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Some nice fish there! The bubble pops work great and a lot of fun Cheers, Greg

Congratulations. That's a great fish! Cheers, Greg

We only managed 1 fish caught early in Pittwater on a popper. Headed into the Hawkesbury about 11 am but in hindsight should have stayed in Pittwater. I've only started fishing the comps late last year (and for bream on lures about 9 months ago) having completed a couple of squidgy's rounds and the 1 summer series round. As stated it's a huge learning curve, can be really frustrating, but rewarding also. It's amazing how hard it can be to catch fish when the pressure is on. In fact for me, I have to keep myself from "thinking" too much instead of enjoying the time on the water. This weekend I'm jumping way in the deep end, fishing my first ABT event as a non boater. Hopefully it will be more rewarding than frustrating... Cheers, Greg

Congratulations Darcy. That's a healthy looking bream there! Cheers Greg

Well done again Kelvin - Mr Consistency! Cheers Greg

It was nice to bump into you guys out there. We were on our way back to Gladesville when you waved us down. After handing over the gaff, we were quite happy to settle back and watch the action. I think were were almost as dissapointed as you when the ray came up. Cheers Greg

Nice session John! The sandworms work a treat don't they? Cheers, Greg

David the Snapper sure did go hard on the light line. I thought I was going to loose it to the moorings at one point, but luckily for me it changed direction and headed into open water. The Bream is the biggest to be landded on my boat to date!! Aside from these 2, most of the fish we caught were small, but these trips were a lot more productive than my last few... Yep the Sandworms ROCK!!! Good luck next week. Cheers, Greg

nice work on the EPs. Was up there a few weekends ago when we had that really windy Sunday and manged zip. Cheers, Greg

On the water by 5.30 Sunday morning, launched at Drummoyne and motored over to Middle Harbour. Managed small flatties, tailor and heaps of suspected leatherjackets (lots of chopped up plastics). Catch of the morning was this 45cm Snapper amongst the moorings at Balmoral. Caught on gulp sandworm in natural and heaps of fun on bream gear with 4lb line. On the water a little later Monday morning and again managed a heap of small bream, flatties and tailor on the Parramatta. Best for the day was this 42cm bream caught by my brother on Gulp Sandworm in camo and 4 lb line amongst the moorings in Five Dock Bay. Couple of fun mornings and we were off the water by 9.30 before the boat traffic and the wind came up.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have never seen this before, and was interested to here other's experiences. Is this a common observation? The fish were definately not spooked and as Daniel said it was more like they were grazing in a trance at either side of low tide. Thanks for the tip Jason. I think that a popper was the only thing I didn't try because I don't own one. But it's on my list now. cheers, Greg

fished the Parramatta river for mixed success today. Started OK, but the hour and a half either side of low tide was the most frustrating 3 hours of fishing that I've experienced in a long time. I decided to motor across to Tarban Creek (under Burns Bay Rd Bridge), because on our walks with the kids down to the reserve, you can see large scools of bream right up in the creek at high tide. I was figuring they must go somewhere at low tide as the creek empties right out. Started at the moored boats closest to the creek mouth. My first observation at the first boat was 4-5 bream holding right at the top of the water column under the hull of the boat. In fact these fish upon closer examination were swimming upside down "feeding" off the bottom of the boat. I was thinking GREAT, here we go, I'm onto a good thing here. NOT! I could not tempt them at all. As I leccied around the boat I noticed 2 or 3 fish holding under the neighbouring boat. Same scenario. No takers. I changed lures, lighter jig heads, unweighted lures, tried hardbodies all for nothing. This occured at about 30-40% of the boats. In the end I gave up and moved over to the Marinas around Cabarita and Abbotsford Cove. Again, the fish were visible feeding just under the surface of the Marina. Good size fish swimming upside down, high in the water column. Again, no takers nomatter what I threw at them. They didn't seem spooked at all, just not interested. Anyone else had similar experiences? Anyone willing to share successful techniques to target these fish?

congratulations Fishrunner. Great catch! What is your PB then? I'd be more than happy with a 48cm specimen for mine. Cheers. Greg

Some great fish there Mottyman and congrats on the PB. Looks like the young guy was enjoying himself too, well done! Cheers, Greg

Jewhunter, nice report and some great fish. Cheers. Greg

Thanks Red. Definately thrilled and already sufferring sleep deprivation because I keep waking up dreaming about it . Cheers, Greg Problem for me maraudingmado is now I've been spoilt for life with false expectations

G'day all. Just got home from work to see what a commotion I have created. Please let me reiterate. Any controversy or offence I have caused was completely unintended. The request from Craig was a general request and not necessarily in relation to the pic. I certainly agree that forums such as this are about sharing, which is exactly the reason why I joined. And certainly, i have learnt alot from fishraider in the time I have been here. Frankly the reason for me posting this report was because I was and STILL am totally over the moon at the catch and wanted to share my excitement and certainly not to gloat about "I know the spot and you don't". In fact who wouldn't be over the moon, whether you're a seasoned jewfisherman or a first timers, beginners luck, very recent jewie convert like myself. I will certainly be stretching the truth of the story to my children and grandchildren Me personally, i have no problem posting the original pic which i have now done, nor telling you where the spot is, (but as a courtesy to Craig - this I will not do). As Mrsswordfisherman said, "The spots are usually places that are VERY well known" and many of you will know this location, and most of you are better fishermen than I, so if you know where it is, - maybe I can come out with you and try my luck again because somehow I've got the bug. Wayneo, yes, they are different pics, but same location. Just shot on different cameras. See above. the-lure, mate I could barely stand up... Cheers, greg Inhlanzi, agreed, I reckon it will take a long time to top that one. The gear was 850 pen spinfisher on pen rod, Kokoda 2x suicide hook 6/0 and 50lb pen Matrix pro braid. Hope this helps. Cheers, Greg

Hey Stewy, look at me, I've created such a controversy . Actually it was completely unintended and the request from Craig was more a general request and not necessarily in relation to the pic. I retouched the image because I thought it was reasonably obvious where the location is. But I guess not, and Craig is obviously not all that worried about it either. I guess if you can work it out, then . All in all I was completely over the moon. It was definately the biggest fish I have caught and a sensational experience. I'm still re-living the moment greg

Hi all, fished with a charter operator the other day in Sydney Harbour. Collected squid early and in hindsight had our good omen for the day - 2 casts and we landed 2 squid. We spent an hour or so chasing some dory with no success and decided to head to "the" spot to try our luck at the jews with the change of the tide. Now I have never caught a jew before, so was quite excited, but also a little sceptical given all that I have read about these elusive fish. We set our baits and didn't have to wait long. I just sat down and finished my first sandwich and we were chatting away. Took 2 bites into the second sandwhich and HERE WE GO! The reel goes off and I can tell you I have never felt something pull as hard as this did. The reel was literally smoking. It took about 7 or 8 long runs but eventually we got it on board. Imagine my excitement at the first glimpses of this beautiful specimen when we spotted it coming out from the deep . Note: Sorry, I'm not sure of the ettiquette with regards to this, but I have retouched the pic to keep the exact location a little under wraps at request of Craig. Once on board, a second line went off and landed a 60ish cm kingfish. Any other day of the week, that would have been a moment too, but it was an anti climax after the jewie. I'm not a big guy, and I was absolutely knackered. My arms felt like lead and I could barely stand up let alone hold the fish up for the photos. It was 130cm long and maxxed out on the 30 pound scales. The guy estimates it went to about 50 pounds. This was my very first Jewie and I ask myself how I will ever top that again in my life. I had an absolutely sensational day . greg

Nice!!!

finally after about 4 or 5 fruitless fishing trips (we're reasonably new to fishing SP) and studying the the countless successful reports on this forum, had a successful spinning session on Sunday Morning with my 2 brothers. We were on the water by 6am and headed over to IC. Ian had seen a couple of guys pulling up some decent fish under the little bridge around near the reception centre a couple of weeks earlier. Tried here first with no luck and we were thinking it might be another luckless day on the water. Decided to try the moored boats, remembering some words of wisdom from this forum - specifically, "fish deep" and "retreive slow". We fish out of a Quintrex Top Ender, but have no electric motor, so our plan was to slowly drift through the moored boats, having about 6-7 casts at each hull on the way through. Because there was no wind, this tactic seemed to work a treat. Chris's first cast brought an excited "yep, I'm on!" and he landed the first bream of the morning at 33cm. I had a cast at the same boat hull, let my lure sink deep until it hit the bottom and slooooowwww retrieve. Nothing. Next boat hull, same deal, sink deep and slooow retrieve. Next thing, I'm on too! WOoohooo this is fun. I landed my PB bream at 32cm, finally breaking the 30cm mark This is addictive. Over the next 2 hours, we drifted between the boats and landed another 4 bream, a few small flatties and my PB and first ever whiting on SP at 37cm. I also got busted off by the biggest bream I have ever seen in the flesh. It followed my lure all the way back to the boat, and I spotted it about half a meter under the surface. Ian says to me, "drop the lure again", so I open the bail arm and let the lure drop back to the bottom and the fish followed it back down. I have never seen a 40cm bream, but I'm guessing it was pretty close to this mark. Next thing I know there is line peeling off my reel and my heart is in my mouth! I had premature visions of posting a 40cm specimen in my report . Unfortunately, I couldn't get any line back, and the fish dived straight back toward the mooring rope and SNAP, it was gone! Largely through lack of experience, I was outdone by a pro . What do they say about counting chickens before they hatch? That for me was probably the highlight of the day. Not long after 8.30am, the fish went off the bite and the wind picked up quite dramatically. We tried a couple more spots then decided to head up the river to see if we could suss a few new spots (most of the fishing we've done has been around cockatoo, and up lane cove and Burns bay). This never happened though, I got a call at about 9am from the boss saying she's on her way to the ramp to drop off the kids. This is our routine - I get to go early for a fish, and the kids meet me later for a bit of a play. We tried a few spots with the kids to wet their lines with no success. The wind had come up strong, and we were getting blown around all over the place. The novelty soon wore off with them so we decided to go for a cruise which they love to do and pulled the boat out around 11.30am. All in all a fun day

Thanks Ben. I'll give it a try. I had rigged the hook point in the plastic. I wasn't so much concerned with losing the tackle, more dissapointed at how fragile the little keeper prongs are. I'll keep persevering with these, at least for a few more sessions. brw0513, congrats on the 36cm bream! My Pb is 29cm. Still trying to crack the 30cm mark greg

Nice report. Haven't had much success fishing boat hulls. So you reckon a bit of running water does makes all the difference? I'm sure the control you gain having an electric motore helps too. Greg

Hey Bisso Condolences on the motor. I personally think that the dealer has some degree of responsibility in this case. If you have taken the motor back immediately upon discovering the problem and they have tested it, and deemed it to be OK, I would be pursuing the situation. I have to say that I have had a similar experience, though nowhere near as sinister with a dealer recently. We purchased a brand new boat, which was delivered to us with half a tank of fuel. I took the family out on the very first weekend only to find that the motor was stalling, and missing. We stalled in the middle of the channel under Gladesville bridge and had to limp back to the ramp. I took the boat back to the dealer to be told that there was water in the fueltank and that it wasn't covered under warranty. As you can expect, I kicked up a stink because it was a brand new boat and the only fuel that had been put into the tank was by the dealer. Needless to say, I got an apology from the service manager and also had the problem fixed. I honestly wonder how much care is taken by some dealers (and not just boat dealers), and how much of what is said has been done, really gets done? I hope you get it sorted quickly! Greg

G'day all Great site! And really informative. I went for a fish early Sunday and tried the Nitro G-lock allterrain jig heads for the first time. Thought these might be perfect for fishing deep under the wharf pylons and around the rock walls around Cockatoo Island. I was using a number 1 jighead with #1 squidgy fish and squidgy flick baits. For this they seemed to serve their purpose quite successfully. I only lost one to a snag, and in this case I new I shouldn't cast it because the tail wasn't sitting perfectly on the jighead, but I was too keen to follow up on a decent hit the cast before - my own fault really. My question is, has anyone else used these jigheads? And with what success? It felt that I missed a lot more hookups than what I normally would using a conventional jighead (in fact, I didn't manage a hookup at all on these if you don't count the chopper tailor that bit me off). I got quite a number of good hits, but couldn't manage a fish. Now I'm no expert fisherman, infact I'm only just finding my feet with the whole soft plastic phenomenon. Perhaps it was my technique on, or impatience to land a decent fish on the new tackle? Anyone else had a similar experience, or do I just keep persevering? My other critisism of them is that I snapped one of the little wire grub keepers clean off while rigging a tail on one occassion. I thought that was pretty ordinary... We didn't manage any keeper Bream but what do they say? "the worst days fishing is still better than any day at work"... Any feedback would be welcomed. Cheers. Greg