SiNH

Hi All, Not familiar with the area so I was wondering if you can provide some info as where to go to catch these monsters? I know there was mention of the national gallery/library but I have no idea where that is and I googled it and it doesnt really give me a map of the area. I was wonder where you would park your car to tackle these fish? I would be coming down from Sydney. Have you got the exact road that I can punch into my GPS? Edit: I just found a map of Canberra online, can you please tell me which grid number are more likely to have success in catching carp? http://www.arta.com.au/actmaps/canberra.html

Guys, I went to the lakes, at least I thought its the same famous lakes everyone is talking about. When I got there I was surprised and disappointed as to what I saw at first. When I parked the car and walked to the grassy bank I said to myself is this the right place? the water at the deepest would be about waist height at best, you could walk from one end of the lake to the other without needing to swim. Surely I was in the wrong area? can large specimen of bream exist in such shallow water? I parked in the small carpark just before the caravan park entrance. Am I in the right place? I got no hookups and the other people around me on and off gotten bream the size of a kid's palm, which was good to see them being released afterwards.

You gotta start off with cheap rods first mate, no point getting the expensive stuff until you feel comfortable with your techniques and competant in your fishing. Im not familiar with the model of rods you got, more familiar with the Shimano range ( plus they are listed online ). Do you have a carbon graphite rod in your collection? If you are using grubs then the rod isnt all that important, but if you are using flick bait, shads and power minnows then yeah the rod plays a big role in the presentation of your SP to the fish. If you want a cheap SP rod you can go into some tackle shop and get yourself a cheap one for around the $55, something to improve your casting and retrieval techniques. Spool your reel with the 125 yards of pink 4lb fireline, use normal cheap mono ( maybe 6lb ) as backing before tying on the fireline. You would be very impressive to be able to cast future than 125 yards so dont worry about the cheapo mono as backing. What SP are you using? if you are chasing " anything " then the ideal all rounder is the Berkley 3" power minnows in pearl watermelon colour on size 1 hook on 1/16th jighead. You will find that the other fishos would also recommend this. It works best under clear water conditions but I have used it in various conditions and seems to bring up the goods. If you are chasing breams then Ive been using the grubs, pumpkin seed colour and 2" in length. Slow and pause retrievals. Size 2 hook on 1/16th weight jighead. Try them for yourself, you will soon find out which is your favourite colours and kick yourself why you didnt use fireline in the first place ( Fireline is half the price of braid, upgrade to braid once you wanna get serious about SP ). If you really want to learn how to SP fishing then I would highly recommend you going out back to BigW and buy the Berkley SP DVD hosted by Adam " Maddog " Royter and also pickup Squidgey Secrets 1 2 and 3 from Starlo and Bushy. Hope that gives you some insight, its just my personal experience. Had to edit this. Its 1/16th weight not the typo 1/6th.

I just take mine to the local tackle shop and get them to do it. $14 and 24hrs laters its ready to be picked up. If its the rod tip then its $14, if its the mid guides then its $6. Leave it to the pros and the final product is fantastic, looks like a brand new rod.

Great report Mark. I think you need to take some pictures of the fish to make us all jealous while we were all working hard you were on the water reeling the fish in.

You should consider the raider social this weekend that Swordfisherman is organising. http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...?showtopic=9670 Its only 30mins from where you'd be anyways. Im spewing that I have to miss out on that.

Oh man!!! bad timing! Im all booked out this weekend doing the good boyfriend thing so I can build up the go fishing points. 2 weeks is the earliest at this stage I can be free, the getting abit annoyed with all the time Im away doing other things without her hehhee. Let us know how you go, im VERY keen for a bash at Avoca.

Good going Paul. I really do need to organise another after work fishing session with you. Im keen on the Anzac Bridge location since its like 10mins drive away from where I work. Keep up the awsome reports, its giving me motivation to pack the rods in the car for a arvo session.

Slept 10:30pm Saturday night to wake up at 1:30am Sunday morning. Driving up to Woy Woy from Liverpool at that time of the morning was heaven, only stopped at one traffic light. Crossed over the Brisbane Waters Bridge and parked along side the jetti, right next to the fisheries office of some sort. Bait that was used on the day was: Squid, Prawns and Whitebait. In goes the line with some squid tubes at the end of the hook. 1 minute later as I was jigging up the other rod,.. YANK! the rod tip bends and jolts and it was on, reeled it in with a decent amount of fight and here is the first result. Managed to catch another 2 ray and unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the port jackson shark before releasing. Managed to get quiet a few breams and snappers onto the jetti, unfrotunately they were all undersized and were released. In between catching breams, sharks and rays we got tired of reeling in starfish that rudely eating our bait. Went home empty handed, however it was a fun morning from 3:30 to 9:30am. Sorry could a mod move out of the Lure Fishing section.

Any chance of you showing the wharf on a www.whereis.com.au map dump? I am not familiar with this area at all.

Can you let me know how you guys went with this meetup session? I would like to join you guys for future meetings after work. I work in the Ultimo area so not too far off. Have to get me a real soft plastics rod first, at the moment Im bumming around with fibreglass tip rod. Waiting for the Xmas sale to appear before getting some serious gear.

Thank you so much on the info and the welcome. I have yet to catch anything on my soft plastics. I spent about $70 on plastics and jigheads and am yet to catch anything. I was starting to think that you need a boat to catch anything on plastics. It wasnt until I stumbled onto this site that I read all these incredible stories from landbased casting. I will try your location and the first time I catch anything of legal size I will report back.

Just found out via the RTA site that these two bridges are different. Evenso can you tell me the streets that you can park on? I can punch this onto my Navman and it can take me there. Very keen on visiting after work.

Hi, Silly question on my part. Is the Iron Cove Bridge the old name for what is now known as Anzac Bridge? Is this a good place to fish for bream and flatties on soft plastics land based? or do you need a boat? Where do you actually park your car? I work in Ultimo and would love to head off there after work for a fish but dont know the area that well. Can you please be more specific on where to park? name of a road or park/reserve name? You help is much appreciated.