twoblues

Great reading. I wish I could get out as often as that. I went to the Balmain East wharf on friday night for 2 squid, then back again on Sat night for zilch. I was there for about 5 hours!! I suspect that thing you saw jumping may have been a ray. They tend to jump clear of the water to get the parasites off them (so I'm told), but I've only seen it happen offshore. Two Blues

Nice assortment of fish there. The 20 bucks won't go into the record books though as someone here got a 50 just the other day

Come on guys, Lumpookey is making a fortune get him to buy you a decent rod holder . Good start Marcel. You can bet that when Ray grabs the rod for his first, it will be "the biggie". Its what happens

I would have hung around where you got the fifty bucks. I believe they "school'" so there might have been more around An afterthought. Maybe you were fishing at "The Banks"

I've been checked once, off Broughton Island after I inadvertently strayed into a no fish zone. They checked my catch and warned me away from the place I was fishing. About 50 metres from a legal spot. Fair enough. Has anyone ever seen them, at boat ramps or wharves checking the catches? They most likely prefer to spend their days out in boats (that we paid for) enjoying their day "at work". Although, I think some of the money goes into stocking dams etc. (Well, I hope it does). Two Blues.

Acting the fool can be expensive too. Years ago in Bougainville I was out with a few mates trolling lures. It was a quiet day and the other two guys were up on the flybridge enjoying an ale or two (well, it WAS after 7am). So I quietly handlined one of the lures in and put a bucket on the end, and dropped it over. Let it out and suddenly the reel is screaming. The big fella (115kg) came bounding down the stairs without even touching the steps, grabbed his rod and lifted it out of the holder. Suddenly a loud snap and the reel and remains of the rod went overboard, and he only had the butt in his hand. I'm falling all over the boat laughing, until I realised what happened. Unfortunately the Behemoth realised what I had done at the same time and the look on his face was priceless. An expensive rod and Penn reel overboard and it was all my fault. I had two choices. I run real quick, or I jump overboard. Then the skipper called out and told us the rod had hooked up on the ski boat we were towing. We pulled in the ski boat and retrieved the gear, and it only cost me a new rod. He still doesn't let me forget that one. Two Blues.

A "See Through Whale' Imagine how Jonah would have felt

G'day mate. Any of the bait and tackle shops, and some servo's have the maps, but they are usually the same as you will find on the DPI website. Those maps are pretty ambiguous so you have to study them carefully. Stupid things like, "this area is out of bounds, but you can catch livies, and you can fish without bait, as long as you don't anchor there". (That pretty much describes an area at Broughton). The zones are mostly defined by co-ordinates so a gps is useful, but I don't think any reasonable fisheries officer would fine you if you showed you were trying to do the right thing. Good luck up there, and check out the "Corlette Wreck" for some fun fishing. The gps marks are here somewhere and it is a good spot for live baiting. We had a good sized shark hook up last night on a livie, but lost it. There are school jewies at the wreck too. Two Blues.

Thank you Little Dinghy. All the very best to all Fishraiders. May 2010 bring lots of wonderful times on the water. Be safe. Two Blues.

Camel, I didn't see your post re Shoal Bay until now, so if you look for the thread on SW Rocks and Hawks Nest you will find my reply to that might help you. Regarding the shark, it was supposedly a white pointer 400m off the Hawks Nest beach outside. We recently saw a bull shark? up the river right at Karuah and I've been told there are plenty in there. Enough to scare me off. I used to take the kids behind the boat on a tube in there. Not any more. Just not worth the risk. Two Blues.

G'day Basil. I can't help you with Seal Rocks, but there is a good ramp right beside the bridge between Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens. There is another on the river side of Winda Wopper, but its not as good. If you look in the fishing reports about 3 weeks ago, I put in the GPS of the Corlette Wreck. Plenty of fish show up on the sounder on the wreck, but actually I still haven't caught a thing there as I've only fished it two or three times, and I've targetted Jewfish only. I lost a good one a few weeks back. My guess is there are snapper and bream there, but I don't know if the snapper would be legal. Its worth a shot. Just outside on the southern side there is ample live bait, and I know that monster snapper have been caught there (as late as 6 weeks ago). Its relatively safe if the seas aren't up and I believe they have caught pelagics there as well. If you troll around the islands you are liable to get bonito and kingies, but the island around to the left is a sanctuary and you are only allowed to get livies there. If your boat can handle it, Broughton Island has good snapper and although it looks a long way I get there in 20 minutes from the heads. If it takes longer than that, its too rough for me. That's my rule of thumb. Be very careful where you fish in Port Stephens. Get some maps as there are sanctuaries all over the place and you don't want to get caught. If you want to catch squid, they are at the Shoal Bay wharf at night. Good luck mate. Two Blues

Hey All. Went back to the Port on Friday night to get that jewie that busted me a few weeks ago. Launched the boat and went straight to Shoal Bay just off the wharf. First cast, two turns on the handle and I was on to a sizable squid. Asked junior to fill the bucket and as I lifted the squid out of the water, he let us have it with both barrels. It was hilarious. He managed to get us both in the face with one shot and we looked like the old B&W Minstrels. Luckily that stuff doesn't seem to stain the clothing (or the face) and a quick wipe got it off. I thought we'd get heaps but only managed one other, and no, I didn't get any fish that night. As a side note: We often would go for a snorkel at the fish sanctuary just inside the Coast Guard HQ. After the sightings of bull sharks inside, and white pointers just outside, I doubt we will do that again. Two Blues.

One stick of TNT. Light wick. Throw overboard. Put fingers in ears. Two Blues.

Thanks Mrsswordie, and all the other posters. I haven't fished often enough in the past 6 months to try the plethora of tips on offer, but as I am currently targetting jews, with some success now, it is evident that my fishing has already improved due to this site. Thanks again to all contributors. When I get tired of catching jewies I'll be trying for snapper up at Broughton. Cheers Two Blues.

Thanks Austral. Sure helps to know that (just in case). Two Blues.

Just reading the Fishing Reports section where Jim77 almost got booked for undersize fish. My question, if anyone has experienced this, is: What is the law whereby there are, say, 3 people on board, two rods out, but only one person is fishing with those rods? ie: the other two are sleeping? If a fish were to strike, then surely the only person fishing is the guy who picks up the rod with the fish on. Is one person allowed to have two or three rods out? Quite often I will have two rods out whilst handlining as well. If my son is sleeping in the cabin (or if he was woken by the commotion of Fisheries arriving), can we get booked? Thanks for any advice. Two Blues.

Hey All, I'm a relatively newbie around here and this is my first summer as a member. Its only early in the season, but already I'm amazed at the reports coming in from around Sydney. If this is the norm, then I've finally found the 10% of the fishermen that catch 90% of the fish that I've heard about. Is this shaping up as an excellent season, or are these reports usual at this time of the year? Do you think the fishing is improving due to the pro's being moved out? Enquiring minds want to know. Two Blues

That rock ledge could be photoshopped in. I saw a promotional brochure of Tomaree Headland (the northern headland at Port Stephens) which showed some people standing on a cliff top overlooking (SOUTH) towards Tomaree. Well, there aint no cliff north of that headland where any such pic could have been taken. My two cents worth..... Don't trust any pic at all these days. Two Blues.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Yes, I WILL get one soon, but thanks must go to all the posters with the tips in the jewie section. It showed me plenty and I doubt I would be as close as I am to getting the "big one" without the help. The GPS marks are 32.43.11 s x 152.05.26 e. (These have been converted so I could key them into my mobile phone - It put me right on the wreck). Cheers, Two Blues

Up in PNG many years ago we were out on the water when a storm struck. (Actually, most afternoons storms struck). One of the boats not too far from us got hit. The lightning struck the aerial (highest point) and went through the radio and zapped the skipper. He survived with minimal burns, but we were told later that we should have a copper wire attached to the aerial, and we should throw it into the water during a storm, so that there is a direct grounding for any lightning. I'm not sure if this is an old wives tale or not (I don't have any old wives) but it sounds logical. Two Blues.

Got up to the Bay again Friday night. It looked the better of the two nights to fish so we got the boat out and headed to shoal bay wharf to find some squid. Got one in about two hours so we headed back to the corlette wreck. The low tide was at around 6.30am but we fished thru the night for a heap of pickers but not much else. I had my 15kg braid out with a two hook rig with the body of the squid on. We had used the head and lost it to the pickers. I had learnt from my previous trip a few weeks ago to keep my bait off the bottom, and to slowly lift the rod up and drop it a few feet. We could see lots of fish on the sounder, but it wasn't until the first light that we started to get some action. I got a good run but as I struck it I came up empty. A sleepy voice from the cabin said " you pulled the hook from its mouth." I thought they were asleep, but there is always one "know it all" to tell you what you are doing wrong! So I calmly put the rod in the holder, loosened the drag, and said "it will be back". Sure enough, a few minutes later and "zzzzz"......."zzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ". So I picked it up and struck and came up solid. Head shakes and all, and it felt like a good one. Jewfish...... YESSSSSSSSSSS. Started to get a little line back and it was a bit of a tug-o-war for a few minutes and the rod was bent over. Then SNAP......... My Penn rod had broken between the third and fourth ferule. Dammit it wasn't that old or damaged After more anxipus minutes, I started to win the battle, but as I was getting more line back, it stopped solid. Hmmmmm, strange. I dropped the rid top and pulled again and it came solid again. No..... don't tell me its reefed me inside the wreck? Handed my rod to "sleepy" who was now looking over my shoulder offering "encouragement" with well chosen language He let some freeeplay in the line and felt the head shakes, but as he pulled in it kept coming to a dead stop. I took the rod back and locked up the drag, gave a solid pull and "ping", it went slack Inspection of the line showed no teeth marks at all, no abrasions, but my lower hooks' knot had failed. This wasn't a bad thing though, as we were never going to get the fish aboard and it saved my terminal tackle and the fish would be ok. We both agreed it was the big jewie we have been hunting for YEARS, but Disappointing, but at least we now know where, when and how to catch them so we will be back in a few weeks. As a sideline, just before we headed off we burleyed with the left over pillies and had a heap of livies at the back of the boat. We got about 10 slimies and 2 herring, but there were also some yakkas there as well (info for anyone needing live bait up in Port Stephens). Hopefully I'll have a better report in a few weeks AND some pics Two Blues.

Great report Jani. So glad you enjoyed our country and got to see many things that we who live here often don't get to see. I must take you to task on one thing however: We don't "accidently" push someone into a pub. Its always done purposely . Hope you come back one time when the weather is more accommodating. Two Blues.

We didn't try for any livies. One thing I forgot to mention though. Our anchor must have caught on the wreck somewhere and due to the persistent wind, the rope was frayed and it broke when I retrieved it, so if you manage to "catch" an anchor with 5m of chain, let me know Good luck guys, I'll be back up there in a fortnight. Two Blues.

A quick update on the trip for anyone heading up to the Port over the holidays: We went to Shoal Bay wharf on Friday evening and got 3 squid over the course of 2-3 hours. Saturday afternoon we found the Corlette wreck (first time on it). It looked good, some structure appearing on the sounder, along with some fish. Finally got the anchor to hold (the wind was blowing in from the east at about 15-20 knots - not ideal for that spot), although we were probably a little off to the back of the wreck. Had lots of hits from "pickers" but landed a barely legal jewie as well. Over the next 5-6 hours we got, and released, 2 shovel nose, one banjo and one port jackson shark and a decent bream. I was getting lots of hits from what seemed to be "big pikers", but couldn't manage to hook up. I let them run, no hook up, I struck immediatley, no hook up. Changed hook size - no hook up. Then I lifted the bait about 10 -15 feet from the bottom, and slowly let it fall a few feet, and stopped and jigged it a bit. BANG.... I was on. Ended up getting some more school (undersize) jewies. I think I have FINALLY found the trick to catching jewies, so I can't wait till the next trip in a few weeks.

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll probably try the Corlette wreck, now that I've fouind the gps marks. Haven't been on that one before. The thought of hammerheads there is daunting as we have taken the kids to the sanctuary behind the coastal patrol for a snorkel at times. (BTW, you should see the flatties that sit on the rocks in 2 metres of water there. Loads of them, its mouth watering )