FlyFanatic

Well Done. Top catches. I fished Sunday too down at Port Kembla and further north - heaps of Coutas around and nothing much else of interest.

Hi Everyone, Just a quick post. Took today off as have been flat chat with work lately and really needed to get out for a session. Started at Port Kembla at 5.30am "VERY DARK" and went to find to bait. Managed 1 squid in about 20mins, so went and stocked up on Yakka's. Decided to slow troll squid around the islands. First Pass (Around eastern side of North Eastern most island don't know its name) and the squid got hit gently - raised rod tip and then the fun began. Luckily I used a stinger hook as that was all that had him in the corner of the mouth. 72cm of kingy - broke the drought thankfully (May 2010 was my last legal king). Interesting fishing on your own trying to drive away from the island and fight a kingy at the same time. Unfortunately, that was it for the rest of the day. It was really slow on the yakka's, nothing seemed interested. Considered going to the FAD / Wave Rider but there was a nasty south easter and it was really messy. In my centre console that will end in a wet day. I met a guy at the ramp who did go though and he said the rat dollies were in plague proportion - now wishing I had taken some livies out there. A few others at the ramp had kings of similar size. Cheers, Trav

Yarrone, Thanks for the reply. So sorry abut the slow reply time, my computer copped a virus and I have been away on work. Thanks for the PM Cheers, Travis

G'day, Unsure if I'm allowed to ask this, so please PM me responses if they can't be posted in the forum section. In June I turn 30. To commiserate this unfortunate end to my 20s, I've convinced my wife that I need a week in Fiji. With the aim of catching as many topical species as possible - focusing on game fishing, jigging and popping. As such, I was hoping someone might be able to give me some pointers on: 1. Where to fish in Fiji? We plan on going in July. I hear the trade winds could be an issue at that time. 2. Who to fish with in Fiji? Recommendations on charter / trip operators etc would be great but can these please be PM'd to me. Hoping to spend somewhere around $3-$4k for the week with at least 4 days of fishing. At the moment I have a few mates interested in coming but need to consider solo options as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't simply want to make any decisions based solely on web research. Thanks heaps. Cheers, Travis

They are simply amazing fish - well done guys!

Hey, They are fantastic fish. Would you mind PMing me the charter details. I'm heading to NZ in a few months and really should make a booking...... Cheers, Trav

Had a great day today. Aimed to arrive at Gray's Point at 5am, but alas wok up at 5am. Was on the water at around 7ish and it was glassy! Tried for a few flatties in and around Gray's on plastics but it was very quite. Decided to head to Gibbon and the glass just continued. Trolled up 3 nice Bonnies in the next 30mins. Water was a chilly 15.4deg just south of Gibbon. After catching a few Bonnies for bait I figured it was time to see what was lurking around the 60m mark south of Gibbon and surprisingly I hooked a good salmon on the bottom on a piece of Bonito intended for Flathead / Snapper. Unfortunately I lost the Salmon boat side as I would have liked a picture and to get a new PB. I Burleyed for a while with a slab of Bonnie set for a Mako in about 70m of water but after an hour of trying and staring at the glassy conditions I thought I had to try the FAD for a Dollie. I was on my own and had told the missus I wouldn't head out to far, but it was just beautiful out there today - I could have skied to the FAD. Anyway I made the trip to the FAD off Port Hacking (was an easy run at around 20kts), it was my first time to this FAD but I didn't struggle to find it. Trolled past it probably 6 times for no luck at all. Temp at FAD was 20.8deg. (Amazing Differential to the coast) I put the shark gear out again after this and burleyed for a solid 1.5hrs - nothing showed up but the conditions were perfect and it was quite relasing out their on my own. On the run back in a pod of probably 30+ Dolphins was playing around and at one stage 4 of them were riding in my wake. This made the day for me. Once I got back in I did a Flatty drift off Kurnell in 50m of water a scored 4 legal fish to 50+cm. (Few, thought I was going home with out a feed their for a while as I didn't bleed any of the Bonnies and intended on using them all for bait.) Didn't get back to teh ramp until 3.15pm, but it was a top day to be out on the water.

Fished for kingies off Sydney Heads today with a mate. Didn't get any live baits as we intended on jigging - given previous reports that this had been successful recently. We started around 6am, but no kingies were to be found in the first two hours of searching and jigging our butts off, but we managed 4 good bonnies on light spinning gear when we saw them busting the surface. These were put on ice for either bait or sushimi. We then moved to another spot to do the FDS (Flathead Drift of Shame) - just to score a feed prior to the tide change when we intended on resuming our jigging. This was fantastic and in about 1.5hrs we landed 11 good Sand Flatties to 55cm. This is when things got really interesting. We had been using Bonnito Fillets for bait for the whole 1.5hrs and throwing the carcases overboard once filleted. There were a bunch of mutton birds sitting behind the boat and I was watching one of them as my bait sunk to the bottom when I saw something I have been seen before - Mr Mako.... I was really surprised as we were only about 2kms off the coast in around 35m of water at the time. Anyway, out came the 15kg rod and I put on a self made wire trace and MASSIVE hook and attached a big chunk of bonito. The birds were then competing with the shark to get the bait and were really getting in the way. So we pulled off the piece of Bonito flesh and used the head. This sunk beautifully and was taken in about 30sec. When everything came up tight it was a great feeling on board. The fish made two jumps one about 3ft but one cracker of around 6ft. We thought it had thrown the hook at one stage but thankfully not. The fight only lasted around 10mins (my mate was actually on the rod, but that didn't bother me as it was a group effort to land and tail loop). It weighed in at around 14kg and is currently being prepared for dinner....... First mako and biggest fish caught on my boat so far - only had it for a year.

Nanook, I'm a possibility. I'll PM you with my phone number so we can sort it out. Cheers, Trav

Great work. Its been a few years since I've fished the Basin - looks like its time to head back. Cheers,

Sensational Fishing Jewhunter. Very Very Jealous. Great Haul. Did you do any jigging yourselves or all on Livies?

Great Work, very encouraging. I can't wait for my first hit of the season.

Hi all, Just wondering if anyone can tell me if it is going to be ok to take my fly fishing flies into the US and then bring them back into Australia? My concern is that Aussie or US customs will confiscate them. I plan on taking around 300 or so and that's some serious dosh to loose if they think they are a bio hazard. I have previously taken them to Nz and not had any dramas but I don't want to find out that the rules have changed the hard way. I leave on Saturday, any advice would be appreciated. Cheers, Trav

Great Work. Very Jealous.

Spent today on a mates boat trolling for Fin (any variety would have been fine) around the JB Canyons. Had a great day on the water, but unfortunately it was really quiet, with not a single bite. We trolled a good spread of 5 lures from his 7500 Sailfish from 7.30am until 3pm from 2nm before the shelf to the 1000 fathom line. We saw very little bait and the only surface action was thanks to a bunch of seals sunning themselves. Water Temp ranged from 16.5 to ~18.5deg. A few current lines started to be visible around 2pm when the wind died off but unfortuntely this didn't help out with the bite. Oh well, that's why they call it fishing and not catching.... Hopefully this post helps someone.