[Estuarine reds]

We picked up a few legals in Cowan creek today on plastics. They're definitely around but it's hard to get past the hordes if tiny ones when bait fishing.

[Fishing around and under Roseville bridge. Anybody had any luck?]

Just a curiosity, are the fish eatable from that area?

It seems it is quite a residential area.

Yes and no. Personally I don't eat fish from roseville but have before and it's alright. Things like kings, bonito, silver trevs (etc..) i'd eat without hesitation but bream/whiting/flathead i personally release. You can eat fish at roseville but i wouldn't recommend doing it after heavy rain...

[What reel should I buy ?]

2500 Caldia would be my pick. Really solid reels and going for under 300 online at the moment. I've got a couple of them and certainly worth the price tag. Plenty of drag for the snapper as well.

Cheers, Tom

[Fishing around and under Roseville bridge. Anybody had any luck?]

Heres a tip, try putting some bait on a heavy jig head to help get you out there. I use chicken thigh, works everytime.

I remember your report with the ol' Chicken Parma producing a 40+! Could be a good tactic the 1/2 ounce head with some chicken. I really want to stress the importance of fishing in close here though. I get 99% of my landbased bream right in close as opposed to out in the middle. Unweighted is the key. Just remember that. You'l get a ton of small rubbish but it's very rare not to pick up some good bream doing this. There's certainly some honkers sitting on those pylons though. No place for 4lb leader and a 1-2kg rod! Unfortunately i learned this the hard way on more than one occasion over summer...

[Fishing around and under Roseville bridge. Anybody had any luck?]

Generally not the best time of year for rosie. There'll be a few bream and trevally about. Burley up and fish in close roughly in the middle between the pipe and bridge with unweighted baits (squid strips, peeled prawns etc...) I've found my results improve 10 fold every time i do this here. Not that i do it often anymore but when i do have a bait session it works a treat. Never a shortage of tailor either.

Chuck a poddy out for sure. Man it's been slow jewfish wise but nothing stopping you trying. You'll probably get a good tailor or big bream on one anyway. As previously said, the middle pylon has some great bream. Pulled a few 40's from here over summer on plastics. Not easy to cast out to the middle pylons landbased though.

Flick the drop off near the pipe as well.. Holds a few flatties and if your lucky jew. The pelagics have been up this way last month or two (frigates, bonnies, kings) but seem to have just moved on in the last week or so. Might still be a few around if your lucky. I picked up a legal king at rosie middle of winter last year so never know.

Give it a go and let us know how you go.

Cheers, Tom

[C & R permitted during Ep/ Bass closed season.]

As far as i'm concerned this is a good thing. CnR is basically all i do anyway... As Ben said, as long as you don't hammer the school there's nothing wrong with catching a couple followed by a quick release. The closed season has always been somewhat of a "loop hole" in the laws as one can target the subject of the closed season and claim to be chasing another species. Having said that it's up to us as rec anglers to look after our resources if we want them to be there in the future. Anyway, thanks for letting us know matt!

Cheers, Tom

[Winter breaming! - 1/6/13]

Nice work tom! some nice bream and other bits and pieces..... also im sure you were half tempted with those kings..... would have certainly gone on a nice ride! With those Zmans because they stretch so much the bass guys find when they are deep plastics fishing that the bass will bite and hold onto the tail, because they have so much stretch you can feel the weight and fish fight then nothing as they let go of it. try rigging a stinger hook next time, even if it is squid you might be able to land a few for dinner

Yeah i'll try a stinger for sure. For deepwater bream i often do the same as what your describing for the bass guys.. The grubz are the perfect candidate.

great work on the haul of bream , gotta agree with the squid theory from Mr Fish they have been chasing my soft plastics and shredding them as well in Botany Bay, few weeks back i dropped a jig over the side while i was flickin in the other direction and managed a nice squid soon after.

cheers Mark

Yeah I'm pretty sold on them being squid now. Will chuck out a jig next time for sure. It was hard to tell as my sounders out of action at the moment. The only hesitation i'm having towards it being squid is they didn't at all fight like squid. A cross between a soapie and lethargic bream.

Cheers, Tom

[Winter breaming! - 1/6/13]

Good stuff tom nice breambos

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

No problems on the bream but looks like i'll have to wait til september 1 to get that 40+ perch Having trouble cracking the perch code despite how easy a lot say it is.

[Winter breaming! - 1/6/13]

Hey Tom great report mate. I remember years ago we used to fish the vines in the hawksbury and boy did we get some thumper bream. We used to consistently get them in the low to mid forties and even a beauty my dad caught once at 52cm. It's been years since I've tried there not sure if it still fires like it used to.

I'm hoping this winter brings some nice bream in Botany Bay. Love coming home with a feed of bream. Great pics too...

Cheers Daniel

Ah, the vines. Fished it a few times for some nice fish a while back. We got them to 44cm there. The north west corner of milson island near the channel marker has some monsters. A mate got them to just under 50 there fairly consistently. 52cm is a crack of a bream! 50 on lure is my longterm goal. I've lost a couple of this size at plastics at one particular spot. Watched both of them eat and easily 50 fish. Of course they both got me around the pylons like they weren't even attached!

Great fish as usual. I was talking to a guy at a tackle shop and he said squid have been dashing the grubs! So I think maybe it could have been squid, and they weren't actually hook, just holding on.

That's a good point actually. I've got squid there on the grubz before. Never occured to me but i'd say that's probably it

[Winter breaming! - 1/6/13]

Head out today in the yak back up the hawkesbury way. It's been a while since i've been on the yak so was keen as ever. Especially to test out my latest purchase, a Nordic Stage Jaegar 4-8lb. Hit my favourite bream spot first up and had something strange keep happening. On the drop ever few casts i'd get hit and hook up. A few nice headshakes and plenty of weight but they just seemed to all "fall off" before could lay eyes on them. I honestly have no clue what they were. Might have been soapies but i'll never know. Fairly sure they weren't EP's. Kept working the steep bank and managed a few legals in quick succession in the high 20's before moving on.

Next spot fished very well. Real steep bank dropping straight into 6m of water. In a short time frame managed some slightly better bream to 33cm. Ended up having a double hook up on bream with one scoffing the blade i had sitting 3 feet behind the yak and the other on the grubz. Watrmelon Red Grubz matched to TT 1/12 jigheads were the go as usual.

Came across a big patch of EP's a short while later and unfortunately had to move on due to today being the start of the closed season There were pelagics everywhere today frigates and bonnies shooting around everywhere but they are feeding on very specific bait and near impossible to match the hatch. Still managed one frigate after some persistence.

Had a pretty good haul overall with 15 or so good bream to 33cm, plenty of tailor to 40cm and a couple of flatties (mid 40's) as bream bycatch.

There were some BIG kings hanging around also.... Didn't even bother attempting to hook them as these fish were over the meter mark on no match for my Arael . Achieved what i set out to at least and always nice to find some fish during winter! Hopefully the pelagics stay around through winter Never get sick of those speedsters...

Cheers, Tom

[Starting - Soft Plastics]

Thanks for that. So would you fish the 30 m middle of sugarloaf or in the shallower parts near structure? Also what is a blade?

No, not really. You want to be looking for structure. In sugarloaf bay the holes and drop offs are what you should focus on. Work the edges of the holes as well as the middle. They'll often sit on the edge. Up the back of most middle harbour bays you'll find nice drop offs. The one up the back of bantry is worth a look at night (drops from 1-7m) but not particularly consistant. You'll get some nice flatties up there though. In Sugarloaf they're scattered around. Just use your sounder to locate them. You should mark a few jewfish on your sounder if your in the right areas.

A blade (aka vibe) is pretty much a little piece of metal. They're shaped like small baitfish and have a really nice, tight action. Just don't fish them in snaggy areas unless you change the trebles to single hooks a you'll lose a fair few... Do a google search on them and you'll be able to find out more. A great way to target the bigger bream and trevally over winter as well.

Cheers, Tom

[Starting - Soft Plastics]

Z-man 4" Swimmerz in Hitch, Red Shad and Pearl. Match them to 6/0, 3/8 - 1/2 TT Headlockz. Great action and one of the best mullet imitations around. Other than that you have the old favourites like jerkshads and squidgy 100mm fish. One thing you need to keep in mind with jewfish is obviously focus on the bottom quarter of the water column but they sit midwater at times so make sure you work that on the way up. Don't fish your plastics too quickly. In winter, blades aren't a bad option for working the deeper areas just to mix things up.

Jewfish on soft plastics really aren't an easy starting point. Got nothing to lose in trying though. Have a look around the deeper parts of Sugarloaf Bay and Bantry Bay. Some nice fish around.

Cheers, Tom

[Scored my 1st Mulloway!]

Well done!

You've cracked the code. Only problem is you've been bitten by the bug. Once you get bitten there's no turning back! I bet we'll see more jewfish coming from you in the near future!

Cheers, Tom

[Build me a SP Jewie Rod!]

I've got the black label technical 6-14lb. It's 6'8". Really nice stuff rod. You could go the 5-12lb and get away with it as they are very very very underrated power wise.

The 10-20lb black label versatile is worth a look as well.

Cheers, Tom

[Night fishing around middle harbour]

If i were you i'd grab some squid and yakkas (squid around the spit with yakkas available pretty much all over the place with a little burley). Then head over and anchor up in Sugarloaf Bay for the night. If you have a sounder, sound yourself out a hole or drop off and sit tight. If not i'd be anchoring around any of the points (up current of the point) and doing the same. While you have your big jew baits out get a burley trail going and you should pick up some bits and pieces. Nothing to stop you flicking plastics while you wait. Sugarloaf Pt would be one of the better points for this.

It's not the best time of year for MH but there's still plenty of fish around to be caught.

Cheers, Tom

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Good stuff. Pleasure to read as always. Just wondering if you could share where you picked up those bream?

I've got them all through the parra and LCR. Not really specific spots just flicking all areas with heavy structure. Pyrmont isn't a bad starting point. Just ensure you fish the spots that are allowed to fishing.

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Good work tom the bream have gone off this year most times there have been 30+cm bream every sesh.i have had now the rain has come the bigger mods will go off.oh you might have to come down these ways to crack you ep theres been some crackers around

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

My normal honey holes have shut down but I've taken a leaf out of your book and done some exploring for new spots. I'll crack that good perch soon

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Oh, that will spoil yourself. i played with a stella today....... WOW, if i could afford one i would have it by now haha

Yeah they're very impressive aren't they! The 4000 would make a great jew reel. Definitely worth the price IMO.

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Brilliant mixed bag mate, well done! Facinated by the tailor on the popper, what action and speed were you using?

Good luck with the Jewie, hoping for a winner myself!

Good job!

I was just working it with a relatively quick "pop, pop, pop, pop" retrieve. We have gotten them on both fast and slow retrieves with poppers though.

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Yea I only just learnt after loosing a few fish in a row in a comp...... some would say learning the hard way! Personally Im looking at the Generation Black Drunknmonkey, a mate just bought it and its amazing..... match it with a 1000 Ci4 I am thinking

Yeah I've heard the Gen Blacks are good bang for your buck! Getting the new certate! Looking forward to puting it to good use! Very tempting to save a little more and go for the stella though

Cheers, Tom

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Thanks for that Tom just wondering as my search for a new combo gets nearer. I know what you mean though about light lining fish, I'm just stubborn when it comes to being beat by fish

'

I don't learn mate! Always kick myself after getting done by a good fish but light tackle is somewhat of an addiction! Have a look at the black label technical 6'4" 4-10lb rod. It is a brilliant close quarters breaming rod. My mate uses it on big bream in tight water and has got them to 44 on it. It's got a LOT of power for it's rating. Perfect all round rod. Even a good openwater light jewie rod! The Nordic Stage Areals are really nice too... Just bought the 6'6" Jaegar 4-8lb model. Can't wait to give it a run!

Cheers, Tom

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Top stuff Tom.

That's a great mixed bag with some really nice fish in that lot.

Don't worry about the jew mate. It happens to all of us!

Cheers,

Grant.

It sure does Grant! It's all part of the challenge i guess

Top report and fish as always. That is a nice 37 cm bream, they go hard! Only a matter of time before you land more 40+. I think finding them first is the hard part and it looks like you have that box ticked. About the EP, if they are averaging 30's then it shouldn't be too long to find a 35 one in the bunch.

With all jew respect, I do not think you are necessarily over-jew for jew according to the jew-ration. The jew is a bejewelled catch and one must not mull(oway) too long on even getting in a jew-l with one for one's sanity!

Too true. They've earned themselves an extremely elusive reputation. It does get slightly frustrating though after 15+ jewless sessions where you know they are They have a habit of surprising us when we least expect it though!

Nice little report there tom! bad luck on those big bream, surely you will be getting one soon (percentages should say) what rod are you using there? Good too see some nice sized EP out and about aswell one of my favourites to catch down here! I still havent caught a jew and I have been trying for quite a few years now!

If i hadn't caught a few 40+ bream before i would have stepped the tackle up but 1-2kg gear is my favourite way to target them. That way you get a good fight out of smaller sub 30 bream. I'm using the Daiwa Black Label Versatile 6'10" 3-5lb matched to a Daiwa 2000 Caldia for landbased breaming. A sweet little combo. A REAL challenge on the bigger bream though. Having said this it's caught me bream to 43cm in heavy structure so it's certainly capable. It makes an awesome topwater bream/whiting rod as well!

[An Autumn mixed bag on plastics]

Hey raiders,

Times have been a little tough lately fishing wise. Especially on the jewfish front. Put in big time for no result Luckily there's still been a few fish around to keep my obsession healthy! Bream have been in good numbers. I've ditched the yak and done a fair bit of land based breaming around the harbour resulting in some nice fish to 37cm. When fishing ultra light you have to be prepared to lose a few good fish, and boy did i experience this. Hooked a ridiculous amount of 40+ bream and not one was landed... Most of which were sight cast to with small plastics. The overall average bream has been very healthy though at 30-31. The by-catch has been a LOT of fun! Mainly bonito and some nice tailor. Even managed a watsons leaping bonito as by-catch too. Some great fun on 1-2kg gear! All bream and pelagics taken on the Z-man 2.5" Grubz in "Watermelon Red" and "Bloodworm" as well as the 3.75" streakz in "smelt".

The times i have used the yak have been spent predominantly up in the hawkesbury chasing EP's. The good ones are still eluding me! Yet to manage one over 35. Still a pleasant target at any size. Average fish has been around the 30cm mark. I can see why people call them the "barra of the south" through this pic! If only they put on a similar aerial show as well! They've also fancied the grubz as usual "watermelon red" has been my "go-to" colour.

Before the pelagic season was over had to have one last crack at them. This time from the stones. Had intentions of finding a kingfish or two while spinning 40-60g metals and even throwing some poppers around. No kings came to the party but we got onto some nice tailor (50+) on a mix of Halco roosta poppers and raider 40g metals. They were a bit of fun on relatively light gear for the stones!

Hopefully the salmon and trevs will keep me busy over the next few months! I'm "jew" for another jew me thinks so will see how that goes...

Cheers, Tom

[Sydney Harbour/Middle Harbour Got to love Autumn...]

I suspect alot of them stick around during winter after they come in past the spit bridge in summer. There's enough yakka schools that stick around to support a few small kingy schools over the winter months. yer 70-76 would be the norm

Too true.

I managed a legal king in june last year up the back of Middle Harbour (roseville). Hooked multiple kings that day that i couldn't stop. I've heard quite a few hang around in Bantry Bay over winter. It makes sense about them being at roseville though. The water generally stays a bit warmer up there than further downstream. Plenty of yakkas and a few squid to keep them going.

Cheers, Tom

[PB estuary perch]

Solid stuff mate!

Your doing better than me on the EP's... Had a few sessions on them getting good numbers but nothing over 34.5 so far. Your 38 is a solid perch.

They often hit on the drop so watch your line like a hawk.

Cheers, Tom