Kooks

Well done! You have done what I've been dreaming about for months. Hope you get more.

Wow you have done what i've been trying to do for weeks...that is, catch a kingie landbased. I've been hitting a wharf up early in the east for the last 8 weeks. I get nothing but bonnies off my live yakkas. Can you give a rough location (Nth Sth, East, West) if it doesn't give away too much. I'm interested in the factor that made it good. How deep? How close to the heads? structure/Moorings near by? Did you use berley? How deep was your yakka off the float? When did most of the action start/stop? Sorry with all the questions. I'm a little obsessed or so my girl tells me. I usually get to my spot about 5.30 get my yakkas then ping em out. I usually leave around 8am. So I'm wonder what happens after this...maybe my kings swim by then.

I was up near newcastle yesterday doing some live baiting hoping for my first kingie when this Salmon (my fisrt) smashed my yakka. He went a over 65cm and was super thick. He was pretty greedy as my yakka would have been over 20 cm. I also dropped a kingie so I'm still on zero.

Hey raiders, I have request. Does any know where I can get some yakka around wybung head. I'm heading up there on the weekend. I don't have a lot of time up there so I don't want spend most of it hunting around for yakkas. If I could get some tips that would be helpful much.

So my story continues. I had a stressful day at work so I thought I could kill 2 birds with one stone by relaxing and getting some practice in trying to land some squid. So when the time comes I can at least catch one or 2 for my Kingie. Go to my spot at about 10pm. I tried for about an hour but only got one hit from a squid which i dropped. I did however catch 5 octopus. Do octopus live in the same areas as squid?

Thanks guys for all your responses. Great tips. I'll try for some squid next time but have some yakkas on back up as they are easy to catch. As I'm usually fishing from a pier I plan to tire the fish out to sea before trying to get him close to the pylons. Do that sound like a plan?

For the last 2 months I've been trying to catch a kingfish landbased as I don't have a boat. I've targeted the South Eastern part of the harbour. I've spent many a 5am catching my yakkas to lob out on a float. This Saturday morning (as usual) my poor little yakkas keep getting smashed by hungry bonnies. I landed a couple and a few not setting the hook. The bigger one (approx. 50cm) I thought was a kingie as he took a lot of line off me. But alas I still haven't got my kingie. Q. So how do I get kingie to jump on over a bonnie. If I were to use squid would a bonnie smash it anyway? But on the positive side i have learnt how to fight and land the fish solo (without a net). I have also learnt to had a second dropper hook to my lives as I was previously getting plenty of hit with no hook up the first couple of times. So now my hook up rate is doubled. I'm also loving my christmas purchase of my new Berkley IM6 graphite rod with 14pound briad. I'm a recent convert to braid. So hopefully all this practice has made me prepared for when one of the 80cm kingies I've seen cruise past decides to take a swipe. What are my chances of landing a decent king on 14 pound braid and 40pound leader?

Cheers elite...I usually have the drag set low so I don't lose my rod. I might need to sort something out so I don't lose them.

Went fishing off my local wharf in the east this morning. Got there at 5am and stocked up on yakkas in no time flat. I think I have my technique sorted now. Thanks to the raiders that gave advice. So mucked around and chatted to a few fishos then chucked out a few livies at about 6 hoping to hook up a kingie. It wasn't long before I had hooked up. No kingie but a bonnie. Had a quick fight on my 14 pound braid and hauled him in via the leader. Had 3 other hits on the livies but no hook ups. Question: If you are fishing with livies on floats when should you strike? (if i were trying catching bonnies/kingies) I tried striking when the float went under but it didn't set then other times I waited longer hoping the bait would get swallowed but found myself getting baited. Any tips? Well i'm hoping should focus on squidding instead of getting the yakkas.

I need some advice guys. I have 2 questions. First question. I'll give you some backgound first. I got up before dawn and went to get some yakkas. For some reason I couldn't get any, there were tons there but just couldn't get a hook up. They seemed to be spitting the bait out mostly. Yet everyone else was getting into them. Last week I got about 10 in about 20 min on the same bait and rig. I was using a no. 12 hook and a tiny sliding sinker with chicken breast with fish oil also I have tried bread as well with little luck. So the question is. What do people use to catch yakkas and what rig? Now for the next question. I was fishing off a wharf this morning with soft plastics. I had a ton of bonito chasing my lure but they would turn away at the last moment. I tried different techniques. A fast consistent retrieve, a fast jerky retrieve, slow consistent retrieve, retrieve letting the lure sink occasionally, walking the dog. But they just wouldnt bite. I tried 3 inch and 5 inch but with no luck. On most retrieves the lure looked like it was only about about a foot or to below the surface. I'm my mind i felt if the lure was about 3 or more feet they would have taken a swipe. So the question is. What technique do you use to hook up these type of feeder on soft plastics? Cheers

Hey Raiders, I'm just wondering if anyone has a Polycraft 450 and if so what is their opinion of it. Pros and cons etc. ta

steze Yes this will be my first boat - but I do hire boab boats about 6 times a year...if that even counts for much as I'm not really maintaining the boats. Huey The Stacer 449 Seaway looks sweet. Ideally I'm looking for a console model as my girl gets confused with the whole reverse tiller steering Does the Stacer come with foam for positive flotation? billfisher The Polycraft 4.5 if defiantly on the radar.

Just another point. I'm looking at a brand new boat. I have no idea how to update/edit the old post.

Alphabet as for outside I'd be happy with a few kms. As for confidence it's pretty high but it doesn't match my little amount of boat experience.

Good catch Macgyver

Ok riddle me this batman, I'm looking to spend about 16k on a boat/motor/trailer package. I thought it might be a good topic to open up to the forum as there is no right answer. Specs • So as I said it needs to fall under the $16k with BMT. • I do mostly estuary/bay fishing but want to have enough scope to go outside in reasonable conditions • Hold 4 people and my gear • My girlfriend must love it and go....

I don't know much but that ain't a soapie

Well that's almost convinced me to stop saving for my boat and buy a yak

I fished Nth Head from the stones yesterday. Ah twas a beautiful day. Got there way late at about 10, it was mid tide but hey I wasn't at work so I wasn't too miffed. I tried the soft plastics with not much luck...a few Sergeant Bakers. Switched to bait. There were hordes of little stripy fish that would engulf my bait on the way down. So I switched to heavier lead which produced many a snag. So I spent the next few hours re-rigging then back to SPs. I waited til the next tide change then switched back to bait which then produced a few moderate trevally. I had a couple of bust offs and pulled hooks on god knows what. It all went quite so I went back to the SPs and had a massive hit then nothing...my lure was gone. So I fired up another one but nothing happened for a while. Then some dark mass started chasing my fast retrieve back...looked like a tuna type of shape, probably about 60cm. Anyways it nipped the tail and was never to be seen again. So a very long day on the stones for not much but still a good day.

I caught this fish the other night. I guess it's some type of cod. I had a look around the web but there so many cod out there it's hard to narrow it down. I let him go anyway as I had steak ready to be cooked at home. So what sort of fish is it? What sort of eating quality? thanks

Tried to catch a few snapper near Cliffton yesterday from my land based spot. I fished from about mid tide to high. Only managed a 25cm model and a 22 bream, plus a ton of pinkies. Do many people catch snapper land based in the harbour or am I wasting my time? if so where should i try? cheers

thanks Hooks. I'll be down there on a rising tide at 8am. I'll bring my bait trap and see how i go.

Hey All, I heading up to the Hawkesbury this weekend and I'm after some livies (Poddies/Yellowtail). Can anyone suggest where to track some down. I've tried a few places my gut thought were right but no luck except for hungry tailor. I'll be getting in at Berowra and heading up to the rail bridge. So anywhere between those 2 points would be great. Also any tips on where things are biting would be a help too. cheers KOOKs PS: This is my first post...hopefully my next one will be with a pic of a nice Hawkesbury jewie.