rickster

Hi Steve, trying to PM you but won't go through. Just gonna let you know another northside sneaky spot that I got a few at on Saturday, Rick

Great work Steve, have to get Stewy to study Liam's good form when netting fish.

OOOOOPS! I've gotta learn to read better. Sorry I was thinking of Captain Cook Bridge. Only place I've caught a few years ago was on the northern/western side of the big rock, probably last couple of hours on the run up. Rick

Pylons are definetely the best. 1st from the southern side probably the pick. I used to get a few on the southern side/Wooloware bay side just around the corner on the run out so you get very little drift. Rick

Sounds like there's gotta be a joke there somewhere. "A Minister, a Policeman and a suspect looking fisherman go into a bar.............................."

Don't worry Stewy, the rest of us will keep working and keep the economy going. Fantastic that you were able to put the boys onto some nice fish. Rickster

I really only target blackies, rock and estuary.I keep FC Rock and Nitlon in the bag but definetely prefer the Nitlon as it seems to have better knot strength than the rock. Still very important to lubricate and don't overtighten when doing your knots. Rickster

They are nice fish, Stewy. Look at least the equivalent of the harbour fish. I take it the water's a good colour so I might venture up into Chipping Norton to give them a go. Rick

Better than the St George floats. They seem to stay on top for the majority of the time, look really good but rarely go under. Then when it's just about over and everyone's ready to pack up, the seem to go down fairly consistently and just disappear . Every season....oops, I mean session, they seem to do the same thing.

Look out harbour blackfish. You're now gonna be inundated with Rooster, Manly, Canterbury and St George floats. As a mate said, the Canterbury floats should do the best as they seem to go down more often. (BULLDOG) Rick

Thoroughly enjoyed saturday morning Stew, a bit of a shame we couldn't stay a little longer but we'd caught enough anyway. It is strange when you both hook the same fish, we obviously thought he was too big for just one of us so we used the team work theory. Went out for a few hours yesterday morning and bumped into Rob, a brand new member, at Taronga. He'd run into Roosterman and his mates a couple of weeks ago and Steve was kind enough to pass on a few hints on where to get bait etc. Rob was very grateful and quickly joined fishraider. We only managed 3 fish, dropped a couple, but the company was good. Cheers, Rick

I think it will ease on "the twelfth" AS IN THE SONG!

Hi Royce, I knew you'd recognise this spot. Remember when you could fish both ends and also how we had to go through the hole in the wire fence to get access before they developed the land? Never had a problem with the residents, just the usual inquiries from the "locals". Haven't spotted any dory in years and not seen any bream either, just the kg plus mullet that just keep cruising around. Love to hook one, I've got plenty of hooks and trace. Cheers Rick

Firstly kingpin, thanks for your reply (I think) To answer your question, that is very simple. If we had much, much, much longer rivers, we'd only have the one tide OK I'm only joking and haven't got a clue.

I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but there's something I still can't quite get my head around. We'll use the georges river as an example as most of us would know it. Let's just say high tide is at 9.00am at Tom Uglys Bridge. This would put Lugarno at about 10.30 and Milperra Bridge at around 12.00. My problem is this: At about 10.00, the tide is already running out at Tom Uglys AND GETTING SHALLOWER!! But at the same time it's still running up at Lugarno AND GETTING DEEPER!! As is Milperra. At around 11.00 it's still getting deeper at Milperra but shallower and shallower at the other two spots. If water is running out at Lugarno how can it still be getting deeper at Milperra???? Where is Milperra getting the water from? As we know, the tide height change is the same at all places.In other words if low tide was 0.8m and high tide 1.8m it will be a difference of 1m at all three places. This may read like a trick question but I'm serious. I don't have a clue to the answer and neither did the two gentleman I fished with on Saturday. If anyone can shed any light to my mystery please do so, it would be appreciated. Until then, I'll just continue to lose sleep. Cheers Rickster

Headed out on Saturday with slam354(Steve) and woodchop(Daniel, AKA Netboy) to chase e few more blackies. Westerly was pretty strong so we ended up where we got protection and fish last week. Parking is $4.40per hour but not to worry, Clover Moore will soon have enough for the deposit on that new Mercedes she's got her eye on. Started around 7.00am and was a bit quite compared to last week but we were fishing the opposite tide. After an hour or so we only had about 4 in the bag. As the tide dropped they definetely improved, but most of the downs were fairly ordinary. They seemed to muck around a bit before finally taking off with the float. I also managed my token surgeon which gave me a bit of a hurry up. Daniel had to leave around lunchtime and by this stage we had 20 in the bags. Took a few pics including the boys biggest fish(notice there's no picture the author)and Steve and I continued for another hour or so. Got a few more and left them still biting. Overall a good day and good company. P.S. Went for a few hours yesterday morning with Vladimir up around Hunters Hill. Good conditions etc. but only 3 downs and 1 fish. Think they're definetely moving back towards the sea.

After a couple of ordinary trips recently, I caught up again with Steve (slam 354) to see if we couldn't find a comfortable, protected spot that still held fish. Headed east of the bridge on the southern side of the harbour. Started around 7.00, bit of burley and Steve's into a fish straight away. Hook pulled but apparently not the biggest anyway so let's keep trying. Within about an hour we've got about half a dozen in the bag, so Steve decides he'll hook a double. On one hook he's got a 6 inch blackie, on the other he's got a 6 inch surgeon. The surgeon must have been having a real good look at Steve's bait because that's where he hooked him. In the eye! Fish kept biting fairly steadily over the next few hours and our total continued the climb, as did the amount of money we kept feeding the meters. Around 12.00 things went fairly quite but we thought they may come back on again as the tide started to run out. Gave the meters their "lunch money" and ready to settle in for another hour or so of fishing. Gee that wind's got strong! Gee those clouds are dark! Gee we're getting wet!!!!!!. Packed up very quickly, couple of pics and we're out of there. Ended up with 21 in total, Steve getting the biggest at just around a kg. Also included a photo of Steve's "st george" float in business-definetely better than a "rooster" float. P.S. another school of big mullet showed up again, wouldn't look at the bread I kept throwing in but seemed to be feeding on the brown weed growing up from the bottom. Some looked over a kg. Rickster

Well done Steve and the boys. It is a buzz when you help a newbie and they get a few fish. Might have had even more luck with a bulldog or st george float Rickster

Steve, the more common name is "Tiger Blackfish" - NOTICE THE COLOURS. Used to get a lot around Balmain. You find them during winter from March to August. They're Balmain Tigers supporters but as you can imagine are rarely seen much into the month of September (finals time) OK I'm only joking, never seen anything like it at all. Rick

Hey wannabefisho and others, Speaking of blackfish floats, I make my own for estuary fishing and a few of the FR members have already tried them. Check a recent report from Roberta to see what they look like. Stewy,tide'n'knots and slam 354 have used them recenty used mine recently and seem to like them, maybe check with these guys. Stewy also suggested that I put them in "Swap & Sell". Stems are aluminium and balsa body so sit very straight. If anyone is interested I'll start making more and put them on the site. Only really a hobby and only looking for about $8.50ea to cover material cost and a little bit of labour. Would only be Sydney metro or allow for delivery. Enclosing photo as well. Rickster

Yep, that was my fish alright. Hardly had a chance to say goodbye. Definetely look forward to some more photos with next session with Daniel. I've got him in training walking around withs his arms down by his side with housebricks in each hand. It's for when we fish the higher walls his arms might be able to reach! Rick

Starting to think it might be near the end of the season. I went out yesterday as well and struggled. Got 3 early at Pyrmont but just fish, around the 450-500gm. Headed to Walsh Bay and met up with Daniel (woodchuck). We fished for about 3 hours for two fish. Should have had three but Daniel wanted to try his underwater camera so when i finally managed to hook up, I let the fish just play around while Daniel got the camera ready. He managed to get a couple of pics but I'm really hoping he got a good shot of my fish swimming away to freedom after spitting the hook while he's taking the photos. Hopefully he can get a couple of photos posted on FR to see how they turned out. Rick

Hi Craig, If you're near the Balmain area, you could do worse than try Mort Bay, end of Mort Street. You have a long concrete wall, a bit of a safety rail and fairly protected breeze wise. It's very deep, lots of pylons that may hold a few bream etc and who knows what else in the deeper water. If the kids get a bit bored there's also swings etc. You have a very good high tide around 5.30pm so worth getting there around 5.00pm Hope this helps. Rickster

If you want a good laugh check this site: 1)GOOGLE into BILLDANCE(2) 2)Hit VIDEOS FOR BILL DANCE 2 3) my favourite - Fishing with the pros

Hi Roberta, congratulations, at least you,ve christened it. Your added to the list of raiders that have tried the floats and got fish: Stewy Scrubby Vladimir Woodchuck R C 1 DGF Tide'n knots Slam 354 plus a few others i've given them away to. They are obviously lighter than you're used to but they do cast well with the aluminium stem and when weighted finely are very easy for fish to take under. Enjoy. Rick