joking fish

Unfortunately our go to spot was under construction. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

It was my mate who caught it so I'm not sure.... I never really asked him

It's been a barren run of fish over the last month and a half with little to cheer about. Yesterday me and my mate (Kim) went to Palm Beach for a fish. With pilchards as our bait of choice we caught an octopus, a 28cm bream, a 53cm flathead and what appeared to be a 27cm spangled emperor. If anyone can identify this fish please let me know. It was let go to swim back to warmer waters up north. Happy days! Until next time, tight lines.

I went fishing at Newport on Friday. The bite was slow to begin. I managed 4 Trevally, 32 cm, 33 cm, 36 cm and 41 cm which was a new pb for me beating my old mark of 38cm. I also managed a rogue slammin' salmon which went back into the drink to slam some more. The Trevally bite turned hot and in the end I left them biting. When it was too dark to see, I left. This was truly a day to remember.

good haul, I noticed in the post you refer to them as hailtail, reminds me of fail whale, ahh good times

Good haul lads, looks like you have more than enough to feed the whole footy team

Pillies, whole, half or cubed, they all work

At the Ferry Wharf

It's been two fruitful trips to the Northern Beaches. Wednesday and Thursday afternoon have yielded auspicious results. On Wednesday my Brother landed a PB 38cm Black Bream at Palm Beach. He was elated with contentment. He has probably caught less than 10 Bream in his whole life and I estimate this fish would be pushing the 1 Kilo mark. I also managed a 30 cm specimen that looked like a tiddler compared to the other brutish whopper. Thursday I went back to Palm Beach with my neighbour. I landed a 45 cm Australian Salmon which was released and another 30 cm Bream which I kept along with the two from the day before. At 4 pm we drove back to Newport where my neighbour caught a healthy Australian Salmon which he also released. Then right on sun-down I landed a 38cm Trevally to top off a stellar last couple of days. Now there are plenty of small Salmon in Pittwater I am greatly looking forward to the next few months ahead.

I am aware, I'ts a shame because the fishing is great. There are toilet facilities, and non pay parking as well as food and drinks available near-by.

Aw shucks... : D

pilchard on 4/0 ganghooks

I've been out to Newport a couple of times in the last week. On Monday I caught a 56cm Jewfish, a 35cm Trevalley and a big Blue Swimmer which had the most amazing colours, totally untarnished by mud and algae. On Friday I caught a 44cm Flathead and a 34cm Tailor. The experience has made me one happy fisherman, as you can tell by the Jewfish photo. As Jason Kennedy would say "loving it!"

I have never targeted Luderick before and need some help in regards to where the best spots are firing up at the moment. I don't mind if it's off the rocks or calm water, I'll take any advice at this stage! please help.

I went down to Newport Arms for another fishing expedition. The water has been very green lately due to algae I assume. Although the green water has made fishing more difficult I still managed to get a feed. I landed a nice size Tailor that went 41cm, a 34cm Tailor and with my second last Pilchard; a 47cm Flathead. These fish made a Greek Easter one to remember. I have had to work very hard for my fish over the past 2 weeks. I have not caught a Flathead at the Arms since Warragamba Dam overflowed which gives me some closure knowing the Flathead are back. One of the locals rocked up with his plumbing apprentice who caught a nice chopper on a live yakka. The weather was amazing and the fishing was very good.

On a cold Autumn day I arrived at the Queen Street Wharf. There was a cold southerly coming through that brought some rain that felt cold as ice. Cold snaps usually means a shut down but I managed a PB 38cm Trevally and a 26cm Bream. I ate the Trevally as sashimi today with wasabi, soy sauce and chop-sticks. I'm still yet to see what all the rage with raw fish is about but none the less it was a clean healthy meal. I caught dozens of throw backs including Tailor, Reds and Yakkas. All in all a so so days fishing.

For the last couple of months I have been cutting the Pilchards in half. That way the money I pay for premium Pilchards goes twice as far. Also in still water I find fish such as bream respond better to half cut Pilchards.

I went to Newport Arms for another session, armed with my light 3kg outfit and 2kg of Pilchards I began to fish around 3.45pm. The wind was slight, the tide was low and the water was flat. The fish were very fussy to begin with. I noticed some 35cm Trevally at the foot of the jetty but they were not easily eniced. I threw out a pichards and I hooked up it felt ok. To my disappointment it was a 30cm Tailor and not a Trevally. 10mins after the Tailor my line started screaming off the reel. after a good fight and some hair-raising moments I landed a nice Jewfish. It went 57cm and was the biggest I have caught at Newport. I caught a Black Jewfish up in the Northern Territory that was around a metre but this standard Jew is close to the biggest I have caught of the east coast variety. I thought to myself the fishing can't get any better than that, with sunlight left and half a bag of Pilchards left I returned home to bask in the glory of catching a fish that many anglers around Sydney consider the Holy Grail of fishing.

I don't know what a Marly Rat is but i'd like to catch one

My amigo gave sent me a text msg asking if I would like to go fishing. Naturally I obliged without hesitation. Newport here we go again. I arrived before my mate at about 4.10pm. It was sunny, less than 10 knotts of wind, little current on a rising tide heading into evening. To our disadvantage there was lots of tannin in the water from the heavy rains which fell over a week and a half ago. (Tannin, from what i've been told, is a substance in water comprised of of the ressin from leaves, branches and other plant matter. The result is a brown and muddy colouration of the water that is not ideal for fishing.) I managed to land a nice Blurter that was close to 37 cm. This would be a new PB and and a less than regular visitor at this spot. My buddy tells me you have to measure it from snout to the fork. "Its the law" he said. I was adamant it was fron snout to the end of the tail. either way it was a legal fish! Maybe some of you fish raiders can clarify this for me. Do you measure a fish from snout to tail or snout to fork? I told my pal that in competitions they measure from snout to fork but for recreational fishoes it was not the case. He wasn't convinced. I cooked the fish today with garlic, ginger, soya sauce and olive oil. It was very tasty. Hopefully the dirty water clears up soon. Also we occassionally saw some rat kingies busting up on the surface. We couldn't hook up but its nice to know they are there.

I was fishing with a mate and he said it was the clearest it had been for days, I dread to think how turbid it was at its worst.

No, unfortunately no Luderick to take home. I was using Pillies the whole time and had no weed or prawns. I hear Blackies go extremely hard for their size and I would love to target them one day.

I went to Newport today for an afternoon fish. The weather was tempid and there was hardly a breath of wind. High tide was around 4.30pm and the conditions seemed favourable. I noticed upon arrival the water was a dark murky green. There was heavy sediment after the recent rains. On the plus side there were large bream, mullet and luderick swimming under the jetty. These fish were extremely difficult to entice. I was using a light rod with light mono but still the gear was still too heavy. Also the pilchards I bought were very large. I decided to try cutting the pilchards in half, then feeding them onto a rig of 3 gang hooks with a leader attatched to a small ball sinker. I pulled in a 31 cm Bream that was nice and thick. I also managed a 31 cm Tailor and a score of under sized reds that went back. The two fish I kept I ate for dinner cooked in flour, oil, soya sauce, sweet chilli sauce and served with asparagus. They were fresh, clean and tasty.

Yeah mate true story. Also I ate it today, my grandmother cooked it up. It was delicious...