inhlanzi

G'day Raiders Had a great session yesterday. Went out just for a quick test of my new home made live bait tank and ah well just couldn't resist having a go for a Jewie. Had a livie down and I get quite a nice run. All goes quiet ...then agian... strike and bit of a struggle and up comes a real good flattie. Wanted to let him go but the hook was in the belly. Sorry flattie off to the barbie. Then I was reeling in a deadbait and got taken near the surface by a Bronze Whaler of about 1.5m. It went nuts on the surface and after a bit of a tussle got him the boat and got my hook back. You know when the blokes who know the ropes tell you - Don't fish with the "small" rod because that is the one that gets hit - well its true!!! Encouraged by the flattie I persist (I have been given a deadline by the to be home quite early) so just one more go as you do...then the 3500 and a small 4-6kg ugly stick takes off and goes nuts. Hell of a good tussle with the big bronze fish. The first run is something really special. Got him on deck and very pleased with myself and then the second rod takes a runner. Yahoooo another good few minutes struggle and I manage to bring this fish aboard. Not a lot of space left on the deck !!! I chuck out a new bait and barely 5 min later off goes the 3500 AGAIN!!!. A bigger fish than the other two and a 15 min struggle on the baitrunner. TIP: Do not gaff a Jewie in the head!!!!! I had been told not to do it and some how I did. Learned my lesson the hard way. A nice Jewie goooone. All in all this week the the fish Gods were very kind to me and I got to tangle with 3 nice jewies and a great flattie in a morning. The Jewies went 85+_ cm and one was much heavier than the other. Don't know the precise weights. Flattie was 80+ cm. Two on a 3500 baitrunner and one on a 6500. Cheers inhlanzi

Thanks for all the kind words Raiders and to reply to a few of you Jason Scerri - Yea mate will be great to catch up when you come down. Reel-em -in is not that bad - just bring your ear plugs!!! James - don't think I am qualified to comment on the baitrunner mode. I will give both a go and see what happens. I can see why you blokes go with the tight drag though. Locodave - "Luckily we saw the odd Tern ..." That means we saw some birds ( the Tern is the one with the pointy wings and the back cap on his head and a much better hunter than a seagull ) working the bait fish which were smallish whitebait. Sometimes you get lucky and find a scool of tailor or salmon or slimey mackerel feeding and you can catch a lot quickley wih a small silver slice. We were using Yakka and Tailor ( Live and dead ). Wish I had some mullet! I saw a few at the boat ramp and was very tempted to use my sarmies to get a few. As far as spots go I think once we have met you and got to know you, you will find there will be a lot of sharing of spots. I think that finding your own Jewie spot is half the game. Study the system and look for the holes and the eddies and if possible try and think like a fish! I can tell you half a dozen spots but you have to learn how to fish them. The blokes who taught me used to laugh at how I fished those spots. But by trial and error you learn and can get there. cheers inhlanzi

Hey Donna Happy Birthday! Hope you had a great day. Cheers inhlanzi

Thanks for the good words Raiders pk-fishn - not totally sure but he measured a meter and I would say 8 to 9 kilos MallacootaPete - Just hang in there mate and they will come. Wayno kept telling me that and it has proved to be very true. Jason Scerri - I will do my best to catch up with you blokes on that weekend. If Johan is with you he will show you the ropes I am sure. Just be warned the bugger snores!! James - Yea I was freaking with it on baitrunner mode. Most of the Jewie fishos I know don't fish like that at all and have a good strong drag. That is what makes fishing so damn interesting is that everyone has a different way of doing things. I tell ya when it clicked over from baitrunner mode that first thump is amazing. I trust you are having a much better week that last week! cheers inhlanzi

G'day Raiders I find myself a very lucky bloke at the moment. As some of you know I have been after the big Jewie for a long a while now and in recent weeks I have managed to get 2 over 5 kilo. Here is this weekends story. My mate reel-em-in has recently sold his boat, yea "Reel-em-in", and now he is like a cat on a hot tin roof - wanting to go out and fish as much as he can. Those of you who have sold a boat will know what I mean. He calls me during the week and says the tides are looking great for Friday night an Saturday morning and of course I need little or no persuasion to get out - so plans are quickly made for the weekend. We set out from Appletree on Friday afternoon late and go to try and find some livies. Put the bait jigs down and not much was happening. Luckily we saw the odd Tern working so up the anchor and off to investigate. Yup a school of Tailor smashing into small fry. Out with the silver slices and soon we had enough for the evening tide. Great start. All rods were set out and we waited, and waited waited. Now I love this part of Jew fishing as you get time to just sit and absorb the great beauty and the sounds of the estuary as the sun sets and the moon and the stars come out. The whole landscape changes and you become aware of the night sounds. At this point I must explain to you that Reel-em-in has caught a fair few Jewies in his day his biggest going to 28 kilo. He was, in his younger days, a commercial fisho and got stuck into over a 100 ( yes hundred ) 10 kilo plus jewies in one night and then repeated the feat the next night. So my point is here is a bloke who has caught a few. Now to sit there on the water have a few beers and jabber about Jewie stories and techniques is a great way to spend a Friday night. I must mention that one of his Jewie TOP secrets is that you must suck on a few Tooheys News and be listening to Gosford Country Hits while you fish...hmmmm?? We fished late into the night and an only one small run to talk of and then a bit of a southerly came up to add to the chill factor. After the turn of the tide we moved of to the safety of refuge bay and moored up amongst the yachties. One of the yachtie ladies was head to say "What on earth is that noise? It's coming from that small boat over there..." So for those of you who know Reel-em-in will know he can fish but I reckon he can snore better!!!! Now my boat is a centre console so there is little or no protection from the cold night breezes. I have to say I was very cold and eventually wrapped my self up in the "V" sheet and used it as a windbreak. A few slugs of sherry and I was gone. Before the birds have a chance to say anything we leave the mooring at 04h30 and straight back to the run out spot. Used dead bait till we caught a few live yakka. We had two big and two small rods out. It was about now that I would kill for a hot cup of coffee and I get a call from a mate who is on the water asking where we are. "Mate" I said "you wouldn't have a flask of coffe with ya, would ya?". "Sure I do" he says. Thanks Herman that was a real treat after the long cold night. As the sun started to make us warmer Reel-em-in and I were just talking about how many Bream we would have caught by now and how the fishing seems to have got a lot harder. His small rod goes off and he lands a thumper Bream of about 40cm! So we deduced that there are less but they are bigger! I then said something about wishing I could catch a nice Jewie and he said "Mate if there is a Jewie around here he will nail that livie you have got out there." As if by magic, at the bottom of the tide, my big rod ( 6500b on a 7' ugly stick ), on baitrunner mode, starts to RUN... The run is long and steady and the temptation to grab the rod is huge..."Leave it, leave it!" he says as the line peels off. That is such a good sound. Reel-em-in quickly clears the rods on the starboard side and then he says "Ok give it stick". Out the rod holder and bang, ON! That first strong run is just a great feeling thumping and bumping and the reel going off - it is what it's all about. Time just vanished and after a while the great silver bronze shape emerges from the depths. Wow. This is the part where your heart starts to go into overdrive. The big fish decides he's not finished yet and takes off under the boat, zzz, zzz, zzz, and your heart is really racing. I could feel at this point he is run over some reef and I am just praying I can get him off. Good steady pressure and the line comes off the obstacle. I know I have a good chance to land him now. More struggle to get him back to the surface. The wide orange mouth and the big Jewel spots glinting in the sun, what a sight. Nice and easy, steady steady and whack in goes the gaff and up and over the rails and into the boat. Yes! High fives and big big smiles. We done it! we done it! Now Reel-em-in has to go back as he is off on a long weekend with his family so pull up and back to Appletreeby 10h00. I thought I was happy last week but this week I am even happier and I can't wait to be able to get out again to chase those big bronze and silver fish... Sitting here writing this post I realise how lucky I am. I have a special wife who has lets me pursue my passion. I am also lucky enough to have two great teachers in Wayno and Reel-em-in who have given me lots of their time and encouragement and been willing to impart their skills and wealth of knowledge to me. Thanks boys I really appreciate it. The fact that you can share these special moments with mates is I think what fishing and, to a large degree, what life is all about. Have a passion...pursue it, enjoy it and be happy! cheers inhlanzi

To Mick and Mick from another Mick That is a vey fine jewie - nice and fat. There will be some good cutlets to come off this fish. Well done fellas especially from the beach and at night. Cheers inhlanzi

Hey Johnno Have a look at the SARCA anchor. Sand and Rock/Reef combination anchor Here is the URL for the Australian site http://www.anchorright.net/index.php?id=aus I bought a no 2 recently and it has been really great. My boat is fibregalss 5.3m I used to use the normal sand anchors and a reef anchor. I now only use the SARCA but it is wise to always carry a spare. Go and have a look at their website and there is an excellent movie on the whole concept. I have no affiliation to this company whatsoever. Just a good and clever product well worth a mention. Cheers inhlanzi

Hey James I feel for you mate what a crap weekend. Next time come hang with us lot fishing for the jews in th river. You are gonna need some new rods, what are you going to get? Seeing that 6500 and the texie go must break your heart. Jeez thats like $500 plus down the gurgler. Mate, your week can only get better from here... cheers inhlanzi

Ross you should have seen it was a struggle just to get up the channel from Juno and we were in before the real big blow. There were some cars smashed by falling tree branches on the Brooklyn Road I bet the poor SES blokes are flat out tonight. cheers inhlanzi

Very nice fish there zenman well done. Awsome off the beach! May I ask what reel you were using? cheers inhlanzi

Rick Its the biggest I have seen in along time. Would hate to have been outside today. You know its real bad when you get waves in Parsley Bay!!! cheer inhlanzi

G'day Raiders Well what a way to end off the week. The darling gave me leave to spend the night on the water. So packed the boat furiously on friday night while trying to keep up with the Broncos and the Doggies match. Left early Sat morning and met up with a good mate and Wayne at the ramp. Armed with at least 8 good jewie rods between the three of us we headed out. Went straight to a run in spot. Fished the tide and no luck. Moved onto spot no two and caught a few livies. Put some down and waited. Long story short - another mate and his wife have pulled up alongside for a yabber and then my rod goes off. Could not believe my luck. After a short but strong fight we got a 5.2kg 76cm jewie in the boat. Yahoooo. A good fat fish much better than the one on Tuesday. That was me done for the weekend! Wayne later got a very nice Flathead around the 5 kilo mark. We ate well, drank well and just had a bloody good time in company of mates. Slept out on the water on Saturday night. Still a bit too cold but you got to love it when you get woken at 5 ish by the Sea Hawk whistle and all you have to do to start fishing is cast your lines in. My mate nailed a nice little Hairtail and continued to fish the tides for more Jewies but alas none more to be found. We ( That is four of us on two boats ) continued to fish through to the big blow on Sunday and then headed home. Had 30 to 40 knott westerly to contend with on the way home and I reckon it just got worse into the afternoon. Washed the boat and cleaned all the gear and the fish. Had 1 inch thick Jewie cutlets grilled in butter and a green salad for dinner!!! Yum yum yum I like this Jewie fishing. If you consider that we had at least 8 dedicated Jewie rods out in three different spots for at least 24 hours and only got one Jewie it shows you what kind of time and effort is needed to get the amazing fish. Hey all in all the end of this week sees me a very happy camper with two 5kg jewies. After months of trying it has finally happened! cheers inhlanzi

Wow Raiders Thanks very much for all the good words. You got to love this medium, you have a great day fishing and then you are able to share it with 100s of other fishos and Jewnuts out there in cyberspace. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site especially in Ken's articles and then you get a bloke like Wayne who will go out of his way to steer you in the right direction with all his knowlledge and all his help. Thanks mate and hope this is the start of a really good season. Hey James I still have he 50cm soapie in my freezer with teethmarks and all. The sight of him in the bigguns mouth keeps me awake at night! cheers inhlanzi

G'day Raiders I havn't posted for a while but here is a long one. Now as some of you know I have been trying to get a decent size Jewie for a while now and have had not much luck. In my quest to catch one of these amazing fish I have read heaps and asked a lot of questions. On Fishraider I met a bloke called Wayne and he has gone out of his way to teach me how he goes about catching big Jewies. Wayne has amased me as to the kind of tackle, bait and hours that are required to catch these fish. I like to think I am a fairly good fisho but I learned a whole new world of the Jewie Fisherman. I have learned about tides, knots, leaders, rods, reels, line, hooks, eskies, bait preparation, rod holders, rigs, sinkers, anchoring, boat accessories, moon phases, bait, bait rigs, gaffs, livie wells, things to do and things not to do. I spent two days and a night out on the water in his boat and got to experience the Hawkesbury at its best. There was a lot of rain about and thus not many people about so we had the place pretty much to ourseves. We didn't get any fish but I sure learned heaps. His boat is specially kitted for jew fishing only!!! In the last few weeks I have had a couple of close calls with these big fish and have come off second best. Two weeks ago I hooked a soapie of about 50 cm on a live squid and he got nialed on the way up by a big Jew and as the light was almost gone I realised something had my fish! I didn't realise it was a BIG FELLA and proceeded to yank the soapie out of its mouth. He then turned under the boat and I saw he big pearl spots go under the motor. I just stood there and could not belive what I had just witnessed. The soapie had come to the surface belly up in the big ones mouth!!! and then I yanked him out. The good part was I had found them and I had seen one! ... a big one! Last week I hooked a very nice fish on a livie and got it up to the side of the boat and I was going for the gaff and the big fella just looked at me shook his head the hooks came out and off he went. So close - but it left me in no doubt I had a chance... So to this week...well yesterday turned out to be just one of those fanastic days out on the Hawkesbury. The weather was awsome - minimal wind, nice and warm, got a bucket full of livies - yakkas and tailor and even a nice squid. I bought a new Baitrunner on Saturday and it was on the rod that got hit. The rod buckled and then that special sound of the Baitrunner going off!!! ( Those of you who fish with them will know what I mean... ) After my recent near misses I tried to stay calm and just played the fish a best I could. The moment that the fish comes into sight and you know it is a decent Jew is something very special indeed. Now I told myself don't stuff this up - loosened the drag and reached for the gaff, as he rolled on his side under his back and wham in with the gaff. Up and in the boat. Yabloodyhooooo at last . Into the esky and on bottles of ice. Now he only weighed 5.5 kg and went 90cm which most Jewie Fishermen will tell you is a baby - but I was stoked. What has got me more excited is to imagine what a 10 or 20 or OMG what will a 30 kg fish do!!! I think the essence of fishing is to set out to catch a particular species of fish using a specific method. When you do this it is VERY rewarding. My new Jewfishing journey has been given a huge boost by the help and encouragement of a top bloke who knows his stuff and has been willing to share it. So to Wayne I know this is a small Jewie by your standards but a very special one to me. Thanks for all your help mate - it is really appreciated. cheers inhlanzi This is a 90 cm and I estimate about 5.5kg fish. He has been damaged by a seal or a shark I think but he made a good account of himself .

Hey James e-mail me your pics and I can resize them and send them back to you or post them for you if you like. Cheers inhlanzi

G'day Crawfo I agree with Harold read Kens articles - carefully. Maybe target one species at a time. If you follow his advise you can't go wrong. Put your reports in on the site after you have been out and tell us what you have done .There are a lot of very experienced raiders who will help you out. Cheers inhlanzi

Hey Flattieman Happy Bithday mate! Hope you have a great day. Keep up the good work as the resident fish Professor. Cheers inhlanzi

G'day Raiders I have a real mixed bag of rods and reels on my boat at the moment and I have decided to standardise my gear. Big Jewies is my main focus at the moment. I am looking at getting a couple of things Shimano Baitrunner 6500B ( x1 ) Shimano Baitrunner 3500B ( x1) Wilson Live Fibre Texalium 6'6" 10-15 KG Spin Rod ( x2 ) Wilson Live Fibre Texalium 6' 4-8 KG Spin Rod ( x2 ) Question is any suggestions as to where I can get a good deal. cheers inhlanzi

Big Jewie cheers inhlanzi

Good one Nettic Those look like some great gasbottles! I think you got in just in time before the big wind thats coming from the south! Well done cheers inhlanzi

Have you ever been stung by one and do you know what to do? In the light of the tragic death of Steve Erwin do you raiders know how to deal with a stingray puncture / spike / attack. I was unlucky enough to stand on one at Fishermans bay in the Hawkesbury. We were all sitting on the beach family and friends and having a great time and the boats were moored about 10 m out. My boat was starting to get a bit too close to one of the others so I thought I might just wade out and pick up the anchor and move it a few meters away. The water was murky and I could not see the bottom. I was about chest deep and as I was lifting the anchor rope and I felt a huge jolt to my left leg. I thought oh ^%$# a shark has got my leg. I leapt up onto the boat and saw my leg was still there - what the hell was that???!!. I looked down at my foot ( I had my fishing sandals on ) and saw a spurt of blood coming out the side. In a few seconds there was a second huge jolt of pain through my body. I pulled my sandal off and saw the puncture mark. I was telling my self to stay calm and I called one of my mates over and said to him I think I have been bitten by something. The pain got worse and I said "Mate I don't know what this is but we need to get to a Hospital quick!" We decided head for Appletree as fast as we could and the plan was to head to the Emergency at the San in Fox Valley in one of the cars. The pain was radical and I was starting to shudder and my mind was all over the place. The wound would not stop bleeding and I even tried to tie a rope around my leg to try and slow the blood flow. On the way in the car I called 123 on my mobile and I talked to the operator and he talked to me on the way to the hospital and we figured it must have beeen a stingray that got me. The wound started to go blue and purple around the edges and the blood just kept coming. The pain was getting worse and I reckon my body was in shock. Got to the Hospital and got to see the Doctor really quickly and lucky for me he was a venom specialist. He took one look and said "Ah yea stingray, nurse get him a bowl of hot water." Hot water! I thought I had totally lost it but thats what the treatment is. The nurse bought in a bowl of really hot water and she says put your other foot in the water. "What?" So I put my good foot in the water - Yea - its hot really hot!! Then she says put your bad foot in now. Pian gone instantly!!!! GONE GONE GONE Could not believe it. Just gone. Then off to X rays to see if there was any of the barb left inside the foot. Thankfully there was none. So if you get done by a stingray head for a hospital or a place where you can get really hot water. After this the wound has to be treated with lots of antiseptic and you have to have a tetanus injection as well. If you been stung by a stingray you will never complian about an injection needle again. My wound took about three weeks to heal. Be carefull in the Hawkesbury as there are lots of stingrays and big buggers too. At certain times of the year they can be found in quite large numbers at the entrance to bays usually on one side or the other. If you get them on your line treat them with respet and care. Usually I just cut the line and let them go. In my case my sandal saved me a hell of a lot of damage as the barb could not rip through the thick rubber sole so it just speared me. The wound was away from the heart and the brain and thus less shock to the system. I was also very lucky in that the barb did not break off and or stick in the bone. When this happens it has to be cut out asap and the wound takes even longer to heal. Poor Steve must have copped a hell of a shock to his system by being stung in the heart. We sure lost a great bloke yesterday and I hope that his legacy will be with us for a long time. Anyway I hope this story may be of some help to you all and a bit of a warning to be carefull out there. cheers inhlanzi

Finish up finising touches to woodwork after winter. Last of the 500hr service. Set carbies, lube prop shaft and replace anodes. Trailer and all its u-bloody bolts can wait a bit. Move anchor light to the bow area. Hope like hell to be on the water again after a 3 week break. starting to get a twitch... cheers inhlanzi

Thanks for the advise and help raiders. I have managed to get just about all I need except for one size of u-bolt. I need 12 of them. It is flat bottomed and is 43 mm between the legs and 75mm high and is 10mm thick. This one is needed to hold the wobbly roller cross bars onto the main swing arms. I got the rest of the U-Bolts with washers and nuts ($8 each) and leaf springs at Boeing Trailers in Parramatta. Very helpful bloke there. Got the high tensile bolts at Lee Brothers Bolts also Parramatta. Looks like St Marys will be the go for this oher wierd size. Thanks rzep and quinfish. cheers inhlanzi

Good one netic It was great to watch... I think you should change your name to Cucumber cause you are cool as... Cheers inhlanzi

Well done humesy I know the feeling nothing like a good shovelhead flattie to get the blood racing I got this one a few months back cheers inlanzi