johnny doi

congratulations big guy,well deserved indeed. cheers johnny.

thats an absolute ripsnorter of a trev mate,awsome work.i didnt know we get trevs that big in the harbour.bet it put up a tussle. cheers johnny.

you gota keep the bait as streamlined & natural,not just whacked on all bunched up.if chasing jew,presentation needs to be spot on.what i do wif slabs is usually try to taper a bait so its like a triangle,so in fast flowing water it doesnt spin.depends on how big the bait is,if you should use 1 or 2 hooks.if using a whole slab,i use 2 hooks.good tip is to put a slit down the middle of the flesh so it folds in half.dont cut through the skin,as though your gona cut the bait in half lenght ways.that way the bait is more streamline.if using 2 hooks pin the first in the tip & the other in the mid section.you can just use 1 hook as i do sometimes,just giv the fish a bit more time to take the whole bait down. with bait falling off,if the bait is fresh you shouldnt have any probs.but if its been frozen & defrosted,flesh tends to go mushy,therefore falling off easier or easier for pickers to get off.if freezing baits,maybe try salting em.it makes the baits a lot tougher.i salt slabs all the time & they work great.actually got salted mullet in thr freezer that i caught & salted last week. yakkas & tailor are top slab baits,even the heads are gun baits,i use the heads if theres pickers around.they can pick at it & theres still enough left when the predators arrive after the commotion pickers are creating. give these tips a go,hope they help you on you way to jew sucess. cheers johnny.

awsome fish there mate,well done.you always seem to be to be where the fish are.& by the look of your pics,the possums too. well done pete. cheers johnny.

was it caught on fresh squid or bought squid????you got me confused.good catch anyways whatever you got it on.

hi guys,just got back not too long ago for a quik 2hr sesh with josh.water was a tad dicoloured but we saw a big school of sizeable carp holding up not far from where we got the mullet last time.there were all different colour ones & some were koi,bright orange.little bread berley & couple casts with bread,i hook onto a BIG black coloured carp.saw it mouth my bait & struck.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...he runs to the left & i could follow him cos we were in thick shrub.difficult fight cos there was a big tree that i couldnt get around for a better fighting position.passed rod around tree to josh & i got the rod back to put hthe finishing touches on this fat big carpy.it was a steep bushy bank which made it hard to get out of the water.josh tried his best but while i was holding the beaten fish,hooked pulled.so i did land it but didnt take it out of the water,released without having to bring out of the drink.was pretty big,i estimate to be close to 20pounds or 9kgs.long,broad,big head & fat gut. other than that we threw poppers to see if we could entice a bass or 5.not to be.i did loose my favourite strike pro clear popper to a branch on the other bank.on way home,tried to go retrieve it but it was dark.no torch,i ended up in the drink & scratches all over both forearms from hugging the tree tryn to hang on.did get my popper back,couldnt see it but il go walk down tomorrow to hopefully get it back.i just hope it didnt fall in the drink when i busted the line off.HOPE ITS STILL THERE!!!!its my fav popper.most probly have to get a new one.maybe some bushys poppers?only thing is im tight on cash ATM cos i still havnt found a job & fishing tackle is last on the priorities list according to the missus.can any one help me in that department.LOL. :074:i need all the help i can get atm.hehehe lol. cheers johnny

great read & awsome haul of nice flatties.top work to the both of you. cheers johnny.

nice tailor mate.60mtr run is a huge run for a tailor of that size,wouldv been fun.bet you had it pegged for a decent king with a run like that.my PB tailor of 61cm caught spinning last month off jibbon rocks went pretty hard but no match for the gear i was using,15-30lb penn spinfisher rod,6500 daiwa emblem pro & 30lb braid & leader.VERY powerful outfit. its awsome to see a cobe landed in the harbour,warm currents & the plentiful bait in the harbour must of brang em in.id love to catch a cobe of any size in sydney. must of been tricky clambering down to the ledge in the dark,good on you guys for putting in the hard yards & coming up with the goods.any other fish landed by you & your crew,or anyone else on the platform? cheers johnny.

well done nath,good to see you trying somewhere else besides narrabeen.lol.did you eat them or gona try convert em into something big & angry? need to get some squid & an assortment of fresh baits for a sesh with jewgaffer soon. you'l notice alot of advantages with the braid,most being the sensitivity.no stretch makes it good for setting hooks but you dont have to strike as hard as you do with mono.[my thoughts anyway.]casting is heaps better too cos of its thin diamiter,& wind & water drag is less.you can also use lighter sinkers.theres heaps of other pros with braid,along with some cons. be sure to use mono or flouro carbon leader of at least 1mtr for a bit of stretch & stealth cos the fish can see braid alot more than nylon.you also have to learn a few new knots.to join leader to braid,i use 3 types.surgeons,albright & the easiest to tie yet strong,the good old double uni.theres hundreds of other knots you can learn,but those few would be the easiest in my opinion.just practice,practice,practice. cheers johnny. P.S.what pound braid are you running?remember braid is usually stronger than the stated breaking strain.eg.2lb would break at around 4 or 5lb.someone correct me if im wrong.

sounds like a action couple hours on the boat mate,top work.nice bag of tailor & good work to land the toothy.lucky you werent bitten off,obviuosly lip hooked?any other fish besides the choppers & shark?looks like a tail of a snapper in the top right of the pic. cheers johnny.

congrats on the cracker hoody king & your new PB.wouldv been a sight watching you fight it & land it on your own,great work. now that youv finished school,who needs schoolies when your catching ripper kings like that.LOL. CHEERS JOHNNY.

nice lizard mate,well done. & a nice looking outfit you have there,wish i could afford one like yours. cheers johnny.

well done on the good catch,especially the whiting. i also fished sth west arm landbased with mate josh.we bush bash till we get right up in the last bay where all the skiers do their u turns.pretty quiet for us besides pinkies.there was heaps of bait around where we were that looked like some sort of pilly.josh caught 1 & sent it out live but no takers.i did hook & release a big sea turtle which went pretty hard,so that was a eye opener & first for me. where abouts were you anchored up if you dont mind me asking,& what time were the tailor on?we didnt see any surface action & we got the at 9am b4 high tide.did you see us in the rocks? cheers johnny. SILLY ME,YOU FISHED FRIDAY DIDNT YOU,NOT TODAY.oh well,geuss you definitely didnt see us.LOL.

thanks for the replies guys.much appreciated.iv thought of tryn livo weir area as iv also heard of some nice bass to be had.we r really keen on gettn some bass on surface of a night.josh has a 2 man canoe so we'l hopefully be exploring more soon. today fished the hacking.besides the tiddler snapper,i did get a good tussle on a sea turtle on my heavier outfit spooled with 14lb braid.poor thing took a whole yakka slab meant for something esle big,not a turtle.LOL.called it for a ray at first until i saw it.really feel sorry for the poor thing as it was hooked deep & now has a gamakatsu 4/0 in his gob.we didnt lift it out,just cut the line close as possible & he swam away strongly.SORRY BUDDY.at least he gave me a good fight.hope i never hook one ever again! its funny how we travel an hr to fish different spots,but get more fish 5mins from home.LOL. CHEERS JOHNNY.

what ever their real names are,theyr a great catch of trevs & i bet they went hard like all trevally do.top effort champ. johnny

hi raiders, went to try crack my local waters yesterday wif good mate & all round top bloke,josh.as i live in fairfeild,we'v been hitting the little backwaters behind & around the local swimming pools.we know we'r not gona catch anything noteworthy,but hey,we'r keen & love our fishing.armed with plastics,hard bods & ever reliable back up bread,we set off from the pool carpark. first spot we looked at was a tiny stream barely 2mtrs wide.we spotted some chunky carp & some nice sized mullet.berlied a bit of bread & we see bream! alot!only tidlers but was a suprise to see em this far up river.pulled the hooks twice on the bream & they spooked.carp stil there but we moved on. next little possie was a bit bigger & wider.josh put on a little halco nano night walker surface lure in hope of a bass,as we'v heard thers some in this waters.josh was sure he saw some bass at that spot but no takers.what was funny though was the persistant water dragon continuosly trying to eat josh's nano.great sight.left him hunry. next spot is a little foot bridge that years ago whilst playing footy for our local club,we'd jog over during training.always seen carp there but what got us really excited was bream & the amount & size of em. there were heaps of em holding in no more than 2ft of crystal clear water,most over the legal size.very flighty from our shadow on the bridge above.with the bream were big eels & a school of sizable mullet to 40cms.i tried lightly weighted plastic & josh used bread.i got none but josh managed 2 nice little bream that went hard on his 1lb silly string.obviously released as we'd never eat anything out of these waters.it was a real eye opener for me as i never thought bream would be up thiese far reaches & in such healyhy sizes & numbers.good to see as im a 10min walk frm there & can take my young bloke. next we moved to a shallow spot that josh's pop told him about.first i spotted little bream then all of a sudden a big school of sizeable mullet showed up.berlied them up & they stayed around for a while.try as i did.i couldnt get any to stick to my hooks but josh on the other hand did pretty good.he landed 5 mullet to 40cms,smallest being in the early 30's.very fat healthy fish & very well fed.they went so hard in the shallow water on josh's 1-3kg rod & 1pound braid.i was calling them pelagic mullet they fought so hard.we kept them for future jew baits. after that it was around 4pm & we made a move to fish the waters behind the carramar sizzler resturant.up that far upriver,the tide is a few hours behind.it was just starting to run out.first spot we tried near a little drain,there was mullet & herring feeding on the surface everywhere.loads of the things.i thought to myself theres gota be something feeding under them & wasnt wrong.using a squidgy bug rigged on a 1/16th finnesse head,i cast toward a drowned tree.3rd cast,i hook a feisty little flathead around 40cms & just as i lift him out,he falls off. :ranting2:he wasnt hooked,just holding onto the rubber. oh well,was gona release him anyway.next cast in the same vicinity,BANG!hook another suspected flatty but hooks pull.DOHHH!!!few lure changes & more casts with plastics resulted in no more action,just couple half hearted bumps.josh got a few poddies on bread.wish we had another rod to send them out live but we didnt so they lived to fight another day. tide was getting pretty low now so a last move to fish under the bridge was the call.it was low enough we could get down on the slippery muddy rocks to cast our lures.we both chose to use hard bods,me a shallow diving mullet imatation,josh his nano.second cast for me,i hook a feisty little fish that i thought was a tiddler bream.get to the edge & its a little EP around 25cms.go to lift him out & he falls off.DOHHH!!!again!next cast,i loose my fav lure.line wrapped around rodtip. lucky it didnt break my tip off though so thats a positive.lol.couple lure changes & snagged plastics,i gave up & watched josh for the next 45mins or so.josh also hooked a EP on a hardbod but did the did the same thing as me,drop it in close.son was setting & shadows forming over the water so josh put on surface lures.we saw a few big boofs on the surface that we think were bream,EPs or bass.josh got plenty follows on his walk the dog lure but no takers.after a long cast paralell to the bank he hooks up on his walker.calls it for a little fish & it was.a 20cm odd chopper tailor.not the EP or bass we wanted,but still happy to get a fish off the surface. no more fish after that,just a few half hearted follows.no trophy fish but was fun trying & being out there.left around 7pm. we were gona give it another crack this arvo but josh had things to do.maybe the next few days if weathers ok. its great to be able to catch fish so close to home in waters people would turn thieir noses at.to us,its close to home & we know theres some quality fish in there to be caught with our name on them.lol.at least a got some prime jew bait in the big mullet josh caught. sorry for the long post guys,i was getting into it & wanted you guys to know all the info on our adventure in our local.thanks for reading.hope i didnt bore everyone too much.lol cheers johnny.

great feed of fish JB,dont you pump your own bloodworms mate?iv never bought worms,iv always pumped bloodworms.my old man use to take me pumping worms before we went chasing bream in the georges river[warwick farm] over 15yrs ago.now when i wana use the bloodworms,i pump them myself[in a different spot to 15yrs ago] in warwick farm & get plenty nice worms enough for a session in around 30mins.theyr a top bait for bream & whiting arent they,for any estuary fish really! cheers johnny.

spewing on the lost flatty john.like i said,iv lost HEAPS of good fish cos of no net or it being too short for the lower tides.well at least you got a few while others werent & you had a good time. cheers johnny.

hi JH,iv never caught a jew on a live yakka,& its not from lack of trying.lol.iv used yakka strips at IC bridge but iv only caught heaps of bream & few flathead,but thats on the other side i fish for the jews on,next 2 the scout hall.also got some decent tailor there on whole squid around 50cms while chasing jew.iv never hooked jew on that side of the river,all on other side,couple near the pylons on a low tide,but most over near the mangroves when it was fenced off around the shrubs.& come to think of it,ALL my jew have been caught on a 3/0 hook or under,mostly 1/0,except for the pb,which was on 2 snelled 6/0's. my biggest jew to date was a 12kg model that was 113cms.got her off the beach at cronulla about 3 winters back.caught on a live 35cm tailor cast not very far out at all.thought it was a shark at first cos back then id only caught 1 or 2 jew & didnt really know how they fought.the first flash of her flank on my headlamp is 1 of the best sights a fisho can have.can picture it now.what is strange is that iv noticed that since i swapped over to using braid,i havnt had much sucess on the jew front,dont know why,maybe its i dont target them as much as i used to.lately iv been pretty much spinning with lures,but i stil love my bait fishing & i think i always will. cheers johnny.

hi nath,bad luck on the kingy front but at least you got a few mullet & helped a father son team get onto some fish.good onya mate.iv fished iron cove bridge quite alot a couple years back.not for kings,but for jew.id fish the nights after work,[when i was working lol] & hook & land a few school jew to 8kgs.few big bust offs too.most were hooked during the low tide change,either run in or out.need to start keeping a fishing diary for my trips so i can go back over past outings.i havnt fished there since theyv done all the renovations there,putting in a wharf & the like.before the reno's,id fish next to the mangroves & cast out to pretty much where the wharf is situated now,so they took one of my fav jew spot away. im sure people still get em there though.i even landed a huge big muddy there one nite while targeting jew with big squid strips.it got tangled in the leader.most jew i got there were on squid heads & strips,but did get 1 on a live poddy mullet.out of the 30 odd jew sessions i had there,i landed around 8 jew there from around 2-8kgs,& a few pulled hooks & bust offs from bigger jew.alot of hours between fish,but i love em,theyr my favourite fish no doubt. the jew on my avatar pic is a 6kg fish from the last time i fished there. cheers johnny.

hi mate,i use to fish there quite alot,but havnt fished there since this time last year.depending on season i got bag outs on trevs,nice bream[my pb of 44cms frm there].around this time a few years bak, i got a few flathead to 70cm on whole ganged pillies cast out from the point,& also my pb flatty that went 92cms & around 6kgs.also this time last yr,got smoked twice by hoodie kings while livebaiting for flatties with yakkas.using 15lb braid 20lb leader on a 4500 rovex big boss & 5-8kg rod,worked them within a meter of netting range but powered off again & again to bust me off.the bigger of the 2[which looked close to 1mtr],totally smashed the drag on my big boss & broke the clicker with the pressure applied.very heartbreaking,but boy was it fun being dragged along the ledge for 15min fight before PING!!!!have landed a few rats to 65cm on squid heads & strips,along with whole pillies.tryd for jew there but no luck as of yet. good luck tomorrow mate & i hope you get your target.hope this helps a bit. cheers johnny. p.s.hopefuly might see you down there 1 time as im planing on giving clarkes pt a go this summer to get revenge on the kings that got away.also a helpful tip,if you have a long handled net,take it!!!iv lost countless big fish cos i forgot my net.

well done on the prawns mate. does anyone know if chipping norton lakes any good for prawning?last yr while having a nite fish there were some people prawning & they did ok,even gave us some for bait.lol.just wondering if anyone has gone prawning in chippo this season & if its worth it.thinking of getting a kit & giving it a go.

hey nick i got your pm.great read bro.spewing about the reel hey,worst feeling,especially if its the only 1 you take fishing with you.good read & hope to meet up for a fish soon bro.iv replied to your pm.let me knw if you wna go yeh. cheers johnny.

great fish mate.good work & hope to read of some more great catches. cheers johnny.

great catch pete.havnt fished there since last yr around autum & everytime i hav fished there, havnt managed much decent fish fishing landbased.best session there was 2 flatties,41& 46cms,heaps undersize bream but no jew,yet.lol.have got some nice 30-40cm bream there on other sessions too,but not many.never fished up that way by boat,but im up for offers.lol. cheers johnny.