DaveTheBoy

FISH 3 A few eggy fish have been lurking around Nelson Bay area! Check out the full report:

Happy Easter raiders! Headed out off the stones at Birubi/Anna Bay this morning with my dad. There were a few tailor about hungry for the trusty raider jig. Landed maybe 10, lost a few more, with a few kept for the BBQ tonight. Landed also a nice wrasse, along with the very rare "Easter egg bream" to round out the morning! Most tailor were between 40cm-50cm with a few smaller choppers in the mix. Dad (who contributed donuts to the bucket by the way, despite jagging an eel at some point) did manage to take some cool video which I'll add once I can figure out how to make the file smaller. Fished Nobbys breakwall at Newcastle last night, plenty of flatties & tailor around there on sunset taking pillie cube and small lures. Didn't have the phone on me so no pics of that sorry, but worth a try if you're in the area about 2/3rds along casting to the ocean side.

I value the time of the people who run this site, as well as my own time enough to invest in whatever fee structure is put forward. If it means one less packet of plastics or such per month that's just fine by me! Thanks Fishraider & I look forward to joining you on the water (and hopefully at one of the socials) soon enough!

I will miss mostly: - The encouragement of others and spirit of always learning - Catching many "firsts" with a combination of Fishraider advice + persistence! My first hairtail, kingy, jewfish, beach worm all come to mind as most memorable occasions - and being able to share those wins back with the people who tutored me (many of whom I will never meet in person). - Meeting up with strangers at some odd hours in Macca's car parks for enjoyable fishing trips! - Building a bank of shared knowledge and experience - Sense of community Thank you all for your work, and for including me in your world. I will miss fishraider!

Mate after 3 years living in a country town I still can't believe that I'm within 15mins of a handful of beaches + the harbour which looks like it could fish well at times!

Hi Raiders - having settled and unpacked boxes in our new home town of Newcastle, this weekend was time to get fishing! I put in a couple of sessions between my closest local beaches (Nobbys and Stockton). Plenty of good looking gutters in close produced some great flathead fishing. The largest went 78cm (a PB), a with the others in the 40cm-70cm range. As a personal preference I only keep flatties 40cm-65cm all others were released. Schools of salmon and tailor would move through at various times of the morning & afternoon - often just in knee deep water. Most tailor were small 'chopper' size but landed a couple toward 40cm. Hopefully in the coming months the average size will increase (that being said a chap fishing 50m up from me landed a pair of really nice fish). Also caught a handful of bream, dart, cobbler catfish, and a few pesky rays - but that's part of fishing on the beach. Nobby's Beach also produced a tangle with an almighty (for me) jewfish - after fighting it for over an hour, it got caught in the "suck" of the closest gutter where the waves break and recede. A friendly passer by tried to help my wife beach it with the leader - sadly this just seemed to annoy the tired fish which took me for a little jog before breaking the leader. It's always difficult to estimate size of a fish in the water, but we got a very good long look at it and somewhere around 1m would be realistic. Next time, gadget! I fish very simple rig on the beach, 20lb line to a 30lb leader, running ball sinker to a single 4/0 circle hook with 1/2 pilchard bait. This accounted for all fish (with the exception of tailor which were spun on a 30g raider lure). I'm still new here & getting to know the area, so appreciate anyone's tips via PM or if you'd ever like to meet up for a session it would be great to meet you. I'll be heading up to Nelson Bay for Easter wkend to visit my dad so hopefully will get to wet a line there too.

Awesome mate - good salmon there too! I'll be heading to Nelson Bay to visit family for Easter wkend hoping to get a few minutes to fish as well!

Very nice work mate and great post!

Hi Raiders - after 3 years of living in the country (New England) we've just moved back to the coast - and are living in Newcastle. If anyone is local & wanting to meet up for a fish - this is a call out! I've lived here in the past so not totally clueless, though it's been a while since I have fished the area. My best styles are rock/beach for small pelagics, or plastics for flatties etc. I'm not excellent offshore or in boats generally where there's a swell - I get seasick! Bonus is I've got until after Easter off work - so am free many days! If you're wanting a fishing buddy please be in touch. Dave

Hi Raiders - after 3 years of living in the country (New England) we've just moved back to the coast - and are living in Newcastle. If anyone is local & wanting to meet up for a fish - this is a call out! I've lived here in the past so not totally clueless, though it's been a while since I have fished the area. My best styles are rock/beach for small pelagics, or plastics for flatties etc. I'm not excellent offshore or in boats generally where there's a swell - I get seasick! Bonus is I've got until after Easter off work - so am free many days! If you're wanting a fishing buddy please be in touch. Dave

Friends I am rarely on the coast these days, having relocated to the New England a few years back. I'll be on the central coast (staying at Davistown) with some time to fish next wed arvo/Thur/fri morn. If anyone is keen for a beach/rock session - or can point me in the right direction, please be in touch

Top stuff Paul!

Just a quick post here. Headed down to the harbour yesterday afternoon for some squid - it was shoulder to shoulder holiday action. Managed a few squid & this morning went to Port Kembla breakwater (north) for my last 'summer' session before heading o/s next week. A combination of howling wind and a group of spear fishos diving in close made for tough going amongst the 2,000 lines that seemed to be in the water. Fished for a few hours for a couple sergeant baker, and my newbie mate landed his first rat king - just a baby model but he was rather happy and it's always so nice helping someone catch a fish. It's not worth posting a pic but he was very chuffed. Around 10:30am hooked on to this guy at 78cm made the day really worthwhile. Shortly after landing it our little section of the wall was, well lets say enthusiastically encroached upon by a few folks who I guess we're hoping for a similar catch. Time to pack it up muttering something like "serenity now". Incidentally a fellow near me had a good haul of drummer/blackfish/sawtail - so they seem to be in good numbers if fishing for these is your bag - about 2/3rds of the way down the wall on the ocean side. That concludes my summer, I can't handle the holiday crowds. When I return from America in a month I have a trip to Darwin planned to stay tuned. Tight lines all.

I fish unweighted, I find a whole squid is enough weight to cast out 10m or so - in my experience you don't need to get out too far, just behind the wash has been enough. It is also a very direct way to fish, you feel the fish take your bait & move with it - and I really like that feeling so you know when to set your hook. That being said I've seen guys fishing with floats who also do well, so just try until you find what works.

Excellent work mate. It's a very satisfying feeling to be able to replicate and catch consistently!

Mate my go to spots have been Bass Point, Port Kembla and Bellambi. All land based and all have fished equally well, this has been my first summer catching kings. Took me a few months of learning to get my first, they have since become pretty regular as I have worked out the art of catching them. All part of the great learning adventure!

Mate that's some once work, great Jew! I'm heading up in June hope to replicate your efforts!

Kingfish always have their way of fighting it out to the death, well done on getting it in the boat! Nice fish.

Cheers Deano - yes got my squid in the harbour as I know it better & therefore don't usually waste too much time getting bait. A long handled net will be my next investment!

My mistake there Chris sorry!

Similar start to my last outing with a (very) early stop at the harbour for some squid, picked up 8 in around 40mins or so and headed down to Wollongong again to try some rock action. 3 rats in the first hour kept things moving, and then met up with fellow raider & kingfish gun MV Sunray (Daniel). The fish today seemed to come in bursts rather than bite solidly - and leather jackets were in plagues destroying our baits. Dan landed a couple fish, then I was smoked by 2 much bigger fish in a row, we got a very good look at the second fish - though it ended up doing me on the ledge. Saw a few ripples on the surface and grabbed the trusty raider jig, a few casts later accounted for this nice bonito 51cm (thanks Daniel for the landing net assist) which is my first for the summer & biggest land-based in some time, always nice to mix it up. Dan (and his very excellent extendable landing net) called it a day, and this is where I ran into a pickle. First keeper king for the day 68cm followed almost on cue, followed by another rat. Whilst not huge, landing them unassisted from the rocks is a bit of a task & I'm glad nobody had the camera out to capture my embarrassing style - anyhow fish landed. With work calling - last cast of the morning was a strip of squid on my smaller 20lb outfit, the final fish 66cm took some real finesse on the lighter gear (20lb leader also) and once again had me in a laughable position to land him - but land him I did. No furious action & no monsters landed today, but still fairly productive & nice always to fish with a fellow raider!

Very nice work! Wish I'd caught my first king at such a young age!

That's a sensational effort mate, so impressive!

Nice fish there mate, so much fun to be had at the moment!

I'll be in touch week after next I should be in Newcastle be great to go out for a session