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jtp

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Posts posted by jtp

    Berowra waters

    in Kayaks and Paddling

    Posted

    I went there yesterday for a recon day. Bait balls everywhere and lots of baby tailor <20cm; must have caught around 10 on sps. I explored the flats at joe craft's bay and its tributaries. Was happy to see lots of small bream and some bigger models. Caught 2 bream @ 22 and 27cm and 4 flatties around the 30cm mark. Lots of mullet also. Very good spot to practice with sps and surface lures and relax. Looks like summer will be a good time to come back.

    Picnic point report

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    I've caught small jewies landbased under newbridge rd using small mullet going back more than 10years so don't know how it fishes now. As amkr mentioned have to be careful because people sometimes toss all kinds of crap down there; I've seen bottles tossed by pedestrians for example while I was fishing. It was also a very good spot for bream using mince meat mixed with bread crumbs moulded onto a hook unweighted. Also have caught soapies at east hill off the wharf and under the railway.

    RTM Kayak Tempo mods

    in Kayaks and Paddling

    Posted

    Awesome job! I was thinking of using a cooler bag to stash fish in the unused hull space but never got around to trying it. Is that what you are going to do with the hatch you installed? Lol when I first got my yak I thought it was a good idea to pop my fish in the front hatch (of a hobie) didn't know the spaces were connected and my fish were scattered throughout the hull. I now lug around a esky out the back, but if I'm going to install a live bait tank may need to free up some extra space.

    I have a kayak, now what?

    in Kayaks and Paddling

    Posted

    Hi mate, I use a thule side loading rack, i think it's called a hullavator. You can probably youtube some videos. It has assisted lifting. Makes loading and unloading my hobie (which is around 32kg) much easier for me. I used to use the rack and roll but switched over due to the weight of my kayak and my dodgy shoudler. Note you should check to make sure the maximum width of your yak will fit beforehand. You might be doing this already, but make sure to tie down the front and back of your kayak as well when you have it loaded on your roof racks. I've seen one almost slip out on the freeway in heavy winds.

    Get some bungee cords to strap down your gear/leash your rod in the event of strong winds, capsizing or if a fish pulls your rod out of the holder (has happened to me before) so you don't lose all your gear. Might also want to invest in a dry bag to keep your valuables protected.

    The other thing which made life easier for landing fish in the yak was a knotless mesh landing net - good for catch and release because minimises harm to the fish and protects you from spikes when it's on the yak. Only problem is if you have the net standing up in a holder it will act like a sail in strong winds so you sometimes need to lie it and strap it tight.

    I mostly yak in the georges and hawkesbury. Occasionally the port hacking. Give me a shout sometime if you want some company.

    Joe

    Braid weakness?

    in Fishing Chat

    Posted

    Hi everyone,

    I normally fish from a boat or kayak but today went for a landbased session in the georges because I was lazy. I was using my lighter setup which I use for the kayak; platypus 6lb braid to 8lb mono leader. Braid on the reel is around 4months old and used almost exclusively off the yak and boat and rinsed well after any fishing. I had 2 big hook ups that both resulted in bust-offs. Strangely both were way away from the leader (both fish pulling drag, drag was set quite light). After the first bust-off I didnt think muchh of it and re rigged. The second time I was quite frustrated. After testing the braid in my hand it was very weak and snapped too easily for the line strength, no visible defects. Ideas for the weakness? normal wear and tear? bad batch? (although doubt it because it has performed quite well till now). I've checked the whole spool and it is weakened the whole way so I now have to respool. Replacement suggestions would also be good.

    Thanks

    Joe

    Georges River day trip 06/07/15

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Nice work mate. I was out there from this morning as well in the hobie. Might have seen you as I fished from around alford's point bridge to lugarno. It was a slow day for me too. First time in a while that I couldn't entice any bream. Managed 4 flathead between 40 - 58cm but bites were very spread apart. I also hooked onto something solid with some headshakes that was not stopping but the hook pulled after 20secs. Were you using pillies as bait?

    Forster

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Nice catch and you sure did pick a good break in the weather!

    Thanks dude. Yeah started raining on the drive back to Sydney! Lucky the weather held out.

    Sounds like a great trip! Great work mate!

    Cheers scratchie_jnr

    Thanks buddy!

    Forster sure is a nice spot, nice catch Joep.

    Sure is, I try to head up that way at least once a year. Preferably during warmer months, but hey you go when you can haha.

    A few nice fish there.

    I would have kept the tailor for eating, 2 nice fillets on the BBQ. Flattie fillets would be OK as well.

    Thanks dude. Yeah I was thinking of ditching the jewie idea and just going for tailor but thought I'd better commit since I was already there and put my car through all that trauma. Don't think I would have done the flatties any justice over a gas burner + limited resources had packed very light and no nearby access to cooking facilities. Actually if anyone has nice and easy ways of cooking fish over a camp fire that would be great for next time so I can pack a few ingredients.

    Forster

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Hi all,

    Went camping up at forster the past couple nights.

    Day 1 plan was to have a beach session catching tailor and salmon for jewie bait. Was planning on getting to the beach at sunrise but I hit a ditch in the dark and had to take my car to the mechanic. Some panels underneath had come loose. 3 hours later I'm off to the beach. Missed sunrise but still had 2 hours before high at around 12pm. I spot a very nice close gutter running off to the side of the rocks. Using ganged pilchard I start trying to catch bait. It took 1 hour before anything took the bait. Nice tailor at 39cm. Dispatched and kept for bait. I filleted the tailor for 2 strip baits and cast out straight away on 2 snelled 8/0 hooks. 10mins later the rod buckles over in the holder and i'm thinking this is it, this is the long awaited 1m jewie. I pick up the rod and although it has good fight not typical of a jewie. It is pulling a little bit of drag but not much. It gets out of the shore dump and ends up being a nice 65cm sambo. A pb for me. Runout tide was about to start and I thought it would be wasteful to use the sambo for bait so it was released. Cast out the remaining tailor bait but it was taken by pickers. I did practice a little with a big paddle tail sp but the action didn't feel right in the surf. Anyone here use sps off the beach?

    Day 2 was out in the hobie at wallis lake targetting some flatties and bream on soft plastics. Managed a few faltties between 39 - 42cm. Only managed 2 small bream. All released. Using the trustworthy zman grub and squidgy prawn. A few hours before sunset I wade ankle-deep into the flats hoping for a whiting. Managed 2 but both were small. Both caught on a spinner i think?

    Will be fishing the hawkesbury and georges sometime next week, fingers crossed.

    Cheers

    Joe

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    Forster and Hawkesbury

    in Plan a Fishing Trip

    Posted

    Hi everyone,

    I'm on forced leave (accumulated too much past few years) for the next few weeks and aim to maximise fishing time. I will be camping up at forster this week and then hawkesbury the next. Will be yakking and landbased. Targetting mulloway, sambos, tailor and a mix of bread and butter species. Give me a shout if you are in the neighbourhood.

    Cheers,

    Joe

    Jervis Bay land based spots

    in Fishing Chat

    Posted

    Don't know how much help to you this will be, as it is a little bit of a drive from JB (maybe on the way there or on the way home haha) but shoalhaven heads by the river rd parking lot is a good spot for salmon and tailor. When I was working down there a couple years ago I would head down to the beach after work. Often the gutters would run in very close so it made life much easier. Strong current so star sinker is a must. Also supposedly good for mulloway but I never had much luck in that department.

    Joe

    Another jewwie attempt

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Thanks mate

    And that bream is probably around 35-40 years old! They grow around 1cm a year or maybe a bit more but I believe they grow slower as they get bigger so I love seeing these big old fish swim back

    Hey mate you're right in saying it could well be 35-40years old. As you and Greynurse have pointed out they go through a growth spurt and then their growth rate tapers off as they get older. Environment plays a huge role though, access to food etc. So some bream can reach longer lengths more quickly then others. It's pretty interesting how they age fish using their otolith bones like rings of a tree. Some links below if you want to have a read.

    Cheers JOe

    https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/76181/yfb-factsheet.pdf

    http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/375967/Yellowfin-Bream.pdf

    Jewfish

    in Kayaks and Paddling

    Posted

    I personally haven't done much jewfishing in the lower hawkesbury. I've found though using locally sourced bait is the way to go. If you are going with baits maybe give live/fresh mullet or herring a go. Can't go wrong with squid either. I've only managed to catch a few small specimens <50cm the times I have tried going back 5years or so so i'm no expert. Much harder now me thinks. Often in the warmer months you will get a lot of the smaller models coming through. Because you're fishing from a yak you can probably afford to fish a lot lighter. Maybe anywhere between 10-20pb mainline to 40pb leader to snelled hooks (2/0 - 6/0 depending on the size of your baits). I tend to fish on the lighter side, just be careful though when you go to set the hooks, your drag is set right I've snapped my line before doing this doh! If you decide to go to a tri swivel, you can make a loop in the line that goes to your sinker it lets you swap out sinker sizes much easier particularly if you are wanting to change to a lot of different spots with the tide.

    Hope that helps

    Joe

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