Fisherman5

Sup Guyz, Looking around for a downrigger for Chrissy. Looked at the Penn Fathom master 625 anyone ever used one and how do they compare to Scotty downriggers? Many thanks, Mitch

nice fish there mate, Congratz MItch

Sammy, I've used Green Fireline on my Shakespeare overhead for beach fishing mate and I found it to get worn out very quickly after two trips it turned white probably due to rubbing on the sand. I've changed over to Platypus green mono and find its great. Mitch

thanx mate sorry to be a pain but how much do the Berkley Minnows go for? I checked out some Sluggos yesterday and they seem quite expensive and the jig heads and worm hooks aren't cheap either Mitch

Mate went out on Sunday and found yakkas near Grotto point and the moored boats near the spit. We regulary hit the spit and burley up, there and a few hundred metres off the boat ramp at Wharf rd Mitch

Raiders, This upcoming season i'm looking to try something new. I'm sure most of us fishos have caught Dolphin fish on Pillies and Squirted lures. When we target them on Pillies we end up going through about 3 or 4 bags of Pillies so were are looking for a bit of a cheaper option. Soft plastics/ stick baits, I've had people recommend some brands to go with such as Mojos and Sluggos. Could anyone recommend how heavy my leader should be when using plastics and should it be normal nylon or go with Fluro carbon? Just one other thing when livebaiting for kings where would be the best spot on the livie to place the hook I normally place it just near the shoulder of the bait but i've heard of placing them through the nose of the bait would be a better option especially if trolling them. Many thankx, Mitch

Thankx heaps guyz , I thought 350m of 50lb was a bit pointless thanx again, mitch

HEy Guyz, Went out this morning with my Dad & grandad to see what was happening out at the Port Hacking FAD. We stopped off at Shark island for yakkas. Picked a near a dozen with ease. While hand lining for the yakkas too my amazement and dad and pops entertainment a small King came up our trail of bread and tuna oil and smashed my little green mustad hook and 3 lb handline out of nowhere. In seconds it was over while the two men were themselves to death after what they'd just witnessed. I wasn't, I was confused shocked and had 2 cut fingers LOL lucky it wasn't braid . Anywayz, The condtions were pretty crap on the way out to the FAD still not enough for us to turn back. Trolled for a bit, pop landed a small striped tuna which was his first so he was a very happy chappy LOL. Kept it for bait and a few minutes later my new Shimano spheros set off and I was ON. Another stripie about the same size but this one was released. The highlight was when dad hooked up to a stripie on 4 kilo he had a ball. Decided it was time to get right in close to the FAD. Very quiet burleyed hard not even an inquiry except by a weird looking trevally, pop reckons they are called cotton mouthed tevally or something. . We bottom bashed pretty close to the chain of the FAD for a few sweep and two good size leatherjackets. We duct in a bit closer, the conditions went quite calm. We found a fish trap closer in and fished the bottom for two Pigfish another Jacket and a legal red. As I was winding up a mado noticed a BIG DOLPHIN FISH following it up to the surface. It didn't seem interested in scoffing it it was just fidiling around with with the tail of the mado. As soon a.s dad grabbed another rod it was was gooone . Don't think i'm the only one who doesn't like mados LOL or the fish must of felt the weight of the snapper lead on the bottom of the rig.The fish would of been as big as my pop LOL no joke but then again he's a pretty short fella. Our last stop was outside jibbon bommie where we cleaned up on some reef fish two Mowies, quite a large Nannygai and a Flathead. Sorry about the long report raiderz LOL I get a bit excited sometimes but I guess there's nothing wrong about that Tally: 5 stripies, 3 leatherjackets, 2 mowes, 2 pigfish, 1 flattie, 1 nannygai, 1 weird trevally, 1 red and a rock cod, coz pop likes em. Thanx guyz, Mitch PS: There are pictures but i'm still having the same problems as the other day LOL

Good days effort man, Mitch

Guyz, 30lb or 50lb on a TLD 25? Reel will be used for targetting kings, Dolphin fish/ Bulls and Yft what do you guys think?

mate maybe I should take up guitar aye

Holy CRAP mate, congratulations. Those are a pair of BIG reddies and off Sydney Wohooooo Mitch

thankx for the kind words guyz . Am heading out tommorrow for round 2, any raiders going to be out there as well? Cheerz, Mitch

few hundred metres up current sorry guys* cheers guys, the temperature out at the Fad was 21.5 degrees. Will be out there tommorrow to have another crack at em Mitch

hi raiders, Went out yesterday with my dad and cousin off Broken Bay. We stopped off at the FAD and managed to land our first dolphin fish of the season. Any raiders interested, we spent a good 3 hours cubing with Pilchards moving right up close to the Fad to a few hundred kms up current without much luck. The only thing to make an appearance in the trail were leatherjackets. Caught three of them and moved a bit wider from the FAD. Tried trolling, jigging and even gave the fly rod a try without any sign of the fish. We began berlying up with the 1/2 bag of pilchards we had left and after 10 minutes of doing so a small pack of 4 Dolphin fish turned up. Dad hooked up to a fish 85cm and my cousins hooked up to a fish similar in size which spat the hooks a few feet from the boat. After the double hook up of fish dad and Brad hooked, it seemed to spook the fish and we didn't see any fish in the 45 minutes we spent there before heading back. SO RAIDERS the dollies are there it looks like hopefully they start to show up in larger numbers in the next few weeks. Have got pics have tried to post them up without much luck Anyone want to see them send us a Pm or email me on Da_mitch777@hotmail.com Mitch

Thanx mate, YEh that was the first time I've heard or seen the brand of the rod before aswell. All in all it doesn't look too bad, don't need a fully rollered rod to tangle with small beakies and Yft. The reel doesn't look to bad either the only problem it being a star drag and i'm afraid if I hook something in that category it will spin out. The tld 25 looks the go for me Mitch,

Thanks for your feedback guys. Its a nice easy FAD to get to for some fun on the Dollies especially on light gear. We visited it a few times back in season and as Netic said they weren't overly big they were still great fun and there were no shortage of them there. James- I'm pretty sure it was called the Sydney Harbour FAD I didn't even know it was there until last December when we were fishing at Whale south Reef and we stumbled across it. I think it's a great location for a FAD as If the Dollies are playing hard to get you can always fish the bottom for a feed of Reefies Cheerz, Mitch

no mate. They used to call it the Sydney Harbour FAD it was about 8km north east of North Head

Hey Raiders, My grandmother baught me a rod and reel combo the other day. The rod is a Markston Deep Reaper 15-24kg Fast Taper Game Rod without roller guiders or tip and the reels a sure Catch Deepwater OW 425 lever drag. I'm thinking of putting the reel on one of my bottom fishing rods and purchasing a tld 20 or 25 for the rod so I can take it out to Browns and the shelf. Do you reckon its the way to go or just leave the combo as it is. Any suggestions or info would be GREAT! Thanks Mitch,

Hen and Chicken Bay is great i've had good success lately on using those kokoda prawns in the gold and pink for lizards. This is a bit off the topic guys just wanted to know if theres a truth to the rumour I think it was last weekends Sunday paper said a few Kings are being caught around Cockatoo Island? Cheerz

Great effort guys!

Hi all, Just wanted to no if anyone new if they were going to deploy the Sydney Fad off Whale Beach? I've been monitoring the the fisheries website and still seems it hasn't been deployed . Just another question guys I'm purchasing a downrigger for christmas, how would I go downrigging for Dolphin fish? As I never seen it being done only on the Kingies. Thanks all Mitch

The surroundings itself still scare me lol. Dad and myself went down there right before Chrissy. Its soo narrow luckily the weather was quite pleasant when we were down there but would be a scarey site when its running. Mitchell

Hi Fletcherg1991 I fished the shoreline near Ocean street bridge with a few of my mates from about 10-3.00pm. Between the 3 of us we landed 5 Mullet, 4 on bread and one which my mate caught on fly and a 30cm Whiting. If your heading down there anytime soon i'd love catch up and have a fish.Mitchell

thanx m8, sure was