rjc123

Hey raiders, fished Balmoral today and this tiem had some success. Tried for yakkas first up and they would not bite but then out of no where BANG! I was in trouble on 6lb mono but managed to land him. A nice 31cm trevally! Descent start! Continued chasing yakkas but the small bream came on and the biggest i managed was 23cm. Having gotten bored with them i whacked a couple of rods out. One with a prawn and the other with a strip of slimie mackerel. Only a crab and octopus to show for my efforts in the first hour. Decided to check my prawn bait and there was some weight! All of a sudden it started fighting and took a blistering run! Thinking salmon i quickly loosened the drag as i was only on 8lb. After 5 minutes a beatiful flattie appears. I thought to myself, lets not have a repeat of last tiem when he got away. Managed to get him up onto the lower platform which was about 20cm from the water. Stoked as i ran down to retreive him. He measured 52cm and was my first flattie in a couple of months and in Winter too! Of course this was the day that i forgot the camera! Heading up to Darwin in a few days so thought i may as well let him go because ill have enough fish up there! Great to see him swimming away back to the depths! It all went quiet for a while until another fisherman nearby caught Big squid and offered it to me! Who would say no to a big Calamari! Kept going for a while and suddenly a big run on my prawn rod. After a couple of minutes on 8lb braid up comes a nice trevally. He was slightly bigger than the last at 32cm! Left soon after as it was getting a bit gloomy but of course as soon as i leave the sun comes back out! A lovely day with a few fish too! Cursing that i forgot the camera though!

Clifton Gardens with mainly bait. You get salmon, bonito, tailor, kingies, snapper, trevally, bream and flatties here. Kingies might be hard but its a popular landbased spot!

How big (long)?

What was it? it could be me being un observant but i don't recall reading what it was.

Nice sambos, jackets are everywhere atm! Last year i got one on a popper in 20m of water! Weird eh.... They get big too! Great eating but for some reason they like the line! Had this happen a few times to me aswell! Tom

Good luck if you went. It might even be worth trying wharf fishing for a while to ge the hang of it. Most harbour wharves hold bream, flathead, salmon, tailor, snapper and some also have bonito, kingies and jewies. I started off as a wharf fisherman and still do it now as i get the most out of it. I get alot of small snapper and bream at my local wharf but usually there is something good like a slamon, tailor or a big flattie like last time (which unfortunately broke my 8lb leader before it could be netted! . Its a safer option as the success rating is higher than other places for beginners!

When you say pilchard do you mean a whole pili or a cubed piece? Try those prawns or worms next time as they are more likely to get the fish when they are proving hard to catch!

I winter the salmon schools and tailor invade the waters of middle harbour. Hoping to head out and chase a few fish in the next few days. Mainly on bait and landbased but if the schools get close enough then i will have a crack at em. Apart from that how is the harbour fishing at the moment? Tom

Were you right out past the bridge next to the ocean? There are usually good fish here. Obviously the fact that its winter means that it isn't quite as active but at a high tide i would expect soem good action there. This is the only spot fish have to enter and exit the lake. When you think of it maybe fish an hour or two before high tide and you will get the tailor schools coming in and then for the next few hous after the tide has turned yuo will get a better variety as fish like salmon, bream, flatties, tailor and jews will be exiting the lake. Sometimes it isn't this simple but i would still expect a few fish to be around.

Good haul ! No giants but some nice reds!

Not sure what species but it looks a little bit like a wrasse of some sort.

Its worth maybe getting up early as in 5:30 and getting there for a good session before the crowds arrive. In fact, Try tomorrow or Friday! High tide is at around 8 am so aim to start fishing around 6:30-7:00 with live worms and maybe a prawn or nipper and i would be surprised if you didnt get a fish or two! We are talking Caravan Park and Entrance channel though. I reckon entrance channel mate. Better chance of a good fish! Might even get a jewie!

Definitely a big eye! GT's are a bit more solid looking but Big Eye's still provide some great fun on light gear!

Very good haul of blackies there!

Yeh mate, ill give it another go in the next few days and hopefully get that flattie! Lots of rubish fish around atm too like pufferfish! Caught one that was so big that it snapped 30lb braid when being lifted out of the water!

]Whats the Bream hole? By the sounds o fit its a hole and this suggests easier fished from a boat or kayak. I would try some other spots if you were landbased. Some starting points are near the caravan park there is a platform. Fish with live worms, nippers or prawns which can be purchased from the local tackle store. I get flatties, bream and whiting here with the occassional tailor or leatherjacket. You could also try the channel that empty's into the ocean. Set up near the beach itself and fish a high tide. I have seen tailor and whiting pulled out of here on live worms and prawns. you may even get a jew if your lucky as this is the only entrance point to the lake for them! Tom

some good jews in that river mate! email it to the address that i sent to you via pm and ill try get it up! Tom

Fished Balmoral yesterday. There were loads of yakkas and trevally! The thing was, they wouldnt bite. I would pour my burley in and they would come up and eat it. Didn't even get a touch on my bait. There were some massive blackfish around the pylons too! I would call them for 50cm!

Havent got one a a while since january i think! Oh well, it hurts but its still out there to be caught! Tom

G'day raiders, Headed down to balmoral today around 8 for a fish seeing it was such a lovely day. Things were promising with the water crystal clear and even DOLPHINS! Not common here especially in Winter! Set up to catch some yakkas and tried for half an hour for only on trevally! I could see them in my burley trail but they wouldn't bite! My theory is they are more reluctant to bite in clear water as they are much easier to catch on a gloomy day or when the water is dirty. Gave up on the yakkas and sent a back up bait (being prawn) out. Left it for 5 mins or so and the line looked unusually tight like when snagged. Started winding in thinking it was an octopus but then comes up a big Blue swimmer! Surprised li got him in the net and took a snap as he was my biggest ever blue swimmer . Unfortunately while i was talking to a by passer he somehow got the hook out from himself and crawled away a meter to the edge of the wharf! I hear a splash and look and cant beleive my eyes! There goes dinner . Rigged up again and fished for a few hours with only little bream and snapper up for a bite! My mate arrived later around lunch time and brought some burley and tried to catch yakkas. No luck again! sticked to prawn and after a good half an hour a solid hit on my light rod. The braid is peeling off the reel! I tighten the drag and feel some solid tail whacks! Thinking big Salmon after about 4 minutes up comes a BIG FLATTIE! I was screaming at my mate to get the net and he was too slow. My 8lb leader is shreded by the fishes gills and SNAP! I was furious! . This was a good fish and i would estimate him at around 65cm! DAMN! Kept fishing and had another good run but it also ended in tears when a 2 minute fight was ended with the fish busting me up around the pylons on 30lb braid! I was fishing with half a pilchard! Not much luck for me today at all! Kept fishing and managed a few bream about 23cm and an octopus. A relitively quiet day fishing wise and still gutted about that flattie!

They are always harder to get in winter but last time i managed 6 yakkas while others didnt and i was using alot of disguisting burley (bread, pilchard, tuna oil and cat food)! This got them on the bite. Hope it works tomorrow! Hoping for a salmon too!

Going tomorrow mate, were there any yakkas around or being caught?

Caught one at Roseville a few weeks ago! looks like a cod cross catfish! Interested to see if anyone knows what it is!

I have fished Balmoral jetty about 5 times in the last few weeks and only got yakkas, Trevally, bream, Just undersize snapper and flounder! Salmon is my target as i have been fishing with 4 rods with ganged pili, prawn, live yakka and a yakka fillet. Hope to get out tomorrow and maybe ill get lucky too! Good Salmon! Tom