rjc123

Great work mate! Can't argue with a bag of bonnies!

Sounds great Roberta They have some big reds over there for sure My PA 12 arrives in 3 weeks! Can't wait Cheers, Tom

As previously said, wharves are a great starting point. Burley is the key! One technique i highly recommend is casting either unweighted or lightly weighted baits towards pylons or any structure. Give it a go Cheers, Tom

Lovely fish mate

Narra lakes has a few apparently... Never tried there though..

Makos are know for their aerial display but that really is something!

No problem! Hopefully you get a few good fish Can't wait for the report

Certainly worth a go! Get yourself some livies i reckon! Squid will be good too! Heard there have been a few at Kissing Point lately. Good 30lb fish too!

Nothing wrong with your bait outfits mate. I fish 50lb and 30lb on mine! 8lb will handle jewies as long as you play them out correctly and if your landbased DONT HOOK A MONSTER or it'll spool you! I have the trion, raider and jewell and i'd give the raider my vote. Other two are still great rods though. Landed a legal kingie landbased on the jewell and 6lb braid!

Give it a crack! Where at?

Can't help you out with GPS and probably not Jew but maybe barra and others. I can tell you that there's plenty of jewie hot spots in the harbour though! Best bet is to pop into a tackle store and ask them for some info. For barra, there's a spot called stokes hill wharf in darwin. If you troll hardbodies around this massive structure you should get Queenies, Trevally, Mackerel and the odd Barra. There are also a few nooks worth a cast for barra. The barra hold up here under the wharf. At night if you shine a torch underneath you can see them! Some 100+ in the mix too! Another spot i came across was the foreshore directly infront of the esplanade. Here the banks are very rugged made out of rock and mangrove. The dirty water here seems to fire them up too! Casting big lures and livebaits in is the go here. Some big fish are caught here at times so have the right tackle to stop them! Other than that, i can't really help with any more spots. Let me tell you, there are no shortage though! For the barra things to look for are; Rockbars, Drains (Little streams of water flooding off sand flats into deeper/murky water, creek junctions and small creek mouths on the run out tide! I would certainly recommend catching some live mullet, garfish or herring for bait. It'll really boost your chances! Look out for crocs and BIG sharks! Plenty of them! Trolling lures around rockwalls and structure will always see if the GT's or queenies are around too! Cheers, Tom

Stradic is a great reel. If i were you i'd match it to a 3-6kg rod of some description. The shimano jewell and raider rods are great bang for your buck! Match it up with either 6lb or 8lb braid and away you go. The advantage of 3-6kg and 8lb braid is that its light enough to still have great sport with bream/flathead but heavy enough to play out a big jew on Cheers, Tom

Hi mate, firstly, congratulations on your first jewie! Great way to break your duck Well done on releasing him as well! As good as they are to eat i always put them back The fishing kayaks you mentioned can really vary in price. Sounds like a hobie kayak based on the fact it had foot pedals. Most of them are between 2k and 3.5k. Just ordered the new Pro Angler from Hobie. Set me back $3350 but it'll be worth it! Cheers, Tom

Ok then. Places to look are around the mouth of mooney mooney and mullet creeks. Just either on the flats or right next to them. Patonga is worth a look aswell. The creek has a few in its shallow parts. While you put the trap out you can fish for them with a size 12 hook and tiny float. Good fun! Basically any flats willdo for the mullet but sometimes you have to move around to find them. Don't forget the yakkas though, plenty of them atm.. especially early morning and late arvo! Cheers, Tom

Didn't know they came into our waters! Would've been pretty cool to see

See a lot of people fishing for yakkas and slimies with them off wharves. Just a couple of meters of line tied to the end, they lower it into the water and fling fish out as soon as they get a bite. Good fun to watch

Really depends on where in the river you'll be. Once i know that i can let you in on a few spots. West head is definitely the go for yakkas though.. A lot of big ones lately but still a few mars bar size for the flatties A mate go a 30lb jew and flint n steel the other day on a livie! You better check that spot out while your up there Squid are definitely at West head but not all the time. Barrenjoey and mackerel beach hold a few too. Cheers, Tom

Great fish mate! Lovely Red

Not small for a whaler... Hell of an animal

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I fished landbased with them once up at Port Stephens. Motohead is right about distance. They don't cast all that far but if you fish them in the right places they can work. I found a nice drop-off straight off some flats. Went from 0.3m to 2m. Snagged one 45cm flattie by twitching it back along the drop off. You need to twitch down to get it right down to the fish. A slow wind (rolling action) can work well too. The moral of the story is that yes they can be used if you find an appropriate spot but there are definitely some better hardbodies out there for flattie flicking:biggrin2: Cheers, Tom

Great report mate Congratulations on a successful trip outside! How big was the whaler?

Always found the lake hard to fish in winter. Just the odd flattie and bream but thats it. Best bet i'd say is back end of the lake on run out tide for a few bigger lizards. Much harder to come by atm though... You said you've had success in recent years so i'd stick to that for a while too! Cheers, Tom

Your best bet is to catch a few yakkas. They are by far the best bait for dory. Also, trim their tails to make them easier for the dory to catch. Places like Balmoral, Spit and sailors bay are good starting points. Fish them either unweighted or under a float around the moorings. The by-catch is salmon and tailor at this time of year. Cheers, Tom

Awesome! Nothing beats a good old surface strike! Especially when the fish are that big!