brettmann86

100% the sarge! Seargent baker that is, they're not horrible on the plate but boney as all hell

Hey raiders, Ducked out on Saturday with my wife for a fish and a pleasure cruise in our boat, launched at parsley bay around 5am and met a mate who was already gathering livebait inside Cowan creek, had a chat with him for a little bit while we got our own livies and we both hatched out our plans and decided to catch up a few hours later to see what's going on where, first stop was Jerusalem bay to have a drift around and see what was going on, nothing too special on the drift side of things a couple of just legal flatties that we thee back I'm not too keen on keeping them that size, so we drove out to flint and steel and sent 2 livies down an had some brekkie while we enjoyed the scenery, we got 2 salmon for the 2 livies we sent down which again we released as I've had my fill of fish cakes already lol... Then the wind started it wasn't too bad but it was cold even in the sunshine!!! So I decided to head up to the F3 bridge for a few hours and fish the turn of the tide up there, there was a controlled burn happening at brooklyn that we got some cool photos of on the way, at the bridge parked on our usual spot that I've been successful with in the past.. Cast out 2 prawn baits to feed the catfish lol!! And a livie rigged down in case of a Jew. Well sure enough first 2 fish over the side were catfish hahaha the next 2 were little baby Jews well under legal so back they went! Then the fun started... My livie started getting all nervous bouncing around and then it just stopped dead.... Just as I thought my bait had been theived.... WHAMMO!! I'm on few good runs and there was some weight so I called it for an average sized Jew but I was wrong was a big tailor of 63cm that went 1.48kg gutted I was so lucky to have hooked him in the top of the jaw cause I didn't have wire trace on without that bit of luck I'm sure the people driving over the bridge would have heard me ha ha ha, after I bled him and put him in the esky I thought surely I've been baited on the prawns by now!! As I go to reel in the first rod I notice a good amount of weight but no fight and I'm thinking great another stinking catfish but once it got near the surface it woke up and it turned out to be a bream that went 41cm and 1.185kg gutted which was a PB for me I was stoked!! After that it went a bit quite I did manage another small Jew of around 30cm quickly released then another good bream of about 35cm so in all it wasn't a day that would set any records but it was relaxing and we caught some good fish as well. Plus it was comp weekend for my fishing club so it was great to get some good points up on the board!! I'll post some pics up tomorrow of the fish. Tight lines guys Brett

Off the rocks I wouldn't bother too much bottom bashing unless you want to target the washes with a really lightly or unweighted bait, using peeled prawns and some burley in that sort of set up can set you up for some impressive catches like drummer and good bags of bream, if your going to live bait then I wouldn't really go anything lighter than 40lb leader even though it's beginning to be out of king season the odd one may still show up a simple 5/0 or 6/0 hook pinned above the lateral line in front of the dorSal fin on the back will do the trick place this set up under a float i (I prefer the mirrored floats that are used for squidding just adds that bit extra flash) as far as spinning goes usually a 40g slug style lure will get you into the action and on a good set up that will get you plenty of distance too, for Bonnie's you can't really soon too fast but for salmon slow it down a bit they will still hit at full speed but if you slow down just a bit you'll get more results on the sambos, I've figured this out while trolling for them in my boat but have also adapted the technique when rock hopping and I get a good catch rate from it, just remember to mix your spinning depths up some days they hit it down deep as to other days a flat out retrieve on the surface is what will fire them up. Tight lines mate

Hey squid jig, The argument of west vs east of the bridge has been talked about at length on here do a search for it you'll see what I'm talking about essentially what it boils down to is fish that reside in west of the harbour bridge for extended periods of time like bream might be a bit hazardly to eat but fish that move in and out of the system like kingfish, salmon, gar, bonito and the like should be fine as long as your not consuming kilos at a time but in saying that there is no fence under the harbor bridge that stops the fish from moving around, end of it all it boils down to what you feel comfortable with.

God that post is from a while ago, you've just given me another option to fish for this weekend if the winds up! A groper bash sounds good to me !! And again mate it sounds like your doing everything right maybe refine your berley a bit I usually try mix some of my bait from last session into my berley as well, like if you were using cungee for bait use the shells or some leftovers in your berley, and are your hooks chemically sharpened? This can sometimes be the difference between a hook up and loosing the fish to landing it, also mix your spots up a bit move around explore 50 metres can make a difference in bagging out to having a mediocre sessions There's a million guys on here that could offer more these are just my long winded 2 cents worth

Hi mate sounds like you doing everything right for the species targeted my only question is what size hook and so on are you using,

Hey raiders, I've got my fishing club monthly comp on this weekend and I'm thinking bout heading over to box head for a fish around never really ventured over that way before but I've heard it can be productive at times around there plus it's a bit away from the crowds of flint and steel and so on, any advice in rigs to use or what sort of bottom structure I'm likely to be fishing I'll be using a range of baits + live baits as well. Any info much appreciated Tight lines Brett

G'day raiders. Headed out today with the hopes of a fresh bag of flathead for my troubles. When we arrived at the ramp I was surprised because it was empty no one there at all. winning!! Headed out to meet another member of my fishing club who was launching from patonga and to have a quick drift armed with squid and fresh slimy fillets not a thing not a touch nothing!! Changed spots over to flint and steel and my mate on his boat hooked a nice salmon after a couple of really fast drifts but for me still nothing! By this point the wind was really howling so decided to duck into Cowan creek to try to find some fish, we anchor up at our spot and between me and my wife we have 4 rods out total just as I was getting comfy reading the paper BANG!! All 4 Rods go off at once ! Total mayhem! we grab the 2 lightest Ross first to get them up and boat the fish and the first 2 salmon hit the deck 57 and 53cm not bad but wait we've still got 2 more Rods with fish attached that have had precious seconds to tangle themselves up an sure enough my fish had wrapped the anchor rope while my wife's had done a runner under the boat and was porpoising on the surface a distance away knowing I had 30lb leader I just pulled the anchor up and boated my fish that way which went 53cm as well while my wife was in all sorts of trouble sorting hers out but after some fanciful rod and boat work from the pair of us she eventually boated her salmon which eclipsed mine at a healthy 64cm was a new PB for her and by that we decided to pull the pin and head home for some well deserved Thai style fish cakes yum yum Tight lines guys Brett

Me and the wife are already stocking gear to go! We've got free accomodation up there and an invite to visit cairns on the return trip if we can. Just curiously where did you pick up the trick of the mangrove branches in with the muddies?? Does it really work??

Ray I'm jealous to the point I'm about to turn the colour of that boat!!!! The fact that your up that way is awesome when are you due back?? Have you got time to do more fishing? I've been invited up by a friend to fish the floodwaters next year I'm chomping at the bit and I'm trying to soak up as much info as I can

Have you looked at the okuma salina II range?

They're pretty versatile they ways u can use them, you can just add a heavy weight and bottom bash paternoster style or if you've got a nice berley trail going use a lighter sinker and float them down the trail that works as well, if the fishing is a little slow I'll use some bait if the fish are on just some tuna oil dabbed on the flashers works too I've even used them without bait to good effect as well They're just great rigs to use they are fastly taking up more and more room in my tackle bag

Hey raiders just want to know how you go on your snapper snatchers... Ive now employed them as a gun rig on most species including flathead, Jews, king fish and other assorted bread and butter fish, the should just be called snatchers period they're a great rig and worth the investment. What's your thought raiders???

For baby flathead and I literally humbereds Of them them go no further than narrabeen lagoon it's an amazing to see them while ur Chasing whiting

Look up the fin nor offshore reels, I love them they are beyond value for money with a drag that is worthy of reels with ten times to prices. Reels I find is personal for the angler but those reels can range from 140 up to 220 an they are awesome

Damn gazza!!! You've caught them all ha ha ha!!! Now they will be weary of my baits!!!

If your On your phone I'm not sure, but on the computer go to your profile and edit it and add it in the bottom

Thanks nick greatly appreciated! Might just head out to the wrecks and reefs

G'day raiders after a couple of weeks milling around home my wife is now sick of me being in the house and has ordered me out fishing, my plan was to give the kings a rest for a while as ive caught my fair share this season, just curious if the flathead are still about in the usual areas?? I'll load up on livies and bounce them around or is it better off getting out on the reefs. Tight lines brett

18kg long tail tuna on 8kg line whilst spinning for bonito.. That was fun nearly had me to the knot before it turned

If ur boat based then head over to west head to collect your yakkas and when you get the first one send it out on a heavier rod while you get more there's always the chance they will be there.. Then try over near barrenjoey head slow trolling yakkas or squid past there is pretty reliable or barring that in around pittwater is a good bet too... Just remember live bait is the key between a good day and a fantastic one.

This is another sad incident that could have been avoided. Fishing alone on the rocks is never ok not even on a flat calm day! You can still slip and break a bone and be stranded. Another life lost. Condolences to the family.

That makes mine look like a pup!!! Damn that's a big threadie!

G'day raiders. i've been pretty quiet lately reading alot of posts but not havent really been posting anything, been flat stick getting married and still trying to handle work while i was away and then being on my honeymoon.. i need another holiday to recover!!! whilst we were away in Airlie we had a ball of a time and had some great fishing to boot (my wife is a keen fisher aswell) we wnt on 5 charters on our 18 days away and i have absolutely no idea how many different species or sub-species of fish we caught i'd have to range it in the high 100's to early 200's if i was to hazard a guess... and i tell you what there is no such thing as fishing with more than 1 rod up that way or else you'd be literally exhausted after an hour!!! i'm just going to show my 2 favourite captures while we were away and i'll submit both for records. first fish was a feisty 103cm golden trevally taken on a bait fishing charter over one of the reefs that put up a tremendous fight from a depth of 35ft this guy took me from one end of the boat to the other and had my drag singing! not to mention size wise it was the fish of the day on the boat although my wife did catch a really good sized coral trout on the same trip so i had to admit defeat on that one lol!!! here is the photo of the fish i believe the line class used was 20lb braid with 40lb leader, and the bait used was a squid head. (i didnt have anything to compare size to other than myself forgot the brag mat.. DOH!!) the second fish that i hold near and dear cause one of these has been on my hitlist for a looonnnggg time! is a 99cm threadfin salmon(so sloce to the magic metre it was not even funny!!!!) taken on a live mullet fished in the mouth of a small feeder creek not far from the main harbour of airlie beach! the charter bloke was nearly as excited as i was! and he put on one hell of an aerial dispaly as well! the weirdest thing was the take on the bait it was so subtle i thought it was just the livie repositioning himself until the charter operator yells strike and whack im on!! whatching that line rooster tail across the water was magic and i was over the moon when he was finally in the boat it was a very big tick off of my to do list! there are so many more photo's to post and so many more fish to show but these two really stand out to me and will stick in my head for a long time and as i said before i'd like to submit both for bait fishing records. thanks for the read raiders and i hope you enjoyed!. Tight Lines Brett Edited it to remove the request for COTM forgot about the required item lol

Dory persevere with the trap... In some places u can literally get them feeding at ur feet and jUst scoop them up. What sort of trap are u using?? If it's tabbies trap style don't bother with it a 2L coke bottle with the neck cut off and turned around works in a pinch