Fuj

Some top fishing there Tom, great photos too... it just fired me up to hit the Port and get some for myself, hopefully mid-week. Assuming that you used weed, was it sourced from the Hacking or did you have to get it elsewhere? Fuj.

untitled.bmpuntitled.bmpHowdy Raiders, Got this sent to me.... as with all fishy tales there is some doubt but pictures are worth a thousand words. May have been posted before....... Had to reduce picture size, hope it's not too small...... Fuj. A guy who lives at Lake Macquarie (50 miles north of Gosford) here in NSW Australia saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in the lake and went to investigate. It turned out to be a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!! The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The bloke tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish. You probably wouldn't have believed this, if you hadn't seen the following pictures...

Howdy Dave, Now that I've got myself a boat I can give up some other landbased possies in Port Hacking. End of Gannons Rd, dirt path to water opposite Dolans Bay; best on run-out Gymea Bay Baths; good spot for your bread & butter fish plus heaps of squid. Burraneer Bay sailing club(?) abandoned site off Shell Rd. Gunamatta Bay; wharf off Lugano Ave. Any of Cronulla beaches. Best of luck. Fuj.

Nice work there penguin. Nothing beats fresh fish, tastes better when u catch them yourself. Fish on. fuj.

Not wrong there Ben, mum and dad were arguing whether to do raw or tataki style (seared for couple min then straight into ice cold water, slice into pieces with grated ginger and shallots & soy). Mum used to own a Japanese restaurant.... she won the argument! You have to kill, bleed and ice the fish 4 best results I reckon. Cheers, Fuj.

Howdy Raiders, Hit the beloved Port Hacking, still getting used to the boat after getting my lisence first go... there's a link on the nsw maritime website where u can do the test, again&again&again&..... I did book a 1/2 day course but the slackers cancelled it without notifying me! Lucky I checked the day before, and booked the test with maritimes, 2 hours later... gold... I digress. Anyrate, started early with sum chummy trail near South West Arm and managed a solitary slimey! Threw it back out with a piercing and whammo... new Penn set-up does it's job and the braid starts taking off. Hoping for a kingy, it gave up like a Pommy tailender and a psycho Bonito jumps in. As soom as they came, they were gone, along with the slimies. The pickers soon attacked en-masse and I busted out of there. The wind came in so I seeked some shelter in Gymea Bay, picking up plenty of legal stuff but kept the biggest snapper and whiting. Took it back for the fam, sashimi bonito and bbq'd the rest, yum. The Port is awesome when everyone's back to work, hardly anyone out there. Fuj.

Unlucky there Johnno, you sound like u deserve the mutha of all Jewfish went it comes! Still, I'm sure it was fun fishing with your bro. Can u use pike eels as live bait for Jews? Fuj.

Nice catch there Wildfish. I'm surprised you did'nt pull up a flatty in that area, I've caught numerous 60cm+ flatties in that narrow channel from the shore (near wharf off Lugano Ave). All on soft plastics, try to catch it on the run-out tide as it seems to be the best time. Also, if u pumped those nippers yourself at low tide go back and hit the same spot on the run-in. Good luck! Seeya on the Port. Fuj.

Nice work Mr Shadow, four of a kind and king high..... I fold! Let's see if I can 'raise' a better hand tomorrow...... Fuj.

Nice catch there Byron, the best fun on light gear. As for the SPs for Trevally, I've caught them on the Gulp Pumpkinseed (the stinky stuff), just remember that they have softish mouth and can pull the hooks quite easily... I've lost some bigguns due to impatience ! Fuj.

That magic squid spray sounds like the goods. For those who want a good cheapo option, grab a prawn head and rub it all over the jig. Works everytime... where there's squid! Fuj.

Cheers Raiders. A Very welcoming site I've noticed and great tips and reports submitted by all. Hope to share more in the future. Fuj.

Howdy Raiders, First time poster so bear with me if I start woffling.... Bought my first boat over xmas, a little tinny to hit the bays and rivers. Thursday morning I decided to take my mate Rich fishing for his b'day and hopefully to christen my new boat with a fish or two. After smashing the goon bag over the bow we're off down the Port Hacking. 2nd cast at some rocky bank I scored a big hit which resulted in a nice bream, going a very healthy 38cm. That was on a Berkley dropshot smelt on 6lb gear. That was it for the next few hours as light showers came thru and things slowed right down. After a handful of throwbacks we decided to hit some pontoons and moored boats in and around the small bays. Working our way back to the ramp, we drifted along the shore at Grays Point. I drifted a prawn under one of these pontoons and was hit on the retrieve but did not hook up. Rich dropped his sp at the flash of fish and before u know it the drag started to sing........ and sing a sweet song indeed! The fish did about five runs, each time trying to head to the nearest mooring. Rich was handling the situation very well, resisting the fight without loosing his cool. By this time the fish had towed us a fair way and the extra weight took its toll, 10 minutes later a rat king hopped on board... a first for Rich! Coincidently he was using MY bream rod as his set-up had bird-nested just moments before the hook up!! (another coincidence, Rich bought me the reel for my 30th...). Still not bad on 6lb gear and the little Shimano Sahara handled well above it's weight. After a few snaps she was released to fight another day. I was surprised to see the kings so far upstream considering the rain we've had, but Port Hacking is all about surprises. Seeya's on the water! Fuj.