Volitan

And another shot showing head in more tetail

Has anyone caught any of these odd looking trevally lately? There are masses of them on the Central Coast at the moment. At first glance they look like our common old silver trevally, but you can tell they are not by the long 2nd dorsal and anal fin, the lack of an opercular spot, thé absence of visible tail scutes, and the little rounded first dorsal. Also not a good fit for bigeye trevally or bluefin trevally which I read are the next most common in our area. After doing a bit of research, I’m thinking thicklip trevally. they are all about 200mm long so late juveniles very persistent and amazingly proficient bait stealers. anyone familiar with these?

Yarramundi is roughly 3 km below the upper limit of the saltwater in the Hawkesbury. The saltwater flows up as a ‘wedge’ - salt on the bottom and freshwater above. This suits flathead, being bottom dwellers. It also suits stingray - giving rise to persistent rumours of monster bass and cod in the Hawkesbury which break you off as soon as hooked. saltwater penetrates up to 143km up the Hawkesbury, measured from the mouth. the trout, however, is a surprising catch.

Nice bass. I love the colo. Salt water penetrates the Colo way up past the Putty Road bridge. Those rivers have a ‘wedge’ of salt water at the bottom which perfectly suits flathead, being bottom dwellers. cheers

Great fish and something I’d love to do too. I’ve heard that those salmon farms will be moved soon. Did you hear that?

Given that the fish’s mouth should be closed at this point as it is swimming off, the circle should work regardless of which way it faces. I think the biggest problem with circles is too much bait. They don’t work well where the hook and bait just become one big ball in the fish’s mouth. Naturally that stops the turnover effect. If you watch YouTube videos on professional long liners you’ll probably be surprised by how little bait they use on a hook.

I think most people respond to fish activity on the circle hook much too quickly. You need time for the circle hook to turn over in the fishes mouth and the fish to turn around and swim away from the anglers position - so the trace aligns with the fish’s body and the hook is dragged across the edge of the fishes mouth. For this to be effective the hook must pull itself into the set from behind (well, almost) - pulling from in front will pull bait and hook out of the mouth without hookup. remeber circle hooks were originally used on longlines - so completely unattended. When they first came on the market we called them Japanese longline hooks. I think the idea about snelling circles comes from the fact it aligns the hook differently, curling back towards the trace rather then with the shank aligned with the trace as you would want with a j hook. The idea is that the alignment of a shelled hook gives it a head start in setting itself. I don’t think it’s important - or would have much of an effect unless you are using very heavy mono traces on small fish. straight circles align better in a fish’s mouth - pulling the hook into the corner in line with the trace. Offset circles will twist and buck as they pull across a fish’s mouth, or so goes the theory.

It also grows very well in a tub of sea water in your back yard. Needs good light and occasional water changes.

Yep, what you say is true - one species will grow in many different ways according to habitat, time of year etc. the first one is U. Intestinalis - 100% sure about that. The second one less sure - probably the same plant growing in winter, fully submerged - but would have to see it close to be sure.

Both look like Ulva intestinalis to me. More info on Wikipedia. and yep, blackfish love it.

Yeah, I should go down to the boat ramp and have a look this weekend. See how some of the sedans handle it.

Thanks for the replies guys. Obviously there are some conflicting views there. Rightly or wrongly, I tend to think conservatively and give greater weight to the negative views so now I’m thinking what if I limit myself to a fairly lightweight tinnie of 14 foot max. I could limit the motor size to maybe 30hp. Would those who advised against towing with the Hilux feel the same with that rig? Or maybe a RIB. Wouldn’t those be lightweight? Really, a smaller boat wouldn’t be a big compromise for me - I’m thinking first year or two of use will be largely in enclosed waterways regardless of what I buy. I doubt I’ll be doing much distance towing either - maybe a trip or two to Port Stephens when the longtails are in the bay. If at the end of that period I feel the need for something bigger then I can choose between upgrading boat and car or getting a boat on a mooring. Getting a mooring appeals but it’s another thing I don’t know much about so I’ll start a separate thread on that. Cheers

Hi again. Who here solo launches ? What is your boat ? And do you find your boat easy or difficult to solo launch ? have you made any modifications for solo launch ? just starting to plan a boat purchase. cheers

Hi. I’m thinking of buying a boat. I’m probably looking at something in the 15 to 18ft category. Preferably something I can launch and retrieve on my own if need be. My current concern is my only car is a Toyota Hilux Workmate - manual cab chassis ute (ie 2 seater with an aluminium tray on the back). Anyone who’s driven one of these unladen will know they slide about a fair bit at the back - especially in the wet. I have concerns about how they will get traction on a steep, wet boat ramp too. We live near the Pretty Beach (Central Coast) boat ramp and it would be ideal to use that but it does look a bit steep and a bit neglected. I don’t currently want to sell the Ute or buy another car. I bought it when owner-building our home and it’s been great - it has a lot more work to do though with landscaping and building our garage still to be done. any advice? Anyone towed a boat with a cab chassis ute ? cheers

Ok. That explains a lot. I once saw a photo of him with a fly-caught kingfish in Jervis Bay and was puzzled - I didn’t know he had lived in NSW.

Are you talking about the WA Max Garth, of Garth Rock fame?

This isn’t quite what you asked for but don’t forget the first weekend of October is usually the start of the trout fishing season in NSW. What about a trip west of the divide, to fish rivers like the Coxs, the Fish or the Belubula (Lithgow/Bathurst/Carcoar regions). the way trout work is that in the off-season (June to September) they loose their natural wariness - so the opening weekend is usually the best fishing of the season by a long measure. The rivers usually house post-spawning fish too which ran up the river for winter spawning and have not yet dropped back to the lakes (Warragamba etc). After opening weekend the trout that remain get wary of fisherman and the river water heats up above their point of tolerance. There may be good fishing on opening weekend in some lakes too. I don’t know because I don’t Ike fishing lakes. I could give you my top river and stream locations if you wish - I won’t be using them anymore. Also, be aware I don’t know current conditions and what effect the rain will be having.

Great report and photos Jani. I read all your reports even though I don’t comment so keep them coming. id love to fish for grayling - there is something special about that fish in its cold, clear habitat. They seem to be very challenging however. is that polar bear country ?

I can’t speak for Woy Woy Bay exactly but people I know catch some good mulloway off a wharf in Brisbane Water nearby. I’d sum up their approach as use live bait, use a free swinging line as the mulloway drop very quickly if they feel something amiss, fish at night, expect the best results from one hour before to one hour after high tide. Judging by their experience the main thing is putting in the hours. They often do all-nighters - barbecue, sausages, beer, comfortable chairs and then sit back and calmly wait through a 2 or 3 am high tide. I’ve fished with them a few times but I don’t do the hours and so don’t get the result. Alternately, you could hire a boat from Andersons Boatshed in Blackwall and fish. Not expensive especially for the open 16 footers which are old and slow but comfortable. They may let you keep one overnight. Alternately, they will get one ready for you the night before so you can pickup in the very early morning just before daybreak. I’ve done that two or three times and twice got mulloway downstream of the Rip Bridge.

So tarwhine it is then. btw how is tarwhine pronounced. Is it simply like ‘tar’ as in asphalt, and ‘wine’ as in the drink ?

I make this a tarwhine. It’s a very small fish - maybe 150mm long. Location is Brisbane Water. Neither is a target species, so I’ve never bothered to tell them apart. Any opinions?

Is it realistic to expect to catch kingfish in the harbour in mid winter? in years gone by, when I had a small boat and access to the harbour, I left it till about November. not saying you couldn’t catch them, but they weren’t common enough to justify the time. outside is a different matter.

Yes, they are, although when I lived in NZ we called them Cobras and would have been incensed that Australia was claiming ownership of a lure which had been around since the 50’s.

Ok. You could ask the local tackle shop about bait. Maybe try some orange Berkeley powerbait - it’s basically a fish egg mimic. I’ve been thinking about the fish you’ve been loosing too. It would be nice to reduce that number. Are you sure you aren’t going too hard on them at the beginning - perhaps in your enthusiasm to get them on the bank? Trout aren’t like saltwater fish - trying to horse them around generally ends in tears. Go easy on them, especially when they jump. When fish jump shock loading comes into play - so even if the line holds you will get hook tearout . If you watch really experience trout anglers you will see them dip their rod tips and even bend their bodies forward when their fish jump. also, if your fish is clearly swimming towards snags then don’t increase your pull back - drop the pressure or even give it line. I guarantee you it will swim away from the snag. Trout don’t naturally swim for snags like kingfish do, in fact it’s the last place they want to be when hooked - probably to do with keeping away from ambush predators or something. If the fish does get snagged, drop the pressure and give a bit of line, about 50% of the time they will swim out of their own accord, which is better odds then you get if you have a tug of war with them. good luck tomorrow.

Also, you didn’t answer me on if you are going to the canals. I reckon it would be no more difficult to get a fish out of the canals then to get a fish out of the kawarau in the middle of Queenstown. Less skill required and probably less persistence.