insolent

Nice to see Flatties being caught in the dead of winter, I know some people that won't believe you can catch them during the cooler months. Cheers Chris

I love catching big bream because they always surprise the hell out of me when they take off, also like Trevally and large Flathead on light gear and have caught the occasional kingfish but they mostly bust me off on the gear I use (got one 62cm on a 2500 size reel with 10lb line 20lb leader last summer what a rush). Being land based, living in the inner city and not having a car or access to a boat has determined what I fish for. Looking forward to broadening the horizon. Cheers

Good work, nice fish.

Sorry Mottyman I meant to reply to inhlanzi about the smh article with "I wonder if upgrading from a 6m boat to a 7m boat would really make a difference to a 6.5m 1.2 tonne shark if it decided to have a go." Cheers

Hitting Bate Bay Saturday morning for a beach fish. Drinks in the arvo with the . Then settling in for some quarter finals action on SBS. Hope everyone else has a relaxing weekend. Cheers

Did anyone get the opportunity to bag Piranha Sports about their rods? Regards Chris

What a greenback, I saw Mark Berg boat a big tailor (in NZ I think) in one of the fishing mags free DVDs but I think it was only in the 80-90 cm range (only!). Nice way to open your fishing reports.

Thanks for the info

Cheers Hooky

Hi Geoff Excellent letter. Although we talk about the 'Green' influence when mentioning Marine Parks the government and some sectors of the fishing community still do not seem to realise that most recreational fishermen are 'Green', we support bag limits, licensing, humane fish handling, better scientific research and the enforcement of laws (as noted by your letter). We want sustainable fishing, actually we want the fish stocks to improve. The commercial fishing industry needs to take a more active role in the preservation of fish numbers and species by looking long term at their industry and not just a short term 'money in the wallet' policy which seems to exist in many areas of commercial fishing, this applies to the pollies as well. The anti fishing conservationists also need to realise that recreational fishing (and the fees raised from recreational fishing along with the money put back into local business', as noted in your letter) is one of the best ways to manage our natural resources, as shown in Canada and the US their policies regarding sustainable hunting and fishing have actually restored species to areas where they were once thought to have disappeared altogether. Regards Chris

Hi Raiders I've been reading the reports lately and have noticed a lot of trevally being caught. Does anyone have any suggestions for land based areas at Botany where we could berley up the Trevs? Love catching them on the bream gear. Chris Sorry, should have posted this in the fishing chat area.

I've accidentally hooked one at Blackwattle Bay as well, at the time I didn't know if they were any good for bait, protected etc and threw it back. I've since been told that a live Mantis is a great bait for large bream. Cheers Chris

I like the gunstock oil finish as well as the curry butt, any difference in wear over time. Cheers Chris

What a fish. Happy birthday Glen. Cheers Chris

Great information and tips, funny and best of all not full of itself. Hats' off to Fishraider.

Excellent report. Keep up the good work on the light tackle, it's the most satisfying feeling taking a decent fish on the light stuff. Cheers Chris

WELL DONE I'll have to start putting the change away for a new rod. cheers Chris

Nice fish, excellent work on the light gear. Cheers Chris

Hi Mick I agree and hope those people don't have a pet. I caught a 30cm tailor a couple of months ago that had a large hook (4/0 - 6/0) in its throat as well as my own no. 2 size a bit futher up. I was able to remove my hook but left the other in as it didn't seem perturbed about it and smashed my bait so was obviously feeding well. Cheers Chris

The cork colour looks great, adds some class and makes the rod look finished, some cork handles look like pine furniture you buy and then stain yourself. Cheers Chris

Thanks for the info and input. Chris

Hi Fishraiders I've been looking around for a light overhead reel and have seen a couple of these Penns for reasonable prices, just wondering if anyone knows a bit about them. What would be the comparable Shimano (TLD15?)? Regards Chris

Hello Fishos (This is my first report, apologies for the lack of photos but the bream just didn't seem too exciting after the morning action) Yesterday myself and two friends (Mick and Mikey) took advantage of the long weekend and went for a fish at Rose Bay. My idea was to try out my new Berkley Dropshot rod flicking some soft plastics for flathead and doing a little squid jigging. No luck on the squid jigging or the soft plastics. I switched to squid bait and the next thing the little reel with 6lb Fireline was screaming away I lost the kingie to some structure but had some fun for a few minutes. Mick was next on and he got the kingie to the wharf and in sight before it spat the hook, the king fish was probably about 70cms. I was next on, this time on the other rod which had 14lb braid and a 20lb leader all was going well and I was actually getting line back, the fish was out in the open then a charter operator on the next wharf down decided to take his boat straight out over my line. There was no reason for this as he could have just backed out from the wharf and missed us completely, although the skipper couldn't have heard me in the cabin the eight or so passengers and the deckie looked fairly embarrassed as I swore like a trooper and berated them from the wharf. Make no mistake if someone cut him off while he was anchored up he would be more than irate himself, you'd think being a fisherman as well he'd be a little more observant and considerate, I don't mind losing fish but prefer not to have help from third parties especially when kingies are involved. I had one final hook up on the light reel and lost it after losing a good 80 yards of line, I could feel the king hit structure on the bottom and then the line cut. We did catch 3 legal bream 26 (me), 28 (Mikey) and 30cms (me) and had an absolute ball but it would have been nice to land one of the kings. I will try again and ensure that I'm not outgunned next time, however I was surprised how the Dropshot rod went (rated 1-3 kgs) against the kings for a light rod it sure held its own. Cheers Chris

Friday Night: Beer Beer and more Beer Fishing over the weekend sometime, somewhere, somehow. My usual land based spot in Glebe is now closed until August with foreshore development at Blackwattle Bay park. With a bit of luck they won't screw it up too badly, apparently Australand who own portions of the land are not allowed to redevelop the park into housing but with local councils and large property developers involved who knows. Some bastard has also been poisoning trees, the council has place large banners warning against this and hopefully they leave them there blocking views until the trees grow back. Sorry to get on my soapbox but inconsiderate people give me the shits.

You can rent the Matt Hayes DVDs from Bigpond Movies if you are interested. He looks a bit like an 80's British ex-Heavy Metal band member, most of the DVD's are about British fish (pike, carp, chub, barbel etc) but some of them show sport/game fishing from around the world. Rex Hunt gets a mention on one DVD, but be warned the jokes are pretty lame and some of the production a bit dodgy. Cheers Chris