wannabefisho

West Winds are really bad for fishing, as it bring lots of dust off the top of the mountains and showers it straight into the water, the fish go deep and go off the bite. Clifton is OK, but its overcrowded and full of id10t's and drunk/stoners who have little or no respect for other anglers or the local area- there are better places to fish IMO that are less crowded and produce same quality fish as there does. Its a great spot for squid and yakkas though if you can squeeze in among all the other anglers with 50lines each running out- not ideal place to learn the local area if you ask me Also, Clifton attracts a park use fee these days and you have to enter via gates and cannot exit without paying... if you are prepared to walk 1/2km down and up the hill you might be lucky to find parking on the road so you dont have to pay for parking, lol There a nice wharf next to the Harbour Bridge (I think its called Jeffrey street wharf) and fishing is allowed 24/7 you just gotta make way for the commuters and ferry traffic, its a great spot for Bream and for catching yakkas, and have heard of other species taken from there aswell... all round a good spot... There are plenty of other wharves around, and many will be packed out on weekends, you just gotta find a spot and hope for the best when you get there, but I dont fish Ferry Wharves anymore (and Ive fished them for ages with mates) simply because of the amount of people traffic and other anglers in those areas- highly overcrowded with people and many choose to keep undersized fish... I rather stick to my own spots and catch less fish but they are better quality and I dont have to worry about anyone else... I can assure everyone there ARE real secret spots inside the harbour that are virtually untouched by human hands and they produce good fish time after time, with some patience, good bait and some berley you will be well on ya way to a feed...and regularly! Double bay is nice but be aware that some Ferry Wharves over the Eastern Suburbs its illegal to fish - or some have restricted fishing hours and they use CCTV to monitor activities on and off the wharves... Again if you want to try there make sure you obey any signage else you might be up for a large fine if you disobey local council and waterways. Good luck locating a spot Tight lines Anthony

+1 ... Great report, great fish and your first Jew on a SP- overall a fantastic holiday :thumbup:

When I used to watch fishing shows there were only 2 choices back then, you could watch Rex or Malcolm Douglass... and both are legends in my eye's- I still watch Rex's DVD's over any other and I have a few to choose from... (including xxxxxxxxxxx, Dave B, Greg Joyes and some LBG guys who I dont really remember the names of, and some of the squidgy secrets) I used to watch various shows and of the more recent ones I think Escape with ET is one of the beter ones and I like the tackle tips and 4WD tips presented in it... but you're right they aint no Rex or Mal... Maybe Rex and the Leyland Bros could do an old skool reunion and show all the new shows presenters how to put on a show.

... In case anyone is wondering what the blood is on the fishies head- its mine... after it spiked me, lol... fish was returned after a quick snap to fight another day

I had a spare coupla hours this arvo so I decided to hit one of my local spots on LCR for a flick. I started off with 3" Gulp in Pumpkinseed and got a few hits around the oyster covered rocks, but not much else, so I kept moving on the same bank in hopes of better things to come. I changed to a 4" stickbait and cast out under a pontoon, first cast I came up tight on this little baby- my FIRST EVER LCR Flattie taken on a plastic. I got busted off once on a good fish after that from same area. Wind was up so I learned lots about jighead selection, casting and accuracy. Was using 1/4 oz jighead with 10lb flouro leader and 6lb Finns original braid to land him. Gee I wish I had a spare few hours every day to go for a flick, I guess I just got lucky... and Im very happy with what I accomplished and learned today. Tight lines Anthony

G'Day Steve, I use 6/8/10lb flouro leader around a rod length or more, and I use a single split shot crimped around 50cm above the hook (most times I am completely unweighted as where I fish there isnt much current). Hooks I use are size 6 and 8 long shank for strip bait and for whole pillies (when I have them) I use 3 X size 4 baitholders and a half hitch arund the tail of the pillie. I dont deviate from this rig as its been working for the last 6 months or more, but you could use smaller hooks to increase the strike rate but I find when I drop to size 10/12 hooks I get more of the fish swallowing them, meaning more time out of the water if Im to release it... and often much time re-tying on new hooks, lol

Yer 007, I showed them how to tie on leader to braid (not sure what its called but its one of the knots Stewy showed me @ the Georges Social) and tie in hooks using a full-blood knot and also snelled rigs Yep, LCR is Lane Cove River- I live not far from the river so its nice and close Ta George, they were no monsters, not compared to my previous catches from the same location- but nice and fat... The smallest fish had had a good feed of Oysters his gut was full... All fish had large fatty deposits in gut cavity so they were not starving and oviously eaten pretty well during the July/August spawning. Berley is essential for local spots like this one... I simply use Bread and off-cuts of chicken and strips... I find too much berley the fish go off the bite- but if you can spare the berley till the last hour or 2 of the run-in and berley through the slack tide then the first hour or 2 of the run out seems to work... I also note I have been chucking in fish frames in this area for the last 6 weeks so I think it has helped keep them in the area- and luckily the tide doesnt run too quick so the frames stay in the immediate area. Thanks again for the replies everyone, Its great teaching a few newbies how to do the basics and watch them catch a few fish- albeit if they are just keepers... Tight lines Anthony

Cheers Nathan, it appears to be more active on high tides and the first hour or 2 of the drop tide but fresh bait is essential... The local servo bait isnt getting touched even though presented correctly- so another reason why fresh is ALWAYS best... Hopefully this week I can get out for another adventure. Tight lines mate Anthony

Last night I took Dougan and his flat mate Dave to my local. They didnt have any expectations they just wanted to hook into a few fish and learn a few things first hand. Anyway we eneded up with 3 Bream (Dave took 2 to my lone one). They were all just legal, but we dicided to keep them anyway as a memento and for a nice BBQ feed. All fish fell to fresh yakka strips and the boys learned a few things about tying leaders, line choice and bait presentation. Tight lines Anthony

Great feed of reds and squite there mate, looks like a pretty good sized Mowie in the mix too Tight lines Anthony

Holy Mother of God... Thats HUGE! Great catch and awesome to see her return to the H2O Every chance of nailing her again (or someone else...) lol :thumbup: Tight lines Anthony

... Good thinkin Leo! Bril idea ... I'll be in for that one for sure, my local stompin grounds WOO-HOO! Bring it on... Tight lines Anthony

Thats a nice brace Pete, jew and taylor... Tight lines Anthony

Thanks George but I already use flouro leader and braid, its hard to take in jew gear but I could up the leader and line class to 12lb or maybe 15, but I wouldnt want to be going any heavier than that... else I'll lose my strike rate.

How awesome is it when they do the big leaps and try to throw the hooks, a few of mine have done aerials then gone down, down to the bottom and tried to dislodge hooks on the sand... One came up with almost a kilo of sand in its gills/gut cavity then ran round my mates boat 2 times before I got him finally in the net- a PB of 73cm and gee what a tussle on 10lb... lotsa fun I cannot wait for them to start schooling up real thick again... so much fun... If you get oen on a metal lure then its complete mayhem in the boat, you gotta try it... I reckon they go harder then striped tuna of equivalent size, and they'll use ANY method to ping you on anything thats availabler to them, real dirty fighters they are

Good on ya Jono- Sambo's are one of the highest rating sport fish around these days- and if prepared properly they taste pretty good on the plate. Hope to see more reports from you in the future Tight lines Anthony

Nice Kings budd

Good work on the Mowie and Trev.. shame you got a dirty big backlash in ya baitcaster, but Beter luck next time with ya new reel mate, I'd take it down to the local park with some casting plugs and cast away till you get used to it- it will save you time and effort whilst you are on the water in the long run... Tight lines Anthony

Thanks Jeff, its really hotting up going to be a cracking summer- I cannot wait to get that 1m Jew from my local... if the situation arrises again I'll go slightly heavier (6lb main and 10lb leader is just no match for a big Jew...) and funnily when I stop targeting Jew I seem to hook them more often- but when I target them all I get are Bream and Whiting... Maybe there's something in that statement not sure... My mate was also on Parra in a different area and he landed a 1m+ flattie and 4 Soapie Jew biggest went 65 (well when he called me as I was leaving @ 2am)- but Im sure he slammed some more Jew upwards of 80cm SO BURNING! but so entertaining... my little Shimano has never seen so much action and my new Okuma Trio handled the fish really nicely- and its got a superb drag so Im happy to have blooded both reels on some nice local fish. Cannot wait to get out there again... maybe Wednesday might turn out a better day... gotta be in it to win it... Anthony

Went on Parra River again last night with Nathan hoping to get a Jew each. We fished from sunset till the top of the tide and we managed to get a nice 33cm bream, a Legal Flattie that went 40cm and a massive Blue Swimmer Crab. Nath left and I departed for LCR- this is when it hotted up! First cast I was within a few minutes and I had another Breambo of 33cm sitting in the bucket. I noticed a nice big swirl and a big suck- and I cast out within 10cm of it... I just had eneough time to put the rod into the holder when my little shimano Sienna started singing... zzzzZZZZZZZzzzzZZZZZZZ...... (your little ripper!) after a tight tussle I netted a healthy 38cm Bream , meanwhile my other rod was doing a bit of a jiggy dance but failed to produce a hookup. I cast again and got dusted on a good fish, lol And so I repeated again and again with same results- dusting after dusting. ... Until I saw that nice slow curvy bend in my rod and the reel was howling... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... I struck hard and then the headshakes started, I gained some line, then I lost another 10m, then I gained some more, then lost some... after a 10 minute battle I saw colour, then it energed... a GENUINE 1M jew from my local- I was beside myself and grabbed the net, went to net her and then she bit me 10lb leader- it was all chewn to bits FARK! FARK! FARK! Words and emoticons CANNOT describe the elation and then the pure heartbreak @ the time I re-rigged on the hope she would come back and she did, but she only ran with the bait then immediately spat the hooks. I decided to chuck out another bait and wait- then I nailed another Breambo- just legal sitting on 30cm. The tide was dropping and fast, and I called it quits after my last bait (2am) and headed home, the final tally: 4 Bream, 1 Flattie& 1 Blue Swimmer (both Nathans) and a 1m Jew that busted my off literally @ my feet. All Bream taken on mullet strips, size 6 long shank, 10lb flouro and 6lb braid. All Bream pulled drag at least once during the fight (yes, even the smallest Bream pulled some drag) Tight lines Anthony

SSSSOOOOOOOOO Jealous! Fantastic Barra Dusky- great catch

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! Cracking Jew mate... well done!

Hey Azzo, you dont need to justify your reasons why you kept your Jew, I would have kept it... aswell as the 2nd one- I LOVE Jewfish fresh on the BBQ. Regardless as to your stance on C'n'R well... like you I take what I need for a feed... and I have a rather large extended family and I like to share my fish around, so a bag of bream or Flatties or a coupla legal Jewies will get eaten very quickly, and for every fish I take... I usually end up throwing back 10 "just legals" to keep the fishery in my local area in abundance. Limit your catch, not catch the limit- is the classic saying that I think most fisho's adhere to these days- we are not barbarians here we all love fishing and are here to learn and share our experiences, whether they be +'ve or -'ve to others is not their judgement call IMO- if you wanna keep fish for the table and as long as you adhere to fisheries guidelines you arent committing any wrong. No harm in what you have done as far as Im concerned and you certainly havent broken and NSW Fisheries laws- and Im with Lumpookey on this one, if one cannot make a positive comment then dont comment @ all... We dont need id10t's on FR. Hope your next one is a 1m+ model. Keep em coming mate- I loved reading your post and there will be more to come. Tight lines Anthony