joshGTV

p.s. also Alveys are relatively cheap!

Hi Davrick, I've always used Alvey sidecast reels for rock and beach fishing, they are indestructible and will last a lifetime with very little maintenance. Also they're Australian-owned, not sure if they're still made here though. With Alveys you don't need to worry if they get soaked or if they are dropped in the sand. If you go with an Alvey you'll need a rod with a low mount, anyone in a tackle shop will point you in the right direction if you tell them you're matching the rod to a sidecast reel.

Congratulations Jani on a great fish. Are pikes good to eat?

Hi Omo, congratulations on a nice haul there. I always use string weed and I find it consistently growing around ocean baths on the northern beaches. Hope that helps.

Nice going!

Good news. They need to update the visitnsw website.

Lake Wallace is closed due to coronavirus. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Extremely generous, thanks KB.

Thanks for the encouragement folks!

Hit the rocks close to home at first light this morning - landed my first ever drummer. On a peeled prawn. Looking forward to dinner tonight. Missed a few more bites, might well try again tomorrow.

Good on you mate, I've only started chasing blackfish fairly recently too, I've found it pretty addictive.

No idea what it's called but it looks like the same weed that I gather around ocean pools. It's great bait if so.

I get my weed on the rocks around ocean pools. Be careful with the cunjevoi, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to take them from some areas.

I don't know the harbour, but generally they're going to hang around structure - wharves are one of the more common places to find them.

Hi Scratchie, how do the monsters cook up compared to the smaller models?

Also the huge rock on the south side of Ben Buckler... washed up out of the sea during a storm in 1912 IIRC... can't remember the weight but it's written on a plaque attached to the boulder. Would've loved to see something like that happen.

That's really interesting, I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I suspect the two may come in different sizes as well. I first fished for blackfish in Narrabeen Lagoon and the resident fish were always sub-30cm. When the lake was open and big tides were running you'd catch larger models, generally around 35cm and up. The theory was that they were coming in from the ocean to feed.

Headed to the wharf before high tide. Dropped in my first bait and hooked up in less than ten seconds. Bagged the fish, baited up again... not another bite all morning! Scratching my head! I've never known blackfish to behave like this. I was teaching a mate how to chase blackfish, at least he got a feed.

Good point, hadn't thought of that, thanks for the tip

I've been chasing blackfish for about 18 months now, and I've always found that when they're on, they're really on, until this morning anyway. I headed to a previously productive wharf, dropped a bait in, and within 10 seconds I had a good fish on. 'Here we go', I thought, a good morning's fishing ahead. Eagerly put a new bait in and 90 minutes later hadn't seen another bite. Couldn't see any movement around the pylons. Seemed strange that there would have been only one fish hanging around - usually if there's one fish, there's a school, and if they're biting, they're all hungry. Does what happened this morning seem strange to anyone else? Any tips?

I read in the Pittwater Life magazine that recently groups of people have been coming in from outside the northern beaches and removing any shellfish and molluscs that they can find on the rocks and destroying the environment, Long Reef Reserve included. Apparently Council is stepping up ranger patrols. Hopefully some big fines will send the right message.

Looks terrific Zoran, glad I didn't lead you astray!

I'm a big fan of Alvey reels, I have a stack of them in different sizes, nothing beats them for surf fishing and they're also great when fishing live yakkas under floats off the rocks. I have a single Alvey rod - a blackfish special - and I can vouch for that as well. I tend to chase all other fish with Snyder Glas rods when using Alveys though, they're pretty hard to beat when you're after an old-school 12ft fibreglass rod IMHO.

Thanks Waza

Thanks Burger. I could see another big one down there after I caught that PB, but they had gone off the bite as the tide dropped. Next time!