Mr Squidy

Thats terribly sad and quite pathetic from the people that caught it. A mako and great white resemble each other in the same way a small snapper resembles a bream, to a novice it may be similar but to anyone that fishes for them its bleedingly obvious. Hope these guys cop the full punishment available. Probably a good reminder for those on here who post pictures of fish they have killed in the the Aquarium section for identification, if you dont know what it is, let it go. RIch

Fisheries Resource Report Not sure if this has been posted before but there is some interesting reading in its pages for those out their who are interested in the management of our fishing stocks. In particular i found the following species of interest: East Austrlian Salmon are listed as "Fully Fished" with a comment that "Commercial landings are at historically high levels and recreational catch is significant". This has since been followed by an increase in the allowable catches recently "Fisheries Statement"with the minister commenting that "The latest scientific information shows that the Australian salmon stock is in a very healthy condition". Not sure where he got that info but clearly not by reading his departments own reporting. The other interesting section for me was on Jewfish and surely makes a good case for an increase in the size limit considering the species is listed as overfished and maturity sizes are significantly larger than the legal size for both sexes. Cheers, Rich

Top fish, well done Makes me wonder why i bother catching my own squid and yakkas when the humble old pillie nails that... Rich

Hey Mate, Yeah squid will hit just about anything at times and i've got them on soft plastics, live nippers and at one stage on a small reddie i had only just hooked. Frankly though if your minow out fishes your jig then your using the wrong jig. Splash out and get a few good Yamashita jigs and you'll never look back. Much better option than butchering your minnow. Rich

Hi B Man, Pop them straight in a zip-lock bag still in their own ink, squeeze as much air out as possible then straight in the freezer when you get home. Last pretty well if kept like this. Whatever you do never let them touch fresh water, even if you plan to use them fresh, just ruins them as bait. Rich

Hi Chewie, Just opened your report to have a read at work, looked at the first photo and thought "I know that place for some reason" I then look to my right about a meter and it all became clear. That calander literally arrived in our office and got put on the wall yesterday. What are the odds?!?! I take it as a sign that i MUST go and fish this location Anyway, top report with some great fish in as beatifull a spot as you could hope for. Rich

Totally agree with everything you've said Nanook. The only thing i find disapointing about the Greens is their total failure to recognise that in recreational fisho's they have potential allies to be worked with rather than opponets to be fought against. You only have to look at the greens NSW estury management policy page Link and it states: "2.4 The recognition and involvement of community groups (e.g. Coastcare, Landcare and school monitoring programs) in estuary management and protection;" How is it that recreational fishing groups aren't recognised here as groups to be consulted? Especially when it goes on to list as policy that "7. The imposition, over time, of more stringent restrictions on recreational fishing, that are realistic in order to protect fish hatcheries." Rec fisho's are some of the biggest users of Esturies and have the most to gain by their sensible management so surely this sort of thing can be managed in consultation rather than in oposition. You only need to read the reactions on fish raider to topics like increasing size limits and the recent increase in commercial catches of Australian Salomn to see both parties have a lot to gain working together. Anyway, like yourself i agree with much of the work they do, I just look forward to a time where the Greens stop seeing us the enemy. Rich

Hi Dave, They sell polish/wax specifically for fibreglass boats at most boating stoes. A quick dab on any marks will get them off. I also give my whole boat a polish every year or two and it really helps protect the surface. Rich

Top stuff as always Wacko, doubt there will be to many kings bigger than that one pulled from Sydney waters this summer. Rich

Hi Greg, Sounds very similar to the layout at the back of my 4.5m fibreglass half cab. Is the void between the base of your hull and floor/sump completely sealed at the moment? If so these are often designed as floatation tanks such that should the boat get swamped or worse still capsize then the boat will still float. I am certainly no expert on this but my 2cents worth is that i'd be very careful creating openings into this void and suspect a good capacity pump in your existing sump is a much better/safer way to go. I'm sure some raiders more knowledgeable on boats than i will clarify though. Rich

Nice fish and top effort mate, especially on the clean up of the place. I cant understand how people can leave the sort of rubbish they do around the public jetties and warves and still wonder why we end up with situations where the councils/government ban fishing from such places. Always worth sticking around once everyone eles has taken their noise, torches etc home if your chasing Jew. Rich

Just been reading the NSW fisheries website on the use of lobster traps as i'm also currious on giving them a try some time, for a rec fisho you're not allowed to use them in water deeper than 10m. I reckon you'd be bloody unlucky if they pinged you on that basis but worth knowing. When deploying the trap is it best to leave it in over night or will you get them day time also? Rich

This is total rubbish, after all the gains that have been made with the buyout of commercial fishermen and all the positive results it has brought and now this Government wants to increase catches again because the system has shown signs of recovery?!? Best of all they want to target a premier sports fish soely to use as bait!! Love to know who the rec fisho's they liased with supposedly were Rich

Damn thats some serious fish. Surely with all this genetic engineering going on someone can come up with a gene that stops the Kings wanting to migrate to NZ? Rich

Very interesting post Slinky, thanks for taking the time to put it up for everyone, will have me thinking a little more before my next re-spool thats for sure. Rich

Hey Stew, Yeah mate i've havent been out for a jew or even a squid since our last trip as family and events keep getting in the way. Got a wedding this weekend too so going to be another weeks wait. What you up to the weekend of 3rd/4th december? May try and catch up for a session then. How did you go Saturday? Rich

Abbsolutely, just make sure that the hook is only just pinning the bait so that the gape is clear and dont strike. My only reason for a second hook is that i use biggish baits and too often a single hook see's you pulling in a bait bitten in half or pulled off the hook by smaller fish. Rich

Alot of place Camping on the beach is illegal. Alot of National parks also now only allow camping in their paid/registered camp sites. My brother and i used to go camping off the beach south of Yagon in amongst the dunes up near Hawksnest/seal rocks, mission to get in there either by serious 4x4 tracks or hiking but well worth it. Last time i was up there all the fire trails are locked up and the only spots you're allowed to camp were at Yagon and Mungo Brush in the big camp grounds with every other idiot and their drinking, music, noise etc. We walked in and hid our camp site back in the dunes off the beach but you risk a good fine doing that sort of stuff. Personally i find it disgusting the way National Parks are slowly locking us out of areas like this. Sorry for the rant but really annoys me that some burecrat has locked me out of one of my favourite holiday/fishing spots in NSW.

I dont strike, 90% of the time a jew will hook itself and head for the horizon straight off. For that 10% of time they muck abouts with it i find a slow solid lift will set either the hook just fine most of the time. Only reason i dont use a circle on the bottom hook is that i like to have this hook set in the squids head or the middle of a slab and i believe this would affect the action and close off to much of the gape of the circle. At the end of the day i reckon you could ask 100 fishos and get 100 different answers, this system is just the one i have settled on for now after trying many other rigs. Rich

One thing that i'd suggest really will help is doing exactly what you say you dont. Choose a single spot and a single species that you know can be found there and fish it regularly for an extended period targeting that specific fish. This allows you to realise the affects of other changes (rigs, baits, methods, weather, etc, etc) much more clearly. I find fishing is a bit like learning languages, once you undestand a couple (languages or fishing techniques) the rest start to make a lot more sense in their structure and how they work and success will come alot quicker. At the moment it sounds like you're trying to learn french one day, german the next and chinese the day after then wondering why its taking so long to figure out. As for diaries I've worked out a great system that tells me EXACTLY when the best time to fish is. All you do is fill in all the details of everything you've got planned for the week (work/sleep/family) then wherever there is a blank space is without a doubt the best time to fish Seriously though, the number of variables are virtually infinite and there relevance will vary with the species targeted and metods used. The best thing about a diary is just that it forces you into thinking about what you do, why you do it and does it work/make sense. I personnaly dont bother with a writen diary as such but i still spend more time than is healthy considering the factors that afect the success or failure of each and every trip. As long as you do this you will steadily continue to improve as a fisherman. Rich PS i am terrible at learning languages

Nope i have mine set at full fight drag and just let the fish hook itself as it takes off, this works well with circles. Can make catching smaller models (<65cm) a bit of an anti-climax as they struggle to take much line against heavy drag. I should note also that most of my fishing is done in areas of deep water with little to no current so i have the baits free weighted and sitting on the bottom which results in a small ammount of slack line which the fish can run with before it hits the drag and this may help. On the occasions when i have used this technique in areas with current it has still produced well though. Also, my main mate i fish with uses very light drag exactly as you say and we both seem to have nights where ours is the method that works better, although i personally think i have missed fewer takes over the time than he has. Rich

Hi Beejay, I love the Circles for the jew and use a similar rig to that mentioned by Catchin Jack above with a Circle on the top then a suicide or livebait hook on the bottom, only difference is that i have the top hook fixed not slidding. This has come from trying out many many different setups and seems to give me the best results. My reasoning for the circle on top is that i use this to pin the bait, either through the hood of the squid / corner of the slab / mouth of a butterflyed yaka which leaves the gape nicely exposed. This hook generally seems to do the job on larger fish that take the whole bait down easily. I then have the second hook nicely down near the head of the squid or inside the slab/butterfly and often find that this hook snares the smaller fish that fumble around with baits or just bite the head off your squids or chunks off your slabs. I fish with the rods in full drag and just let the fish hook themsleves. Rich

Yeah, they are pretty common over sandy areas, not really a target species though as they are to small to really warrant eating. Not a bad live bait for a big Jew though

Silver Biddy.

Wow, that is impressive. I didnt even realise they did servicing and the like down there. Good to hear feedback, goes along way in my decisions on where my money goes. Rich