Volitan

I always read the gamefish reports (anyone can dream) but one thing I've never understood is the abbreviations. YBT is easy enough but what is the difference between SBT and BFT? Do you get Northern bluefin tuna off Sydney (meaning Thunnus orientalis, not longtails). Cheers Arron

If you have an old aquarium or a transparent container then you can fill it with sea water, put the weed in and put it in the sun. It will grow for 2 or 3 months like that - it fact it might grow like that permanently if you change the water ocassionally. I used to grow it in soft drink bottles, left on the verandah. Cheers

My aim this year is to catch a tuna - or at least get out there with the chance of catching one. I don't own a boat. I'd be happy with a charter trip out of Sydney or somewhere near north or south coast. The problem is there is just one of me - I don't know enough people interested in sport fishing to make up a charter. I tried to make up a charter at work once - a lot of messing around but no go in the end. I certainly cant afford to charter an entire boat - and not the multiple times that I suspect it requires if you want to be in with a real chance of catching a tuna. So it would need to be a charter that takes individuals. So can anyone suggest how someone like me goes about getting out tuna fishing. Anyone know a reliable charter that targets medium sized tuna (ie albacore, yellowfin) and takes individuals. I have talked to some charter companies in Sydney and they seem to be exclusively focused on chartering out their whole boat - I cant blame them for sticking to this business model as I understand its not an easy way to make a living and they probably find catering to a boatload of individuals is more hassle then its worth (maybe, perhaps someone can clarify ?). Maybe joining a fishing club is the best idea. There is a fishing club in a local bowls club of which we are members. The problem is they seem to be exclusively focused on the bottom bouncing/meat-hunting side of things. Are they all like that ? Just interested in the comments from people who know more about the local charter and recreational fishing scenes then I do. cheers volitan

Actually, it was McKanes Falls I was thinking about going to. I guess I will make one trip up there, and try and take the attitude that its the walk thats importat, not the fish. Cheers Arron

I was thinking more about jigs for targetting big kingfish in NZ, or maybe offshore NSW in winter. The rule seems to be big kingfish favour big jigs so I'm thinking making ones about 30cm long, which is what I saw used to good effect in NZ. No-one make these things? Cheers Arron

Hi. I'm interested in making some kingfish jigs. Its not really about saving money, its just that I like making things. Has anyone made them. Care to share some details. I've had a look at a couple i bought a while back. Seem to be some type of lead alloy over a stainless wire frame, covered in holographic print then a thick layer of epoxy. Can anyone confirm this? Cheers Arron

Alberto, back to the original post - where in Nz were these, and what method were you using. Cheers Arron

Ok, googled it. Bonitos.

Thanks guys. Whats a horsie anyway?

Hi. Can someone tell me how Avoca rock platform is fishing this time of year. What species can be expected and what method is best - I have a preference for pelagic fish. Is it a chance for kingfish, mack tuna - I would love to catch a mack tuna, or maybe even a striped tuna ? Also, if you didn't want to fish Avoca (I assume Easter crowds will be a problem), is there another platform on the Central Coast that is equally well regarded, especially for pelagics - and not too dangerous. I saw people fishing at the south end of Putty Beach - is that legal ? cheers Arron

Hi. I'm toying with the idea of spending a day fishing in the Coxs River (NSW). I'm thinking fly fishing somewhere between Little Hartley and Lithgow. Does anyone know the current river conditions - in terms of whether there is much water in the river and whether there are any fish. I should point out that I have fished the Coxs for 20 years or so - so I'm under no delusions about it being a great fishery - I would just like a day's walk along the river but with a decent chance of fish. Havent been there in 5 years so not sure what to expect. cheers Arron

Hi. Can someone please explain to me the difference between SEA and SWELL. I don't mean the dictionary definition - I've done plenty of Googling on the subject and I have seen lots of standard definitions for both - but I haven't seen anyone explain what the difference means when you are actually out on the water ? See, when I see a weather forecast like this : Wednesday 16 April Winds Southerly 15 to 25 knots. Seas 1 to 1.5 metres, increasing to 1.5 metres during the afternoon or evening. Swell Southeasterly 1.5 to 2 metres. Weather The chance of thunderstorms. then I expect to see two different types of wave - maybe some long slow rather glassy ones which are swell, and some shorter sharper ones which are sea. But I don't - I just see one type of wave, which naturally varies a bit in height and pointiness - but all look pretty much the same. So what is the difference between sea and swell from a boaters point of view. If swells are long slow waves which raise a boat but don't really rock the boat around, then If my main concern is avoiding days that will make me seasick do I need to worry about swell at all ? cheers Arron

After the Bay of Islands, I went down country for 4 days trout fishing. I went to South Waikato and the King Country – most people would think those are strange choices for a country with so many better locations – but I wanted to go fish the Waihou and Waiomou because I used to fish them 40 years ago and wanted to walk down memory lane. I’ve attached a couple of photos of the upper Waihou - aint it pretty. I’m showing photos of the river and not the fish because the fish were all small – though they were abundant. The King Country was a bit better. I fished the upper Waipa and the Maungakewa. The Maungakewa had some big fish. I really only fish dry fly (because I like to see everything as it happens) and it turned out to be about a month late for dry fly – there was no natural surface activity at all. With the surface so quiet, I mostly fished a large dry fly like a wulf or a humpy, paired with a small nymph on a dropper about 60 cm long. In the Waikato the fish were evenly spread between dry and nymph, but in the King Country they all seemed to prefer the dry fly. The way I always fish is to get in the river in my waders, and walk quietly upstream casting into the undisturbed water ahead. I can do this for hours on end, but it relies on having a river almost to yourself because it doesn’t work if you are continually walking into water disturbed by other anglers. That’s what I like about the King Country rivers – they are small enough to be wadeable and you seldom meet another angler. The thing I learnt was that fishing 4 rivers in 4 days is not real smart. Without local knowledge you tend to be fishing in the overfished, easily accessible spots, and not working out where the best parts of the river are till the very end of the day. Still good, nonetheless. cheers Arron

Hi Folks. I’ve been lurking around this site for ages – I haven’t done many posts because I never seem to do any fishing worth talking about. Anyway, last week I decided to put a stop to that and went to NZ for a few days fishing. First stop was Bay of Islands for 3 days to try for kingfish. I chose to go to the Bay because I was on my own and its well set up around the casual angler – which in this case means someone who just wants one spot on a boat – not wanting to charter the whole boat. Getting on a boat for a good day’s kingfish fishing at the Bay is about as easy as getting a cab in Sydney, which allows you to change your plans if you need to. Also the good infrastructure at the Bay means you can fly (or bus) in, fish and then fly out quickly so there is isn’t much non-fishing down-time and costs are kept to a minimum. However if you want big fish these days you have to go to Whitianga, or White Island or Great Barrier or somewhere else, prolonged angling pressure at the Bay has reduced kingfish size till 10-12kg fish seem to be the norm, and fish greater then 20kg are few. I’ll try and give some useful information on the fishing scene in the Bay. There are a number of operators out of the Bay, mostly taking 4 or 6 on a boat, cost about $200 – 250 pp, and leaving about 7:00 am and getting back about 1:30pm, or something similar. Mostly they leave from Paihia wharf, which is 5 mins walk from most motels and 10mins from the Caravan Park. Mostly its live baiting – so the first hour or so is spent catching yellowtail, and once there’s 100 or so in the tank then its off for the kingfish. On the boats I was on, the Skipper did all the baiting up, handling the fish etc, so I guess they anticipate most people having limited fishing experience. Most boats allow jigging, though I didn’t see much done. Most of the fishing was done on low profile reefs offshore in 30-60 metres. Deeper reefs had more reliable fish but a bad shark problem – which is getting worse and really starting to diminish the fishery. They use circle hooks, so no striking – just watch your rod twitch and then load up. The boat I was on had a 4 person limit – plenty of space for everyone. Best time of year is right now – for both weather and fishing. The only other fish caught were incidental – john dory, nannygai and lots of bait stealing snapper – including one 8kg+. Its not sport fishing – the drags are set tight and only the biggest fish will pull line out. Its common for the operators to do kingfish trips in the morning, and snapper trips in the afternoon. The snapper trips are cheaper ($90ish). Once the boat anchors, get your line down to the bottom as quickly as possible – the first couple of lines down always seem to take fish. The most important thing is choosing a good charter operator – there are some real duds who can ruin the trip for you. I was lucky, I went out twice with an operator who was awesome – and once with another operator who was OK too. For me it was one trip for 5 kingfish all around 10kg (21 for the boat, I think) and a handful of snapper. Another trip for 2 rats, then lots of kingfish but all lost to sharks, then a 12kg fish to finish. A final trip with a couple of rats, then the sharks moved in and all fish lost, then a last minute change of venue giving me a couple of fish like the one held vertical in the photo (13/14kg I think). The fish in the photo held horizontal is probably typical of the fish I saw caught, or maybe a little bigger. The shot is just of a sunrise on the Bay - just there cos I liked it. All in all - a very enjoyable 3 days - recommend it to anyone. more below ...

Hi Jaysen, was this fishing from a boat or off the bank? Cheers Arron

Hi blackfishing people. I've been doing a bit of blackfishing lately, and it hasnt escaped my notice that sometimes its a bit hard to get the weed to stay on the hook. This made me wonder why I've never read or heard of a reference to using bait elastic when fishing with green weed. Is there a reason for this, or do some people use it ? Cheers Arron

Thanks, I had a look at those but cant see any way to download them. Am I missing something?

Hi raiders, I'm trying to find downloadable tide charts - preferably in Excel or .txt file formats. I know there are lots of web sites around showing tides, but I havent found anything downloadable except some .pdf files which are not really suitable. Once I download them I need to add some offsets in Excel for some out-of-the-way fishing places. thanks Arron

Hi.can someone clarify what type of mackeral you're meaning? Slimy mackeral? Cheers Arron My website : www.patonga.me - wildlife, botany, fishing, local events etc.

Hi guys. First post. I'm a long-time lurker on your site. I've always been very impressed by the cheerful sharing of knowledge that goes on here but havent been able to join due to only having a hotmail-type account until now. Anyway, we have recently bought a place in Patonga (Central Coast, NSW) which has prompted me to put that right and join up. Now I've got a couple of questions. Sometimes I walk down to the Patonga wharf at night. Often there are people fishing there but I've never seen anyone catch anything except eels. I dont see why this is - there are lots of baitfish around the wharf and benthic organisms encrusting the pylons, so you would think that something bigger would come by to eat them occasionally. Doesnt seem to happen though. Am I reading this right - or is there a chance of catching something better off this wharf? I'm also wondering about the old quarry on the road between Kariong and Woy Woy - the one near the sign saying 'Ron Lamb the Sand Man'. There are some large pools here - are there any fish in them - perhaps a redfin or two? cheers and thanks Volitan