wacko

Josh!!! Awesome report man! Double hook-up on wahoo off Sydney....PLUS a marlin. U Guys are on a roll! That new boat is raising some great fish. Are we on for a sessiom soon????? Cheers, Wacko.

Thankyou to everyone who has offered me a ride and a fish! You guys are champions!!! I have been extremely busy with work over the xmas break!......Managing retail stores this time of year is 'off the hook' busy! .......the good news is.... I again have some days off...so we can do Wednesdays and most sundays. just send me a Pm and we can arrange something! Thanks again guys, and you are all welcome to come fish with me when my new boat arrives! Wacko.

The comparison is Stella vs Saltiga. The Saltist is a good reel but 'B Grade' compared to these two. Wacko.

Thanks and Merry Xmas to everyone who replied! Regarding the Estuary Cod: Yes, I let it go as they are a protected species in Nsw. However, I have eaten one in QLD ages ago and they are bloody tasty! I have caught one In Sydney Harbour, Manly Lagoon, Narrabeen Lagoon and up Berowra Creek and of course main Hawkesbury river over the years....most of these fish have not been that big....1kg to 3kg. I don't think they are that common in Nsw....but there are certainly a few who have moved south of the border and inhabit our estuaries. Cheers, Wacko.

Well done fellas! Nice flatties. You boys are going great guns at the moment! Is that Hutcho's way of Sun protection???? (man forest....hehe) Cheers, Wacko.

Hi Bisho! Great to see you are putting that new boat to good use! You guys are going off with the flatties Catch ya on the water soon mate! Wacko.

Nice tailor mate!! What a cracker! Trag look like Jewies...except they are smaller(comparitive size to jew) and have a very yellow mouth on the inside. The Jewfish's tail is Convex and the Trag's is Concave (Good way to tell between the two species) Either way mate....great fish! Wacko.

Well done Nicko on a great fish mate!! Glad to be there for that special Jew. It was a really well conditioned fish...broad in the shoulders and great colours! Many more to come dude! and thanks for a great arvo out Cheers mate, Wacko.

Hi everyone, Seems there has been a few good Jewies caught recently....I thought I'd add my share of Jewfish adventures from the past 2 weeks. Quick run-down: * Areas we have been fishing lately have been the Hawkesbury and Syd.Harbour. * Most Jewies falling to smaller softplastics..mainly 4inch Grubs and shads. 1/2 ounce jigheads and 3/0 hooks seem to be doing the trick. Also got a couple of fish on 1/2 ounce TT Blades. * Tides have been very Important. ( Like recent trip with Nick aka Snap-per...we rocked up to a spot that is very tide dependent...and like clockwork got a Jew on in less than a minute!) * Surprise catches have been a decent Estuary cod....and big bream on the bigger lures. Heres a few pics: Cheers, Wacko.

Go Ray!!!! Nice fish mate! Sounds like you and Hutcho had a great session! Cheers, Wacko.

Hi guys, I am currently boatless at the moment and it looks like it will be a while until the new one arrives......so in the meantime, I would love the opportunity to fish out of fellow 'Raider's boats. I know my way around all types of craft. Have copious amount of the very best fishing gear. Always willing to share in costs for the day out. Will travel to meet at ramps, marinas etc I am happy to share information/techniques on basically anything you would like to fish for in and around the Sydney metro area. These include activities like: - Squidding - Bream, Flathead, Whiting, Jewfish Luring. - Kingy and Jewfish Live Baiting - Kingy Downrigging - Jigging - Snapper on Plastics - Yellowfin, Marlin and Game fishing - You name it! I'm up for it. Preferred Days are Wednesdays and Sundays. You can contact me via PM if you wanna have a fish! Cheers, Wacko.

Dude, I have to say it...you got that 'service' at a REALLY cheap price! A new gear set AND bearings (Even better quality ones) for that price is a steal. The other option was not to send it to Daiwa and have the reel feel 'rough' eventually. Saltwater unfortunatley is a reel's worst enemy...Daiwa has done you a favour By replacing main parts that can affect reel performance. With those high-end, high-tech gears it only takes a small amount of corrosion on the teeth of the gears for the whole thing to feel a bit rough. Hope it all turns out and you catch some beasts on it mate!!! Cheers, Wacko.

Hi folks, Hutcho and I had planned a trip ages ago and it came time when we were both free for a fish. Plan was to start early for a Jewfish or two...then potter round' fishing for flatties etc. We met in the wee hours and hooked the boat up...whispering to each other so we would'nt wake the neighbours! hehehe Got to the ramp nice and early and made way to a few spots. It was'nt long before Hutcho hooked up to a solid fish.....the Jighead had'nt found it's mark properly and the fish shook itself free! Doh! It did'nt matter......three casts later and Hutcho was on again! A nice school Jew slid into the net and it was smiles all-round. The tide was starting to turn and the current was running a little faster now.....Hutcho put in a nice cast right into a pocket of current and whammo! He was on again! This was a much better fish...it peeled a bit of line and gave some big headshakes. After a short fight we had a nice Jew of around the 4-5kg mark boatside. The net-man (me) was a total idiot and spent the next part of a few seconds trying to get a very lively Jew into an environet! (Harder than it seems when the fish and current are working against you!) Anyways.....like a gumby....the hook drops out of the fish and we watch Hutcho's prize drift away into the depths!! Sorry dude!!! We were still stoked and would have let the fish go anyways. We threw a few more casts and I finally hooked up into a nice Jew of around the 5-6kg mark. It ate a....you guessed it....4inch Chartreuse jigging grub....same plastic that we got one of the Jew on last week. A few happy snaps and I let the fish go. Great to watch a nice Jew swim away. Hutcho had the most hook-ups, fishing a Gulp 4inch Pogy in 'anchovy' colour. Anyways, it was a great mornings Jewie fishing. We fished a few spots for some decent flatties and 3 big Flounder during the day. Great company and excellent fishing!! Thanks Hutcho for a ride out in the boat! Cheers, Wacko.

Thanks again guys for the nice replies! Stippy: Your new Hobie should be a great weapon for Jewies! A mate called me while we were on the water and mentioned he watched a guy in a Kayak get towed around on a big Jewie for about 10mins! He was in the same waterway as us at the time. Welsh Dave Everyone has a dud fishing session every now and again....and I surely have had some of those!!! I just love being out on the water....trying different techniques or learning new stuff....catching fish is obviously the goal. Cheers, Wacko

Hi everyone, Managed to sneak out again on Friday.....plan was to chase some Jewies around the Hawkesbury. What a cracker of a session this turned out to be!!! We started in the dark just before dawn fishing a couple of deepwater spots that fire on the last of the run-out tide.....we were'nt dissaponted.....right on cue, I hooked up to a nice little Jew of around 60cm, then Gina did the same around 10mins later with a fiesty little fish....both fish were gently released to grow to mammoth proportions. With the tide slowly starting to turn, I put out a cast and felt the craggy rocky bottom hitting my jighead...... a short lift and the rod bent over with a heavy fish now starting to blitz in the other direction!! It made some attempts to bury me into the reefy area but in the end I came up trumps with a very respectable Jewy of around the 7-8kg mark. This guy was coming home for dinner!! I got him on 10lb leader, 1/2 ounce 3/0 jighead and Berkley's newish 4inch Chartreuse Jigging grub.....these things are so bright I reckon the Jewie just ate it out of interest!! It was now daylight and we made a location change to find some more fun. Gina hooked a nice one of around 4kgs.....really well conditioned fish...great colours!! The end tally for our Jew session finished at 8 jews! We got some more in different locations and the sizes ranged from small 50cm-60cm fish and a couple of really nice ones. The daytime Jew were all caught on much lighter rigs.....1/4ounce heads and 6lb leader to get the bites. The by-catch for the day was exceptional as well! We got 7 flatties, smallest being around 55cm, 5 big bream, a decent snapper and silver Trevally! Just goes to show what can turn up when you are deepwater plugging with light gear! What an awesome session! Great company, good weather and the red hot fishing was a nice bonus! Cheers, Wacko

A HUGE Thankyou to everyone for the positive replies!! You guys are the champions for encouraging fellow fishers to do well....hats off to ya'all I've included a shot of the big girl just after release....we drifted onto a sandflat and it was the perfect spot to gently put her back. She sat on the bottom for a few moments, then shot off into deeper water. One of those moments where I should've jumped in and taken an underwater shot!!! Doh! Anyways, thanks again for the encouragment and hope to see you all on the water sometime. (New boat coming soon!!!) Cheers, Wacko.

Hi Folks, Been a while since I posted a report! Just sold the boat so I jumped at the chance of being invited by a fellow fishing mate to fish out of his Bayliner centre console (nice boat!) We mooched our way round Box Head only to find a persistent wind and rough conditions.........thoughts of our snapper session soon diminished and we found ourselves fishing plastics in more sheltered waters. Anyways, third cast...and thump! I seriously thought I had hooked a nice school Jew with the big headshakes and fairly long runs.....a stubborn fight trying to lift this beast in a bit of current and on very light line......up comes a BIG flattie! Very well conditioned fish just pushing the 1mtr mark. 4lb braid and 6lb leader! I swam her for a little bit and she swam away very strongly...stoked! We pottered round and caught some bream and some more legal flatties after that....but the big girl surely made my day! Cheers, Wacko

Multicoloured jigging lines are notorius for getting bitten by LJ's. We normally just run a dark coloured braid (Like dark green) connected to a leader. Cheers, Wacko

The most simple yet reliable knot...........even in heavy mono's like 200lb.........3 turn Uni-knot. Make sure you use pliers to cinch it down tight. As a general rule........more turns in your uni-knot when the line is lighter.....less turns when the line is really heavy. 3 turns is plenty strong for heavy mono's....any more turns and the knot won't close properly. Cheers, Wacko

Hey Slinky, What boat did you cruise around in? It was always the same crews at un-godly hours of the night doing drifts for squid! Sometimes the squidding was more fun than the fishing! Cheers, Wack'

Pakula also does a heavier gauge "dojo peche" hook. These are quite good and have'nt let me down yet, even running some heavy drag pressure they won't open up. Cheers, Wacko.

Arrows in that area are generally pretty slow during winter dude. They start to hit their straps around November right through until may-ish. Cheers mate, Wacko

We've been doing ok on the Bream down the Southern Parts of the Lake. Using Blades and plastics out in the open.....from 3-7mtrs deep. Apart from that, yeah, plenty of Sambos around Swansea entrance etc Lots of boats out there chasing them though... Cheers, Wack'

Good going on a fun session! Cheers, Wacko

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll try and get some more vids up..... Cheers, Wack'