humesy

G'day Rick, I had a bash for jew on the beach in late June. Fished 3 nights running but found the going slow. Lots of banjos, shovel noses and rays with a few tailor and salmon thrown in. Had much greater success in the same spot at the same time of year, 4 years ago. The spot for live slimies was as reliable as back then though. Would love to spend more time up there with my boat. Beautiful part of the world.

Hi there, I am not sure about a run of arrow squid but one thing is for sure. There are a lot less people fishing for them at this time of year than during kingy season. You should do OK.

Thanks for all the replies. I should add that the jewie on plastics was possibly 1000 casts in the making. Hopefully the next one will come along soon enough though. Its a great way to fish that hour before dark, when all is still and quiet. That particular combo (Gulp 5" jerkshad pumkinseed with 1/4 ounce jighead) has accounted for some great fish these holidays including a 65cm flattie and 35cm trevally. Cheers

G'day, I am currently looking at leasing a new Nissan Xtrail; the 2.0L turbo Diesel version. My boat/motor and trailor add up to about 700kg according to all the specs. Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle? I have done a search of some old posts and found some positive thoughts on the car but these are a few years old. Maximum torque is 360Nm Towing capacity is 750kg non-braked/2000kg braked Any thoughts appreciated. Cheers

I am in the same boat (so to speak). I will peel off the 4.75 sticker on the side of my Bluefin to avoid undue attention from Maritime or the Water Police. The dimensions listed on the boat maker's website state the boat is 4.90m. I believe having communicated with Fishraider Geoff, that boats can be measured and certified. This is his reply from Maritme regarding the matter. You will need to take it to a Boatcode agent to have it remeasured by a Boatcode agent, you can source these off our internet site. There will also be a fee involved with this check. I don't plan on wearing a lifejacket when fishing alone or at night (as I fish very still and quiet waters). Mark Webber had a point when he said we are becoming a nanny state.

Set out this morning after seeing the Spaniards get up in the cup with plans of launching from Roseville and heading out through the heads. Grand ideas but it wasn't much fun as it turned out. Took a long while to raise any baits but I finally managed a tank full of yakkas and headed out to the colours to see what whether there were any kings about. There were markings on the sounder but after two yakkas were stripped to skeletons by the dreaded leatherjackets and 3 huge chunders, I decided that the rough stuff just isn't for me (at least without the Kwells). Spent an hour or two squidding for 1 southern then headed to the calmer and more familiar waters of Middle Harbour. The water was mirror like and I came across a huge school of slimies and yakkas. In 80 ft of water, vitually the entire column had fish showing. I sent down livies but there was nothing other than tailor near the bottom hunting the baitfish. Unfortunately the live squid was done over by the tailor. I stocked up on some beatiful bite sized slimies and tried set off for another spot where again the water was perfectly still. The first slimie down came back with teeth marks all over it and the next one fell victim to the kingie in the picture (he went 70cm). He was put to sleep and not 3 minutes later I felt a good whack on the end of my light spin rod and a squeal of drag. Assuming it to be another kingie, I tightend the drag and prepared for the inevitable dive for the bottom. The fight didn't last long though and much to my surprise, my first ever soft plastic jew came to the surface. Not gigantic at 55cm but respectable enough, the lure was a Gulp 5" jerk shad in pumpkinseed colour with 1/4ounce jig head for those interested in that sort of thing. All in all, a top winter day on the water.

G'day gents, I am happy with the 620 except for a couple of issues. I used to own a Lowrance 515 so can make a reasonable comparison. I dislike the transducer bracket set-up and I have had problems with the unit coming up when I am travelling on the plane. Consequently, I lose a bottom reading at about 10knots and have to remember to push the unit down again to get an accurate bottom reading. The Lowrance gave me a reading at 30m even at full speed. I don't believe it is due to the installation as I have read of similar issues elsewhere. A poorly designed bracket would seem to be the cause. The Lowrance had an obvious temperature reading available when in normal fishfinder mode which was handy. The Furuno needs changing to data mode to get a temperature reading. Once you are travelling below 10knots, the Furuno goes great. I am probably not technically minded enough to give a full performance comparison but these tips might be of some assistance. Edit, I just read your link Geoff. I should have read it before typing the above message. Cheers

Good on ya Mike, Just be careful at the Collaroy ramp with the old girl (or boy I suppose, seeing as it was called Paul) if you are taking the boat out off there. Its a tricky launch and retrieve in the wrong conditions (high tide, NE breeze). Had to get the locals to pull me out one day. Otherwise the boat would have been sitting on the back seat of the car. Cheers

Cracker fish Mike, Great stuff. That would be magnificent on the BBQ. Good on you for getting out. I reckon this week would be prime jewie time too with the full moon coming and a nice dose of fresh in the system.

Well done stryker and I hope get to team up with Humesy on the northern beaches as you would not meet a more inteligent fishermen so keen on understanding the habits of jewfish than Andrew, that's for sure.... Cheers jewgaffer Oh Byron, If only it were true. I'd have caught that 20kg fish ages ago.

Yo Buddy! Good on you for tying the knot. I did the same last year and can't speak highly enough of it. I hope your mrs. lets you get out for a fish though (like mine) and she understands that it is good for our souls to be out on the water and bringing home the seafood. Let's get out there champ. Will send you a PM

G'day Byron, Great to hear you managed to get out on the water with Geoff and Jimmy. This boat of yours will be a real super machine by the sound of it. Mike (Zenman), what's the go? last year you had no canopy and this year you are in the lap of luxury. Harden up sunshine and go get yourself some jewies.

Hi Donna, Thanks for the compliments, I will definitely pass them on. We are not too worried about Kyle and company. Dannii was actually the biggest disappointment. She originally said to go for it (a modern song) but keep it in 40's style. When it came time for her to speak this time, she totally caved in to the other two and backtracked saying they should sing it modern too. Anyway, there are no hard feelings from the girls. They know they did their best and were happy with the way it came accross. Now all they need is lots of votes good people (that's a hint It's not me in the audience though I am there holding up the "You can ring my Belles" sign. Cheers

Tragic situation. I am assuming that it was a situation where someone went in and the rescuers ended up in just as much trouble as the rescuee. I strongly think that lifejackets should not be compulsory. Apart from the fact that it is pretty much not enforcable, rock fishing is an individual sport/pastime where its participants take their own risks based on their own choices. I compare it with climbing and mountaineering which was my sport during my 20's. I accumulated experience gradually over a number of years that enabled me to attempt increasingly challenging climbs, based on a strong understanding of the related risks. This to me was the essence of the enjoyment of the sport. The risks my climbing partners and I took were our own. We wore helmets and roped up on the occasions when we knew we should. We moved unroped when we knew we could. The thought of someone telling me when I should adhere to a mandatory practice, because of a law and as a result of accidents to uniformed/foolhardy participants would be totally abhorent to the nature of an outdoor sport. As with fishing, there were often (and no doubt still are) climbing accidents involving inexperienced climbers. Without wanting to make race too much of an issue, the Koreans were notorious for getting into strife on Denali in Alaska. Having said that, the Korean crew I saw at Shark Point in Clovelly were all decked out in cleats and inflatable emergency jackets which I thought was very impressive.

Thanks again everyone. Here is a link for the semi in case anyone missed it and would like to see what went down. (Sacha or Bonnie Belle as she is known in showbiz circles, is the blonde) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFVkYrNGd0 The girls have had a blast and will the show will hopefully generate a lot of work for them. It would be great if they got to the finals though, if only to torment Kyle Sandilands with another killer song! Cheers

Thanks for the well wishes guys. Just back from the filming. The girls nailed it but the less said about the judges, the better. Lets hope the public recognise real talent when they see it. Cheers all

G'day peoples, This is a quick note to let all my raider friends that my good wife is appearing in the semi finals of australia's got talent. She is one third of a vocal trio called The Belles and they are 3 lovely ladies who can really sing (in the style of the Andrews Sisters). Some of you will have had the pleasure of meeting sacha (Bonnie Belle) so you might care to tune in on Tuesday night. If you really like what you see and hear, cast a vote for the girls. They have worked really hard and are hoping that enough people appreciate their music to keep them going in the competition. Many thanks from a very proud husband. PS as a mark of Sacha's excellent character and vote worthyness, she included in our wedding vows last year (unbeknown to me beforehand) a promiss to always let me have time for fishing. What a woman!

Cheers fellas, The mysteries of the mighty Hawkesbury are slowly starting to reveal themselves. It is such a different ballgame to my normal stomping ground of Middle Harbour, where I catch jewies reasonably consistently. There is so much more water and tidal flow. Local knowledge is obviously crucial and I find that the waiting game is a large part of potential success. This means it is so important to pay attention to detail with rigs, etc because when the big hook up comes, you don't want to muck it up. It takes a new level of patience to fish a whole tidal cycle, replacing baits every 15 minutes, releasing eels, etc, without so much as a run. Even though it was just a schoolie (yes a thoroughly decent and tasty fish) I find it extra satisfying to catch a fish in a new location. Enough encouragement to do it all over again, and again, and again. Byron, I did have a quick look at a spot towards the mouth on the way home. The sea was as flat as it gets and my session was only a paltry 10 hours long at that stage. . There wasn't much doing but I note your suggestion with interest. Unfortunately I am going to be very busy over the next few months for the long sessions you favour. It will be a stretch to get together on the river to avenge the loss of your gear.

G'day, After dozens of fishless trips (apart from the odd flattie, ray, shark, catfish and numerous eels) a decent jewie has come aboard. I have seen 3, 15kg+ fish landed within 30 metres of my boat and last week missed a hook-up on a solid jew so results have always been just around the corner. Last night's fish wasn't a screamer (75cm) but was satisfying none the less. Jewgaffer Byron has been a big help along the way and yesterday's fish came from a favourite spot of his, at the top of the tide, right on dusk, on a butterflied yakka. Bait came courtesy of my mate's 4 and 6 year olds who had a ball bringing in the yakkas that afternoon in Pittwater. Cheers

Great report! Have you thought about a water filter?. It takes about 5 minutes to pump up a litre of filtered H2O and you dip the end of the hose into a tiny trickle of water.

I'm very glad to hear you have bounced back so well and great job by your hubby. I'm intrigued to know. What's on the other side? Kerry Packer reckoned bugger all.

Top effort; 2 in a night. I fished Sunday in the rain a few beaches south of you and had a busy session on the tailor and salmon. The kept me running between my 3 rods. I was disappointed not to have a jewie turn up to share the action.

Ahh the Call of the Wild. Can make a man do strange things. Great report Mike. Good to hear keepers are coming on board. I tried an experiment with that outlet to the tank. I put a small kitchen seive over the hole but as sonn as I put a squid in there, the ink clogged it up and the tank overflowed. AYou might be able to put some other filter over the hole. Ionly ever lost a couple of very small sized squid through there. Cheers

G'day gents and thanks for the input. Hooks were new Gamakatsus so am ruling out them out as the cause. Byron, I re-learned my knots after an evening with you on Middle Harbour when after a good hit, all I pulled up was the curly ended leader. My mistake that night was exactly as you described: "using the part of the leader that goes back thru the eye of the hook to the main line instead of wrapping with the section of the loop that goes directly to the tag end." I now make sure the knot is tightened by pulling the end of the trace, closest to the swivel. I also make sure there is 2cm of trace below the last twist on the snell, even if it looks a bit unsightly. Last night, I ended up with the same curly end but the rest of the trace (10cm) and the bottom hook was missing; therefore, it hadn't pulled through. So still a bit stumped. Maybe fishy teeth are to blame. Doesn't soothe the hurt of course; i've lost 2 big fish in my last 2 beach outings. Will triple check my technique and consider the sliding snell Mik. I did have a go a while back but didn't end up with anything resembling a trustworthy knot. Thanks again

G'day, I have been somewhat plagued by "one that got away stories" lately. The most recent being last night when a big bait was taken (45cm tailor head) and the snell on my top 10/0 octopus hook of a two hook rig failed; the 50lb flouro trace snapped. I did put a bend in the rod but for my 50lb trace to fail before the 30lb mainline suggests a problem. A year ago, I corrected a faulty technique when tying the snell and I believe I now have the knot correct. Is there an inherent weakness in the snell knot (such as line pulling back on itself). There are other possible explanations including the line getting a nick in it from other tailor that were actively feeding in the area but I am really interested in the physics of the knot itself. I use it on the octopus hooks as the most effective way of tying with a bent eye hook. Expert opinions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers