LuckyFil

great couple of sessions mate. What waterway were you fishing? (not asking for specific location)

I friend just forwarded me a story on the Swellnet website including some pics, which is making me feel a bit weird, reckon I'd have been a grease spot on the shore if I'd been a bit slower - see link below http://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2017/08/12/north-avalon-rockfall-triggers-local-earthquake

Went for a fish this arvo at North Avalon rocks. No luck with the target species (Drummer) just a few kelpies and other reefies. But I was VERY lucky in another respect. On the walk back along the base of the cliff I noticed a few small pebbles landing near me and I thought some kids must be throwing rocks off the cliff above, I looked up but no sign of anyone. I had another thought that maybe some of the overhead rocks might be starting to fall away so quickened my pace as much as I could, but having to scramble over and down big and small boulders meant I couldn't go that fast. I then head a massive 'BOOM' like a huge wave hitting the shore but the swell wan't that big. I looked back and didn't seen anything but knew it wasn't a wave and must have been a large rock falling onto the platform where I'd just been. I then raced as fast as I could manage as there was a lot of rocky overhangs where I was walking and no other way to walk other than close to the cliff wall. Another 20 or 30 meters and then another massive BOOM. I look back and saw an enormous amount of rock and rubble falling and sliding down the cliff face across the path I'd been on 20 seconds beforehand. I was shitting myself by now and kept belting along as quickly as I could while trying not to trip and fall and was soon past the worst section of overhangs. Not long after I met anther fisho who was on a clear platform and he commented on hearing the crashes and saw the splashes as the rocks hit the water. So no fish today but feeling pretty bloody lucky. I always assumed that rock falls followed periods of heavy rain or when huge seas were pounding the shore but neither was the case today, so don't know what to think of it. I won't be fishing there for a while but am interested to go back at some stage to see what I missed, or more correctly what missed me! LuckyFil

the rocks at the northern end of the Northern Beaches - can't be too specific as places get fished out quickly with drummer, but most ocean rock ledges around Sydney will hold drummer, just look for a good amount of wash (white water) but with deeper drop offs and plenty of weed and cunjevoi (cunje) growing on the rocks. They don't like still clear water so you need plenty of wave action but this means risks so practice safe fishing i.e. rock cleats on shoes, consider a life vest and most of all watch the waves!!

we were using bread and cunje with no float and small pea sinker - both fish were caught on cunje. The silver had a belly full of our bread burley so they will take both baits

Thanks Recurve and Blackfish - I had a look at the DPI site for Black Rockcod and it matches . The black blotch in the saddle of the tail seems to distinguish it from other cod. It was a handsome little fella and gave quite a tough fight for its size. Fil

Went for a drummer fish this morning but they weren't playing as there wasn't enough wash. Bloody pain as yesterday my son Pat tried the same spot and it was too rough! 24 hours can make a big difference. Apart from plenty of kelpies and a few wrasse we caught what I think is a baby estuary cod. Can any of the FR fish experts confirm this . It was returned carefully after taking the pic. As a consolation prize Pat had a fearsome tussle with a decent silver drummer which just did not give up and he gave it everything to get it clear of the barnacles. I gather they aren't much to eat but more than make up for that with fighting power ! Will give the drummer another go once the seas pick up a bit Fil.

Couldn't agree more Recurve! Well done on your catch in tricky conditions. Calm seas are pleasant for the fisherman but often don't produce fish, especially with the water being gin clear. Fil

They get some monster flathead up that way casting SPs up against the break wall towards the mouth of the river. Were you down near the river mouth or upstream? Drifting or anchored up? Fil

Scratchie Great pics of the fish - nothing like the colour of a big reddie straight out of the water. And even better to be 'catching' rather than 'netting'!! I had a similar experience with the biggest red I've caught down the south coast (5kg) it was on fairly light line (20lb) so I had to take my time and it was a long fight. By the time he was in the boat the jig head had been crunched several times (tooth dents in the lead) and the hook looked like barbed wire, so I was lucky to land him. The plastics I use are similar to yours - Gulp 6" grub pattern in Pink Shine. The snapper seem to like them. Congrats on some top fish Fil

You need a strong rod preferably 12 foot long and either a threadline reel or Alvey with at least 20lb line, although I use 30lb as I've been busted off by bigger fish in the past on 20lb. You can fish mono line straight through or braid with a mono leader of at least 20 lb. The rig is simple: a number 1 XX thick hook (a big drummer will straighten normal hooks) with a small pea sized running sinker above. If the bottom is very rough use a float. Bait is cunje or white bread squeezed onto the hook, prawn is good backup bait. Use bread as burley. Need to fish where there is plenty of wash (clear water means no fish). But most of all be safe, where there is wash there can be dangerous waves and slippery rocks which can = dead fisherman!! So always check your spot out for a while before starting to fish, know what the tide is doing, wear rock cleats on your shoes and consider wearing a life jacket.

Thanks for fixing the pics Donna! And thanks to everyone else for the positive feedback, I'll have to live off that session for a while as I don't expect to see that size of fish for a while, but thats what keeps us coming back...

Ha yeah I tried several times to re-enter the pic but every time it went in upside down! Guess I'm better at fishing than technology

Had a great session with my son Pat fishing for pigs (drummer) this morning. It didn't start so well with drizzly rain at dawn and the swell being a bit too big to fish our preferred spot on the Northern Beaches, so we trekked around the rocks a bit further to a safer hole that was out of the worst of the swell and breeze. Pat hooked up a couple of times early on using cunje but was busted off once and the hook pulled on the second, but it wasn't too much longer before he scored a great fish of around 42 cm . I hadn't managed a single bight on the prawns and switched to bread. Not long after Pat got snagged on the bottom and as I moved my rod to give him space to dislodge his line I lifted to find weight and a tough fight followed as a large pig tried very hard to bury me under the rock leadge we were standing on. Eventually I inched him out and Pat lifted him over the ledge. He was very fat and probably my biggest for a few years at a neat 50cm. Pat scored another average sized one a while later then it went quiet. There were almost no pickers around which was a blessing as the sweep and kelpies can be a pest here at times. We decided to pack up as the tide was rising and our rock was getting wetter by the minute. We both had one last cast and Pat was glad he did as his rod buckled over as a decent fish headed for the same cave mine had dived for. A few tense moments and he pulled him clear of the barnacles and I lifted it over the edge. It was virtually the same size as my earlier fish. Drummer fishing must be the best thing about winter I reckon! I can't seem to get the orientation of some pics right - hopefully one of the administrators can fix that ! Cheers Phil

In QLD they call them "Happy moments"! I saw a guy get stung by one he was cleaning and he nearly passed out with the pain so I'd recommend giving them a miss. Phil

Antony Sounds like a great adventure and a successful trip! Good to break the duck, then you start to enjoy the fishing a bit more. A good selection of other species there as well and looks like the conditions were pleasant as well. SImilar species to what I caught on a trip to Weipa a few weeks ago. That 'parrot fish' looks like a black spot tusk fish - top quality eating and they fight hard for their size. Cheers Phil

Peter A great read and pics - reward from some real dedication after a broken nights sleep on the boat! Interesting that I had a similar experience (see my post headed Central Coast) last Wednesday morning. Again fishing the last hour and a half of the run out in Brisbane Water near Hardys Bay. I've never had such a hot bight in this area, although I was using SPs only , maybe if I'd had a few baits out as well I'd have done even better! I often fish the same area when up there ( I live on the Northern Beaches) and usually get 1 or 2, but for some reason the flathead were really firing this time. Cheers Phil

Had a few of days at the Central Coast last week (Wagstaffe) and managed to get out for a fish on a couple of occasions. Had a crack at Winnie Bay for the drummer one arvo but despite the good wash and plenty of burley only managed one throw-back and a silver. Next day though I took the little tinnie out around the front of Hardys Bay and had a more productive session on the flathead. I went out at dawn to catch the last hour or 2 of the run out tide which seems to be more productive, although I know other guys find the run-in better, personal preference I suppose. Anyway the conditions were perfect - I nice current flow but not raging and no wind. Found a patch of broken weed and sand and started flicking my squidgy wriggler tail lure. Didn't take long before I had a take no more than a meter from shore. Typical take on plastics - after the first lift and drop of the lure I lifted to find weight - could just as easily have been weed but I struck anyway and sure enough an average sized flattie of around 45cm was in the net after only 10 minutes fishing! No more interest there so I moved another 20 meters over the same weed bed and on my second cast had a solid take quite near the boat, the fish came to the surface quickly and was shaking its head wildly trying to dislodge the lure but wasn't actually swimming far at all so I quickly needed it before it decided to head off as I could see it was a good fish and would have been a handful if it ran hard with me using only 8lb leader. This one was closer to 60cm and quite thick . A few more casts and this time a really aggressive take and the fish took off on a mad run. Straight away I knew this was going to be tricky and even said something to myself that I didn't like my chances with this fish. Sure enough a few more erratic runs and changes in direction and the leader popped. It felt like a fairly big flathead but funny how some are just way more aggressive than others when hooked. I thought that would be the end of my luck but as I'd only been at it for less than an hour I tied another jig head on and had a few more flicks and before long had another decent fish of around 50cm in the boat - along with a couple of strikes that didn't connect. So all up a great little session in glassy conditions. Don't think I've ever found the flathead so keen to hit a lure as they were today and in waters that are heavily fished. As other Raiders have said recently this time of year seems to be prime for some estuary fishing. Maybe they are trying to bulk up on food before the winter shut down? Cheers Phil

A couple more pics - alligator gar / long tom on SP and a last sunset fish off the harbour leads

Just back from my annual Weipa trip with 5 mates on one of the houseboats and 3 tenders. Despite the good wet this year we didn't find the creek fishing great - we managed a couple of small barra and average sized fingermark but thankfully the blue water fishing didn't disappoint. Our first session in the harbour leads delivered a quality cobia trolled up on a Rapalla CD 14 who was lurking near one of the lead markers - he had a couple of cracks at my lure whithout hooking up and when we did a second circuit over the same track he hit my brother Steve's lure and stayed connected. There were a few tense moments as I retrieved my lure with one hand and steered the tinny with the other away from the post before the come could wrap the line around it. Took a while to get him to the boat and it became obvious the net wasn't the tool for the job so had a shot with a blunt gaff and got him on the second attempt. The other crew scored a nice spanish in arsy circumstances. They'd slowed the boat to clear weed off one of the lures and when retrieving the other rod the spanish grabbed it. With 2 decent fish aboard on the first afternoon it was looking good. We had some spanish mack sashimi and cooked up a bit more and compared it to the cobe, both dusted in flour and lightly fried. Great start to the week and looking like the one feed of steak we took with us may not be required! The bluefin were plentiful next morning with no effort required to catch a few on metal slugs again right in the harbour entrance. Not huge fish (around 5-7kg) but heaps of fun. Kept one for sashimi and a bit of bait for bottom fishing and released the rest. Took the houseboat down to Boyd Bay as is our habit as we know its a good mooring in most conditions. A couple of crews fished on the way down but not much action although conditions were very pleasant and all enjoying the balmy /hot weather of 34 degrees compared to Sydney's recent chill. The bluefin continued to be easy picking throughout the week although the sharks made it hard to get them to the boat at times, especially when using the fly gear - ended in tears every time. We did the run down down to the Norman Creek one day but found it very quiet despite the huge tidal run that day - a couple of fingermark , golden and diamond (pennant?) trevally, but no barra although one crew saw a good one but couldn't tempt a hit . Most afternoons 2 crews hit the reefs only a few hundred meters away for blackspot tusk fish, grassy sweetlip and multiple odd reefies (and of course sharks) all in 3-4 meters of water! The fly fisher amongst us hit the shallows for plenty of tarpon, queens and small trevally. Didn't get picks of everything as we've been going for so many years now we don't bother with a lot of photos but have included a few. Still the most fun week of fishing and chilling with mates I know of. Cheers Phil

Thanks for that info Craig. I haven't used bait for a while up there as the pickers tend to steal it. I just keep the bait for any after dark sessions when the little fellas (usually cockney bream and trumpeter) have gone to bed , but I must try both as you suggest. Cheers Phil

Thats interesting as I fished the same area last weekend flicking SPs over the broken weedbeds on the run out and didn't get a touch over a couple of hours. What bait were you using? Cheers Phil

If you get a smaller one or are happy to sacrifice a tailor fillet its worth putting it out for a jewie in that area. I saw a nice one taken just north of the lighthouse off the rocks last year

Gordo Well done getting your first (2) fish on SP! I do a bit of flathead drifting when I go to the south coast and had success using a paternoster rig but swapping one of the standard hooks for a worm-hook and put on a wriggly tail SP about 6 inches long. I've caught just as many fatties on the SP as the hook with bait. Happy Christmas and happy fishing Phll

Great story and good of you to give a location for fellow Fishraiders to try- I know most bass fishos guard details of their favourite spots! I'm interested to know how you covert your lures to weedless hooks? Could you post a pic of what one looks like and how you did it? Thanks in advance Phil