KaneMc

From the map it looks like only one side of the creek is protected?????? Here is the link to the map on the Marine Parks Authority site: Marine Parks Authority Site So what happens if you are fishing and your fish runs for cover in the protected zone?? Do you have to cut the line. Not very clear im afraid. KaneMc

Hi Jackell, I was down there a few weeks ago and the bay was pretty dead. Went on a charter and they reckoned it was still to cold for much to be happening. Chuck a squid jig or two in your kit as there are plenty of squid around. Close to Huskisson try the mouth of the Moona Moona Creek. There are some rocks on the left of it that get expose, try from there on the run out for some flatties just where the sand ends (south side). If that fails try the north side for a few squid as there is a good weed bed there. I also tried the mouth of Currambene Creek (which is right at the Huskisson township) but there were far too many rays around. Biggest one would have been nearly 2 meters across, not something you want on an SP rig. As nothing was biting I ended up burling them in close for a better look. May be good if you have a few kids tagging along. You should also check out http://www.mpa.nsw.gov.au/jbmp/ag-home.htm as there are some fishing restictions due to the Marine Parks down there. It's a great spot though, have fun. KaneMc

I'll throw my hat into the ring... No .... throw my ring into the.... um... just count me in would ya. KaneMc P.S. You ever thought of selling merchandise Ken? Raise some money for the site. I'd be in for a hat or a t-shirt. Good way to spot fell raiders while out n about too. Maybe - make a donation of $50 or more and get a hat? Maybe a bit much work too, up too you.

Definitely sounds like a step in the right direction. Good on them for stumping up some cash to reduce the overfishing. If it works out it will be one of the most sensible things the Polly's have done for a while. In the article where they said "We have listened to industry, scientists and sensible environmentalists" were the f&%# did they find the sensible environmentalists? Maybe they really meant to say recreational fishermen and through a Freudian slip it just came out that way. Now at least we can concentrate the Fishing Licence money on buying out the estuary fishermen and we will definitely be on a winner. Over all I say: Nice one Bruvva!

I'm off to New Zealand to see the relatives. I'm there for 2 weeks so hopefully I can fit in a few good days on the water chasing Snapper and Kingies between all that binge eating and drinking.

Went down to Huskisson on Jervis Bay last weekend with the and decided I would try a charter while I was there as I don’t get to go out on a boat very often. Contacted JB Charters and got the last spot of five on a bay charter for the next day. Met up with the four other blokes at 6am, they were all good sorts down from Queensland and a good days fishing looked on the cards. First stop was to try and Jig up some Calamari for livies but the only one we caught after 20 mins was way to big so we headed out of the bay to try the deeper waters. When we got our there it was pretty tough going. 1.5 meter swell and another 1.5 sea on top of it. Peak wave period was very low and on top of that you get a lot of wave reflection from the vertical cliffs out there. Made for some pretty tricky fishing. We did one drift at about 100 meters and after only pulling up a Nanigai (which I don’t know how to spell) the skipper decided discretion was the better part of valour and so we headed back to just inside the bay. We did several long drifts from just behind the Bowen Island putting out a heap of burley for a couple of small pinkies, about a thousand spikie Flathead and one dead Fairy Penguin. The last was floating belly up on the water so we collected for the Marine Park dudes down there (turns out they didn’t want it so we put it back). We tried further out in 40 meters and 50 meters which turned up a few barely legal flathead, some more spikies and some small red spot Whiting (when they didn’t just flog your bait). We were getting desperate for at least a feed for us all so we headed further into the bay for some Calamari. On the way we trawled around the foam on the Beecroft Peninsular for 3 nice size Salmon. We picked up a few Calamari each and then called it a day. All in all it was a little light on the fish but I got a descent couple of feeds of Calamari out of it so it didn’t turn out too bad. The crew was excellent (cleaned and gutted everything on the way back in for us) and the QLD blokes were all good value. It was great to be on the water again. From what I heard while I was down there the bay hadn’t been fishing too well but the locals were hopeful as most of the commercial guys had moved out once the Marin Parks came in. The water was still pretty cool too, 16 – 17 I think, so once it picks up it is likely to get a little better.

"I think NSW Fisheries Dept are still trying to work it out for themselves re sex of big flatties." Nice one Hooky. Now here is something I am happy for my fishing licence $ to be put into. More research into how we can keep a sustainable fishery. Could/Do they restock Flathead liket hey do with Jewies?

I think for me it's kind of like gambling but with out loosing so much money If I can't see the bottom anything could be down there! You just never know. Guess that's why every time I say "just one last cast and then I'll leave" to myself I never do. I'm pretty new to Aussie fishing having come from New Zealand. Now I have a whole new raft of firsts to catch and tactics to try. Even when I come home empty handed it just causes me to rethink my strategy or spend another few hours trawling Fishraider looking for tips. Come to think of it, they have groups for all sorts of addictions, drugs, booze and gambling. Do they have one for fishing?

They are getting some huge Bluefin on NZ rescently as well. 250kg - 280kg. Read an article where one guy lost one after 13hours in the chair.

That's a great Jew Dan. Let I know all the details. Congratulations

Nice one Jewhunter. Certainly is a magic spot. You don't get the hundreds of Safari trucks down there like you do at a lot of the more popular Parks in Africa. We saw one other boat the who time we were out there. If only i had know earlier I could of had 3 days fishing for them. It's great to wake up and see an elephant out you window too.

Hi all, This is not a particularly recent fishing report but I though I would share a great fishing experience I had a couple of years back. I had been living in London for 4 years and the time had come to head back down under. My then girlfriend (now ) and I decided to come back via a six week overland trip in Africa. I am a bit of a nature freak and had always wanted to see the wilds of Africa. The big cats, elephants, rhino’s etc were all fantastic but one thing I hadn’t expected to do was fishing. The first opportunity was when spent 3 days on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. This had been touted as a great way to see the surrounding national park all from the comfort of a house boat. No one told me they had rods on board or that the lake was chocker with one of the most fun fish I’ve ever caught, until the last day. I got in about 2 hours fishing Tiger Fish before it was time to leave. Talk about frustrating. Being on an overland truck we didn’t have too much time anywhere else but I did manage to get a day on the Upper Zambezi River fishing for Tigers again later on. We hired a local guide and what was also great was that he was free to talk about the political situation without any fear of someone overhearing him. A very enlightening days fishing. The reason I though I would share this story is so if any one is ever over there they make some time to give it a go. They are excellent fun on light gear as they pull hard, jump and spit the lures back at you. They are not an easy fish to land but they are heaps of fun and pretty good to eat. If you can squeeze a light spin rod in you bag it would be well worth it. Put in some extra tough surface poppers too as these guys have some gnashes on them. Just make sure you keep a lookout for Hippo’s, Croc’s, Lions etc as you are surrounded by game parks. I’m not sure if anyone else has fished for them but I would love to here other stories of fishing around the place. I have added some photo’s below. If I had to describe one I would say it was a Salmon crossed with a Piranha. Tiger Fish - Check out the teeth on the blighters Me on the upper Zambezi Later Raiders

Coming from New Zealand and still to new to the site to understand the “Hairtail social” jokes, can someone enlighten me on why they are so sort after? Do they pull like a 40 horse outboard, do they jump and do flips, do they taste like KFC? It may be one of those “I've never caught one of them fish” which I could understand but there definitely seems to be a disproportionate amount of talk about them. They just look like a silvery eel to me, give me a King or Jewie any day.

I take the spools off my spinning reels to clean them. Means I can bee a bit more liberal with the water when cleaning the salt off the line. I then spray everything except the line with INOX and leave for an hour or so. I have always been cautious when applying the INOX as I don't want to get any on the line itself. Does this matter? Does anyone just spray it on line and all and still catch fish ok? I'm a bit fussy when it comes to what comes into contact with my line. I don't even like putting on deodorant when I'm going out fishing if I can help it. I'm sure them fish have good noses. Then again an old mate I fish with smokes roll-your-owns like a chimney and always out fishes me, so who's to know.

You have tried all the common ones I have heard of Coach except for the armbands. Not sure if you can get them here but in NZ you can by elastic arm bands which have bumps on them that supposidly hit preasure points in your wrists. Does anyone know of them in Ausy? May be worth noting that my old man was a great fisherman until he started to get an inner ear problem later on in life. The docter recokoned this stuffed his balance (and sealegs) and now he hardly fishes because of it. Can't say I have ever got seasick but I sympathise with those that do. Must be shithouse being out on the briny and not being able to fish.

Great Work Kevvie. I'm still trying to find my feat with SP's. Can you tell me on average what your casts to fish ratio is? I wondering if I am bringing mine in too fast and need to work them more on the bottom. Maybe I will go home and watch squidgy secrets again.... Kane

I haven’t done much fishing around Sydney but am out exploring a few spots so I will post what I find. I organised for fish with a couple of mates on Saturday night which looked quite promising as the tide peaked at 5:45pm. We had decided to try off Narabeen beach as it looked a likely spot so we headed up there around 3pm and stopped of at the bait and tackle shop for some pillies and squid. After a bit of discussion the guys in the shop convinced us we would be better of trying the corner of Dee Why and Long Reef as we were mainly after Bream and Salmon so off we headed. A bit of a hike down the beach and we set up camp. Stared off with ganged pillies until all three of us had been snagged a couple of times on the rough. A few bites here and there but so much weed around it was just dragging our baits in to the shore. I pulled up some sort of greenish Moray (I wish these were tasty as I can catch them with my eyes closed) and then switched to a single hook as I always re-rig after these fellas. We all continued to pull in a tonne of weed and finally my mate landed a 30cm bream on dark. I also pulled one of them pesky brown fish with a gob bigger then the rest of its body and that’s about all she wrote. We soaked our baits until about 7:30pm with not even a nibble for the last half hour. Then packed up and headed for home. Not much success, I guess we have a lot to learn about beach fishing. Seems so easy when you read about it. (All my previous fishing has been done from boats in New Zealand). “Just find a gutter and cast into, then wait and the fish will come”. No one said anything about weed and troublesome gang hooks. Does anyone else have trouble not squishing your pillie when trying to put three hooks into them? Thank god for Bait Mate (or whatever you call the elastic stuff you wrap around your bait to keep it on over here). Still had fun trying, a bad day fishing still beats most other things on a good day. The joggers you get on the Sydney beaches also make passing the time between bites a lot more enjoyable too.

Seen as it is a nice night I might spend a couple of hours throwing SP’s around some local wharfs and maybe try for some squid as a fresh bait for tomorrow. Saturday I am heading up to Narrabeen with a couple of mates for a beach fish. We will fish the evening rising tide and see what is about. Haven’t fished up there before but looks promising so will give it a crack. Hopefully the entrance should still be producing after the rains we’ve had.

Thanks for the welcome all. I agree madsmc, there is no prize so it is more of a personal challenge. Those who feel the need to make up catches are only kidding themselves. From what I've seen most of the posters on the forum are pretty straight up and down so should work ok. I think keeping it simple is best. Photo's with measurements (or maybe just any legal size of a particular species) and 3 or 4 categories to start and see how it goes from there. Categories could be something like: Blue (Tuna, Marlin etc), Inshore (Kingie’s, Bream, Flatties etc) and Fresh.

Hey all, noticed that Ray Martin is running a story on A Current Affair tomorrow (Tuesday) night after the news on Nine. Looks like they have some pretty good footage too. Should be able to judge whether they're red necks or not after the first few words

Hi All, I am still relatively new to the site but thought I might suggest another category for the competitions part of the site. I really enjoy seeing what size fish others have managed to bag from the brag board and records pages. I’m always keen for a bit of friendly competition so how about a grand slam section. There is a similar thing on a New Zealand site I used to visit (not my idea unfortunately). It goes like this, there are several categories and you can gain a certain "Slam" by catching all the fish in that category in a season/lifetime. The slams from the NZ site are: Billfish Slam – (Minimum Weights), STRIPED – (100kg), BLUE – (150kg), BLACK – (150kg), BROADBILL – (110kg), SPEARFISH – (10kg). Shark Slam – THRESHER – (120kg), WHALER – (120kg), MAKO – (160kg), HAMMERHEAD (100kg), BLUE – (100kg) Tuna Slam – YELLOWFIN – (35kg), BIGEYE – (25kg), BLUEFIN – (100kg), ALBACORE- (10kg), SKIPJACK – (5kg) Must exceed line weight. The Inshore Slam - Snapper = (10.00kg), Kingfish = (25.00kg), Kahawai = (3.00kg), Trevally = (5.00kg), John Dory = (2.00kg). Obviously we would need to asses the fish types and sizes to suit. We could have a size/weight limit or it could just be one of each type of fish. It is a great way to encourage some of us who fish one particular way to experience new types of fishing. People who obtain the slam could have it as part of their signature i.e. Inshore Slam 2005. I would suggest adding a fresh water section or two and maybe an all round section. Not too many though or it will get complicated. What do you reckon? What fish and what sizes? Ken – hope I am not stepping on your toes here.

HI Rekless, Is there any particular reason you are using ballustrading cable at the top? Does any particular rope/cable seem to make better FAD's? How long should they last out there? All in all sounds like a great idea to me. KaneMc

Hi all, My wife has finally come to her senses and instead of trying to surprise me again this year she has asked me to give her a Christmas list. First on that list will be a new rod. I currently have a Penn 8500SS and have it matched with a 10 foot Penn Powerstick for off the rocks. I want to do some boat fishing (if I can find a good place to hire one from) in the future and am looking for a suitable rod for under $150. I will use my Penn real with this too until I can afford to buy another reel or bring my TLD from New Zealand. The reel is currently loaded with 20Lb braid. This rod needs to be multipurpose as I am likely to try a fair few different techniques. I have done most of my previous fishing in NZ so will need to see what works here. i.e. Livies, trolling, spinning, bottom bashing, etc. I am leaning towards something around a length of 2.1 m (7 foot) , and around the 10kg class. I have looked a few Ugly Stik Platinum's and some Penn Powerstick Plus’s but am not sure which is best or what other possibilities there might be. By the way I love Kingy’s so it needs to be able to tough it out if necessary. Maybe I need it a bit heavier? Any help would be appreciated.