise was passed down to him from his father; last Sunday was the anniversary of Robert Donnini's passing, lost to the sea on a south coast ledge whilst chasing blackfish some years back. 

To honour and remember the man, Alex and I spent a fantastic day chasing blackfish. We laughed, joked and had a wonderful time while catching plenty of fish. Double hook ups weren't uncommon, neither was our raucous school boy like laughter whenever we hooked better fish that had our little centrepin reels spinning at a rate of knots.

Alex Donnini and a typical Sydney blackfish(luderick).

The best fish of the day was well over the kilo mark with quite a few reasonable sized specimens finding their way onto the rocks. Cabbage was the pick of the baits, stringy weed was successful also although we didn't bother trying too hard to plait the weed onto our hooks given the success of the cabbage baits.
It was interesting to note that as the day progressed the fish became more fickle - we were still getting quite a few "downs" but the takes weren't as aggressive with more subtle draws on the float rather than the more forceful bites of the morning.

We ended the day on a high and left the fish biting. We were more than happy with our efforts and grateful for the opportunity to enjoy such a glorious day on the water. Of all the fishing I've done recently it was one of the most enjoyable sessions I'd had on the water in a long while, not just for the fishing but for the banter, good laughs and good company.

Your old man would have been proud Alex.

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