Phil

going to trawl live yakkas round south head for a king tomorrow

Go to the Longreef outcrop and fish the north side for some fine drummer and sambos (the usual tailor, bonito are there too).... Some guy a while ago claimed a 26kg kingy off there, couldn't believe the photo...but yeah, also the rocks between freshy and curl curl should suit..... You really shouldn't have any problems, the northern beaches are pretty gold for rock and beach fishing... Just avoid the and and you'll be set

Thanks alot fellas...in particular swordfisherman...... I'm stoked, shame there out of season though.. I mean, sure I love catching my kingies and jew but hairtail is a must, nothing quite like them. Thanks again, have to pass the time with a bit of the old combo.. .......................

hey all...I went for a solid night fish down the coal and candle way a couple of nights ago on a perfect full tide stocked to the max with fresh squid caught that morning.. Me and me mate fished some pilons, points and drop-offs near cottage point, no dice....It was set, text book approach for jewie, kingfish or hairtail...nothing, numero zero. The phosferesence in the water was amazing though ..could this have restricted their apetite.. How do you recommend I catch one of these narlie wrigglers of the sea (hairtail) ....My mate in particular is soo keen he almost shits himself with exitement in contemplating catching them ...Can you help us out...a couple of spots and techniques would be gold.. Thanks, Phil

I caught this squid the other day..It's around 31cm from tip to beak

live squid or fresh slimies....off the rocks cungi takes the cake though

I'm a new fella but would love to check out the action. got me own out fit, just lacking experiance on fly and could do with a couple of pointers

That sounds great Jocool.. for me, I'm going for a fish probably up appletree bay in Cowan..Monster falthead down that way (saw a fella on the canoe that must have been near 1.3-4 metres (MASSIVE) should be good...bream better be round this time Have a good one

First things first..you'll find that the practice your doing now will help you heaps when the fish start chewin properly.. The sqidgy's your using now are fine but I find the smaller the better when it somes to bream in particular (gold and green have done me well) (65-85mm). The best sp for bream however that takes the cake in all departments is the humble 3inch bass minnow. Many a fish will be caught on this fella (now in red yellow and of course the classic green) give these fellas a go and hopefully change your luck. Another problem may be your technique. Be careful not to quicken up in a retrive. Give you lure a couple of lifts (or one jig and then let it settle for a second or two on the bottom and repeat). Every now and then just leave it there on the bottom for and while and the bream will come to you (after the lures initial action of dropping down). Also, if the fish is biting your lure, don't strike to early, hold your own and wait to feel a bit of weight (as with sps the fish will keep on coming back for more). At the moment however, if the fish arn't bitting, practice (for later) dropping that cast as close as you can to the shore line (very close..). After all this effort there's bound to be a result followed by even more great fishing. Also feel confident about your spots whether there oyster encrusted pilons, warfs/mariners, rocky drop offs, or oyster farms , stay strong! As for the scent issue, like the other guys, I think its pretty hard to tell, but you'll be fine without it. Most to all the packets are scented anyway and if the scent was to hang around it would already be doing soo. If ya worried, don't worry about these expensive gells but dunk the fella back into the packet he came out of. I also think that sp's are great and that the feel/touch, look and action have already convinced the fish befor they give it a smell. And who knows, maybe scent is a double edged sword and detracts the fish from the lure? Stay with it, sp's are great and will work for ya..

I give you a quick few places to fish.. 1. bantry bay from the shore. There's a bush track which leads down there from Seaforth oval (just befor Wakehurst parkway). Fish from the 100metres or so of shoreline and you will be sweet with flatty's, bream in particular on plastics, flounder occassionally, and john dory on live yellowtails (rigged under a float is the best option). 2. If you go to the spit bridge, go on the manly/northern side and walk down a track on the eastern/southern side. On the track there will be several detouring tracks which will lead to handy spots. I usually take the first side path on the right but they all lead to good areas where I have caught various fish. Also there is a good yabby bay at low and high tide and plenty of squid to catch (if your a clamari fan) (thanks to the weed and kelp beds). 3. Middle head is an amazing spot, no one goes there its beautiful and extensive and has heaps (and I mean heaps) of fish.. I fish the northern side. To get down there go to the fort at the end of the head land and you will see various paths to follow, take the end two (preferably the 1st which goes through some bush then onto a chain down to te spot. This is an extremely successful spot with schools of luderic (black fish) and drummer roaming the ledges, schools of kingfish (when in season darting after schools of gar), groper by the buckets and crazy bream when on the chew. All the luderic and drummer are kilo plus and fight hard so bring a long rod (beach rod or heavy fly rod with egg beater attached). An average 2 hour session can result in 9 + fish and the action is on the edge stuff. Also you can do some casting with metals and catch tailor, bonito and sambos to name a few. Also a couple of seals own the spot so they cruise by every now and then. However, the cliff to get down is not too bad as long as your very careful and take someone else. My best friend that I've been fishing with for 10 years and I went fishing there on July the 3rd and he slipped in a freak accident at the top and fell down a gutter and died. His name was Martin Jennings and wa a keen member of this site to see what was going on. Me and Mart had been to the same spot hundreds of times befor for years. So just remember, anything can happen so be extremely cautious. However don't be detered by this, it was a freak accident and I want others to enjoy the spot as much as me and mart did. The best bait is provided for you and is cabbage weed off the barnicles on the ledge (easy access at low tide and cungi which is every where on the rocks (but can be stubborn in getting off). Use this bait under a small float (chanmpaign cork or wine cork) and leave a metre or so of line and put a small (size 4 or 6) longshank on the end and place the bait on that. (Luderic are best caught with the cabbage weed). 4. There is also a spot down the south/east end of balmoral beach. You have to crawl through a fence (with a hole in it) and then can fish from the scout ramp of the rocks. This was an AMAZING squid spot once but is still good (I accidently overfished it, my bad). Flathead here are crazy, big, strong and plentiful with a gaped hook (or anything else) and a reasonable cast you will be sweet. Soo there you go, a couple of handy spots, if ya ever need more around sydney just give us a bell. cyas oh and by the way, I'm Phil Martin and