grandad

The distance is 5.5 kms as the crow flies Grandad

I have a 4m boat with 30hp motor I fish out of Port Hacking. If I fish the Hump off Stanwell Tops And then return I use about 20 litres of fuel. Hope this helps with your purchase. Grandad

Nice feed there I went yesterday, the trawlers were working off garie. got my flatty's off stanwell tops. fished the hump for an hour for nothing. Saw lots of surface action salmon everywhere the baitfish were only tiny at 10mm to 20mm. Don't have anything that small in my box. Grandad

Left Port Hacking at 6-30am, a bit late in setting off, the sun was in my eyes making it difficult to see other craft fishing in the channel. Tried all the usual spots on the way to Garie. Having a 10 min drift at each position, if no bites I moved on. Found my first Flathead off Garie in 32 metres of water. Fished the same area for 4 hours throwing back 10 undersize fish for every keeper. Managed my limit of 10 fish then had the unusual pleasure of being able to upgrade a few of the smaller ones. A lovely day on the water, Dolphins visited and circled the boat lifting their heads out to have a look, then disappeared again. Had a tug of war with a small shark, decided to split the fish 50 50 but he got the best half. No sign of the Jackets one of my better days. Grandad

I used to fish there before all the marine parks. Used to fish the north side of South Solitary Island Could always find kings there. Now I only have a small boat and just bottom bash the reefs off Sawtell for Snapper and Flathead. Grandad

Always good to come home with a feed. Any sign of the Jackets, will be trying myself later in the week. Grandad.

Try tying up to one of the moorings just off the deer park shorline. Use burley and fish the tide changes, Just love to see Kids catch a fish. Grandad

I must admit that if there is nothing else around to take home, I change to smaller long shank hooks and take a few jackets home. you dont have to search for them, and they are not fussy what they eat. Grandad

Hi All May I urge everyone to read to-days St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, On page 5 where the headline reads Commercial Fishing Ban Could Go. Dont let this happen fellow raiders, do the online vote and keep Botany Bay commercial fishing free. Grandad

Put the boat in at 7-30 tried the reefs off Cronulla. Caught a bonito on the way out so had fresh bait. Nothing exiting on the sounder, put 4 baits down, not one hit the bottom, all hooks lost to the Jackets. Moved to the Marley Wreck, caught a nice Salmon 60 cm which was returned. Lost more rigs to the Jackets so moved down to the Garie wreck not much there. Drifted for Flathead between Wattamolla and Garie, not much current but was drifting fast due to the wind. Got 5 keepers out of the 20 or so that were caught. Got sick of re-rigging and loosing hooks. Managed another 3 bonito on the way back, still a good day out. Grandad

Fish the entrance to Lake Illawarra, between the Road Bridge and the Sea, on the southern side. Nice flat parkland, plenty of parking, Food shop, and toilets and fairly deep water. Hope this helps. Grandad

Helping beginner’s catch a fish. What advice can you give to a beginner to help them catch a decent fish? Why do some anglers have more success than others? I think most experienced fishermen deep down know the answers, but how do you get this knowledge across to the novice. It can’t really be passed on vocally or in writing it has to be learned over time. You can read Roberta’s section on how to catch worms, everything is there on how to do it, but go down to the beach and it takes many attempts to be successful. OBSERVE the successful anglers and learn from them is the best advice you can give. Using fresh bait would have to be the next thing on anyone’s list, this means catching your own not buying it from the servo. I know we may have had success on servo prawns from time to time but would you rather have prawns that you have caught the night before and still alive. Squid would have to be the next on the list, don’t buy it, spend a few nights on the local wharfs, observe who is catching them and what jigs they are using, copy their techniques. Yellowtail, burley with bread, use small baited hooks or bait jigs. Poddy mullet; spend a few weekends learning how to use a bait trap very frustrating at times, but what a superb bait. Live nippers always catch fish. Watch the tides and take a couple of kids with you, they love it and you don’t get nipped picking them up. Go down to the rocks; learn how and where to get Cunjevois. Watch and talk to someone catching Blackfish, ask them to show you how to bait a hook using weed or cabbage, they may even tell you where to find it. You will learn a lot on the way as you find your bait. Don’t just fish, target a specific species, don’t set your sights too high, learn how to catch bream first then whiting, Jewfish and Kingfish will come much later. If you spend the time learning how to catch fresh bait, the question of “where” can I catch a fish, will already be known to you. There are no shortcuts, experience is the answer. I used to fish competitively on a charter boat along with 15 other people, and was quite successful often catching fish when the others did not, what made the difference? We were all fishing the same place, same depth, and the same rigs. Was it the fact that I used lighter line, smaller hooks that were hidden inside the bait, baits that were ergonomically shaped and did not spin, or the fact that my baits were the freshest that I could get or catch, or was it the fact that no foreign scent from my hands was allowed to touch my bait or lines. It’s no use wiping your hands on an oily rag and then baiting up. OBSERVE, watch what other people are doing, which angler has more success? Watch what he does. Are the fish being caught on the top or bottom hook what bait is he using. If the fish are being caught consistently on the top hook then try moving your top hook a metre further up the line. Notice if this helps. What baits were the fish being caught on; change your baits to match. Hope this helps to some degree and remember, “ask” but be polite. Grandad

Thank's to everyone who protested the closure of the Water Street ramp. The council is no longer continuing with the gates. According to the Sutherland Shire Leader the council had 440 replies, 409 of which were negative replies. Thank’s again. Thank's also to "Admin" for pinning the previous report Grandad

I have just received an E- Mail which is disturbing to me. I do not know which section this should go in and perhaps the “exec” could move it somewhere more appropriate. Sutherland Council are seeking submissions on the fitting of a security gate on the Water Street Boat Ramp. Stopping the use of it between the hours of 8pm to 6am. There is a PDF file asking for interested party’s to reply any concerns. I think this concerns us all. If one ramp is closed at night where will it stop? I will try to attach the PDF for the appraisal of members. The notes below are hearsay and I cannot vouch for them but they came with the E-Mail informing me of this document. I live close by and have never had a problem. There has never been 'misuse' or 'anti social behaviour' as the complainant has conned the Council to believe. This is all about someone buying a cheap waterfront next to a public boat ramp and suddenly wanting to take away a wonderful community asset to benefit himself! Grandad - Boat Ramp.pdf

The "Groynes" are those man made structures made of large boulders that stretch out in to the bay from Prince charles parade. There are about 12 of them, you can find cunji on the ends at low tide. Not a bad place to fish with the kids if you are cereful negotiating the boulders. Grandad

Safest place to get Cunji at Kurnell is at the end of the Groynes, at low tide. Grandad

Have caught them in the Hacking but only as a by catch. I have never fished for them as such, but all the ones I have caught have taken undersize bream and tiny snapper that were too small to register a decent bite. They have not been hooked but would not let the small fish go and were slipped gently into the landing net. Grandad

Hi Raiders The ramp at yowie Bay is being upgraded. The ramp is being widened and a new floating Pontoon installed. The work should be completed by the end of July. If only they could upgrade the ramp at Kurnell. Would be good for everybody on the south side of the Bay. Grandad

Hi Raiders Left Port Hacking at 6-30 am, and Trolled all the way to Marley for nothing. Plenty of Bait balls off Marley but nothing feeding on them, tried soft plastics, metal slices and tried Jigging to no avail. Fished off Garie for 4 legal Flathead. Threw at least a dozen undersize flatties back then Trolled back to the Port for two Bonito and one Striped Tuna. A good feed and plenty of Bait. Grandad

Silver Biddies can be caught at the St George motorboat club. Anywhere near the moored boats. Grandad.

I do all the things where it is suggested to wear a life jacket. My boat is only 4.2m I always fish alone, I fish outside and I fish at night. So with the new rules in mind I went to the local boat shop and checked out the life jackets. They had a PFD Type 1 which is inflatable light and comfortable.It was on special reduced from $139 down to $69 so I bought one. I have worn it now on my last three trips and now I am quite used to it. It does not get in the way and I do feel a lot safer now that I wear it. So I answered yes to all the questions in the poll and encourage others to try one and see for themselves. Good and safe fishing to all. Grandad

Hi Raiders Left work early and went for a fish out past Jibbon Bommie. No sooner got there than the wind came up and only being in a 4M boat had to come in close, so fished off Cronulla to get some protection from the wind. Drifted at a great rate of knots but managed two keeper flathead. Both caught on salted Slimeys, nothing on prawns, Squid or Plastics. Hooked onto a 4M shark for about 30 seconds during which time it jumped around the boat and did amazing ariels. Did not manage to identify it but it had a large tail like a thresher. Any suggestions? Grandad

Just loved that one, Hope you released them to fight another day M