rjc123

For sp's, paddle tail models are best. Anything between 4-6" is standard (7" is ok too). As previously mentioned, the transam jackalls are great! You also get big flathead, salmon and the odd king on them. The Jackall TN60 in Beetle Juice colour is great too. Similar to the other jackall but its a hardbody sinking lure. Fish it like a vibe and it works great on the same species plus barra, jacks and just about everything up north! Cheers, Tom

Really?!?!, Thats exciting! Maybe GT's will come our way some time!

Well done mate! Lovely jewie

Hey mate, Nice session. Just the other week i was spooled by a bigger shark in Middle Harbour. I was fishing a Baitrunner 1200 with 40lb braid and i couldn't stop it! I was fishing a butterflied slimy mackerel. I've caught smaller models before and this felt like them only 100x bigger!

Thats the problem mate! Its bloody expensive ($900 for a guide each day) + accommodation, flights, food etc.. Still worth the money though!

BLUEFIN TREVALLY~!!! Did you get a picture? Thats a definite first for Sydney Waters! Well done on the Bream and Snapper too!

Thanks guys, I've already booked for next year too! We got the barra in the nominade and hay rivers. We haven't got many barra in the pine in the last couple of trips, mainly just jacks, grunter, queenies and salmon there. Can't wait for next time!

anything from 4-10lb is ideal. I have 8lb and usually use a 10lb leader but at times i get bitten off so you need to have some 20lb handy aswell!

Ganged Pilchards fished in a nice gutter on run up and top of tide at most beaches on the northern beaches!

I think you should maybe grab a few livies. Fish with Prawns/pillies and have a livie or two out the back for a jewie, kingie, salmon or bonito. Sugarloaf Point is one of the best spots for this sort of fishing. You can either fish in close for the bream and flatties, or anchor after the drop off and find a nice hole. Here you can fish the livies in the hole and also pick up good bream, flathead and trevally on prawns. Bantry Bay for Bream and Flatties is good too. The Spit should have kings, jewies, bonito, tailor, salmon aswell as your humble Bream and flatties! Don't forget the roseville bridge as well. Some nice fish around there lately! Cheers, Tom

Fair enough mate, ive done that before. The only problem i found is that the yakka dies a fair bit faster. If the fish are there they should take it by then i suppose

If your going to use yakkas hook it through the top lip or both. For squid a 2 hook snelled rig as mentioned by "SQUDIN" is best!

Fish baits at different depths like one 1 meter off the bottom and one 2.5m off the bottom. Unweighted yakkas in kingy hotspots work allright too. You could also try slow trolling them. Just hook the yakka through the lips and he should swim straight. You can also get yakkas at Sow n Pigs at times. Good luck!

It is mate! Ive already booked NEXT YEAR!

Ive got big bream on garlic prawns. Maybe the fish are developing a taste for it?

Maybe make a longer leader. The catfish will be less of a problem if the bait is a little off the bottom. Having said that, i have had one eat a mullet which was fished with a 1.5m leader! If i could erase something from the earth IT WOULD BE THEM! Squid still isn't safe from them. Often i fish a whole large squid and end up hooking a catty every 5 mins!!

I find that after or during rain the pelagics stay deep and are very heard to catch. Flathead are usually my most reliable target when theres rain or a lot of fresh about. Bream aswell. Having said that, i have noticed that just about all fish bite ALOT harder just before a storm hits!

Thats the plan!

Thats a donkey for rosie standards!! I got my first jew (96cm) a couple of weeks ago there and those runs towards the oyster pylons really make you nervous don't they!! Cheers, Tom

Thanks mate, finally got it. I'll use that net time for sure!

Went out with a charter mate. Thats the best way to do it. They know every bend in every creek down to the nearest snag! Heres some more pics!

Hey raiders, just got back from weipa. Thought i'd give you a run down of our time up there with a few pics. We landed 65 barra in 4 days which was great! Day 1- The first day overall was probably the best. We landed 5 big jacks to 49cm, 6 barra to 69cm, blue salmon to 55cm, fingermark to 50cm, queenies to 70cm and a heap of cod and big bream all on live bait. The most productive part of the day was late afternoon just before a storm where we got most of the jacks, barra and queenies in less than an hour! I even caught a small queenie on a bare hook when winding it back in!!! Not a bad start to the trip at all with some jack and fingermark fillets for the table! Day 2- Day 2 was another great day. The first few hours of the morning were spent pulling barra out of the snags on lures. We pulled 40+ barra out of one big snag! Crazy when you see em boofing your lure as soon as it hits the water! Sight fishing at its best! The fishing was slow from then until late arvo. We found a weed flat running along the mangroves and snared 8 barra and a 45cm jack both on unweighted live mullet and weedless SP. Biggest barra was around 60cm but a few 80+ fish were missed... Day 3- Day 3 was spent offshore in the gulf. We started off with some small mackies and a monster 106cm Queenie! Nailed a good longtail tuna aswell at 80cm which was a real challenge with sharks around! Nailed around 10 big queenies later on aswell as a monster mackerel bite off! The mackie engulfed my popper and shot off only to have the fight end with a bite off less than 30s later... Also pulled a couple of small barra from the beaches on the way home and a little 70ish cm cobe form the back of a manta ray! Day 4- We elected to go back up the creeks today in search of that monster barra! Stared off with a few jacks, small barra, queenies and cod that provided a few hours fun on live mullet. A couple more queenies from the channel near by before we went hunting for a threadie. Missed a few hits and landed a nice jack and 4 barra in the meantime. The rain soon came and created the mother of all storms which made us call it a day just after lunch... Note the best ending to the trip but thats ok. We nailed a few new species and had a great time doing it. Already trying to plan my next trip!! To all those that haven't been up there, do it. You won't regret it! The only thing i can say is next time im staying up there! The fishings too good! Pics will be up as soon as possible. Having a little trouble.. Cheers, Tom

Pretty Quiet, a few bonnies and salmon aswell as a few flatties. There are still Kingies there but they are very hard to get atm... Its worth a try if you anchor at stokes point with livies on dusk and you'll get bigger flathead, jewies and the odd big bream. Maybe even a kingie here on dusk if your lucky. good luck!

FANTASTIC! Thats a monster and you were definitely in the right spot. A mate of mine got a 30kg fish there late last year

Thanks for the replies guys, even though i park near the bridge for "free" i can't guarantee thats what im meant to do . You probably can get away with what i do during the week but weekends maybe not. Its just a very small area before you actually enter the national park ( upriver from bridge is all national park ). Cheers, Tom