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Angler Fishing13 Apr 20262 min readBy Angler Fishing Pro Staff· AI-assisted

Three Generations of Handline Anglers: Aussie YouTuber Finally Lands Target Tuskfish

An Australian fishing vlogger has finally crossed tuskfish off his bucket list using a restored family handline that has passed through three generations, during a chaotic Queensland reef session that also produced coral trout, a 10-kilo red emperor and a giant trevally chasing hooked queenfish.

Key Takeaways

  • 1.Mick of Micks Gone Fishing this week published a 40-minute reef session titled "Giving the Fish What They Want!" in which he and two mates ran both soft plastics and natural baits across broken coral country aboard a mate's boat.
  • 2."Finally ticked off a milestone," Mick said, adding the 10-kilo red emperor and four tuskies to the esky by session's end.
  • 3."It has been in the family for three generations.

Old tackle, hand-collected crabs and a grandfather's restored timber handline have combined to deliver an Australian fishing creator the species he has been chasing for years: a Queensland tuskfish.

Mick of Micks Gone Fishing this week published a 40-minute reef session titled "Giving the Fish What They Want!" in which he and two mates ran both soft plastics and natural baits across broken coral country aboard a mate's boat. The target species was tuskfish — a reef ambush predator also known as blue bone or blue tusk — and the hero tackle was a timber handline that had sat in retirement for decades.

Before the trip Mick stripped and oiled the handline, spooled it with fresh 80-pound line and rigged it with a 130-pound leader, a size-100 live bait hook and a number five bean-ball sinker. "It has been in the family for three generations. So fingers crossed I can christen it today," he said at the boat ramp.

The opening lure session produced immediate action in three to seven metres of water using a Samaki Sultan 4000 reel, a P2 Focal rod and Samaki prawn soft plastics. Cod, coral trout and queenfish hit within the first three drifts. Later a hooked queenfish was chased all the way to the boat by a giant trevally, prompting Mick's startled call of "I can't believe it's a GT trying to eat a queen fish."

When the tidal flow eased the crew switched to baited handlines using buffalo, moon and blue-eye crabs collected by hand. After several aggressive rod-busting bites on 80-pound fluorocarbon that pointed to big tuskies, the handline finally hooked and landed a solid tuskfish that came up vomiting jellyfish on deck. "Finally ticked off a milestone," Mick said, adding the 10-kilo red emperor and four tuskies to the esky by session's end.

Mick closed the video reflecting on the continuity the handline represents. "Three generations I've been catching on that thing. So, pretty cool to pull it out of retirement and give it a bit of a run," he said, flagging that he plans to lean harder into old-school bait techniques in future uploads. The session offers a reminder for Australian reef anglers that simple tackle, fresh crabs and careful reading of tidal pressure edges can out-fish flashier rigs when the bite turns on.