Yowie

Unweighted using a 12 foot beach rod and Alvey side cast reel. Gars used from the beaches and sometimes the rocks. With a bit of experience, you could cast an unweighted gar nearly as far as using a sinker, the gar would slowly sink and you would use a slow and jerky retrieve. When the tailor were on, they would grab the gar as soon as it hit the water. With no sinker, the gars would eventually be washed back into shore by the waves, or sideways in a strong current. Occasionally used a small sinker directly above the hook if a bit of current about, Casting a gar into strong winds meant using a sinker, but if a strong wind was blowing onto the shore, I would not bother fishing. A float is handy from the rocks as it means less casting out, and the float bouncing about from the waves gives the gar a bit of movement in the water.

Have caught a few over the years on handlines, as I fish mostly with handlines. Best one I can remember was a 61cm kingie on a 6 pound line with a size 10 hook while fishing for yakkas.

Reelcrazy, If you have a bag of gars like that, I would be eating them in preference using them for bait for kings, etc. Good eating. Savit, When I was a teenager (quite a few years ago) we used gars from the beach for tailor, and other fish would have a go at them - flatties, salmon, and some big bream up to the 1.5 kg mark. Used a 3 gang rig of 4/0 hooks, 4 ganged hooks if the gars were rather large. Pillies were not used in those days, only gars that were bought fresh. A bit of salt will keep them longer these days, so try that idea.

The Hacking starts to slow down around now, with the cooler and clearer water. No tailor jumping as they are swimming a bit deeper.

Thanks Scratchie. The only yakka and a salmon grabs it. Still, I have enough for a couple of feeds.

Headed out early this morning, up from Lilli Pilli. The water is a bit cooler, and becoming clearer. The tailor were biting early during low light, then disappeared after that. Pillies and salted bonnie strips were the baits. Apart from one nice fish, the others are a bit smaller than over the previous few weeks. The jackets took squid pieces, and I threw back more than I kept due to their small size. Not as many little reddies biting this morning. Only hooked one yakka amongst the sweep, It was a bit bigger than I wanted, but put it out as a livie. The yakka swam near the bottom for some time before the rod tip moved and the reel started spinning. Not a fast run but slow and steady. Gave it time then raised the rod tip and it was on. A few head shakes and it swam deep, backwards and forwards, not too fast, head shakes, thought maybe a jewie. Then it headed to the surface and jumped - bloody salmon. Eventually into the boat, about 55cm long then released. Headed for home soon after. As for the bream, threw out a line before launching the boat in Gunnamatta Bay.

A nice tub of fish there.

Good work there Scratchie, always good to have the flatties oblige and hook up. Looking out the mouth of Port Hacking this morning, it appeared a little lumpy, and the bay surf was working with a few paddle boarders catching a wave or 2.

TAKE YOUR TIME. There is no need to rush to get a fish in. A number of fishos on here lose a good fish right at the end by rushing to land the fish, tightening the drag, trying to go too hard at the end. At the end of the fight, with not much line out, there is less room for error, less room to manoeuvre the fish. Don't deliberately bust off, you leave the jig head in the fish's mouth.

I have eaten the larger spikies fillets when the blue spots were not biting, and they were rather tasty. Like you, I use the smaller spikie fillets as bait as they are a fairly tough bait for the bigger flatties, and whatever else might be swimming about. No size limit on the spiky flatties (Longspine Flathead)

A few marbled ones are about at a nice size.

Prefer them salted, though lately the salted ones are a little small and over salted, meaning less weight for throwing some distance. For casting and retrieving without a sinker, you need a bit of weight to cast a bit of distance. The small reddies do not discriminate, they will eat any type of pillie.

Thank you. Well, I had a trevally swimming about the boat feeding on the scraps, but as soon as I dropped over a bait with a hook, he would not touch it. Even tried a small suicide hook hidden in bait, but no go.

I try to charm them to swim to the boat.

Something like that. It does start to slow down from now, and it is cold when motoring against the light westerly wind before sun up.

Some nice flatties there make for a few good feeds.

Fished up from Lilli Pilli this morning. The tailor and reddie took salted fish strips, a few more reddies just under size were eating anything thrown at them. The whiting took a large squid strip on a 3/0 hook, managed to get the hook into his small mouth. Jackets on squid pieces. When the tide started running up, I waded the sand banks along the main channel. The water is feeling a bit cooler now, so the fishing will start slowing down a bit. Not a touch on the plastics, though disturbed a couple of small flatties buried in the sand as I was wading about. Headed for home, cleaned the fish and threw in the scraps. A couple of bream turned up, so I hooked up a piece of tailor belly flap and pulled out a bream of 30cm or so, a fat little bugger. Just hooked in the mouth, so his lucky day, released to be caught another day.

In my early days, a bit of white cloth wrapped around a large hook was good enough for the tailor and others.

You need a fair bit of bait when the little reddies are about.

Some nice blackies. Tried a centrepin reel as a kid, takes a little while to master it (Alvey sidecast is easier)

A good bag of fish, with a very nice whiting as well.

Thanks Krispy. No reports from you for a while, are you still fishing?

A good feed there.

Nice flatties, and some good bait for later on.

A couple of good feeds out of that lot. The tailor will produce a couple of decent fillets.