CarlRak

Hey All, Just curious as to whether anyone could recommend any collections of fishing stories and/or books or particular authors? I quite enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction, but I suppose what I’m after is something a little fleshier than your average fishing magazine article or chapter in a “how-to” book. The aforementioned are great but while explaining variations on technique or a new location pique my interest, they leave me wanting. I’ve tried this question out at a few bookshops, both new and second-hand but in doing so I’m asking people that work in the book trade rather than fishermen. The usual responses I get are The Old Man and The Sea as well as The Life of Pi or a Tim Winton recommendation. If anyone has any suggestions I’d love to investigate, doesn’t have to be recent, or Australian, just something to help the imagination along. Cheers Carl

Wow, sounds like an awesome day out. Congrats on those fish.

Cheers mate, do you just put them in alone? No water?

Raiders, I’ve been on the bait acquisition bandwagon for the last couple of weeks and have a few questions about squid preservation that I thought you may be able to help with. To this point, I’ve been individually glad-wrapping the squid then covering them in foil to prevent freezer-burn. But noticed the post by Rafinx today, http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=57893, where the squid are bagged. So: 1. What’s the consensus on wrapping vs. bagging? 2. If bagging, does one try to seal them without air? Or is it better to bag and then freeze them in a solution of saltwater? 3. How long will the bait remain fresh-ish if properly handled using the above methods? 4. Is the bait less effective if the ink sack has burst during capture/preservation/baiting process? As always, much appreciated/many thanks. Carl

Very nice. Which end of the beach? How far up or down?

Mc Fishn, Cungee George, Mr Squidy......much appreciated.

Tony, Ha, I wish, my boss is certainly some kind of mentor or tormentor, depending on the day, but not the compadre. Really what you're saying is that I should be trying to find a bossy, fishing-tolerant girl who thinks it's cute that I use a pink rod? Thanks for the answers too. Carl

Raiders, Yesterday, between playing email banter with my boss, foraging for rogue swivels around my desk and considering what was for lunch I managed to organise a quick session for later in the evening with my fishing compadre “h00ked”. Clifton Gardens we agreed, neither of us had ventured there yet, but we thought it looked promising. Clifton Gardens we arrived. Clifton Gardens we burleyed. Clifton Gardens we baited. Clifton Gardens we waited. Nothing. Clifton Gardens, we were far from satiated. Plan B, Kirribilli. Out go the new squid jigs. In comes a cuttlefish. It’s cute, feisty and has some kind of emotional effect on us. Returned to the watery abyss. Glowing Yamashita jigs “recharged” by holding them right up against the fluorescent lighting of the old ferry wharf. 1st cast back, 1st jig and I can feel something heavy, wind wind, line peeling from the reel at great pace. I’m convinced that a fish has got my jig (thanks “tentonner”). Headed for the pylons, I think it’s all over. Compadre in my ear “keep the pressure on, keep the pressure on”. I’m keeping the pressure on. Up he comes, violent, aggressive, gives me the eye and squirts his dark inky load. Mr Squid, my first, a little monster. Post script questions if anyone feels like helping? 1. Are cuttlefish any good as bait? 2. Do cuttlefish and squid usually feed together? 3. What is optimum eating size for squid/calamari? Thanks.

Thanks all. Had a shot at it from the near the top of the tide last night, as it fell away, for a few hours with no luck. Fished a protected southern corner but think I need to repeat as the tide is running in rather than out (damn contsraints of work). All tips and comments noted.

Cheers gav, much appreciated.

Hi All, A mate and I are quite new to fishing but have certainly been hooked. Our enthusiasm day-to-day varies between feverish, completely preoccupied and "dude, chance of a new species, what are we waiting for?". 3-4 nights a week we manage to rug-up, gear-up and head-out to fumble our way through a new technique or the improvement of one. Idiots at play. Smiling our way through it. Of late we've been having most (well some) success off the beach at night. But each session has been during low/almost no swell. We're itching to give it another go over the next few days but considering the current conditions we had a few questions to ask, thinking the collective knowledge of users of this forum may be able to help? 1. We have been fishing on rising or full tides. Does a large swell affect which tide is productive? Is there an opportunity to fish a falling tide? 2. In a large swell, will usual gutters be productive or will the huge volumes of water rushing down these "highways" inhibit the bite? 3. Is afternoon fishing on a rising tide, but still sunny, worthwhile? My logic was that the abundance of whitewater covering a parallel-to-beach gutter would provide cover to species such as salmon(?). 4. Does the abundance of swell change the species we are likely to encounter? 5. Does swell period have much effect? E.g 4 metre swell on a 9 second period is quite different to 14 second period. 6. During low/no swell we've been using unweighted pilchards, or running ball on main line to swivel with approx. 60cm leader rigs. Does the bigger swell necessitate a new approach? 7. Are we hopelessly optimistic? Any help/tips/advice would be enormously appreciated. Thanks Carl

Much appreciated.

Hey all, Caught this little guy last night in the harbour. No idea what he is. Thought someone might be able to shed some light? Cheers