Kram

Thanks, great read, great trip! Kram..

Managed to find the water again on Sunday. Took my kayak to Woronora paddled out from the boat ramp and headed towards the Georges River. About 100 meters down stream noticed some bait fish getting harassed and found a Flathead was the culprit about 35 cm, released. A couple of smaller flatties, and that was my day. Kram..

Since the SP social I've busy with work and home duties ... ( paint, carpets out, floating floor down, back very tired). Finaly found a moment to cast a plastic tis afternoon .... Tide was almost dead low at Georges River National Park, managed one very indersize flattie, but was great to watch the sea eagles return home to roost as the sun set ...

A great day... Greatly organised, Great info. Thanks to all!

Please count me in!

Hi All, Thought I would share a custom my father put me onto ... anyone else with one of these in their backyard? Regards Kram

Hi All, I had the opportunity to have a quick flick in Port Hacking yesterday just on dusk. After about 20 mins I had to stop and lay down to recover the use of my lower back. Is there a physio/ sports scientist or the like out there who can suggest a warm up exercise? Or a simple daily exercise regime to prolong my time on estuary flicking SP's? For the record one flattie. Thanks in advance , Thanks for a great forum. Regards Kram

I have had that 'blackfish bible' in the reading room for a year or more now. It was that document that inspired my apprenticeship, and I will keep on plodding. I feel the 'bag of fish' trip is just around the corner ...

Very enjoyable read, your last post (re:blackfish) got me motivated to try the river again. Have had Two trips to blackbut, two weeks ago for one good sized fish, and again last Saturday morning. The second trip did not even yield a down, then I opened the Sunday telegraph fishing column that tells me blackbut is fishing well. Anyway, there is always next time... I love that location, especially with an early low tide, the serenity has to be experienced to be believed! Any further clues on now to get 'me would be much appreciated.

Hi, I had a shore based flick of some pumpkin seed grubs yesterday morning, I walked from Dolls Point to about 1/2 way between Ramsgate baths and the Novatel. Had only one hit but did not get to set the hooks, felt like a keeper but I will never really know ... There was a pod of dolphins prowling around, althoug the lack of birds following them probably meant they were not getting any either. A lovely morning none the less... Waiting for the water temp to come up, and the flatties to start feeding a bit more actively. I met another fisho drifting nippers around Dolls Point, he was also coming up with a donut. Interestingly he was using nippers caught months earlier and then frozen, now there is an idea ... Cheers

Hi Mr S.Trevally, I did same 9 years ago, I think it was also 4 days and 4 blokes, and there was not much fishing done. There are some clips on the utube of a show named "Fishing Australia" of the presenter catching bream and jewies off the back of a houseboat whilst anchored for the night. My do well to check them out. A tip from me ... pay the bit extra to get an outboard on the provided tender, rowing to likely fishing spots is a pain ... Enjoy Kram

Hi Pirate and Raiders, I have heard this about concrete and batteries before but have never been able to get an explanation as to why. Can anyone confirm this and provide a reasonable explanation? Regards Kram

I lost track of time on Saturday I think Iwas there arond that time. I had tried to be at the river earlier but chores made for many delays. See you around ... and ... Thanks for the info Stewy, consider it noted!

Hi Fisher Folk, I spent about 5 hours, in two sessions over the last (glorious) Sydney weekend fishing for blackfish at Blackbutt, and want to check if I am in the doing things correctly, I know there is no one answer, but I thought I will just ramble a bit ... I was on the western side of the headland facing the Alfords Point bridge, fishing from the rocks. There were a couple of bolts embedded in the sandstone, I presume boats tie up here when targetting blackfish? Correct? So I guess the location is a known one, but how far out do I need to cast to be in the right zone? The first day I was there as the tide ran out, and only managed two small bream on weed, Sunday I was there on the run in tide, the flow however was the same (R to L) I guess this was due to the smallish tides we are experiencing at the monent. I presume this is a 'run in tide' type location, as the flow R to L would mean that I am fishing in a rather large eddie. Correct? Sunday I managed to hook but sadly not land a smallish blackfish, but only had the one down. Frustrating! I was there with my daughter at least she saw a fish almost pulled from the water ... I took an 11' soft tipped rod I bought last year with a small eggbeater reel, My daughter used my old fly rod with a small center bako-lite reel I picked up somewhere, this was a good decision as I thinks she would have tired quickly under the weight of the longer rod. It also gave her a new 'style' of set up to practise with, keeping her interested for longer. Without too much local knowledge it is hard to tell what the structure here is like, it seemed to be a bou 3-5' deep near to the shore and then to gradually increase, is there a drop-off here abouts? I collected two types of weed, one from the top of Salt Pan Creek, it was very dry and wire-y. The other from the sand in a tidal zone that was much darker and more supply, are these both valid baits? I took in a bucket of sand mixed with chopped weed and breadcrumbs as burley, I loved my time on the rocks, and will probably be back there at my next opportunity, I am hoping someone may make some comments following this post that will help me improve my catch ... Thanks for listening, and now looking forward to my next outing ...

Hi All, Thought I better let the forum know the result of my testing ... I had to move away from the braid as it was requiring a 'phantom' cast every seccond retrieve to get the line to sit propoerly on the reel, the spare spool loaded with mono was much easier to use, especially after I found the right capacity of the spool. This was the advice of other members and it worked a treat, Thanks! (The Braid will have to be put on ice for the moment, I may put it on my Beach rod / reel, time will tell.) I spent the weekend with some mates on a south coast estuary, spent only a small time fishing as there was many other past times to persue. The best session of the weekend was a late afternoon, rising tide along a narrow channel lined with oyster crusted rocks, along this wall the Stiffy Top Dog lure coaxed 5 or six big looks resulting in 2 hook ups of 35 cm bream, also caught were tailor (Duro - diver monnow)and luderick (Top Dog Lure). Catching the blackie on the surface lure was a surprise! Regards

Normally Saturday is Kids Sport day, weather cruelled that. So I have had some NET time today and researched a few sites for BRAID / SEIDO etc type posts ... (A long detailed discussion regarding the shape of the spool lip required for various line types really got me thinking!) What will I do ... Plan A! Persevere with the set up, use the metal lure for some 'line training'. PLAN B! In case Plan A lets me down whilst on the water ... Rig the spare spool with mono. And keep at it for a while. Thinking of the future, if the above fails I think I will try a different type of braid, go down to 3-4 Lb, and pay careful attention to the amount of memory the braid has. I guess in short it is all a matter of trial and error. Thanks for the suggestions, I am always happy to learn... Mark

Thanks for the prompt reply, I had to wait till home from work to get the details requested ... Braid ++>> "Sufix" Performance Fuse 8lb Lure ++>> "Bushies Stiffy Top Dog" 70mm not sure of the weight I have tossed the box away.

First post so here goes ... Sorry to start with a question but I guess that being able to ask questions is really one of the great features of forum such as this ... I have recently purchased a new reel for use from canoe & shore tossing top water lures. It is a Shimano 1000 Seido. I purchased 8lb braid to use with this new reel. Now for my question ... I have found that the braid lays very loosely on the reel when the lure is retrieved, as you know there is very little weight in the lure being retrieved, I am sure that when casting eventually the braid will come off more than one loop at a time. Causing me to swear more that I should! During the first use I would use a 'walk the dog' style retrieve on one cast, and on next cast keep some tension on the line whilst retrieving to get it to sit better on the reel. Can anyone comment on whether the braid will eventually become a bit more 'pliable' and sit better on the reel? Or should I scale back the breaking strain to 6lb or less? I guess the lighter the braid the more pliable it will be and it will site better on the reel? Hope that paints a clear picture of my question. Mark