cronullafisher

Hey Guys, Im looking to get away for a few days up north (from Sydney) and want some advice on where to go after xmas. Basically anywhere as far up as Port Macquarie is what im after, we mainly chase kingys but am happy to target any predatory fish (salmon,tailor, snapper) as long as its not too far offshore (My boat is only equipped to be up to about 2 miles out) Any advice would be great, oh, and we would have chosen Port Macquarie but it is completely booked out for accom. - like totally booked out. Also - any advice on if most of nelson Bay is a marine park and cant be fished would also be good. Cheers!

Heys guys, went for our yearly trip to Bali with a mate, his girlfriend and my missus. Mainly to relax and surf, but i love fishing and so took a rod and some lures away with me. I researched the charter trips over there and because they target the US and Japanese tourists, they were really expensive. So instead, i paid some local guy about $35 (each with a mate) to go trolling just behind Kuta. Some we were geared with my lures (deep diver and squid-like skirt), two rods, one of which hada left handed real. As the sun set, i gave my mate the "good rod" and lure and i held the dodgy one with the left handed overhead. Before long i had a massive hit and a good ten minutes later i brough this GT up and into the boat. We didnt weigh it but we reckon it was somehere around the 15 pound mark. Awesome fun and we had a few guys come up to us on the beach saying they had paid thousands in fishing expos over there and didnt catch a thing. So if your off to Bali, pack some lures, its worth it!!

thanks for all your replies guys - i really appreciate the advice. i was crazy out there, i dont know if anyone else found the bait ball but they were so thick my sounder was saying it was only 1m deep in 20m of water, because it couldnt interpret the bottom from the thickness of the fish! they covered around 100sqm of surface area hopefully someone got into the kings lurking below?

Gday guys, Ok ive been following stuff on this site for about a year and finally got it all right on the weekend chasing kings. Got some live squid, found a bait ball off cronulla and dropped the live squid into the millions of yakkas. I was geared with a heavy duty overhand rod n reel with 60pound mono. 7 kingy hooks ups – no pulled hooks. But no fish. They were just too big. They either run so hard they cut me off on the bottom, or they break the line if I tighten the drag too much to try and stop them. Can anyone give me an idea of how big these fish were if I couldn’t even stop them at all? And more importantly, what pound leader I need so I can get them next time? (I ended up putting on a steel trace but then they wouldn’t touch the bait) Exciting, but VERY frustrating too!!!

hey guys, same as the other day. heading out of the hacking at 530 friday let me know if you want to come...

Ahh spewin! I might go Friday morning if ur keen?

Hey guys, heading out of the hacking in search of kingys - prob jibbon Bonnie. Let me know if you want to come with. If u know where to get some squid or yakkas it'd b even better! Leaving about 9 am for a few hrs. Byo gear n go halvies for petrol n bait- weirdos need not apply!

you bloody legend, succinct reply with no mucking about. thanks a million bud cronullafisher

Gday Guys, Let me just say, ive only posted one or 2 things on this site – but ive read about a million threads, and its such a great site. Really great tips, stories and photos daily. So good stuff. Ok, so some advice needed…. I go after kingies, trolling is only producing rats so I want to start using squid. I can squid alright – but need the following questions answered – NB – I don’t have a downrigger or want to make one. Im saving up for one so I need to make do between now and then - Do you freeze freshly caught squid or put them in the fridge? - Is it better to have them live (e.g. catch them the morning before fishing)? - As I have no downrigger, can I just put a big sinker on, a leader, and attach the squid to a hook in order to get them down far enough where the big kings are? - How do I put the squid on the hook? - Cant I just buy frozen squid from the bait shop instead of cathing my own? - Also – is it better at high tide or low tide for squidding? I know that’s a lot to ask, but any help would be great. Get out there this weekend guys!!

Hi Raiders, Need some advice. Went out on Saturday and managed 8 rat kingys on a squid-like lure whilst trolling. We kept 4 as they were a tad under 70cm which was good. But under the theory “where there’s small fish there’s big fish” – how do you go about catching the big kingys? (assuming theyre there) I don’t have a downrigger and my small boat wont allow one – so any advice would be great! Ive got a red-head popper – should I be giving that a go? Cheers, Cronullafisher

Oh really I didn’t know they were different types. Got them on live prawns of al things. Go to baliwaves.com and click on fishing – and you can get some of those buggers for $100 each per trip As you can see – I was stoked!

Guys - recently went to Bali, The biggest/best fish i caught was a 65cm kingy (id love another one) But killed it in Bali - got 8 of these GT's yew!

Hi guys, Im a keen amateur kingfish fisherman who gets out as often as I can in my small 13ft rubber duck, outside the heads off Cronulla trying to catch the hard pulling fish we all love. I haven’t had much luck lately trolling with lures and am hearing a lot of talk about down riggers. A few downrigger Q’s: - How do they work? - Whats a good one I should buy? How much? - Are they ok to use with a rubber boat? - Do they only work with live yakkas or only live squid? - Are they worth it? Any advice is very much appreciated, as im trying to head out Saturday and gotta get prepared! Cronullafisher

ok great, thanks buddy. When i was just a kid years ago we used to get them just inside Gunnamatta bay near the fisheries. Is that still a good spot for yakkas?is it legal? Also – one other thing – I cant find anywhere a site that shows you water temperate for specific areas. Any ideas?

Hi guys, Its my first post on here and just need some advice. I live in cronulla and am heading just off the heads at cronulla in search of kingfish (if only the water would warm up) Just want to know the best place in the hacking to get some yakkas for live bait? Cheers, Cronullafisher