wannabefisho

Good score Brett on flatties and kingie- Hawkesbury is firing ATM- just to find time to get out there myself, lol... Tight lines bro Anthony

HI David, Patternosted rigs are good for most surf beaches. I tie mine myself using 30lb mono or flouro and have 2 droppers of around 20cm long, with about half a metre between each dropper (usually more though). Your sinker should be same distance from first dropper as from first dropper to second dropper. On the top one I run a single 3/0 mustad and bottom I use a single 4/0 mustad hook. I use snapper leads I dont like the way star sinkers dig into the sand too much. Also remember that moving with your gear as it drifts along the gutter is a great way to discover the fish rather than having to berley up and wait for them to come to you. If I choose to berley I use offcuts from striped tuna or slimey mackeral or yakkas and thron in the frames and heads etc that I dont keep for beach worming- mix in with a loaf of bread and throw handfuls in upcurrent of your chosen fishing location- lets face it if you berley @ your feet it will drift away- taking the fish it attracts with it. If I am using whole pillies on ganged hooks run your sinker straight down to the hooks, dont bother tying a swivel on, they are best used for minimal surf conditions unlesss you want to keep the bait right on the bottom and let it drift with current. Good luck mate Anthony

Hiya everyone, I just bought my first tinnie (a Brooker V14 with 40HP) and I am looking for anyone to come join me on brisbane Waters/hawkesbury/Lake Macquarie on weekend and midweek outings. As I work different shifts each week, days and times may vary a bit but I usually get Sat/Sunday mornings to myself if I work nights and then get Monday/Tuesdays off... Idea is to flick plastics/LCB's and HB's/Poppers around the drop-offs and oyster racks for bream/flatties/jewies and on the odd good day head out to the heads and troll for bonnies and kingies on light gear Sorry I wont allow any bait in my boat Im going strictly lures ONLY as I dont have bait board installed and I dont want my boat stinking nor the cleaning dutues afterwards... simply put you gotta be prepared to help launch/retreive and wash boat afterwards (usually do this @ the ramp when there is fresh water available) and must be able to reverse a trailer or at least hold on to some rope and guide boat to T-wharf or pontoon without damaging my "pride and joy" You will need your own gear and be preapred to meet @ any ramp on the central coast or hawkesbury before sunrise for a sunrise launch. Prefer someone with local knowledge as its been donkeys since I fished inside Brissy Waters but I have basic idea on locations and will have GPS/Sounder installed in a couple of weeks once I receive delivery from USA. Must be self sufficient and I prefer c'n'r other than keeping the odd jew/flattie- I return all my Bream and other species back to briney these days there are better feeds for me n my family. Please let me know via PM with your contact details and I will contact you when I am available... like I said I do shift work so my hours change every week depending on workloads. Cheers and Tight Lines Anthony

For you LB action off the beach best fish the Southern end next to the headland (in front of the Big4 caravan park- there is usually a good gutter that extends from the headland to around half way to Ocean Beach) best to use live beach worms or pippies for Whiting/Bream/Flatties/Dart- you can collect worms yourself or buy them from one of the local tackle shops (Im pretty sure Ettalong bait'n'tackle sells live beach worms but get in early they sell out very quickly)... if you cannot get beach worms then dig for pippies or use live blood worms or live nippers (yabbies) Use light gear say MAX 10lb all thats needed and light leads and long shank hooks for best result. Good luck Anthony

Groper- thats not a bonnie- thats a striped tuna mate!

Nice feed of solid breambo's there Pete- the biggest one is a tank... bet she went hard! Tight lines Anthony

I picked up my new (2nd hand boat) yesterday and called Fisher_Doi (aka: Johnny) to come for a run. We launched upper reaches of Georges river and blasted across to a few holes and drifted back towards the ramp casting plastics and blades around Sadly I didnt get a touch, but Johnny managed to snare a legal flattie and he dropped a biggun after the reel was singing. WWe only stayed on water for a few hours as a long drive back up the caost towing the boat and as this is my first boat Ive owned I didnt want to get out too late with no nav lights or GPS (yes... they're coming this week) Had a grear day tested her out- nice soft ride and plenty of grunt from a 40HP Mariner. Thanks Johnny for coming along helping my first ever launch and retreive a successful one (I managed to reverse back first time and into the drink, pretty happy with that, lol)- now I just gotta do it a few more times solo then Im ready to hit up the Hawkesbury for them elusive jewies. Sorry this is more of a first run report but hey- they can only get better! Tight lines Anthony

Good advice PeterS, but not only knowing where the "holes are" @ low tide can chage considerably but the time the top of the tide happens, this will give you only a "guesstimate" of where they are.. the best bet is to learn how to read the beach in ALL conditions and on ALL tides... Maybe if you go durng the day to the beach ask one of the local lifesavers or surfers as they tend to stick to the peaks where steep dropoffs hit shallow water- creating waves... where there is no waves breaking ius where there is usually a "gutter or a hole".. Often the best gutters are close to shore and usually have a strong RIP creating churning whitewater on one side or both depending on the curent, fish either side of this and keep moving along the gutter to improve your chances of snaring a fish. I fish light and let the curent drift me from one end of the gutter to the other as you can cover more ground that way- else if current is strong I up the lead to 1lb snapper leads and berley hard in close with chook pellets/bread and fish frames and offcuts. DOnt be afraid to try differnt rigs (eg. paternoster and a running rig) if you have 2 combo's- you will see one will get hits more than the other and this is how you determine where in the water column the fish are playing- sometimes fish feed off the bottom (like Jews, Bream and Whiting as they hunt for worms in the sand) and others will take from the top layer (Taylor, Salmon, Sharks and trevally) make for good surface action using light size 1 or 2 ball sinkers. Personally I find a paternoster is the best, or I use a large snapper led attached to its own leader which runs ABOVE your swivel... well in my spots this works best as I fish beaches with reefs adjoining the beaches and bombies off the rock platforms. Your leader from swivel to the hooks should be between 1 and 2m but optimally I prefer 1-1.5m, its easier to cast with shorter leaders. Good luck mate Anthony

Sadly I wont be able to make it, as I'll be fishing the Pirtek Challenge from SWR that weekend... But I sincerely hope all FR members in atendance have a great day out- its a great area full of nice big, far Crocs, Jews and Whiting!

Spiro has given you a starting point mate, but peeps who catch jew regularly hold their spots tight to their chests... you'd be lucky to get specific details. Some other areas include: Parramatta River hold good number of jew but most are just soapies with the odd metre job thrown in Lane Cove River- again same deal- my PB came from MCR taken on chicken breast intended for Bream, the following I caught one just a few cm smaller from same location on skirt steak (yes it does work!) beaches- they fire when the jew are ON but else its really hit'n'miss *** ultra fresh bait is a MUST!!!!! get yourself a good marine map and locate the deep holees that are accessible for a LB cast- and keep trying... mate a jew isnt just gonna pop onto ya hook- there's always "beginners luck" but Ive spent many many long nights fishing Parra, LCR and up some spots in Broken bay for zip on the jew front in over 3 years... they are there you just gotta be lucky... all of my jews have some when I fish solo and 95% taken on live beach worms and chicken breast and Mullet, never when I fish with mates- I hook em then get dusted... the areas I fish are around moored boats and bays - "hint" this is one of the many places you will fnd them... expect to get pinged often though they can be dirty fighters and will head straight for any structure/cover in the vicinity. Good luck regardless where you attempt to tackle your first... Tight lines Anthony

Patonga mate is the GO, its close to Broken Bay and there's a caravan park there- you gotta book in advance though as it gets pretty crowded during school holidays. Else I'd likey go to Umina which is on the way to Patonga- there's a BIG4 cara park there aswell... both great spots nice and quiet, and some good fishing available. Other suggestions- Kiama and Nowra areas have some nice little spots etched into the escarpment, there's plenty of caravan parks for you to book into and some have beaches @ the doorstep- and if you are so inclined there's charters for reef fish also available. Hope this helps. Good luck in the search Anthony

Thats one monster blurter! well done mate fine catch- esp around the moorings you were lucky to pull him out of there. I fish LB round those areas and get pinged often for me to not bother using lures- I'd be broke! Tight lines Anthony

NICE! Dollies and Stripeys are mad fun on light gear!

Mate thats neither a Trevally nor a Bream- Its a Tarwhine- nose is well rounded Bream have a slight pointy mouth set and the lips project forwards in the bigger fish (upwards of 35cm). Sorry to burst ya bubble- still a great catch ya dont see too many tarwhine that big... biggest I ever seen was 55cm my mate caught from 5 Islands near Wollongong- she was a BEAST... and yours is no different! cracker match mate! Anthony

Can I pls be added to the list... I'll bring fisher_doi (johnny) if he is free... I'll contact him soon and if he's free will update as required. Anyone from nth Shore can grab a lift up and back with me to save fuel costs - but I have limited space in my Hyundai so I can happily take 2 peeps + tackle would work out pretty good. Cheers Anthony

100% interested in a CC social day! Willing to help out with locations if needed and help setting up... Anthony

Nice Sambo Dave! Love it when they put on a show on the light gear- loads of fun on 10lb string:1prop: Tight lines to all Anrthony

Big-G, My advice is to use as light gear as you can, you WILL get more strikes and more fish that way. Use small hooks (I use size 6/8/10/12 long shanks for strip baits) and light leader (say anywhere from 4-12lb and make it MINIMUM 1m long- preferably 1.5-2.0m long)) and as little lead as you can ... I personally prefer unweighted (but when there's some current I use a size 0/1/2 split shot crimped around 30cm above my hooks) mullet/yakka strips and chicken for common species (Bream, Whiting, Flathead etc. etc.) ANY of the ferry wharves are producing fish ATM- you just gotta pick a time and day- and dont be surprized if some spots are packed with people. Also, there are plenty of good spots on the Parramatta River where there are lots of BIG Bream, Flatties and Jewies for you to have some fun on, lol. Good luck mate, let us kow how you get on Anthony

Hey Pete, sounds like you're doing everything right mate... I have hooked a few last week or so around your local rock spot, most are only rats but there's some hoodies among them (if you can get them past the 2m+ Bronze Whalers). Maybe try Broken Bay FAD if its still there??? (I heard it went missing some time ago so not sure if DPI still has it out there). Also give half-tide rocks a bash in close as there isnt as much wash, else I'd head over to Palm Beach and troll the headland with metals or skirts you are just as likely to hookup onto a big Bonnie as you are a King. Good luck mate, hopefully catch up with you round ya local soon (am returning to work next week but hope to be up that way by end of Feb- will let you know OK) Tight lines Anthony

Nice Breambo's numnuts - next time try using mullet strips- also worth trying around the oyster racks all good areas... the best places abd baits for whiting I'll tell you via PM Tight lines Anthony

Hamerz check ya PM's! Anthony

Went fishing with my mate Poolie up the Central Coast After a long walk to the platform we baited up and got some yakkas, then I slabbed up a fresh Mullet I cought around my local and it was on for young and old! First up we landed a handful or more keeper Squire which we kept 5 for the table from around 10 fish. Poolie then got a nice Rat that went a shade overr 62cm and back into the drink... then I dropped a nice King after it popped my leader lifting it up the ledge That put me in a so I reluctantly re-rigged and cast out again, Poolie was spinning this time and after a few casts got onto a nice 55cm Bonnie I decided to have a play with the silly gear and got smashed by a 45cm Pike which I kept for later day for bait. I watched some Bronze Whalers smashing a school of yakkas on the other side of the hole they went ballistic was mad to watch the fins and tail splashes on the surface as they charged into the bait-ball We got down pretty low on the bait so we decided to call it for last cast. I threaded on my last piece of crusty Mullet and I got yet another Squire to take me to 4 in total. After a long 45min walk to the car all uphill it was time to drive to Avoca to meet the Mrs and Kids for lunch. We sat and ate fresh prawns from South Tacoma on fresh bread, then went for a swim and afterwards a nice cold . Sadly I didnt get any piccies while we were fishing as my phone ran out of battery, but we had a top day out. Cannot wait to hit up there again early next week, and with a new job starting in a week or so Im itching to get out for that magic "last cast" before work pulls me back to another place, lol Tight lines Anthony :)

G/W hamerz, I went out last night too and bagged 12+ Bream (kept 3 and a Blue Swimmer Crab) was just me and my mate Doug. The Bream around ATM are better quality and there's more of the bigger fellas about. Keep em coming mate Anthony

She's a beauty pete... Mmmm... Jewie steaks... <insert drool here> Tight lines Anthony

G/W- Nice Breambo's... bet they tasted awesome!