changa

All the gear, Before i start, let me ask you? how many Jews have you weighed on CERTIFIED SCALES? and whats your biggest Jew? My biggest is only 32kg, caught in the hawkesbury. I have caught many jews and was point scorer for our club(based on the hawkesbury) for years. I also am at the scales of the HAWKESBURY CLASSIC where we get many big jews come in. I have weighed and witnessed HUNDREDS of jews over the years. I did note that a very good mate of mine that also has caught heaps of Jews, had a similar weight esitmate to me. so, your turn. changa ps. I will admit one thing, pics never do fish justice.

Id say between 11 and 12 kgs depending on thickness(which pics dont really show). changa

Any large fish should be gaffed where the best holding ability is and also be able to stop it swimming. In the shoulder is the best place and use a gaff with a gape just under half the fishes width ideally. only time you would ever lip or jaw gafdf a jew is if you want to release it after capture. A good 4" gaff usually covers most jews but its always good to have a spare as you sometimes could do with 2 gaffs. changa

I have a comp on sunday so i will ba takin my son out to chase some pelagics on 2-3kg and SP's. Nothing better than quadruple or quintuple hookups on 2-3kg gear.....its a blast!! changa

Ken, right of you to edit my post. Didnt know that you had other Gamefish lure manufacturers as sponsors. ABA sells the lures.I dont see the problem as i was working for the manufacturer. I would have thought that having the name out there would only help ABA sell more of the product. I have been in retail for 24 years and Agricultural shows etc all have manufacturers selling product as well as promoting. Its the promotion that helps my business in the long run. I actually dont get paid at the boat show,but give up a day a year to help them at the boat show as they help us lots with sonsoring chairty comps. Also, what happens if people from this site cant shop at some sponsors outlets? should they just not buy that product or just forget about it ? Also, if a mate of mine builds my custom rods, are you saying that unless i ditch my mate to support a sponsor that i should not post here?. Anyways, not to worry. All you had to do was send a PM and it would have been rectified in a jiffy Sorry to all those that PM'd me etc. Thanks to all that came down and said hello and got a bargain...good for you all! changa

To all of those going to the boat show this weekend, and looking for some good buys, come introduce yourself to me. I will be on a non site sponsors stand on Saturday and i will make sure that fishraiders are looked after well. I will rig lures for you also if you like. Want any help with lures or rigs etc, come see us. FOr those that cant get there on Saturday, Fishcrazy will be there on Sunday. cheers changa Removed non site sponsor add -Ken A

hahahahahah, you had to spill the beans Bung...........lol we used to do a lot of spearing there. great squid off the rocks and some good crays. Also lots of other good eating fish. changa

I used to holiday at Elizabeth beach (pacific palms) every holidays for years. The lake has some great crabbing but as others have said is quite shallow. We used to water ski it a lot and aciddentaly fall off right next to the commercial crab pots lizzy & Shelly beach is great for live beach worms, some good gutters at blueys, boomerang and also soledo(at sandbar). I would definately go with Dragged's option of tuncurry tourist park(or similar) Forter will produce much more that your averabe beach haul this time of year and the park is supposed to be beautiful. changa

Nicely released twinfisher.......great catch, and i bet that big girl is happy she is still swimming rather than ending up deep fried. Think of how many more little flatties she can have now because of you releasing her. Just think, because of you, there could well be thousands upon thousands of more flathead about in years to come Anyone that releases a PB fish is a great person. good on ya twinfisher changa

Ken, only cheap knives i have on my boat are in the holsters on the bait board(yes, you know why Ken) For those that dont.....they are the ones that constantly go overboard when you have your MATES on board . As for what i use, When i go fishing, i always take my knife block which consists of a good array of knives. I have some victorinox knives for skinning and boning. I also have some Dexter Russels for large filleting. I also have some Large knives i use for cutting thru backbones or hard skin like big dollies and marlin etc that were made by SMART and were very expensive when i was in food industry 15yrs ago. Best knives i have used for comfort and edge holding is definately Dexter Russells though changa

Nice bait there bung. looks like the rocks at blue hole SWR.(always good rainbows there too). Whatck that baby out on a balloon and watch it go...........lol Red, Why dont you just collect them and wear that lovely gold marlin pendant (sheeeeez!!!.......i know what id have on.......) changa

Chris, you are right, but he was new to bottom bashing browns...........lol changa

I took some NEWBIES out for a day in seach of FIn and a spot of bottom bashing browns pretty poor results. The bottom fish were not on the chew and the fin were very very scarce. The newbies had fun on some striped tuna and some nice bottom fish. We managed a nice blue eye, and 3 nice gemmys and a couple of perch. thats about it. Not too exciting, hopefully the fin will be back soon. changa

Sushimi can be absolutely beautiful, the key for new people is to let them know it does not taste like raw meat In asian countries, the tuna that gets the highest price, has the most FAT content. When making sushimi, especially out of tunas, the BELLY FLAP has the highest fat content and also fetches the most $$$$$ for this reason. Some tricks to having nice sushimi: Take your chosen piece of fish that you wish to slice up and place it in the freezer. Dont leave it too long, you only want it to firm up, and not freeze. Once it is firm, take it out of the freezer and slice it very THIN. The firming process makes this much easier that trying to cut it when not firm. Once it is cut you arrange on a plate ready to serve When serving, i have a bunch of toothpicks in the centre of plate and 3 different small bowls. One has fresh lemon juice. One had Soy sauce. One has a mixture of Soy and WASABI(mega hot paste) I also dot some small amouts all around the top of the soy bowl. Take your piece of sushimi, dip it into the lemon. The longer you leave it, the more it will be cooked by the lemon juice. You can actually see the meat cooking in front of your eyes. This sets those at ease that shy at the thought of raw stuff. Then take it out of the lemon juice and dip it into the soy or other mix or one of the other suggestions above. YUMMO!!!!!!!! There is not many that wont like it, even my kids hook right into it changa

The fish is a common ESTUARY CATFISH. They are very prolific in the hawkesbury, especially in silty areas like under bridges etc. The EEL TAILED CATFISH is a freshwater species, with a very different body shape. The tail virtually starts where the body is(they look like they have all tail and NO body) and they are much flatter across the tail section VERTICALLY. Anyways, catties LOVE prawns.....if i am fishing for jew and i catch a cattie or two, i move..............i dislike them with a bit of a passion changa

Hey mate, the weather will be great untill i hit the water(as usual ) I will probably head to browns or beyond. The wiring is finally sorted(i think....had a few teething probs with things being left off like SOUNDER POWER and the likes ) Anyways, the new riggers and re enforced roof is all sweet. Gimme a yell when you are out.Whats your boats name again ? changa

I will be ducking out for a half day on sunday looking for fin out wide. I havnt been out for ages off sydney so i am pumped. Whatever the weather, i will be out there(given that its under 30knts and 3m seas ) see yas out there changa

Reckless, the problem with blues is that they can be 80 kg and the next one can be 250kg or bigger. People fear losing fish so they fish heavier gear and big blues do demand respect. Im sure you will encounter some run in's and have success on 24 kg if a biggin doesnt spool you. I have a mate who is just about to sell some gear that im sure will interest you. PM me and i will put you in touch with him. changa

Simon, as you would know, blues are found more commonly from 100fath out. More so around structure like canyons etc. Blues respond well to lures and eat much cleaner than stripes resulting in better hook up ratios, but they do go like frieght trains and can and DO get very big. because of this, they can empty 1000M of 50lb line in no time. Most people target them with 37kg line or more but many get caught on 30 & 50lb line too(as well as many more lost.....lol) A spread of larger than your average lures works well and they do like the TEASE of a lure. This is why they are so easy to SWITCHBAIT to. What sort of boat is your mate gettintg? what sort of gear you thinking of using? changa

My boat is a REBEL sportsfish 6.4. but when i measure it it measures 22ft (6.6) without pod or bow sprit Its being shipped up to Cairns this spring and we are fishing for GIANT BLACKS out of it on 80lb stand up tackle, living 80km out on the ribbons. Im getting so excited. i will see if i can load a better picture here. changa

Knapers, only too happy to have you on board mate. I especially love marlin virgins as there is no better thing than to have many beers with a new marlin angler and sit and talk about the day at sea with them. I think i have helped 6 virgins get their first this season(maybe 7) and i dont know how many over the past 10 years, but it just gets better every time. I think its because its nothing like a charter. On my boat you are involved with everything. People get shy about having newbies tag or trace on their boats. For me, if they are not going to learn faster with me there, then when are they going to?? When it warms up again Knapers, you are more than welcome. changa

Lee, with all due respect to you as a fisherman, i dont agree with any of the points above. I will explain why. I have been fishing for marlin for quite some time and have caught hundreds on my trailerboat as well as other large gamefish like Fin and dollies etc. Baits does not always outfish lures. The only time bait fishing is good is when you know that marlin are concentrated in a certain area, be it little blacks in 10fath or blacks and stripes scoffing bait balls out at the car park in 80 odd fath. In the height of the summer season, when bait is stacked, you just KNOW the marlin are goin gto be there, its just a matter of catch bait, bridle them up, and stay in the area where the bait is and you WILL get luck eventually. Skipping baits is a good idea, but preperation is sometime a problem on small trailerboats. It is also not a live bait so the only thing that attracts the marlin is the splash from the SKIP. In essence, if you use the correct lure, you should have the same or similar success without the preperation. As autumn comes around and the water cools and baitfish are not so prevalant, and the blacks have moved on, stripes and blues become the target. Travelling 50km out to the shelf at port sees you cover a lot of ground and as marlin cruise the top 5% of the water collumn for 95% of their time, trolling lures is the best choice to SEARCH for fish or good water or bait with the chance of hooking on out of the blue whilst looking. I would love a dollar for every marlin i have caught whilst trolling out to my fishing grounds. I would also love a dollar for every marlin we have caught by sounding bait and working the area with lures only to have the marlin come up for a look and snatch our lure. The biggest fish to come out of Port Stephens have also been on lures. As for your moral to the story, Big dollies eat baits with ease and some of our bigger fish (15kg+) have mostly come from baits. I have also caught many longtails on lures whilst marlin fishing but never one on a bait(not saying that lures are best here, just a co incidence ) Most important is to KNOW what your target is, KNOW that the fish you seek has a very good chance of being where you want to go, and most important of all is to HAVE A PLAN. If you do that, and put some time in, you WILL come out with many nice marlin(given you have appropriate tackle of course). cheers changa

Are you talking about Dalbora marina at Nelson bay or the anchorage ? There is always big bream in places like that coz most big boaters cant be stuffed droppin a line in after catching big fish all day Also, they have so much cover its just one huge floating reef which = lots of food for them etc. changa

Knapers, lots of livies at the southern side of the heads(tomaree head). place there called 'MRS MURPHYS' (you wont miss the big crack in the rock wall ). Of late the slimeys have not been huge but they are abundant and worth the look. Otherwise, cabbage tree Is has bait on the SW side as well as the NE side usually. Kings at Broughton are best caught on slow trolled livies. You usually only get rats on lures up there. As for the LIVIES Vs LURES debate, they are 2 completely different styles of fishing that are used at different times. Eg. If i was to fish Port at the moment when the little blacks are NOT abundant, and the bait does not seem to be stacked up like it was in feb/mar , i would be pulling lures out wide for blues/stripes at places like the CAR PARK or newcastle Canyons. If i was to locate a good stack of bait whilst trolling, depending on what the bait looked like on the sounder would depend whether or not i would switch to livies. You can tell if bait is being fed on or if it is just holding down below. Some people sit all day on a bait school only to find there was no predators feeding on it and they go fishless all day. When the little blacks are in numbers, they LOVE to ambush bait schools in numbers and they will stick where the bait is day in day out. In that scenario, bait fishing will always get more fish. I have fished with Ross Hunter and he DOES use lures. He is a smart fisherman and knows that bait is not always the right choice. He Uses the mighty LUMO sprocket a lot, also uses skipping Gars, sometimes a rigged squid. For me, at this time of year, the prospect of hooking a big blue will over take my mind and i will bypass little blacks or stripes just to get one blue. Blues love lures, and eat cleanly, unlike stripes. The chance of bi catch of some nice fin this time of year is also high and i know of a few good ones caught of late on lures. I dont know what tackle you are using so i wont recommend what to pull behind your boat except to say that medium sized lures would be the best bet. I was thinking of fishing Port myself this weekend, but my electronics are still giving me grief and being 50km out without communications isnt my idea of feeling safe. If i get it sorted, im outta here. changa

Rob, Check this out. Tim is a mate of mine and a great operator. I have fished cairns heavy tackle on this boats for a couple of seasons and have also tee'd up another session for the future. The boat is AWESOME and he is a top fella. I was just talking to him about available dates and due to the fact he just got back from FLORIDA he has some vacancies. I would prefer this boat over many any day of the week. heres his web site and detailsTRADITION CHARTERS changa ps. If you tell him changa told you to call, i assure you he will look after you on service and better still........PRICE !!!