Noodles

The Bonito are big this year. I got an OS model on a live yacka intended for a king at Tuggerah Reef before Xmas and the fish being caught at Moon Island are in the larger class as well.

Good fish, bad photo.

Very lucky. I had a similar experience after driving from St Marys home to Newcastle with a boat and trailer I bought. Made it home no problem after dark and when I went out in the morning to move it the coupling dropped off the drawbar after moving only 20 metres. It had been welded on without any bolts.

Great lizard. I would have eaten it!! Shame to see good fillets swim away.

I use 1 hook in the back behind the dorsal and a party ballon. Years ago I found a design for a clever little release clip that I make out of an electronics aligator clip, a snap, some small PVC tube (fish tank air tube) and a cable tie. The design came from a WA fishing site but I've been unable to find it again recently. It's a really neat little idea that allows you to have the livie swimming at whatever depth you like. I'll try to describe it to you. The little aligator clips come from Jaycar Electronics or other electrical supply shop. You need to cut the little cable clamp section off the back end and file off the rough edge. Drill a small hole in the finger end of the aligator clip and put your snap in it so it dangles. You can use a split ring to do this if you want. Cut 2 small pieces of PVC tube and push them onto the clip jaws to protect the line. Push a little cable tie through the PVC tube as well on the opposite side to the snap. Done. To use it. First inflate the balloon and knot it then attach the clip with the cable tie above the knot. Hook your livie onto your line (weighted or not doesn't matter) and drop him over to whatever depth you want. Open the snap and put your line through it and snap it closed. Then clip the line in the jaws of the clip between the PVC tube. Drop the balloon over and feed out as much line as you want. The breeze will (should) take the whole lot away from the boat. It usually does but some yakkas want to stay in under the boat for some reason. When a fish takes the bait the line comes out of the clip jaws but the balloon stays attached and the line runs freely through the snap. There are 2 main advantages. Allows variable depth, and is reusable so you don't leave balloons floating around the ocean as is the case with other methods. They are not stainless so rinse and dry them after use.

That's right D. In fact it's a competition. The person with the most, prettiest, tidiest, newest collection wins.

This is the link to these images. It is the Australian Government Dep't of Innovation, Industry, Science ans Reasearch site in their Integrated Marine Observation System Ocean Portal. http://imos.aodn.org.au/oceancurrent/Syd-Hob/latest.html I've been using this one for years. Updated several times a day. Problem is now though that with all this cyclonic weather it looks like it will be at least Saturday or Sunday before the ocean will be even nearly friendly enough for my little boat to go that wide. Only in a 4.6m so I have to pick my days, but working on my 6.9 Express Cruiser.

Check out these images in the Dollies post from Fishing Chat. Temp images Might be worth a trip to the FAD.

The diffeence of a couple of days. Thursday 22/12/11 compared to 25/12/11 shows a marked increase in water temp off Sydney coast. Notice the change from mainly green to mainly brown. This indicates a temp rise of at least 2, possibly 3 degrees C. Yeah!!!

I've had a couple of nul trips to the FAD and from Gosford swimming pool it was a 75 km round trip to the Broken Bay FAD out round Box Head and back. At least 50 litres of juice to do it comfortably and I used to take 3 tanks for 80 litres. Not so far now thankfully, but when you have a good day it makes those expensive time-wasters fade away. My last trip with the Father in Law resulted in 16 fish with at least 20 lost at the boat. A couple of crackers amongst them too. Can't wait to get amongst them this year. Got a couple of Pakula sacred sauries ready to go.

An old fishing buddy of mine showed me, and I've done it since then many times, Sargent Baker is one of the best Snapper Baits you can get. He used to just cut a chunk out of the tail section and then release but I prefer to dispatch them and use as much as I need. Try it, you wont be disappointed. I don't tend to kill big ones but you usually get one that's fair if they're about. They have good strong skin like a mullet and white flesh and Reddy's love them. Nice fish by the way and well done in 60m.

There's always a chance and you won't know if you don't go.

I'm with you. Sceptical. Nothing till February last year.

That's a classic. I only wish they'd had 2 cameras so we could see the guy's face as he got zapped! Still laughing as I type this.

You were fishing flathead central. There have been some great fish taken there over the years. I once saw a guy walking back to his car with a flatty held up by the gills over his shoulder and the tail was hitting him in the back of the knees. Years ago when the sandbar out to The Box used to get very shallow at low tide people would wade right out but you had to make sure you were back in before the water. Even further back they used to pyramid stilt fish out there. Go out at low tide and set up a tripod then stay for the whole tide. During the big storms of 1974 they had to put rock breakwalls up to prevent losing The Esplanade to the erosion and it changed the area considerably. There used to be a lot more sand back then and anybody old enough will remember the Ettalong Beach Canoe hire days. We used to sell bait not far from there and a bloke I went to school with named Chris caught big fish there on a regular basis using only frozen prawns. He used to drop back into the shop to show us his catch. It is also a great whiting spot and there have been sizeable jew taken as well. All fish in the Brisbane Water must swim through that channel.

I think you were a bit optomistic thinking you were going to lift that in a $10.00 net. Haven't you guys heard of gaffs?? Again awsome fish and great work to get it to the boat let alone in it.. Boy that rod and reel can take some punishment dragging that fish out to deeper water at that speed. A great team effort boys and a well deserved prize.

That's right. When you go out you'll see a heap of coal ships waiting to load at Newcastle Port. They are anchored about 8km's or so out, in about 50m of water. You will find flatties absolutely anywhere out there. I've been dropping a sand anchor as the rock pick wont hold you and the drift is too fast. You'll catch little ones as well but be patient. I've been getting them on pillies and mullet and remember that they are cannibals so don't be afraid to cut one up to catch 10 more. The biggest flatty I've ever seen caught was 1.2m long and it had a 450mm model head first down it's gob at Coffs Harbour.

Not necessarily best but there is more reef easier to find in closer. Go out to the ships and you should bag out on flatties if your only after a feed. There are kings in close from the Island down along the reefs but I haven't seen anything like the beasts caught off Sydney just the other day.

There are a couple of reefs in close along that stretch and the GPS coords are not too hard to find online. I've been fishing the one dirctly out in front of the Catho wharf and bagged out on snapper there one day earlier this year. There are reefs all along the cliffs from north end of catho past spoon rocks, then more reef out from the north end of caves beach. There is a bait reef that comes up very shallow out in front of Blacksmith Surf Club and then more up the north end in front of Redhead Surf Club. Once you go out a couple of ks it becomes a desert and the reef spots are very well kept secrets. I have been unable to find much structure at all, even in spots where it is supposed to be, hence my targeting flatties up here if I'm after a feed.

You could try asking the pro who owns them!! Nah, you just keep an eye out for the bubble floats as your moving about. They are often a good indicator of a fishy location as the pros don't put them there for nothing. It's not a good idea to tie up to them though or anchor up too close but if you do and you see a big boat coming, get out of there real quick. I once went out to the Broken Bay FAD and it held no fish but there were 3 traps in the vicinity and I got dollies just trolling a big loop around them instead.

We don't mind them at all and I grew up eating them for breakfast. When I come across them I always take a bag home before moving on. I will never pass up a feed of them once I'm out there. I've been catching jackets for over 40 years and here are some tricks I've been taught and learnt by myself. Others may have more tips. I taught a mate of mine to catch them in a couple of drops and he was amazed even though he'd been catching snapper for years. * Handlines are best if you have one on board but you can do just as well with a rod with practice. * You don't have to use wire but it does help sometimes. It's more about learning to feel them and being quick. You won't always feel a definate bite but just a change in the weight of your line, either heavier or lighter. * The most important thing is to find what depth they are at and only drop to that depth. I've caught them 5 metres under the boat in 100m of water. Anything that goes past them will be immediatley severed. They eat anything that moves and to them a swivel or a knot in the line is edible. I've been told that if you use a color graduated jigging line like Tuna Terror they will actually see the color change and bite it off. * Some people say don't touch your line with bait on your fingers but I don't give that much cred. * When bottom bashing I always make a slow count in my head as I'm dropping down. I've got to the point where I can time my count to about 2 per metre so 40m of water I count to maybe 75 or 80. Keep a feel on your line and if there are jackets there you'll feel the line slow down or stop before hitting bottom. This is your depth. From then on just drop down to that count or better still just above it. Jackets will swim up to meet your bait and you can slowly (or quickly) lift the whole school. * They are voracious feeders and will attack anything that moves but their teeth are like guillotines and you must be very quick to lift as soon as you feel anything or in fact sometimes nothing. If you hesitate you will lose your gear in a flash. While fishing for flatties a few months back if you left a fish on for too long or wound up too slow the jackets ate it. You cannot successfully fish for any other species once they have found you. Take what you need for a feed and then move. On a different recent flatty trip we could anchor, drop down for one or 2 flatties, then have to pick up and move a couple of hundred metres and repeat. Staying in one spot meant lost gear. If I dropped a single knife jig, I'd do what dhype did. Go home, but I'd take some of the tasty buggers with me.

No wonder you can't wipe the smile off. It's already been said but WOW.

Sounds like a great day. How was the weather?

Thanks for doing that Catchin Jack. It is a very good document.

Trap, there are lots of mullet in the lake but I don't know about the run through the channel. I too have seen this practice of "jagging" mullet with weighted trebles at Putty Beach and Hat Head, however dont anybody go out and try it as it is an illegal method.