stefan

seeing its 9 days later i dunno if ur gonna read this but ill put it up anyways: pink and white size 2.0 yamashitas and yo-zuris work well for me (2.5 to 3 if im fishing like 15m deep). the $25 dollar ones anyways haha i usually go landbased but get a couple from the boat now and then wen i target them. i usually put 1 on a float set about half the depth of the water and cast the other around. I try heaps of different retrieves but nothing beats a slow wind for me. You know ur going the right pace if ur lure is touching the bottom every 10 casts or so. Another is the soft plastics motion: 3 jerks up and then wait/ reel in the slack line. If ur finding them really hard to come by, stick out a pilchard either on a hook or just on some line and check it once in a while. Use it to draw a squid in then switch it with a jig. Last three times i went to watsons bay/lady jane i have always caught at least 1 and lost another 3-4 (need new barbs lol). rosebay wharf is the worst spot i have tried in the whole of sydney so if ur getting em outta there thats a gud effort. Try around the side of the catalina restuarant and also try the red marker at the eastern end of hermitage bay. have seen craig there alot.

Totally agree that plugging non-sponsors is definitely a no no. Can u add a sticky to fishing chat for kingfish. Theres one for blackfish, jewfish etc and it will see an end to people posting in the reports section on 'how to catch kingfish' which comes every month or so as you can just point them in the right direction then politely delete the thread. I think the prized kingfish is definitely up there with targeted species and there are plenty of veterans on this page who would definitely to share a bit of info. I'll make sure i'll add something if u do Stefan

zip locked in salt water... and frozen. works really well. i asked this question a while back and that was the most popular (and best imo) answer. Squid can only last in the fridge for a max 2-3 days and we cant eat it anymore. A nice rule for freshness is if ur not gonna eat it, then its not fresh enough for the fish either hope that helps

cheers guys info noted. Lol potato peel really?....

in 50% of the spots i go to i dont see the yakkas until i burley them up. I don't really like buying bait (mainly cos i cant be bothered) and the only success I've had with yakkas is with pilchards. Will salted bonito/frozen bonito work just as well? Do salmon/tailor fillets work? Does any1 have luck with bread/dough + tunal oil or any other methods that don't involve having to stop by the servo. regards stefan

I'm gonna add you to the list of people i know who consistently catch kings. Well done! Report was a funny read as well. Love your descriptions of that special yakka hahaha. Stuff like this gives me a good break from the study. Might go out tomorrow morning only IF it's raining. how about that for crazy? theres just enough detail in the pic for me 2 figure out where ur at hahaha. shudda cut of the left 1mm of the pic if any1 knows what i mean Stefan

put ur baits off the bottom. even 1 turn off the bottom and u will get way less rays as they are literally right on the bottom. Wen its stormy ur bait might b swaying off the current hence not on the bottom. When its calm, ur baits gonna be smack on the bottom for a ray to eat up. regards stefan

remember seeing an episode of adventure bound where neil was targetting these fish in SA. This fish certainly matches the fish he caught aswell. Well done! What season are they down there?

ive done lots of plastics fishing at forster and caught tonnes of flounder on plastics. By far the go to lure is the berkley shrimp (as small a size as possible). Unfortunately lots of other fish like this lure aswell so even if ur targetting flounder with it ur gonna get bream and definitely lots of flathead. All i can say is to increase ur chances of the flounder wud b 2 slow down ur retrieve a bit keeping it in contact with the bottom (they are a bit slower imo) and also targeting sandy areas. I tend to get flounder when its pure sand compared to flathead which hang around patches of weed and dropoffs. The other option is to go spearing for them. They always go into the shallower water of lakes at night. So in summary the person you spoke to is kinda right. Just use way smaller lures as flounder have a much smaller mouth and switch ur mindset to targetting flounder and all the flathead become bycatch. gd luck

I get way more squid on the full moon! But evn so it kinda goes with the aboves comments... i rekon he's right as most of my squid spots don't have any artificial light. No wonder... Stefan

cheers for the replies guys very interesting. Specially the capsizing thing... I've never really thought about what could happen if I snagged the bomb, just presumed the cable wud snap. I kno ive already had some rough calls as its all scratched at the bottom of the bomb I thought trial and error wud b the go

any1 actually ever had any like with a sweep? i tried a rather live one once and it died in literally a minute. really small hook aswell.

using good quality jigs helps the confidence. Try the coast from watsons down to rosebay. most the places i go there i either catch a few or see ink everywhere where ppl have obviously beat me 2 it. also at this time of year i would also try shallower areas with rocky ground where u can pick up alot of those small cuttlefish which r killer bait for kings. Good thing bout cuttlefish is sometimes its even easier to get them during the day especially at high tide, so ur not only limited to bait collection at night. Id try more into the harbour as last time i went 2 watsons i only managed a couple. also wudnt bother wen ifs windy at night... i rekon it puts the squid off, screws the movement of the jigs and most importantly its a tad miserable. Always good to find a sheltered spot

i was reading at this time of the year that you will find large schools of jewfish entering the estuaries and atm they will be mostly congregating towards the lower reaches before they split up. This true? If so, when do they start heading up?

watsons bay wharf at night doesnt get that much traffic, at least wen i have gone squidding there. ive heard of ppl getting busted off by jewfish on the wharf 200m down (but its illegal there and u gotta do a bito climbing around a fence) but i rekon watsons is close enough and drops into ok water plus always has masses of bait. Give that a try. Free parking

anywhere along the south head area starting from rosebay all the way to ladyjane at the end. as long as u see weed u will find the squid. U can get em in the day more often near the heads and more often during night when u head more up the harbour. high tide is best and i have found particular success on the full moon. Heres a starting point (or more likely and ending point if u start from rosebay), try the weed beds at the last beach before you get around south head. also commonly known as lady jane. watch out for the nude ppl tho. they tend to put me off going there during the day

hey all, am rather bored from studying for uni exams and need something to keep me having a break once in a while so i thought i would post this question. in cases when you do not see anything on the sounder (mine is pretty crappy), What depths do people usually downrig for kings? Is there a set depth or is it more of a trial and error from 5m to 20m thing? My thinking is that i would start on the halfway mark in the water and then once i suss out a nice path i will start varying it 2m +- until i get a strike. This method goes a bit wonky tho when im going over dropoffs and such ranging from 8m to 25m deep such as in MH Also, has anyone tried downrigging the length of north head (on the harbour side facing south i.e. the usual trolling path)? Just trying to suss out when its a good time to downrig and when its a good time just to set up base and wait for them to come to you. This is aside from the obvious scenarios of not downrigging when its crowded/when the fish are obviously biting. Stefan

My bad, i just remember the name Dan in some fishing thing.... maybe xxxxxxxxxxx something. oh well. cheers for the advice

had two whales pop up near my boat in the morning a few days ago which was amazing. Am very interested in the penguins. Where did you see them? I'm trying to prove to some people that they exist in the harbour. Did you get any pics?

i pmed u a nice/better whiting spot that u shud give a try soon very close 2 rosebay.

am very jelous of your ability to find success! I was fiddling with my downrigger today but covered most of the popular spots on the main harbour for nothin. will hit middle harbour on tuesday with all these nice reports coming from there. Can i ask if its below the spit? my petrol cant really take me further than the spit if i launch from rosebay + run by north head for the salmon/bonito. If its above ill prolly have to launch from tunks instead. To the dude who asked about the bonito, just troll a metal slug and/or a minnow around northhead and u'll be sure to get one. Stefan

nice for a quick session. What waterway were u in?

does downrigging tend to prevent strikes from the larger kings?

read the last 2 reports by dan and greg. They are there, just needs effort. Something which i havent been putting in

well done! winds a bit miserable atm. respect for ur efforts.