humesy

Howdie all, Anyone been out for a fish this weekend? This weather is the pits but it is tolerable when you are stuck inside writing school reports. I was wondering about the old fresh water flush theory for the jewies. Might it be worth a shot in middle harbour tonight? Even if it is just an hour of lure chucking in a raincoat. Am I desperate/crazy? Certainly feel that way after being stuck at the computer all f#%@ing weekend. Cheer me up raiders, tell me someone is catching jewies somewhere. aww hell. Back to the grind. Cheers.

Great kingy there champ. Hats off to the 4 yr old young fella for landing an 83cm kingy. More than I can brag about yet!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I have been told by many over the last two years that it is a matter of time. I think you need to learn your lessons. That's what I love about the sport. You can never know enough. You go through the no-hoper phase and into the lucky once in a while phase. Hopefully on to the I know what I'm doing phase soon. Thanks Mick for all your help while up at Harrington this year. Will be back soon. Thanks Red for all your recent advice and encouragement. Oops, I'd better stop crapping on, I think the band is starting up and they are disconnecting the mike.

Thought it was time for a change of pace tonight. My back is telling me to give the lil tinnie a rest for a while so I thought I'd hit the beach. First stop was the spit with the aim of catching some bait, tailor, yakkas or squid. Absolutely dead down there. Not even the toadies were interested in my berley. The mission was somewhat disorganised. Suddenly realised i was missing my knife and head torch. Picked up a new knife at fish outa water and as it was 5.30 on sunday evening, i had to settle for a $2.95 torch from a discount store in Dee Why. Anyway, in keeping with my entry into the murky and secretive world of the jewie fisherman, I won't name the beach. Suffice to say it has featured recently and seems to be fishing well. Caught a 30cm tailor using a servo pillie at about 6.00 and he was butterflied and sent back out to the suds. he wasn't out there for long. I had the 6500 in baitrunner mode and threw it into gear after about 5 seconds and it's game on. This was about the time i was wishing i had my new petzl torch on my head. It was totally dark and the tussle lasted a good five minutes. I recently learned a hard lesson up at Harrington about not trying to drag a big fish through the shorebreak. This guy had several runs in him and didn't want to touch the sand. kept the tip up and let him run as long as he wanted to. Finally, with a very excitable chinese lady looking on, he was left absolutely spent on the beach. he is 95cm and close to 10kgs i think allthough i stand to be corrected on this Cheers everyone, I am one happy chappy!

Great pics, Love the look of strain on your face and it looks like that tinnie has seen some serious action. I hate to be pedantic, but aren't they Joni Mitchell's lyrics at the bottom of your post? Cheers

Hey mate, I cooked a schoolie the other day (3kg fish). Nice and simple: pan fried fillet in butter with fresh dill, bit of pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Delicious PS, I am very impressed at the way you have taken to catching these jewies. seems like your recent lesson was very well received. Top stuff!

Good stuff Red, Your an inspiration to us wannabes. Would have loved to have seen your bro up on the windscreen!

Thanks everyone. You have gotta love it when you have a week off and the Mrs. is away. What else do you do but feed your obsession? BTW I can't help but notice that I would have won the Jewfish social with this fish. The fish came a couple of days late (and out of the wrong system of course). I was actually on the Hawksberry on sat. night and said hello to Stumpy and Hawksbury Buoy out at Flint and Steel. My little tinnie is not really big enough for a full night of jewie fishing. After 6 hours you start to feel like quasimodo. My mate had had enough by 10.00. Cheers all.

Well it has taken over a year but i have finally landed a kg+ fish in my little tinnie. I was starting to ponder some weird theories as to why I hadn't cracked a jewie from the boat. Was it the aerator that chugs away spooking fish with its weird vibrations? or were my baits carrying the scent of 2stroke petrol. I have read every article i have been able to get my hands on and put in some serious hours and tonight it has finally paid off. Started out at the rose bay ramp and went to catch some livies at a very trusty spot near Neilson Park. I have not yet failed to pick up yakkas there and they are always just the right size. They weren't about at first but sure enough, a huge school arrived after about 40 minutes. The only down side of the whole evening was that some dickhead imbecile was chucking rocks into the water around the boat every five minutes from the cliffs above. Seriously, what is up with that sort of behaviour? Anyway, I had a plan and I owe thanks to jewhunter for a recent post in which he mentioned that around Mcmahons Point was a good spot to try for jewies at this time of year. Balls Head was the chosen spot for the incoming tide. The plan was to find an eddy and fish that. At about 7.00, I noticed my rod bent over, just as a jet cat was going past. It didn't take any line nor put up a huge struggle but I was completely stoked. Rough guess at length is 70cms, and will post a pick soon. I have caught bigger jewies (shorebased) but what made this one so satisfying was that it seemed to be the result of a lot of research, observation and perseverence. Here is the pic (i hope!) and the jewie took the live yakka. Cheers, Andrew

Sensational Mick, You'll have me up there again in no time. The place is thick with the darn things. (or maybe the young fella has bit more nouse than yours trully). Hope you are keeping well, Andy

Howdy all, Very chuffed to be posting a report in this section and very stoked with this evening's catch. Took off from work way earlier than I should have. I had a mountain of things to do and all my better judgement was telling me to get on with it. Stuff it says I, there's always tomorrow. Karma was on my side from the beginning. On the way down the bush track down to the ol' fishing hole, some kind soul had hung my beanie that had fallen out of my pocket in the dark 2 weeks ago. The ol' fishing hole (Upper middle harbour) was teeming with mullet the other night so I thought it might be worth a crack at a jewie. flicked a tsunami 5" shad thingie (I forget the names of these things) about for fifteen minutes, when felt a solid bump. Didn't feel much weight at first and wasn't sure what to call it. I put a little weight through the rod and heard that beautiful sound of drag taking off. Now where did I put that net. Aww nuts, over by the tree. Managed to keep the rod up and pressure on the line while sneaking up the bank 5 metres to grab the net. She took a few more runs and came into view after a minute or two. She ended up fighting for a couple more minutes before i finally slid the net underneath. You'll have to take my word and i'll have to make a guess (no camera, scales or tape). 3-4kgs and 80 cm. A head on it like the proverbial shovel. Absolutely stoked. Magnificent evening on the water and a thumper of a fish that swam off strongly to fight again. No jewies about but I wasn't fussed by now. Cheers

Would that be a fish known colloquially as a butcher's %%%%%. So named because they are supposedly as slippery as ... a butcher's %%%%%. I said supposedly!

Howdy all, Here is the report. Could almost be summed up in one word. doughnut. three days of idiot fishing. not quite really. we did catch one nice bream and a tailor and we did sus out a few spots, including the bait grounds at west head where we caught squid, slimies and yakkas. anyway, fresh bait wasn't the problem. we fished juno on the run out for 3 hours, then moored in jerusalem bay for the night. 2 live yakkas swam unmolested until 10 the next morning. the tried the railway bridge where the bream were schooling around the pylons. back for more fresh bait at west head then on to cowan pt for the night. same story, not a sniff from a jewie. this time a large size fresh squid head went untouched all night. amazing really. i am very new to the hawkesbury but it seems incredible that there were not even pickers. anyway, 3 days of perfect weather so there is nothing to complain about but plenty to learn by the looks of it. could be time to hibernate and give it another go when things warm up. Cheers, Humesy

Howdie all, I am off tomorrow for three days on the hawkebury on a mate's, uncle's cruiser (gotta love those mates' uncles) to chase jewies. I know the water will be cold so i am wondering whether we should head upstream past spencer or try the tried and tested favourites such as juno and the bridges, etc. (my mate has watched jewfish secrets and taken 7 pages of notes so he is pretty keen to try all these locations) I have read a multitude of articles and have seen reference to jews heading upstream during the colder months. any tips raiders? Thanks, Humesy

Howdy, Have seen them off the island at balmoral a couple of times.

Howdy all, Fished the Spit again last night to feed the jewie obsession. No jewies again but a fair night's fishing anyway. arrived at sunset and set about catching squid. water was beautifully clear and lost a good sized specimin away from the boat. Left a spike out which was set upon by a stonker. Hood would have been 30 cm. You beauty says I; my friends coming over sunday lunchtime to eat a jewie caught earlier this year will love a bit of fresh calamari on the side of the plate. The head came off and was split in two for jew bait. I went to clean the body out over the side of the tinnie and thought to myself "ooh, this thing is slippery, better hold on to it tight". wouldn't you know it, it slips through the fingers in slow motion and out of my grasp. At that very moment, my brand new head torch from K###mandu dies on me and headless squiddy is slowly sinking in the dark. I make a fruitless lunge with the net and miraculously, head torch comes back to life to reveal squiddy 10 feet below the boat and well out of reach. You have to laugh. anyway, good sized tailor around again and kept one for the bbq. Caught a good sized pike as well. With squid, tailor and pike about, you'd think Mr. Jewie would be lurking somewhere. Alas not. See ya

hey Kevvie, I have used tailor as jew bait, but only fresh from the water, and preferably still bleeding. How do you find them as frozen bait? humesy

Howdy all, Fished the spit last arvo/night thinking there might be a few hungry jewies about in the dirty water. the water was brown from tunks park to the bridge an clean after that. i couldn't manage to raise a squid and had a devil of a time finding any yakkas. finally got onto a school off the island at balmoral after feeding the sweep for 20 minutes. Anyway, back towards the bridge. No action at the public morings so i tried the bridge itself at the top of the tide. Not much there but usual schools of tailor splashing on the surface. tried the western side on the runout and the poor little livies were nervous straight away. pulled in a descent greenback at 45cm and bled him for the plate tonight. then the rod gave a good buckle and another poor little yakka was off to meet his maker. the tailor fought for a wee bit before heading straight up. Out of the water he came like an inter-continental ballistic missile from a sub. Must have jumped 2 feet straight up. he was lip hooked and netted rather clumsily. went 55cm and had a big gut on him. he got to live again as i allready had 1 for the pot. No jewies, yet again. I have fished this spot numerous times and scarcely had a run. in fact, i have had my boat for 9 months and the biggest fish yet is about a kilo. all my biggies come from the land. Still a nice session though. love it when there is not a breath on the water. (and not a trailor in the car park at tunks either.) Cheers all

Last night's flattie was 65 again approx. it was a lot thicker though. seems like plenty to be had at the moment. humesy

No offence dude but that signiture is a little scary. Fished last night. another big flattie but still no jew. ah well

Howdy Raiders, i have fished the last two nights, putting the hours in pursuit of jewies. am i right in thinking at least half of us raiders are jewie obsessed? must be those pics coming from the mid north coast way. Anyway, my favourite hunting ground at this time of year is upstream Middle Harbour. Thursday was an interesting mix. using live tailor, i bagged a 65cm flattie and a thumper tailor (both returned), maybe 50cm. Biggest tailor i have ever seen in those parts by a long shot. those hungry fellas aren't averse to eating their young. last night, just 1 keeper, a 50 cm flattie, on a SP. (only my 4th success on the SP's but they always leave me feeling very clever with myself). then i thought i was on. there was fooling about on the baitrunner for a good 5 minutes. i was thinking either another lizard or could it be???? i stood with rod in hand, blood pumping ready for the big run. slowly, slowly it was taking line in freespool. ah bugger it, time to strike. i am on and the fight begins. fight is won but the result.... one dirty big pike eel. hideous damn thing. he kept the hooks, i kept the flattie. plenty of surface action both nights and dissapointed to be jewless. should i try for third time lucky or should i get a life? ah to hell with it. i'll give you the report tomorrow. PS, everywhere i fish in the harbour is absolutely thick with tailor these days. should they reclassified as a baitfish. i know none of us would dream of putting on a live tailor shorter than 30cm but do you think it would make a big difference if we did? Cheers all.

hey mate, as i just might have caught the one that got away from you, i thought i ought to share my wisdom (for what it is worth). i have only caught 4 jewies to date, all in the same spot so i am certainly no expert but i have put in a lot of hours and i feel like i am getting closer to regular success. rigs; from the boat i use a 7/0, 8/0 hook on a 1 metre 60lb leader, attached to a ballbearing swivel with a snapper lead running on 30lb braid. smae for land based except for the snapper lead, i use a bean sinker instead. i use live yakkas or tailor and squid if i can catch them. i have only tried a one hook rig for the live bait but have used 2 hooks on bigger slab baits (mullet, tailor) tides, i try to get either side of a high or an incoming tide for particular spots. these spots are around but are far more accessible by boat. examples include balls head and kirribilli where there is a sudden depth change due to a reef. the water swirls and eddies. otherwise, landbased, look for surface action, particularly mullet. all my fish have come when there has been mullet about. moons, who knows? the full and new moons coincide with evening high tides and that is when i like/am able to fish generally. the where is by far the hardest bit and it only comes together after many hours of staring at the water. my best tip is get chatting to as many people as you can. i squeeze as much as i can out of the tackle stores and if you buy your gear regularly from one place you should get friendly and useful advice in my books. i am certainly friendly myself and always leave with lighter pockets so the advice should be forthcoming. btw, where did you lose your fish? best of luck, hope i have been of some assistance

Went down to the old spot this evening after a %%%%% of a day at work. The spot near mum and dad's where it all began back in my teens. it was the first time back since last year when i struck a bit of success and it's a magic place on a warm autumn's evening, set in the bush but only 10 minutes from Chatwood. Anyway, i had that ominous feeling on arrival. there was plenty of surface action which turned out to be Bonitos, cruising along the rocks, like F-16 fighters and chopping into the baitfish. i set about catching some livies and picked up a few tailor. on they went live and within an hour, there was fooling about on the baitrunner. he took a run after a minute but no hookup. the poor old tailor came back twitching its last twitch, with the telltale teeth marks. finally had a good hookup, half an hour later. he went 90cms/5kgs, gave a good account of himself and broke a loooooong drought for jewies. woohoo! As i cleaned him up, i found my hook and the whole tailor plus someone else's rusting 4/0 hook. Bad luck to someone out there but i guess it goes to show. he wasn't the fussiest of eaters. Happy Days everyone! ps seems like i can't upload the photo. it is 612kb. is that too big. any tips appreciated. There ya go Andrew ,nice fish as well Cheers Stewy

no worries phil, i am happy to accept the advice. when the guy in the tackle shop asked me which hook i'd rather have in my mouth, the choice was easy. i am after a feed and the J hook will do me fine next time. as for how many kingies i have landed, the answer is 0 but having had a taste of the action, i will be back real soon. it was like having a tiger on the line.

i have asked around at the tackle shops and had a couple bits of advice. the first was a case for circle hooks: that they use them on the longlines. any fish that was hooked was doomed. they simply stay on the line til they die and get hauled in later. the second was a case against the circles (and less technical): ask youself this. which hook would you rather have in your mouth with me pulling on the other end? the straight 8/0 or the circle hook. answers itself i suppose.