OWZAT

G`da Fellas , Cameron , By Gee , I`m getting some marvellous flashbacks of fishing from those split cane days , that untill now , had been almost erased from my memory Banks. I put a few up later on over the weekend. Mick

G`day Fellas , Hey Jethro , A distant Auntie , Managed the Bondi Baths for yonks , and I used to head out there sometimes for the Hols . I used to body surf a fair bit , And even tried the Boards too , but never got around to surfing as a hobby. Floating sewerage was always a problem , and I supppose I too believed I was bullet proof like everybody else , but too many exotic diseases are floating around now for my liking . Incidently at the southern end of The baths , there is a shallow hole approximately 14 ft wide and 5/6 feet deep , and it produces some good bream on occaisions . I used to Mix half a loaf of Stale bread for Berley , and use the crusts for bait . But looking at it , you wouldn`t give it a second glance . I discovered it when hunting crabs for bait to use at North Bondi Later on that day. Mick

G`day Ken , Well that lure looks identical to a Pilchard doesn`t it , so I can see the value there . Do you know of anyone who scored with one off a beach ???. As a matter of fact I might just get a few of them and rig them up for Tailor , how much do they cost ?, and what sort of Jig head would you use?. Mick

G`day Fellas , And the fact that I never Once stood up JOE , had nothing to do with it . Mick

G`day Fellas , Jethro , Take it from Me Mate , after cleaning , ( not at the spot they were caught , rather at home in Tap water ) they tasted Fine , I never ever had a problem. But what you should consider is , that in the 50/60`s sydney was not as hopelessly overcrowded as it is today , and therefore the sewerage released at Malabar in those days was treated properly , and not as It is today . The system then , was was in reasonably good shape , and it did what it was supposed to . But Today , in this overcrowded city , with all the new chemicals , and exotic diseases being flushed down the sewer at an ever increasing rate , I would not like to chance my arm these days. In the Past , our parents would cut off an Arm , rather than flush the contents of a frying pan into the sink, but not so today. The system Now is in serious disrepair , as is shown by the well documented reports of overflowing pipes discharging Raw sewerage into the oceans during storms. Either way it all ends up in the ocean , and thats why I have never really taken to Surfing . The tailor and bream were always Ok to eat , but On the one occaision I took home some blackfish for a feed , the Smell from the gut was was extremely rancid , so I never targeted Blackfish again. Mick

Hey Jethro , My very Ist Beach outfit , was a 16 ft length of Rangoon Cane , purchased from mick simmonds At Central . I bound all the runners and tip on , but did not realise that One should slide the reel seat on first , so I had to strip it all off and do it again. Once finished , I purchased a large Bakerlite Centre Pin reel , and having loaded it with 200 yards od 20Lb Line , I headed for Bondi. Standing at north bondi where the mermaids are , I would peel off as much line as I could between swells , and try and lob a Garfish on 4 ganged hook rig as far out as possible , trying to not get knocked over by the waves pounding over that platform. When I think back now , it was rather primative , but enormous fun , so when the new U beaut , Fibre glass rods appeared made by Slazenger , I got one almost immediately , and matched it to a Seascape Overhead. That too took some mastering , but soon I became adept , and began catching a feed . The old Rangoon rods were excellent at casting extremely long distances , and when the side cast reels came in I bought one to try on mine. They were magnificent to use , and I have always wondered , what it would be like to have a 16 foot one piece fibreglass blank to use of the Rocks or beaches using todays technology. Mick

G`day Fellas , Hey Swofs , Yeah Its a different ball game afloat as I said , but I think most boaters ( Weekend Warriors ) have a limited fishing time , and so , would much rather load up with a Live squid than a SP. At least with a live bait on you are 100% sure somethings going to have a crack at it , rather than spend the day lucky dipping so to speak. But for those who have time on their hands and love a challenge , then a day out targeting Jews On SP`s is probably the way to go . Its intriguing though , and it just goes to show , that you never stop learning in this game do you ?. So whats next on the agenda ?, probably be a little electronic soft plastic robot , that swims down and waits till a fish comes by , then jumps out in front of it perhaps ?. But for this Old Sandman , it will always be "Bait" from the beaches for Jews . That shad is nothing like the Sp that fella was using up here , to me it looked something like a Big Brown White bait . Mick

G`day Fellas , JH , Ist thing you need to do if you are going to use lures for beach fishing Jewies , is the Following . Join a fitness club , and after the aerobics class , slip down to the local Gym , and begin a program that allows you to strengthen your upper body muscles. In 5 1/2 years here , I have only ever seen one Jewfish caught on a Lure , and that was a dead set fluke . The fella who caught it , I think said , it grabbed a tailor snagged on his tailor Lure. Mate , I cannot immagine how many casts one would have to make to snare a Jew from the Sand , but in my opinion , its waste of time. Fishing from boats however is probably a whole different ball game , and I would assume a few of the fellas on here , could fill you in on how they managed theirs . But I dont think anyone here , has deliberately set out to target Jews on SP`s . But having said that , I did bump into A Fisho on the beach here on night who was targeting jew with A large SP , and he swore that he regularly took jew on this particular SP. But he gave up after 2 hours , and bludged a few tailor fillets of me and managed a few small Tailor , but no Jews. But Good luck in your endeavours JH , I look forward to your Ist pic of a lure caught Jew. Mick

G`day Fellas , Yep , I too inhereted my Dads splittie. I thought I was just it too , when on my very Ist solo attempt with his rod , I donged one Blackfish after another for a week solid . But It wasn`t very long before the new age arrived in Glass rods , and although solid , were as whippy as all buggery , and almost indestructable ( Almost ). But when the hollow , and extremely light rods came along , the splittie was assigned a Place of honour , which was rack over the Door of the weekender . Some time later on , I decided to have it restored , and the only one I could find that did so at the time , was a fella from Mick Simmons Sports Store in Bondi Junction . The restoration took some 3 weeks to be ready from memory , and I think cost Me A Fiver ( 5 pounds ) . I remounted it above the doorway in the Weekender , where it stayed untill stolen after a break in a few years later. Mick

G`day Fellas , AS I recall , split cane rods are strips of cane that are somehow cured , and glued together , sealed , bound and lacquered ....I think. I think all members would truly appreciate a lecture on the Life cycle of the legendary split cane Rod from one of the Experts . How about Fellas , all in favour say Aye!!!!! I once watched My dad , lovingly bind a tip on his Split Cane Rod , By the light of A Kerosene lamp in our shack at Spencer one easter , after it came loose . I think all the Runners were pure Agate , and my dad , who never let an opportunity pass without enlightening me , also told me that an apprentice would would Spend a whole day with a hand drill , boring a hole through the rough block for right handers , and two days for left . Mick

G`day Fellas , Hey Anks , I`ve heard of some good catches of Greenies lately , but the same thing happened to me a few years back. I started catching some very good tailor for a week or two , and then ZIP , they were gone , then back came the Just legals , or a bit over , where good sized ones were hard to get . I really only use them for bait though , although I have tried them barbecued and I thought they were about Ok. We have resident Tailor all year round , but sometimes they are so wide out , its useless trying for them . Mick

G`day Fellas , The Youngfella and two FB`s fished Frid and Sat Night for A mixed bag of Greenback Tailor and some solid keeper bream ,and a few nice whiting. Puzzling as it was , he had two stiff hook ups with something akin to a big Jew , but both times , after about 5 or so minutes , they spat the hook . Smiths Beach , between Manning Point And the Old Bar Entrance , is hard to get to , but at least it`s a nice sandy Strip of beach that produces some good fish regularly , but not this time. When I say this time , I mean that as they were explicitly targeting large Jews ( 8/0 loaded with golf ball size helpings of fresh Worms ) it was disapointing . A dozen or so 3/4lb tailor are OK as well , along with 4-5 good bream is also nothing to sneeze at , but a let down after fishing the entire tide at night. Mick

G`day Fellas , I definately agree about the 8/0`s whilist fishing for Jew . But I also have to admit I have never had a problem with soaps swallowing an 8/0 either. And A few Flukes worth a mention here might be , that on numerous occaisions I have hooked some good size whiting on those very same 8/0`s . And I`m also not the only one to fluke big whiting on 8/0`s either , my Son and others here do it quite often as well . Mick

G`day Fellas , Hey Hotty , did you tie up to the pylons , or did you kellick somewhere close??. Mick

G`day Fellas , It would seem as though Paul Worsteling has either finaly broken away from Rex Hunt , or Rexie has called it a day , not sure which , but I enjoyed the show for the simple reason It was NEW!. It remains to be seen how the show progresses , hopefully not to where The Ads take up more than the fishing Does. Lets also Hope , that Paul Has indeed noted all the complaints aimed at Rexies show over the years , and does not make the same mistake . Incidently , I sent away for a long 4 piece rod called a PROWLER from his shop some 3 odd years ago . I was very impressed at the Curteous and Speedy response to my emails , then was super impressed by the Packaging of the rod on arrival. I loved that Rod , but sadly , when casting off the beach after about 6 or so months , my line tangled around the top section of the rod and sucked the top half into the Drink. Local bystanders were highly amused by the look on my face ,when 1/2 my pet rod Headed for NZ. The rod was extremly tough and designed mainly for Boats , the idea being that a 4 piece rod could be stowed easily on board , and the length allowed you to steer fish away from the motor . I mainly used it at the entrance to the Manning River At Old Bar , because anyone who has fished there , will know that if you are barefoot , then large lumps of gravel are continuously being rolled over your feet , and I`m here to tell you It hurt. The long , strong , fast Taper nibble tip , 9 FT PROWLER , allowed me to stand back from the dropoff , and avoid the wash . The rod handled large Flatties to 10lb , as well as Some massive big sea Bream , but One day I hooked a large Shovel nose Shark 4 foot long , and actually beached it , before letting it go. If you ever see a repeat of REX and Paul catching elephant fish on westerport bay , then you will see the Rod in Question. I hope Paul and his Co-host Lee Raynor do well , because as you can already see , the show has been moved after one episode , and reduced to a filler . Its now follows the longest running commercial on Tele ( Infomercial ) , and as if we did not have enough footie shows , here is another one ( Seriously Footie ) , followed by Ozzie Rules Footie . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Still , anythings better than nothing when it comes to Fishing shows. Mick

G`day Fellas , Land based is a bit hard ian , but there are some good parks there now , and close to the waters edge where it would be woth while having a try. I don`t know wether or not the Baths are still there , but My li`l fellas used to have a lot of fun fishing from it on Picnic days . If you can make your way where Mangrove Island is , I used to get some whopping big lizards , the odd bream , and heaps of Good sized flounder, drifting down the main channel towards the como rail Bridge. There is also a shallow chanel that can be fished from the shoreline , on the other side of the Island , but I never did , though always thought it could be worth a try. Failing that , it might be worth heading down to the Bonnet Bay foreshores where I see on a cartoscope Map , there are now parks that go all the way to the water. Good luck either way mate. Mick

G`day Fellas , With the all Kids all down at Diamond Beach Resort for the Easter weekend , I thought I might give the lagoon a try for a whiting or flattie Din Din . I think I must have caught every juvenile Bream and Whiting in that Goon over a two hour period , and although I enjoyed the time spent there , I was disapointed in the tally , which was 0. Not very often I fish that Lagoon without catching my dinner , so I put it down to the 4 inches of rain we had during the week. The rain was good , the goon though is shallow , and so perhaps they had moved downstream to better water. I`m also not hearing of anyone else catching much either , but I haven`t seen many of the locals around for a week or two , so I`ll know mosre when I catch up with them. Mick

G`day Fellas , Kattak , I see them now and again walking past the odd fish shop , but overall , I think they would be hard to come by. Perhaps you could ring around , and perhaps even the fish markets might have them , I`m not sure . Apart from those flaps , I prefer the Fish heads to anything else , mullett heads are as good as any. Mick

G`day Fellas Its always hard to suggest a boat name when you know nothing about the person involved , but off the top of my head . If your idea in naming a boat is to drive everbody nuts trying to work out what it means .as you pass them ...... Tyurown...as in ,tie your own hooks. yourowin...as in , I put it on the card tryrowin.....as in , better than walking Mick

G`day Fellas , I always use an old Napkin , or towel when handling flatties of any size , but the little buggers seem to have an inbuilt radar dont they. If you rub your spiked area along the belly of the flathead the slime on its belly has a detoxifying effect on the poison in the barbs of their spikes. Ya still bleed like buggery , but the pain is less severe. Mick

G`day Fellas , Hey Rob , glad to hear you caught it in time , and you are feeling somewhat better. But keep it up for a few days , otherwise it will not be effective. ( Hannibal , and ( Alexander the Great ) both who conquered Europe at different times , pay tribute to Apple Cider Vinegar as being the saviour of their men wounded in battle. It had then I think , the same effect as do Antibiotics today , its just that most people today prefer to pop pills , rather than use natures own . The trifecta would be some PB`s on the weekend , so good luck . Mick

G`day Fellas , ROB , youre wasting time mate , whip out to the nearest store and get the Cider and get stuck in before it takes hold of you. Also , a little trick if you are in an advanced state before you pull the doonas over , take the night dose with slightly warm water. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 ......Bingo! Mick

G`day Fellas , ROB , I cap full of Apple Cider Vinegar , Taken 3 times a day in a Schooner size glass of Water , is the best Cure for everything and especially a dose of the flu. Alternative medicine Guru`s will happily explain to the non believers of just why it works . My entire family and I have used this legendary preventitive medicine since day one , we are all exceptionally healthy , and have not had a cold in 15 odd years. And although you will still feel a bit off colour at times , you will never get as bad as someone who cops the flu out of the blue. The Taste is a bit off at first , but after a few days , you dont notice it ! , so , dont delay By some today , its only about $4.00 for a 750 mil bottle. Mick

G`day Fellas , Hey Steve , care to post some pics of your Kayak and how its set up please. Mick

G`day Fellas , Tim , when my grandad passed away , we inherited two Rods and reels , plus some other gear. My father kept his fathers pride and Joy , a beautiful split cane rod , fitted with an immaculately kept wooden reel that was a dream to use. I on the other hand was given the second outfit , which was a whippy 9 foot tubular steel rod Made from can you believe it ( A World War 2 Tank Aerial ! ). Now when my dad and I fished side by side for blackfish , it was always a battle royal , but over the years I think honours were pretty even. I have to tell you though , My Tank Aerial worked like a charm , wether fishing for big bluenose bream, Blackies or even Garfish , the rod handled like a dream , and its probably why I will always have a liking for long whippy Rods. I forgot to mention that My rod , was fitted with a bakerlite reel , which I still had up untill two years ago when I dropped it on the concrete floor in the garage and it shattered into about 5 pieces. Gees it was tough throwing that reel into the bin , collection day was 4 days away , and nearly every day I was tempted to retrieve the bits and hoard them away . Mick