paulthetaffy

Hi Tony, Thanks for the response. I actually rent an apartment and only have one underground car space and there's no long-term parking on the streets around, so no chance of storing one here. I like the idea of a shared mooring though. I might have to look into it a bit more. I also just assumed the cost of running a boat (insurance, servicing, parts, fuel etc) would just not make it worth my while. There is definately a will though, so I will do some homework and see what I can do Cheers Paul

LOL - that's a great line And you just know that as fisho's we would gladly use our lunch for bait if we needed to Hope you manage to get into them! Paul

I think it's taking extra pressure at the moment because Clifton Gardens is closed. What's crazy though is how many people I talk to who travel a long way to fish Balmoral. It's not THAT good. There are plenty of spots around the harbour that offer similar fishing conditions many are too lazy to hunt them out. I fish there during the week because my wife takes the car for work and it's the only place I can walk to. I have my in-laws over for christmas and I'm taking my father-in-law down there on Wednesday (again no car). I'm nervous that by the time we get there - which will more likely be 7-8am than my usual 5 - that it will be too busy to fish. I'm tempted to just not bother. I'm booked in on a charter over christmas too but even that looks like it's not going ahead as we can't fill enough spots - go figure! I agree that 4 rods (and sometimes more) is excessive. You can't be effective fishing that way. I have to admit I have progressed to taking two rods for most sessions now, three if livebaiting so I can use the third for catching livies with and have two out at a time, but that's rare. But I don't know how people manage more than two rods when bait fishing - I can barely keep up with two. When the bite is on I'll often just have one in at a time so I can keep rod in hand at all times as it can be frantic - at times if I don't have a bite within 30 seconds I recast. What's wrong with my little float? LOL! It's one of the few little techniques from freshwater fishing in the UK that I have adapted to here. It allows you to cast a bit further past the sweep but still retain the sensitivity to detect the bites. I attach the float using a little piece of rubber tubing at the top to hold it in place which allows me slide it between casts to change the depth to find where they're feeding. I also use 3-4 split shot down the bottom 18" of line to the hook to sink the bait fast but a little more naturally than if you use one bigger sinker (just as we do when river fishing back in blighty). Hey it works for me I've met a few raiders down there recently and I'm absolutely useless with names and faces, so please don't be offended but next time you see me come remind me who you are Oh and what's your real name (or else I'll just have to call you little dinghy ) Thanks for all the comments and feedback. I'm going to keep reporting on Balmoral (and anywhere else I go) even though I feel it's actually having the effect of drawing more people there. Cheers Paul

I'm interested to know now how often other fishos get out now - I fish one morning a week before work at Balmoral (wife has the car for work so I walk down) and then usually on a sunday morning somwhere further afield, back early enough so that it doesn't impact on the day too much. I've just decided to start writing a report after each session now, as much for my own benefit then for others, so expect 1 or 2 a week from me Unfortunately there are not a lot of train stations on the north shore and none that run near middle harbour. I don't think I've fished near to where a train station might be as I always drive. Jewgaffer you've hit the nail right on the head about Balmoral - there's some good fish to be had there if you know what you're doing, but 90% of people who fish there just think they can launch off the front and expect to catch. Summer is great as there are salmon and tailor to be had all around, if that's what you're after. But if I'm after summer bream or winter trevally I don't bother fishing at all unless I can get a particular spot on the wharf and cast into a specific 10sqm area of water. But it is getting extremely crowded there now and it's taking the fun out of it. Today I got there at 4:30am, set my two livie rods up 2m apart on the front, and stood in the middle of them to catch yakkas on a third rod. At about 6am two guys arrived (rest of the wharf emtpy) and came and cast out each side of me putting a rod either side of my livie rods. So now I had to walk around them to get to my rods. No "do you mind if I put my rod six inches from yours" or anything. Just plain rude. I didn't have sinkers on my livies so they were swimming around a bit which ment they were crossing their lines every 2 minutes. I think they got the message and moved onto the "no fishing" part of the jetty. (rant over now!) I think the best answer all round is to buy a boat! I would have one in a beat if I had a property where I could keep it as mooring fees are plain astronomical! Maybe one day! Paul

Hi Roberta, Unfortunately the meters are now in, as of a couple of months ago, much to the disgust of the locals. All parking along the forshore is now by ticket from 8am til 8pm and there is a max stay of 3 hours (stupid I know). The oval car park at the end is still max 12 hours though if you need longer. Not sure what the rates are as I have a resident permit so don't pay anything I fished there again this morning and there was a huge school of chopper tailor around the 30cm+ size busting up whitebait for a couple of hours. Mostly out in the moorings so out of reach from the jetty but I did manage a few of them as well as a nice little salmon. I think a yak would be brilliant down there early morning at the moment amongst the moorings. Especially towing a livie through there. Chance of salmon, tailor, kings, and of course there are plenty of flatty's around there too. I need a yak!! Paul

Got down to the wharf at 5:45am this morning, a little later than I had planned, and found the wharf packed. On a wednesday. At 5:45 in the morning. Aaaaannnnnnyyyyway...... Decided to catch some yakkas and either see if someone would kindly move up or else I'd be off to the spit or back to bed. Managed to get a few livies and "persuaded" someone to move up a bit so I could get a rod out. No hits at all for the first hour and no signs of any kings, which was my target. Eventually someone left (not much else being caught other than one morwong) so I bagged their spot and recast my livies on the shallow side of the jetty towards the beach - not ideal but it would have to do. As it turned out it was not a bad spot after all and I ended up bagging 4 flatty's, the biggest going 64cm which is a new PB for me. All were released to fight another day as I have a freezer full from my last narra session. I could see that the salmon were around too ocassionally busting up, and eventually someone else caught a couple on pillies off the front. It was only a matter of time before they came round my way and sure enough they duly swam by me all the way to the beach, and spent 10 minutes busting up in 12 inches of water a metre or two from the beach. Never seen them that close to the beach before. Unfortunately I had run out of livebait and had long given up trying to catch more as there were tiny tailor hitting everything before the yakkas could get a look in. Fortunately, one of the other fishos donated a pike to me so I promptly stuck a 4/0 through it's back and out it went, while I concentrated on using a metal on the other rod. 2 minutes later the baitrunner zings and I'm onto a good one. It decided it wanted to swim to middle head and went off around the front of the jetty before I could even move. With the tide up over the lower part of the jetty I had no choice but to get wet if I wanted to land it. Thankfully another fisho had boardies on so took my rod off me while I quickly took of my shoes, took my phone out of my pocket and waded in (only knee deep). I managed to get the fish from round the pylons and up to the surface for it to jump. Then back on another blistering run before finally calming down and coming in to the net. It went 70cm on the dot, equallying my PB for a Salmon. I donated it to the guy who helped me land it as a thank-you, as I don't eat them. So no signs of kings all morning but still a great session really, considering how much pressure Balmoral is taking at the moment. Hopefully it will get a bit quieter when Clifton Gardens re-opens! On a side note, there were a couple of guys there today that have been there a few times recently and I think might be raiders - if any of you are reading this, let me know who you are and come say hi next time! Paul

Congrats to both of you on the flatty's. Those poddies are just dynamite up there and I agree it's such an entertaining way to fish! Paul

Manly dam too holds plenty, so i've been told, but that's getting a bit far north I guess. Paul

Thanks for the tip wardy. I think I need to get more proficient at catching them then so I can get into them just after sun up and hopefully keep them alive for a session. Failing that I might have to settle for catching them the night before a session instead. Does overnight in the fridge still count as fresh?

Yeah it's always packed on weekends when the weather is good. I live just up the road so i't my regular haunt but I avoid it on weekends. But it's an easy spot to get livies if you're going to then take them elsewhere. I'm definately going to invest in a better aerator now that I can see what a huge difference it makes!

Congrats! Always good when the hard work pays off. LOL on the squidding excuses - I hear you man, I really do! At least you came back with some though! Paul

Good report mate. Yeah I thought you had that king beat!! Such as shame. I had a few rats there last summer on pillie cubes using bream gear and no matter how much you fight them out wide they always have enough in the tank for one last run under the pylons. Think I've landed one out of five! Congrats on the amberjack / samson though - I've not heard of them being caught that size at Balmoral before! It's a good sign for the harbour land-based spots in general - I think we're in for a good summer!! Paul

Yeah I think I was the only one using a float rig for yakkas so I guess that was me! Good work on the hookup too - quick thinking getting squid in front of them since they had bypassed the million yakkas that were out there with hooks in their backs! Shame it pinged you in the end - I thought you were going to land it as you had it hooked for a while. Can't believe that no-one on that jetty had a net (mine was in the car as I was only there for the yakkas). Looked like a good king too for Balmoral, certainly legal from what I could see when you got it in close. Was there any more action after that? Definately come say hi nexy time! I guess it's harder than it sounds then. To be fair yesterday was only my second session dedicated to catching a king and I did hook (and lose) one on my first attempt I'm certainly throwing a few effort balls at the moment so I should get the reward soon enough!!

Another attempt at kings today, this time at Spit Bridge. First stop was Balmoral to get yakkas - arrived at 5am to find the place packed!! Lots and lots of yakkas there but it was a nightmare trying to get past the sweep today, more so than usual. The water looked fantastic and I knew there would be kings at Balmoral too but there was no space to cast out from and I hate fishing in those conditions. Shame as they turned up at around 6am and a guy managed to hook one of them on squid, but it pinged him under the pylons. By 6:30 I'd managed 7 yakkas and 2 slimey's so headed to Spit Bridge, only to find that the tube on my aerator had fallen out and in the 10 minutes to get from Balmoral to Spit a yakka and a slimey had died!! Decided to fish from the north-east side of the bridge today as I was hoping to get a spot down towards fisher bay. But the tide was too high to travese the rocks to get near enough so I settled for the main channel instead. Long storey short, 3 hours and no hits Spent the whole time trying to catch more livies too. Heeps of sweep there as well with yakkas and small tailor in the mix as too. In 3 hours I think I must have caught a few dozen sweep, a dozen or more small tailor, and couple of toadies, but just couldn't get a yakka to take a bait, even though they were visibly there in amongst the others. So I made the 7 remaining livies last, which given that I had no hits was not a problem It's tough hearing all the great reports about the sessions the boaties are having with the kings at the moment when you're stuck on the terra firma struggling for one - maybe I'll get into them next week though! Paul

Yep exactly the same technique for me. Split shot 6-8" from the hook, a little burley at me feet to bring in the sweep (especially dry bread crumbs as it brings them to the surface), then at the same time put your hook 6 feet away (or more). The yakkas come further away from the burley to find your bait than you might think. I find that those yakkas right IN the burley are far harder to hook than those hanging around the perimeter. I also find I hookup more if I use a small stick float - it allows you to add more weight to get the bait down quicker whilst still giving the sensitivity to detect the bite. Paul

I know, it's always a dilemma whether or not to post a positive report about a specific spot. Truth is though it's always busy down there on summer weekends, which is why I never go there then. I find no satisfaction from fishing a foot from the next rod with lines going everywhere so I'll be trying to find somewhere a bit quieter! Paul

Hi guys, I've booked 3 places with a well-known charter operator for Monday 28th December to do some reef fishing off Sydney and I'm having trouble filling up the rest of the boat, so wanted to see if any raiders are interested? We'll be leaving either spit bridge or balmoral at 6:30am and returning around 1-1:30pm. If we fill the boat (8-10) then we'll be doing some bottom bashing for a bit of everything. If we only manage 6 then we may head out to 12-mile reef to jig up some kingy's. We'll probably decide on the day though. Cost will depend on how many of us there are but it's approx $1200 for the boat, so $200 each if there's 6 of us (minimum number we need to go out), or $120 each if we fill the boat. All tackle and bait are supplied but refreshements are BYO. If anyone's interested PM me and I'll let you know who the operator is and give you their details (didn't think it was right to post them here). Cheers Paul

Flathead are ambush predators, so spend most of their time lying in wait for their prey to pass by. Therefore you need to have the bait moving around to find them, rather than the other way around. Just keep in contact with it, i.e continually and slowly take up slack, and it will naturally swim back to you eventually. Then recast it in a slightly different direction to cover the ground. If there's a flathead within a couple of metres of your bait it will go for it so you have to do the work to seek them out. Just the same as if you were fishing with plastics. Paul

Use a small size 0 or 1 running straight down to the hook, enough to stop the poddy from swimming straight to the surface. I alternate betwen Pete's hook placement and a slightly different approach, which is to pin the poddy through the nose - the hard bit in front of the eyes behind the soft mouth part. If you can just hook it through the top jaw (i.e hook through the mouth and out of top) then even better as it allows the fish to breath more easily. If you rig through the nose and keep a tight-ish line and continually and very slowly take up slack then the fish will swim back towards you and you will cover the ground all the way back to you feet. Hooking behind the dorsal or in the tail I find the poddys tend to swim slightly away from me so keeping a taught line will make it arc from side to side so you can cover the lateral ground. Hence why alternate between the two hook placements to cover more area. Paul

Hi Tom, It depends entirely what you're looking to catch. I've fish Balmoral once or twice a week and have seen the fishing change dramatically there over the last 4-6 weeks. There are a lot of pickers (tiny bream, snapper, and sweep) there at the moment and I've seen no keeper bream or trevally come out of there for a while now, mostly because evey bait gets picked to pieces in seconds so never makes it through to the decent fish. The summer bream schools don't seem to have moved in from the open sea yet either. There's a lot of baitfish around balmoral and when the conditions are right (read calm, clear water) the kings have started to show up. The first one I know of that was caught was just over a week ago, and there were a few there yesterday. That said I have only seen them there early - first light until an hour or two after sunrise - after that don't bother. Salmon and tailor have turned up too but not consistently. There's so much baitfish in the harbour that it seems to be luck of the draw whether they turn up at any given spot at any given time. If you're looking for flatty's, bream, and whiting then I would avoid the wharves (where the pickers seem to have congregated at the moment) and look for the shallow beaches or sand flats that are numerous around MH, around a high tide. Fisher bay, sandy bay, shell cove, balmoral beach (if the weather is crap so no swimmers), cobblers beach, sirius cove, shell cove, would all be on my list for them. If you're after the pelagics then Balmoral wharf (on it's day), spit bridge (rocks on the north east towards fisher bay), middle head, the platforms between middle head and clifton gardens, the rocks on the south side of clifton gardens, cremorne point, and my fav spot at the moment, bradleys head. The latter being good on early morning run-in/high when the schools of tailor and salmon can usually be spotted right across the harbour, occasionally coming in close enough to get a lure to. You might have to be prepared to drive around and see what's firing on the day. Last point is that Clifton gardens has a bit of everything - deep water close, the wharf providing protection for baitfish, sandy and weedy beach etc, and is a great LB spot - possibly the best LB spot in MH - for all species. So it will be worth a go when it re-opens later this month but be prepared to fight for a spot! Paul

Yeah agree about that little section between the wharf and the baths. There was an old boy there this morning pulling up tailor out of there. And when the conditions are right the salmon go nuts right under the wharf I rarely fish the beach at balmoral any more due to the swimmers and beach goers. I used to but had a few run-in's with the local swimming brigade and I find it's just not worth it now. Shame as there are some cracking fish all along that section from the outlet pipe to the middle island rocks. I've snorkelled there many times and have seen plenty of bream, good size whiting, flatty's, rays, shovel nose sharks, etc at all times of the day and tide, and more often than not right under people swimming just 10-20 yards out. And yes grew up with freshwater fishing in the UK - mostly very different to fishing here but there are techniques that carry over, and a few tricks that I've brought with me and adapted to work here Still can't quite understand why everyone has reel handles on the right here though Surely you hold your rod in your right hand when you cast and wind with your left!!!

Yes from the wharf at the one end of the baths. Fishing from the baths itself is not allowed. Cheers Paul

Hi, There are a couple of good articles here on FR that you should read first... http://www.fishraider.com.au/fishing-artic...ney-harbour.php http://www.fishraider.com.au/fishing-artic...e-squidding.php Once you've read those have a think about locations you want to try and then go talk to your local tackle store who will have the best knowledge of which squid jigs to use at those locations. Which jig will also depend on whether you intend to fish at night or during daylight. Spend some money with them and they will put you onto the right choices. Squid jigs are generally not cheap and it pays to have a few different colours and sizes to try, just like any lure. Don't be put off by paying $20-$25 for a good yamashita or yo-zuri jig as they are excellent and worth the money in my opinion. I can't answer thw sounder question as I'm land-based but I'm sure someone will If you struggle to keep your squid alive, don't discount using them dead too, as long as they are fresh. Whole or cut into strips will work depending on what size it was to start with. The head with guts and ink sack hanging off is dynamite, especially if you pierce the ink sack just before casting it as it creates it's own burley trail. Good luck, and feel free to fire more questions if you need to! Paul

Early session at Balmoral this morning. Got there at 5:30 to find a few guys there squidding but no other lines in the water. Quickly got the yakkas burleyed up and the first one into the bucket. Sent him out only to have him eaten by a bird with 10 seconds. Second yakka out again gets nailed by a bird. So I fed them a few pieces of old pillie and they moved on. Third yakka out stays quiet for 2 minutes and then the bait runner screams, I flick it off, set the hook and I'm on. Easy to tell that it's a king just by the way they run so relentlessly and strip line against the drag. After the first run I managed to gain line and started bringing it in towards the wharf. 10m out it hits the surface, sees me, turns, and makes another surging run, strips a few more yards of line, only this time my line gives way Turns out the mainline snapped on the knot to the swivel. I use 20lb mainline which I know some will argue is too light but I think is ample for the usual size of kings we get in close at MH, especially with a good 40lb leader. Very dissapointed as I had the drag well adjusted and I've not had problems with knots recently. Might have to work on that. Hard to tell the size of the fish but it looked and felt big enough to be legal. Next yakka out gets attention after a few minutes and get's squidded, as does the next 5 minutes later, and then it goes quiet. I thought about getting the squid jig out but I wanted to load up on yakkas while they were there in numbers. The guys squidding, after realising the kings were around, set up their heavy gear and out go a handful more livies but it's all pretty quiet. By 7:30 I'm convinced it's too late in the day for the kings but one of the other guys rods zinged off. Turned out to be a nice flatty - not measured but well above legal - but low and behold it is followed all the way to the wharf by a pack of kings! The kings hung around for another hour or so occasionally darting into the school of yakkas and whitebait for a feed but we couldn't tempt them no matter what we tried. Lots of tailor caught this morning too - many as by catch on tiny hooks and tiny baits as we collected yakkas!! - a couple just over legal too. I managed a small flatty which I gave to the other guys as a thank-you for letting me use their bait bucket as my aerator pump broke down. Not a bad morning really and encouraging (for land-based fisho's) that the kings are moving into the shallow water around the wharves now. Paul

I think having a group of like-minded fishos's and a forum such as fishraider through which to share knowledge and experiences is also a huge help to those trying to improve their fishing. I arrived in Australia just over 14 months ago and bought my first rod & reel before I had even found a place to live, such was my eagerness to get fishing here. I have spent countless hours trawling websites and reading magazines trying to equip myself with the knowledge to fish effectively here and I can honestly say that fishraider has made a huge difference. I came across the site about 4-5 months ago and within a month or two things finally "clicked" with my fishing and I went from catching little or no fish every outing to catching consistently. I can only put that down to the time spent reading the many reports and posts that people have written here and having people willing to give honest and valuable advice to me for free. I finally now feel I have gained enough knowledge to give something back so now try to dedicate at least a few hours a week responding to posts as best as I can. I'm not sure I can say I'm in the 10% yet, but maybe if people contune to be proactively involved in posting reports and giving advice then the 10% might swing to 20% and I might just consider myself one of those Cheers Paul