LuckyFil

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

Just back from a 7 week trip in the van wandering around southern NSW, Victorian high country, Broken Hill, Clare Valley and Kangaroo Island. DId a bit of fishing in a few places but only had success on the squid on the South Oz coast at a place called Second Valley not far from the ferry out to KI. They don't seem to get many fish off the shore there other than the occasional tommy ruff and salmon, but make up for it with lots of squid. It took a little while to get the technique right but then it was 3 or 4, sometimes 10 squid at a time and all good sized ones. So it was calamari and chips for the next few days. No luck on KI fishing the shore. Had a charter booked to hit the King George Whiting but the operator pulled the pin the night before , I suspect not enough clients but he didn't have the guts to tell me that. Headed home via the Victorian high country around Bright and Myrtleford (below Mt Hotham) and took the opportunity to try trout fishing - I've never done it before but my mate has been a couple of times. The scenery was great and we each managed a few small rainbows (around 20cm) in our streams before too long using Celta style spinners. I was gob smacked you could catch fish in just 6-12 inches of water! On the second day my mate caught a decent one of 43 cm from a hole under a small bridge. Next day he did it again same sized fish in another hole. So with almost no knowledge and very little experience we managed a few each day including 2 good ones that ended in the pan each night . Everyone warned us about the snakes - tigers and browns, so we were glad to be in waders walking the stream but were still very wary having seen a big tiger while on KI and seeing how aggressive they can be. Despite concern over snakes the fishing was a lot of fun and I think I'll be back again! Now back to trying to catch a fish in Sydney. Cheers LuckyFil

That's a good morning's fishing, especially for the lake! Were you fishing the eastern or western side of the bridge? I assume you were fishing baits, not plastics? Phil

Gordo - yeah the wind is always a lottery with fishing. Thanks for the response - will post a report if I do any good. Cheers Phil

Am heading down to Kangaroo Island in a couple of weeks - first time for me. Am encouraged by your catch of KG whiting! I notice you said were in a boat - did you hire that or bring your own? Any tips on places to fish - we are staying at Vivonne Bay I think, but there for a week with a car so plenty of time to look around other places. Also thinking of doing a charter for the blue water fish. Any info welcome - thanks. Phil

Late report from last weekend. Had a couple of outings last weekend and it was interesting to catch fish as we cross from the colder to the warmer months. First outing was on the Central Coast around Wagstaffe/Hardys Bay out of a small tinny. I was flicking soft plastics around the shallows hoping to pick up some flatties . Tried the usual spot near the entrance to Hardys Bay but all I managed was one small one after a couple of hours drifting the edge of the flats. I then trolled with a diver across the flats towards Half Tide Rocks but no takers, then spotted an area near the rocks I hadn't fished for years. By then it was bottom of the tide so wasn't getting swept out to sea (!) and after only a couple of shots had a very hard hit from what turned out to be a decent flattie of around 45cm. Kept prospecting the area and within half an hour had three more aggressive strikes with 2 of these into the bag and the other throwing the hook after shaking his head near the boat. The secret seemed to be casting over the broken weed/sandy patches. All fish were very hungry and hit the squidgy wriggler 100ml like they hadn't had dinner for a long while! Next day I headed back home to the northern beaches and tried a new rock up the northern end of the peninsular for some drummer. The swell was low which made for safe and pleasant conditions but that never seems to suit the drummer who like plenty of wash. Gave it a crack anyway with steady handfuls of bread burley and cunji shells every 10 minutes or so. As the tide rose I had a down on the float and straight away new it was a good drummer with the typical hard surges heading towards cover. Unfortunately the hook fell out as sometimes happens if it is only stuck in their rows of rough teeth. Another hour of burleying and catching a few rubbish fish and finally hooked and landed a nice drummer of around 2kg. Then a rain squall came so time to head home. So maybe the last drummer for a while and hopefully the first feed of flathead for summer Cheers Phil

Hi JD I'm heading over to Mololo Lailai island next year myself (I assume that's the same island) . I'm staying in a house near Muscat Cove and while its not purely a fishing trip I'd like to fit in some fishing while there. Did you do a charter or try fishing from the shore there ? Was it lure or bait fishing ? Any info welcome as I'll need to work out what gear to take . I'll send you a PM as well in case you don't see this as its an old post. Cheers Phil