stefan

Hi rigga, Sorry for the late reply had almost no internet there. Here are some tips for next time: Any beach works. Sandbar, Lighthouse, tuncurry and boomerang are the best from my experience. Burley up little fish (tailor) and cast one out or use freshly caught worms. I bring vacum packed squid i caught from Sydney. I use a 80lb leader and 30 lb mainline mono. Braid tends to give me too much trouble at the beaches, sometimes I use 60lb ebay braid on a rod if its calm enough. I go running sinker (ball, star or anchor depending on surf) to swivel to leader to two snelled hooks. If you are up there and there is a big northerly/northerly surf, try the north side rocks at boomerang where the surfers are. By the time the last surfer leaves its the perfect time to cast . I still havent landed one there but I'm pretty sure i got dusted by one. Lots of rays and port jacksons though so have a lot of bait or fish a livie. If you get one there, send me a pm! That also goes for any lurkers reading this! Its the last spot for me to test

Report + Information + Question Went out last night with fresh squid off the corner of a beach. 1 hr before low tide got a hit. Wasn't ready for its strength, got absolutely burned on the rocks. I've attached a photo of a similar one I caught not long ago same spot same conditions. This one pulled much harder though. For anyone deciding to target them this summer, here is my two cents: Lots of failure sessions until I realised the importance of some things follow: The obvious: - Good bait - Change of Tide The things I started to factor: - fish at night time (After sunset. Toughen up and go at night.) - find white-water, the rougher the better unless it is too rough to keep a bait out or too dangerous - fish the gutter closest to the rocks or ideally off the rocks - fish the biggest bait you can. Octopus stays on the hook 10x longer than squid or worms. Live is the best but sometimes hard to bring to a beach. I love fishing off the rocks at the end of a beach which can actually be much cleaner and more sheltered if you factor in weather conditions. I.e southern corner in a southerly. It also makes sense as this is closest to where the mulloway hang out during down times. But this strategy has led to a problem: Its about a 50/50 whether the fish runs back towards the beach or around the point. If it goes beach, I follow it down and fish landed however the last few fish have chosen to retreat back to their caves in the point and I am losing $$$ of line getting shredded on rocks like last night... What strategies do you recommend when this happens? Locking drag and hoping to turn the fish? Trying to follow it around the point? Running to the beach and trying to turn it from the rocks? I run 30lb mainline mono with a 80lb leader. Time for an upgrade? This is one that headed towards the beach. Same conditions except 1hr after high tide.

What time were you fishing? That's the only spot where I'm confident catching them at daytime

Middle Head + dobroyd reef, The drums off clifton gardens, Spit Bridge and surrounding moorings (especially around corners), Quarantine Bay near North Head, Goat Island + its markers, Any Marker in Main Harbour, Shark island, Parsley Bay and i have heard of hermitage bay working at times. One of the above spots + the ones you mentioned is bound to hold fish. Just make sure you have an arrangement of squid + livies. I don't believe there isn't a kingfish sticky yet... these things are second after the mulloway aren't they?? Stefan PS let me know if you find any extra spots, I'd love to add to my collection

literally anywhere where there is weed and its between 2-5m deep at high tide and low light you will get them. 100% guarantee. structure is a bonus

i actually put up a spot in the chat section not long ago. It pays to look through the forums. Use the search function

havent noticed any bommies or hidden rocks there so yeah i rekon it cud b boat accessible but take it slow and maybe scout it out at low tide first.

will do in the next couple of days as im going away in the next half hour for a night up north. If ur near the beach its pretty easy tho theres only 1 path that takes u around the rocks

Hey all, Apparently there is a squid deficit going on (tho my problem is with the kingfish lol) so i thought i wud share a bito advice when these northerlies cause a bit of havoc on the harbour. Another good landbased spot off the rocks is the north side of bondi beach which can really provide the squid at times. Prime time would be low tide on the change of light with northerly winds to calm the sea down which are pretty much the conditions now it can be a bit dangerous tho so if u go make sure u take a buddy and appropriate fishing wear (light clothes n cleats). Another good spot is the north facing side of Tamarama just down the road but its even more dangerous and involves a long walk down past a hobos place so take it very carefully. Good weed patches there can also fire for the calamari. Won't talk bout this place much as its a bit dangerous and don't wanna create mass drownings there The squid are usually a bit bigger so more ideal for eating/strip baits but that's only my experience. Stefan

The best ever timing for someone to take pictures when I'm going up there tonight for the first time. You're Brilliant hehehe Stefan

go to google, type in wasabi tv + fishing trip, go to the link. Watch all the episodes you want about melbourne. also on wasabi tv go to get hooked by duuuuuuhhhhh and get all the other eps there Go to google, type in youfish tv and watch all the episodes about snapper and jewfish. Finally go to Google, type in adventure bound and search the episodes in port Philip bay then buy the corresponding episodes about squid etc in the bay (these are the best but u gotta pay ). Theres a good 10-15 hours of footage just on the bay you mentioned. They talk about rigs, spots everything etc

ive only been checked by the police once at 10pm wednesday night on the harbour. They choose the most unusual times.... also been checked by fisheries not long ago which is rare... all i usually get is maritime. Sucks how they chose me downrigging over all the other potential stationary boats there.

bugger after a quick check on google maps i thought the northerlies would do well cos it seemed to be south facing.... are there any protected spots? I can always do the lake nearby etc i love rough conditions tho at the corners of beaches as long as its nowhere dangerous i know that fish come way closer to feed wen its all suddy specially the jewfish so might actually take a beach rod and some of my squid. btw thanks for the invaluable info.... this saves me a lot of trouble and some potential dangerous situations.

Any1 kno the area? I'm going up Friday night and Saturday just for a bit. ATM just thinking of bringning some lures fo the rocks. Late notice cheers.

get em to slowly follow you into sydney harbour. Theres not enough here yet haha

ask for some spots while ur there 2. its about 1 spot per jig bought hahahaha. nice place definitely the go-to. btw some1 wanna move this? shud b in the fishing chat section not reports. Stefan

that scene picking up the flathead was hilarious ... hahaha good effort, great vid Stefan

is there any particular method u use to debone the garfish? I know you can eat the small bones as what george said but im just wonderin....

well done! wudda sucked so bad if u missed the weigh in

That is one of the most amazing things i have ever read. Thanks to your brilliant writing and pictures I almost felt as if i experienced it as well. Congratulations on being the first fishraider to be "whaled" hahaha Stefan

to the above: there are so many things on a sounder than could represent stuff other than fish cudda been anything. I put a post up on fishing chat bout downrigging depths and got told thats its generally better to have the baits slightly above the fish, definitely better than below them anyways. Hope that helps? Totally agree that it's a bit comforting to know that it was just the conditions of the day that caused no fish rather than angling errors...

Helping a guy out with advice: 1 beer Taking a mate fishing: 3 beers Going fishing without a mate and coming back with the bag limit: 1 case squidding is about all i can do so i try to help out where i can as the people on this site virtually instantly give me info whenever i ask. It's amazing really.

These fish are gigantic! My cousin caught a 6 kilo flathead at Forster but the one in ur 2nd pic seriously makes it look tiny. Nice fish and brilliant camera work.

cheers mate. That was literally all the info i cudda asked for.

Thinking of upgrading my sounder. I'm only really a harbour fisho so i need something to suit that necessity but i do think its still important to have a good sounder to locate bait/different structure etc. Id like to know whether the one i have is already good (and im just bad at deciphering it) or whether i shud upgrade to something a bit more advanced like a colour sounder? I have a Navman 4432 fishfinder. Specs: * 16-level grayscale screen * 250W RMS power * 360×240 Resolution Display * Variable Alarms with Speaker Output The one i have: http://www.gpsreview.net/navman-4430-4431-4432-4433-fishfinder/ http://www.navmanmarine.net/upload/Marine/Internet_Manuals/4432_4433/MN000433B_FISH%204432_4433_English.pdf http://www.marinetrader.com.au/boat/499554/Navman_4432_Fishfinder_sounder/ I know some people say that you don't even need a sounder but i like to have the knowledge of exactly whats below me so i have the confidence to tough a place out rather than give up and move. Atm all i use my sounder for is the water temp and depth of water... and maybe once in a while i can tell i'm on seaweed/sand/rock. Even with the sensors pushed at max, i can only really tell if there is bait when there are so many fish i can literally seem them from the boat below the water. Regards Stefan Here's some fishing websites for looking at my post haha: http://www.wasabitv.com.au/?s=hooked&season=sdvd03 http://www.fishingfury.com/20090621/the-best-places-to-watch-fishing-shows-online/ http://www.wasabitv.com.au/?s=fishintrip