bombora

Forecast for Sydney at least aint great; tomorrow rain and strong northerlies (after a week of sun and near no wind !!!!!!) then swell's supposed to come up Sunday; mates at work showed me the computer generated surf weather maps and they are predicting a mean red blob (storm centre) sending an 8 to 10 ft ENE ground swell by Sunday. Me gotta work Sun and Mon. Saturday MAYBE search for a land based trev or two in the lower harbour as goon and lake seem to have gone into hibernation. Cheers Bombie

Hiya Naked; beg to differ on casual anglers not getting big flatties; have a look at the weekend papers up and down the coast (including Sydney) with their old fashioned Catch Of The Week pix. They seem to feature a damn lot of big mumma flatties being held, gilled and gutted, by five year olds, by 75 year olds who fish once a year at Xmas, by mums who were just dangling a line while the kids played on the family boat. A big hunk of fish flesh on the bottom will eventually score one. In an estuary I'd say a big flattie is the easiest of the relatively larger fish around to catch. As far as populations go, the world's fisheries contain many many stories of what were thought to be healthy, or at least OK, fish populations plumetting with no warning. When it goes pear shaped in the ocean, it happens quickly. Locally, King fish traps took very very little time to decimate hoodlum numbers. Its taken some time for them to start to recover. Respect your POV Naked but have to disagree on this one; when I see a pic of a big dead lizard, I don't see one dead fish, I see several thousand less baby flatties in our estuaries in the near future, cheers Bombie. I think the big breeders of most fish are worth a better level of protection.

No need for lead undies clutch, according to my mates; they reckon I've pulled back from far too many big waves to even have the equipment needed to produce kids, so to speak . Hiya Matt yeah forgot about the smelt colour, got some at home and will have a look at em tonight but I think they are still too dark! The Seppos use sandy-blonde coloured bucktails and grubs. Fun geeting ready though. It will be a long six months waiting.......... Cheers Bombie

Hiya Clutch, I am actually looking forward to tangling with Mururoa's legendary atomic mutants; three tails makes for a great fight! Bom,bie

Hiya all; after much thought (get another boat or...) I sent off the deposit for a dream surfing/fishing trip yesterday. Will be spending two weeks in the Tuamotu Islands in December. Where? you ask; about as far away from anything as you can get on this earth. Its a massive (size of europe) chain of mostly uninhabited atolls about 500 miles east of Tahiti. Gonna be on a boat for two weeks, surfing awesome reef passes without another bloody surfer in site!!!!! Only about 10,000 people live in the entire chain, and there is NO commercial grade fishing. But it gets better, the reef pass surf spots are all entrances to massive atoll lagoons, and in those lagoons are massive bonefish, among other things. In the Tuamotu Islands the bones AVERAGE 7 pounds and the biggest taken is 14 pounds!!!!! Apparently there aren't huge schools of bones, just lots of solos and pods of 2/3/4/5 fish, all BIG. And the tides only have a variation of between one and two feet, so fishing won't be so dependent on guides finding where the fish feed in places with much bigger tides. It's been a dream to score a bone so am wondering if any Fishraider has experience with the grey ghost of the flats? Need all the help I can get as there is a serious lack of info on Tuamotu bones (and bonefish spinning in general is overwhelmed by rope throwers bones info on the web) Was gonna take my beloved noodle rod with dogbone grips plus Capricorn 1500 with 4lb Fireline, but am now wondering if it will be undergunned on these big Bones? Any suggestions for a rod? Something around $100-$150 as I don't wanna take a fragile mega dollar rod on the various jets, light planes, jeeps and boats needed to get there. Also gotta be two piece to fit in the board bag (gotta also save for new 6'8" rounded pin board for the reef pass barrels!!!). Few other questions; anyone know if bonefish jigs are sold in Oz? Or even just the jig heads (they are a flat, spade shaped head design called a skimmer) so I can tie my own bucktails on em. Also gonna take a selection of plastics, but can anyone point me to a LIGHT tan coloured plastic (grubs or other styles) around two inches long in Oz shops,. The Bones apparently favour pinks, yellows, white and the light tan/sand colour (much ligher than the common p-seed used for bream). Now the Tuamotus also as you'd guess have more than just bones in the lagoons (milkfish!!! emperors, SIX species of trevs) they also have big bruisers on the reef drop offs. Fin, huge bottom ooglies, marlin etc etc etc etc and etc. The boat, as surf charters generally do, has some trolling outfits (most surf charters seem to have two or three 24kg standup rods and "well used" lever drag reels) but what should I also take as a second medium all purpose heavy outfit???? Heavyish second spin rod? Medium jig outfit with something like a Saltist? Help!!! Cheers Bombie

Personally I let go anything over 60; particularly in an enclosed environment like Narra lake or the goon. Figure, even if its legal, that they need all the help they can get. However I wonder how many fishos who release big flatties don't even consider whether they should even be fishing for em during their breeding season. More and more evidense that released fish won't/can't spawn afterwards. Already well known in bass circles. And I also understand big flatties are very easily stressed generally by handling, even if its out of breeding season, so I wonder how many dedicated release fishos spend too much time taking pics. I scored an 82cm mumma from Narra lake last year and really really wanted a pic, but she hit a Slider crappie grub on no 4 hooked jighead on 4lb leader aimed at bream in two foot of water and took some time landing. Fish was knackered and figured she didn't need an extra couple of minutes out of the water for happy snaps. Still wish I had a pic, but memory will have to do. cheers Bombie (ps slot limits are the go! Science on its side, but just as importantly, soon enough people will get into the frame of mind that "let the big ones go" is better than the old "let the little ones go"")

Hiya JD, yup had to pay for it. and yup just heard again from one of the dudes involved, was actually 100 plus litres. servo had to switch off all electricals lights etc for fear of a spark, the firey's HAZMAT team was called. Servo owner spewing cause servo shut down for I am now told 90 minutes. Oh yeah, they caught bugger all, too. cheers Bombie

Gotta share this one with fellow Fishraiders. Am at work and mate has just come and told me this: Crew from different section at work went to SW Rocks last weekend. The quartet consisted of three Aussies and a Pom. They pulled into a servo at SW rocks and the Pom was given the task of fuelling the boat while the others got bait food etc etc. Anyway after about 15 minutes they looked over to the Pom who was off in la la land, still filling the boat but looking out to the middle distance. They run back to the boat to find the Pom happily filling up the boat with fuel _ literally _ as the the petrol nozzle was inserted in a rod holder!!! Fire brigade was called and petrol station closed down for an hour as they mopped up about 80 litres of fuel in the boat! Made my day that story, cheers Bombie

At last the Benny Hill-style responses I was waiting for !!!! Everybody humm the theme now...... Bommie, running off up the street pursueing a busty blonde....

Yum! Marinate then BBQ!

Jeez Jo then they are damn expensive, even if they are as Mr Pig said they are biodegradable! Cheers Bombie

That's a damn fine bream Ken; heaps of congrats!!

Hiya all, went down to a tackle shop in central Sydney (not CA or Gowings) cause a work colleague and good mate has just got into SPs (this bloke is a very very casual fisho, but on his first SP outing on the Myall River last week where he's got a holiday house he scored seven lizards and a bream with a dozen plastics and heads I'd given him from my overflowing tackle, beating five others fishing bait!). While showing him what rod and reel he should buy for his girlfriend I spotted some Diawa plastics. They basically two inch stickbaits, nice, but what hit me was the price. There were only maybe five in the pack, and they were priced at $12.95!!!!! About $2.50 for a two inch stickbait??????? Not actually dissing the shop, they are great blokes and I imagine city rents ain't cheap at all. Now anyone seen any plastics that work out more expensive? Bombie

Coarse fishing comps also get the same dispensation to release their river rabbits (carp) in NSW. We did a yarn about western Sydney comps about two weeks ago. I didn't know about the rule for comps either til then. Hey Swoff I reckon you'd be bored sh*tless coarse fishing; sit on a high tech fishing chair ( with cup holders rod holders intergrated umbrella, alarm clock to wake you up when you get a bite etc) watching a float or a line going into the water. About the exact opposite of active lure casting. Used to watch guys do it in some seriously suspect canals when I was living in London. And what fun breeding maggots for bait . Cheers Bombie

Hiya Tyrone; take any pictures???? Bombie

Hiya Matt and welcome. Sure someone will help you here about public transport from the Eastern Suburbs (not my part of Sydney). One thing, what type of fishing are you used to and where was it. This might help people tailor their responses if they know what you are already familiar with. Cheers and hope you get into some dinkum Oz fish soon! Bombie

I know for certain there is (hopefully) one murray cod in the dam!!!! I let one go 15 years ago I had been keeping in an aquarium when I moved OS. He/she was about 20cms so I hope that helped him/her survive cormorants etc etc. Cheers Bombie

Hiya Pogo and Fishlessmick, my jigflicker was made by a bloke in Melbourne and sent to me while I was living in Pommieland (Man, never try to find good aussie style light tackle in the UK ) Has the dogbone cork and sliding rings and I still LOVE it. Not even 100 per cent graphite. Makes a marlin out of a mullet! cheers Bombie (I remember the Miller rods you guys are talking about, they were awesome)

Me again, on closer inspection the "bass" might even be an EP, hard to tell from the angle of the pic.

Hiya Swoff, nest time you are heading to the Hawkesbury gimme a hoy and I'll PM you exactly where the trawler is berthed. Just saw a pic the boys took and it is indeed a very fat bass which I reckon would have gone 45cms plus!

Some colleagues came back from doing a yarn on the Hawkesbury's woes with an interesting little tale. They'd been out with a prawn trawler in the upper reaches (that's another issue) last week and came back with the catch mid morning. The skipper tied up, began sorting the catch with the usual "trash" fish going overboard. He then said "watch this", put a prawn on a handline, cast out and caught what my comrades said was "a bloody big bass". Skipper then repeated trick three times. Any Fishraiders do the ol' bream under boats thing with bass (or maybe they were EPs as comrades ain't fishos) on the Hawkesbury? Cheers Bombie

Hiya Swoff, may well be why I can't get a fish for love nor money this summer _ maybe they are distracted by the mullet above the waterline so to speak . Ko-i I love em, very practical too (no burnt back of the neck!) Go the dirty mullet!!!! Bombie

Great report and pix as usual guys Jealous as usual guys . But Koi you don't mention the other species _ the mullet just above your eyes . That's a damn fine 'do!!!! (Can say this as also proud bearer of a new age mullet!!!) Bombie

Black Queen yeah! First rods me and my brother ever owned!! Actually I may have the hippest noodle of anyone; my beloved ten year old plus Loomis jigflicker! Fancypants but still kicks butt even though it bends to the butt! Mate picked up a couple of never-heard-of-the-brand noodle rods a few years ago. We were a bit jaded with fishin at the time so scored some of the smallest Alveys they make (made?) _ about three inches diametre, no drag etc. We spoolled em from the one bulk spool of two kay line then set ourselves up with our own "one class/one outfit" fishin comps on the harbour. Lure only. Want a skills test? try a three kay sambo on noodle rod and tiny tiny no drag Alvey. "Hi tech" human skin drags are heaps of fun!!!! cheers Bombie

Hiya all, just a quick report on good ol' DY beach, not that I have been actually fishing but anyway. Fairy penguin(s) been feeding among the waves at DY in the mornings last few days and I'd be interested to hear from anyone fishing the lower harbour last few days as to whether there is much bait there. DY has had heaps of pencil gars last week or so, and guessing the penguins have followed em there to feed because there is less bait (or smaller bait not worth as much effort) in the harbour. Yes/No? The gars have been spraying all over the shop in the mornings off the point so something as well as the penguins is eating em. Kings love pencil gar (not to mention longtails etc) so if you believe in the old where the bait is so too are the fish it might be worth a hunt. Last several days the old diggers on the beach have been scoring some damn nice whiting too. On Monday morn while I was surfing I watched one bloke get six whiting in 20 minutes. They weren't as big as the whiting being taken last week but still nice fish. Beach worms were working for the old fellas. Water temp has crept up last few days _ 23C plus for sure at least along the beach at DY. Saw Alex Belissimo trying for the whiting one evening too. The gutter next to the surf club is the place. cheers still fishless Bombie