ozeash

Hello fishraiders, Finally back in Sydney after lotsa travel and it's good to see this social for 21-Jan. I'm not sure who is collating the list, but could you pls add me in as LB at this stage? pekingduck - G'day mate, hope you've been well. Do you have a deckie for the day? Anyone else who has a spare space on the boat, if you'd drop me a note, I would much appreciate being amongst the action. Cheers, Ash

Good report mate. Some days are like that, aren't they? What you're holding is a Tailor - they fight quite as hard as the kingie and just smash your bait. Cheers, A

Couple of other pics - mowie and trev. Cheers A

G'day all, pekingduck and I've been doing a spot of fishing the last couple of weekends on his boat- top bloke, also brings the best sandwiches I've ever had!! Earlier in the morning (read 5am), went out to the local tackle shop picked up some bait and also replaced my rod (which I broke last week) with a GLoomis GL2. Good rod, am very happy with it after giving it a workout today. Launched at Rose Bay about 6:30ish and headed straight out to the heads. Didn't catch anything on the troll near the heads, went out about 2kms and decided we'd drift. Conditions were ok (at 7am) with a 1m swell, 5 - 10 knots wind providing some chop. First cast, got myself a nice Mowie + a few Trev providing the supporting act while we waited for the Salmon to show. Much as we expected the Sambos came, close to Bluefish Point. We headed there, and tried to coax a bite, but only got 3 slimies and a yakka to show for our efforts. Headed into Quarantine, caught a couple of time wasters, and headed back out the heads to our original spot. A few casts returned with the usual suspects (reef fish). The coup de grace for the day (for me, at least) was a flattie I pulled up from about 45m of water - 56cms., my PB. Went back out near Quarantine and picked up a few more Trevs and headed back to Rose Bay at about 3pm after a great day out. Saw at least 5 - 6 sambo schools busting up on the surface, tried a couple, but no luck today. Also, saw sammy, cfd and ontap on the water - boys, we wanted to come and say hey, but you were running to catch the sambos off north head at about 3pm. Hope you caught a few! We caught a fair few fish (probably about 15 fish all up), and I brought home the following - 1 x flathead 56cms (PB) 1 x trevally 41 cms 2 x morwong 44 cms and 40 cms Right now, they're marinated and sitting around until I finish this post and fire up the barbie. Cheers guys, Ash

A level wind helps wind the line back evenly on the spool and is standard on most overhead reels. You can use these reels for casting and trolling. Cheers, Ash

dixie. On the matter of reels, I just picked up an Ambassadeur C3 overhead reel. I'm not an overhead expert, but at a casting session last weekend, I got it out 74m ! Highly recommend it if overhead's your type. Cheers, Ash

That's right guys, have a great one. Regret I'm not able to make it as well, bone weary after a trip to Melbourne and can use the downtime this weekend. Have fun, and hope you catch lots of fish. Cheers, Ash

Sarcasm, sarcasm Come on guys, you know better than that - help the bloke out :-) Ok, gafmo - here's what you need to figure out. 1. What do you want to catch? If your response to this is 'anything' - then any stretch of water will do. 2. Get your fishing basics right (i.e) do you have the right bait, burley etc...hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs! Remember sufficient time spent fishing will put you onto YOUR own spot. I'll give you one of mine - try the Brooklyn road bridge at Kangaroo Point. Obviously, if you do have a boat, your access to fish is virtually limitless. Give us more info and I'm sure we can get you catching more fish! Cheers, Ash

I'm in mate, this is a great idea. Pop the cherry on my new 7000C3. Cheers, Ash

I'm in. Agree with pekingduck about Stanwell Park - there's some good fishing to be had there. I just picked up an Abu 7000C3 and a beach rod and need to break it in! Cheers, Ash

G'day inked - Yup, remember the boat. We didn't have problems with our anchor rope, but I did duck out the front to check for slack because we thought we were drifting. Hope to see you on the water again, say hey to us next time! Cheers, Ash

Cheers flattieman, edited the post for the date!:-) All the trevs were in the 25 - 35 cm mark. Ash

G'day raiders, pekingduck and I were a bit disappointed when Ross Hunter called last night to cancel the charter for today - the weather was looking unfriendly. When you think about it, today was a 50/50 chance of getting offshore and I admire Ross' commitment to showing his clients a good time out and not taking a chance on a possibly dodgy day. Considering his livelihood depends on getting boats out to sea, to Ross for putting our comfort and experience first. Having said that - nothing wrong with us taking pekingduck's boat out today in closed waters , and we agreed to meet at 5:30am this morning. Hooked up shortly after 5:30am and drove to Pennrhyn Road ramp in Botany Bay. Launched without any drama in reasonable conditions - moderate NW to 10knots. First run of Mol Point yielded nothing and we decided to take a peek at the heads. Conditions were not very pleasant with 2m+ swells and wind increasing to about 15 knots. Headed back to cover, trolled in the area, ran out to the 3rd runway, went back out the heads (better conditions) and trolled all the way to Maroubra - for zip, nada. Headed back to the hot water outlet (negotiating some very nasty conditions, reminding me of the movie, Perfect Storm) for 2 tailor on SP's (both pekingducks). It's about 12noon now and we've spent 5hrs on the water with very little to show for it. Bumped into outnumbered at Mol Point with CFD, sammy0884 + 1 more as crew. Good seeing you boys and thanks for the heads-up on the action at Mol Point which got us back there at about 12:30. Trev's were coming in hard and fast - we got in on the action. Also, landed 2 Port Jackson Sharks 80 - 100cms on bream gear - great fun!! Will leave it to pekingduck to tell you the tale of the bird All up, I think we caught about a dozen trevs, too many slimies to count, 2 tailors, a lone yakka, the sharks and the bird. Great day out on the water and thanks to pekingduck for taking me out. Also, a word of thanks to pekingduck, outnumbered, sammy0884 and cfd for some fishing lessons - much appreciated guys, it's people like you who help make better fishermen Cheers, Ash

Sammy, Stewy and I did a walkthrough the boat before we got off. There was nothing there. Why don't you try speaking to Luke @ Ripples Houseboat and have them check once again? Cheers, Ash

G'day all, Hot off the back of the Hairtail social, I was thinking of heading down to Clifton Gardens for a few hours tonight. I plan to be there 8pm onwards, returning in time to watch the World Cup game Anyone interested PM me, it'll be good to have a yarn with a fellow raider. FYI - High tide @ 8:45pm is 1.85m, new moon, light to moderate SW to Westerly Cheers, Ash

Yup, they sure exist. I was one of the crew on the houseboat and had the privilege of seeing these beasts up close. mrsswordfisherman will soon be posting a report with pics of both Mike's and the Domza's catch. It was great to meet fellow raiders there - we had an absolute frigging blast - details soon. Cheers, Ash

Count me in Tri. Either dates are ok. Cheers Ash

Absolutely, count me in. It'll be a blast!

mate. Looks like a typo you might want to correct, but the 17th is 2 days away. Cheers, Ash

Hi raiders, I thought I'd take a turn starting this topic! Anything exciting planed for anyone? Saturday afternoon looks like it'll be a great time to be out, sunny and about 5 - 8 knots, perfect conditions for a day out. For me, got the kids this Sat, so I'm thinking about some nice and relaxed land based action at either Illawong Point or Apple Tree Bay. Hope I catch a fish or three Enjoy your weekend, Ash

Unfortunately, not enough starters to put this event together. Maybe some other time...... Ash

Mate, For the whiting, flathead and bream I'd use a simple rig - running sinker to suit conditions and a 60 - 90cm trace. I'd use size 4 bait holder hooks for the whiting and a bigger long shank hook for flatties. For the cast out to the middle of the channel, I use a paternoster rig (2 droppers) attached to a snapper lead. I'd go with 1 longshank and 1 classic bream hook (2/0) with a prawn and pillie on each dropper. Good luck, and post your report when you get back. Cheers, Ash

Mate, I've fished Illawong Bay hundreds of times, one of my fave LB spots because it's so kid friendly with the dunny close by and all. I've also snorkeled the area to get a feel of the terrain. Here's what you want to do - Fish only 3 spots - First right in front of the ranger's guardhouse for whiting and flathead. Cast into the sandy area to your left or into the weed right adjoining the sandy area. The second spot is 100m along the road (visible from the guardhouse), you'll see a clearing where cars are parked. This is the actual Illawong Point. You want to be standing at the top of the curve (where the metal guard rail ends) and casting to the middle of the channel about 50 metres away. Get the bait to the bottom and you'll be rewarded with Bonito and Bream at this time of year. Use the guard rail as a cheap and nasty rod holder! The third spot is 10 paces to your right from spot 2. Just cast 20m or so straight ahead and you'll find a drop off where I've seen >75cm flatties caught. Pillies and prawns are gun bait there, especially salted pillies work better. Anywhere else along that area, you will be snagged and lose a crap load of gear, be warned..... Good luck, enjoy your fishing and happy Mother's day. Cheers, Ash

G'day raiders, Saturday saw pekingduck, Ryan (my mate) and me head out for an afternoon session on the Hawkesbury. Weather was just sensational, swells only 0.5m and wind to about 5 knots. We fished Box Head, Lion Island and a couple of reefs a bit further out too. Pretty good action: ended up catching 1 huge squid, 5 Wrasse, 2 Parrot Fish (and the one that got away ) , 2 Pike, 1 Leatherjacket, 2 Sergeant Baker and countless Rock Cod. For a short session, it was great fun. All except the Leatherjacket were new species for me. Another first for me - driving a boat. Bloody oath, guys, this has got to be the MOST fun that anyone could have. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and am really, really tempted to go out this weekend and get myslef a boat!! Unfortunately, there's a question of priorities and I'm sure I'll get around to it sooner rather than later. Ryan and Tri - Thanks boys, I had a bloody great time and can't wait to do it again. BTW: did any of us fall off the boat chasing a berley bucket? Cheers, Ash