paul.kenny

Bad luck on the big fish, did it damage the hooks on you blade?

Thanks pmak, I love this time of year as there are less boats & PWCs on the water and there is still good fishing to be had if you find warmer water. This weekend will be a maintenance weekend I reckon.....plus watching footy and fishing shows .

Wow, what an awesome fish from the racks....you should be the FR 'biggest lure caught bream from the racks' record holder .

Thanks Grant, it was a great day out on the water with Bassboy....even better that I caught more fish. If you use HB don't make the same mistake as Bassboy by using the silly string.....could be a very costly session. cheers Paul

Good onya Roberta, I always enjoy reading about your kayak adventures and it has always fueled our interest in fishing topwater lures amongst the racks. I look forward to reading many more reports. cheers Paul

Thanks mate, made even better by the great weather.

Good onya Nat, I look forward to seeing you out on the Georges.

Looked like a good session Jew Stalker, well done on those reds and flatties. Clearly it was the gull's day to die considering how unlucky it was.

Hi Raiders, Bassboy and I spent a fantastic day out on the water last Saturday. It was a brisk start as we launched just before dawn and raced down river to fish the last hour of the incoming tide. We could hardly feel our fingers for the first hour of casting SPs, blades and HB along drop-offs near Oatley Bay. The fish must have also been feeling the cold as the first hour and half resulted in a donut. As a consequence we decided to head out to Woolooware Bay to fish the racks for the run out tide. As we raced out to Woolooware Bay Bassboy and I decided to have a competition and see if SP or HB would fish better in the cooler conditions. Bassboy decided to fish SPs whereas I was fishing HBs. The racks near the mouth of the bay were pretty slow and we only caught a small flattie and a nice 36cm Tailor…….Bassboys new PB Tailor and it didnt damage his Gulp Shrimp. 1 nil to the SP. We then moved deep into Woolooware Bay where the shallower water was warmer. Once again the SP struck with a number of small bream being taken by Bassboy whilst my Cultiva Mira Shad remain untouched. I changed to a deeper diver which I bounced across the bottom for a nice 48cm flattie from out of the racks……1 all Bassboy then struck next with another small Bream before he was busted off by a big Bream that ran straight back into the pylons……he probably shouldnt have been using silly string . The HB was then the go to lure as we worked the old racks and the channels between them. Over the next two hours I caught another flattie and a number of nice bream, meanwhile Bassboy just couldnt stay hooked as the fish were short striking his Gulp Shrimp . 5 1 to the HB Frustrated by the short striking fish on the SP Bassboy rigged up a stinger hook to improve his strike rate. Whilst he was rigging up I hooked up to a larger Bream on the HB. Fortunately I was able to immediately turn away him away from the nearby racks, landing a fat 36cm Bream a new lure PB for me…..6 1 to the HB After releasing the fish Bassboy and I cast in unison at two different racks and before we knew it we were both hooked up…….our first Bream double hookup, with the SP accounting for the larger fish, the stinger hooks paid dividends. 7 2 to the HB We continued to work the racks but the fish went off the bite as the tide started to run-in, however the HB struck one more time with a nice Whiting taking the HB as I bounced it out of the racks. 8 2 to the HB We then decided to call it quits and head for home after a great day in Woolooware Bay. As we headed up the Georges River for the boat ramp we spotted birds actively searching for bait near Oatley Bay and as we got closer we could see a small school of fish chopping at bait on the surface. We immediately pulled up to change to our surface lures, but as we finished tying on our lures the Water Police arrived to do a license and safety equipment check. All was ok but the fish had disappeared by the time they had finished checking. We decided to wait to see if the fish would surface again and our patience paid off. Using the Minn Kota we moved over to the busting fish and cast our surface lures amongst the school.….double hook up . Fortunately the fish ran in different directions allowing us to play our fish on opposite sides of the boat and net our fish individually. The fat 55cm Tailor allowed Bassboy to upgrade his Tailor PB a second time. This second double hook up was an outstanding end to a great day and the Hard Body lures were the go to lure for the day.

What a great post, thanks for sharing the experience of teaching Lee how to use the wand and rewards to be had in Thomos. It reinforces the fact that we are really spoiled by choice in the Greater Sydney region.....within 3 hours drive you can get onto big Bass to the north, trout to the west and cod to the south west.

Hodgey, great last post from Tuross and I look forward to reading of your trout and cod conquests

Wow, what a fantastic wild river bass. Would have been fun in tight country.

Thanks for the advice Roberta, we will have to give that a try next time. cheers Paul

Hi Roberta, another great report. The mind game with that big blue nose must have been heart in the mouth stuff as you willed it to strike your lure. A surface bite that continues throughout most of the year must be fantastic.....I would find it hard to go to work .

Great session, you certainly worked hard for those Bream. With straight through flurocarbon I assume you were working HBs.

Hi PMAK, we tried a number of different metals in varying sizes for a couple of follows but no real commitment from the fish, whereas we had lots of strikes on the surface lures (many more strikes than hook-ups). It was such a visual way to chase the salmon.

Good onya Hughsnews, great to see you helped that poor fella. I am sure your fishing karma will only improve after that good deed.

Great report again Rob, you have certainly cracked the Georges with the live baits. Excellent photo of the sunset Rob.

Hi Raiders, Bassboy and I headed out early Saturday morning to fish the Georges River during the run-out tide at dawn. The intent was to fish for bream and flatties with SPs and HB and then work some deep holes with SPs for Jewies. The morning started slowly as we cast our SPs at drop offs and current lines for not even a touch. As the sun rose we noticed that the water was just under 19 degrees and still very dirty. As a consequence we changed our tactics to cast HBs and SPs onto the flats and against structure. This change brought some success with a nice bream of 32cm taken on a Gulp Shrimp. From the same bank I caught a nice 50cm Flattie with a Cultiva Mira Shad, which is fast becoming my favorite suspending hard body. We continued to work the structure along the banks for a couple of more small flatties. As the tide went slack we moved to a deep hole to try for Jewies with SP. It looked good with lots of bait deep on the sounder. On Bassboy’s second cast with his SP he hooked a stinkin Pike. We continued to work the hole for no luck until the run-in started. As the tide started to run-in we saw some birds working bait near the mouth of Oatley Bay. We decided to have a look and were we glad we did. It appeared that small schools of large Tailor were attacking bait. We quickly changed our SPs for small metals and started casting into the fish chopping at the bait. The feeding fish showed little interest in the metals, so we tried small blades, buck jigs and SPs for no luck. On a frustrated whim to try to ‘match the hatch’ I decided to tie on a small bream surface lure, namely a Berkley Pop Dog. A couple practice casts and the sea birds showed interest in the Pop Dog. As we had the school to ourselves and due to the shorter casting distance I had to use the Minn Kota to drive closer to the school. First cast….pop pop and bang I had the very visual experience of watching a large salmon hit the lure as it hurled itself into the air. The fish then ran hard with the current stripping line from my bream gear (2000 Stradic C4I on a Trion 2-4kg rod) and jumping all over the place. 5 minutes of the best fun with bream gear I was able to boat a nice 54cm Salmon……my first ever salmon. Bassboy immediately changed his metal slice for a bream surface lure (Sebile Splasher). Every time the school surfaced and we got close enough to the feeding fish our surface lures would get either follows or hit. The next fish from the school was a nice tailor hitting Bassboy’s Sebile within a rod length of the boat. We continued to chase the school around the mouth of Oatley Bay for the next 1 ½ hours, casting surface lures at them when we got close enough. Bassboy caught his first ever Salmon on surface, with the 57.5cm fish completely engulfing the Sebile. The salmon school continued to appear and disappear as they chased bait to the surface or boats travelling to or from Oatley Bay unknowingly sped over the fish. When the fish appeared out of reach of our surface lures we tried various sizes of metals for no real interest from the salmon. Consequently we persisted casting surface lures, with the Sebile Splasher and the Berkley Top Dog being the only successful lures. The biggest salmon of the day was a 58cm fish, which we were lucky to boat due to the damage it caused to the trebles on the Sebile Splasher. We had to leave the fish biting so I could race home to take my daughter to her netball game. It was a outstanding day and all the fish were released for another day.

Excellent report Roberta, also glad to hear that your hip is on the mend. The topwater fishing in Sydney has been a bit slow this year, so I am very envious of the action you are getting up your way. The last topwater fish we caught was a big bass during round 1 of NSWBASSIN comp....that was over 2 months ago Sounds like they were short striking or just hitting too hard and pushing the lure clear out of the water. Were you using walk the dog profiles or poppers? cheers Paul

Hi Trung, any luck on these lures yet?

Agreed, these safety requirements have existed for over a century and are established for everyone's safety.

Clive, I had the same problem with mine. It required a software upgrade through lowrance. My sidescan upgrade was fitted by the company that services my boat (same place I purchased the boat). They are a lowrance dealer and were able to get the upgrade down through lowrance but expect a delay of over a month. The lowrance servicing department is at Moorebank here in Sydney, you may be able to deal with them directly. Good luck, Cheers Paul

Bream HB: Cultiva Mira Shad Suspending Bream SP: 80mm Bloodworm Squidgy Wriggler Flattie HB: Atomic Deep Crankz Flattie SP: Riptide Mullet

Nice fish Hodgey, your family look like they had a great fishing trip. I agree with Geoff there are too many options and no where enough time.