mottyman

Good on ya mate... I'd have killed for one of those today. Cheers David.

G'day guys and girls, We fished the Harbour today and had our own kingy social as a few others did. On board we had Geoff, Andy, Jon (paint stripper) and my good self. The conditions were actually splendid and very comfortable, but as others have said, totally respect the decision to cancel the social. It's just a shame the forcast was so wrong. We headed down the Harbour and loaded up with Yakkas in no time over near Watsons Bay but unfortunately couldn't get any squid which was a real shame. There were some very big slimies as well which we had a ball with. I put down a frozen squid on a sliding snell rig and it got hammered but I pulled the hooks shortly into the fight not long after I'd done the hard work of getting the fish of the bottom. I put down another squid and got hit again but no result and came back minced. Put down a livie in the spot where we were catching them for not a touch. Meanwhile, the live bait tank was being filled by Andy and Jon. They were catching them 6 at a time on the sabiki rigs. We then tried over near Balmoral and Middle Head for not much including livies swimming happily and finally found our way over to Clifton Gardens with a few other boats. Got on the pick and burley'd for heaps of flatties!! It was just about one bait one fish. We ended up with a good feed and Jon got a very nice Trevor. Of course the little reddies were there, Jon got a beautiful Gunard, Geoff a flounder as well as some big oversize slimies. We saw two small kings boated here but our livies continued to swim unharrassed. I was very disappointed with that I must say. I was so sure I'd convert at least one of the thousand yakka on board into a bigger fish. Anyway, we came home with a nice feed of fish for everyone on board and we all had a magnificent day with plenty of jokes and good natured digs. I'll throw up a pic of the catch when Geoff emails it to me. Cheers David. Happy Campers with a feed!

G'day, We fished as well. Couldn't find squid but the yakka were thick as in a couple of spots. Couldn't convert any of them to kings but got a great feed and saw two kings boated near us. Cheers David.

Thanks for info... I didn't realise the yaks were that wide. Sounds like any time you go out in a new craft, pick your day and take it easy till you know your craft and how it handles. Also sounds like once you get your "sea legs" you're good to go in conditions suitable to the craft. A bit of planning and the yak sounds like a great fishing platform. Cheers David. P.s I love the way the look with a couple of rods in the holders as well.

G'day again Yakman, I've never fished out of a yak but... How do you find it stability wise. What happens if you're fishing and get side on to some boat wash etc etc or a bit of a chop gets up... do you constantly feel like you're going to wind up in the drink??? Obviously you don't go out into the harbour with a 30 knot southerly blowing but how does it handle different conditions. Cheers David.

G'day mate, I fish 4lb fireline and 6lb spiderwire fusion on my bream and bass gear and its more than enough to handle the odd sambo and good size flattie I get so I reckon would handle what you're after no worries. I fish 4lb, 8lb and 12lb Vanish as leader material as the conditions dictate and what I'm after. I just love the stuff and in all the years I've used it I have never had it let me down once, even on good sized flatties. I'm careful tho, and keep their head under the water to stop them sawing me off before they're netted. Never lift their head clear before you have them in the net. The 4lb fireline has a much higher breaking strain than 4lb and casts like silk thread - I'd highly recommend it. Just don't overfill the spool and take it easy on the big casts when its new till it "breaks in" a bit. That will help reduce cast knots when the line is new. I've fished this way for ages and it all works well for me. Good luck with it all. Cheers David.

G'day Roy, I've got exactly the same lures from exactly the same the place... they're really, really good and dirt cheap as you say. Bass absoutely love the green with black stripes in the chubby model as well as the little poppers. You're actually the first person I've come across who's also using them. Keep going with them... they're great. Cheers,

Nice one Roy, I haven't been land based breaming in H&C for the best part of a year now... I'm on hols for a while yet so might pick a high tide and head down to abbotsford and have a throw with plastics. Cheers David.

G'day, Top ones a sweep.... Bottom ones an old boot (I think). Type of wrasse. EDIT, just had another look, don't think so... looks like a type of cod.. someone will know but the top one's definately a sweep. Not the tastiest fish in the sea...

Hi Guys and Girls, Well... after a looooooooong break from the water Andy, Geoff and I finally got ourselves sorted out and hit the bay for a fish. We started trolling around the Northern Headland on our way up to Maroubra and found the kings on the chew. I got hit on a Black Magic skirt in "Burple" colour and once I got him to the boat he was closely followed by about 50 of his closest mates.... they were all about the same size so didn't bother playing with them. The one we boated was 55cm so he was released. We left them there and headed north. Conditions were excellent so headed out to the 50m mark in search of flatties. We found them and the bite was pretty hot but poor Andy was really crook. We boated 3 really good size flatties in quick succession and with a feed decided to take poor Andy back in. We got back into the bay and he picked up so we set the pick on Watts. All we found here was yellow tail that thick you could have walk across them to the shore. So... we loaded up the live bait tank and headed back out south under the cliffs. Andy was fine now so we set the pick again and got another burley trail going and I set a the livies. The best I could do was get the livies heads eaten by what I presumed were squid, I got a small blind shark and Andy got a large Sargent Baker on a peeled prawn. The southerly hit not long after so made for home. We had a drift around inside the bay for not much and then decided to head home. It was great to be back on the water and we bought home a great feed to boot. Cheers David.

I didn't read the story and went strait to the pic, first thing that crossed my mind...

Very good mate... that'll do me

Hi Guys, Strange one, I think its a baby sampson Fish. It has the shape of a trevor but no rakers near the tail that a trevor has. Looks like a cross between a king and a trevor. I'll be keen to see what other people think and if we get a definate ID. Just had another look... check out the mouth, certainly not a trevor, no big rubber lips and completely the wrong shaped mouth and head. I reckon its a baby Sampson Fish Cheers,

Hi PJ, That's a nice vid mate... you guys are certainly enjoying yourselves. I hope the next time I hook up on one it fights better than my first. Mine did nothing like those fish. It took one run and then gave up, hence my "bucket" comment. I was fishing with my bass gear, 6lb braid, 8lb fluro leader 2-4kg rod. Maybe it was sick... it did have a big sore on its back and bled a lot when I lifted it out of the water. Any way, your vid has inspired me to have another go at them so I'll report back after I land the next one. Cheers David. ps. thanks for the ingredients list in the video. pps. They're still a stink'n horrible fish....!

Hi Guys, Yes, the Nepean can be a bit dodgy at times. I normally only go very early in the morning or later afternoon and leave just on dark. I don't fish during the night at all. I once saw a very brave english guy with his tent pitched and 4 carp rods out just down from the rowing club... Had his stove, billy, a feed... Very well set up but I did wonder about his saftey being there alone all night... There are a few "yahoos" down there at times. Mainly young blokes with their dogs running around the place with cans of whatever being a bit silly. I've had my car broken into but have never been hassled yet or had any problems with any of them. Still, I'm careful and keep my ears and eyes open and I'm always friendly and say G'day to anyone (or group) that walks by and have a chat about fishing. PJ, I'm glad you love the carp mate but... you can keep them I'd much rather rid our waterways of this pest and leave our rivers and streams to our native species. But... each to their own mate. I'm sure they'll always be plenty of carp for you to catch now matter how many I put under my lemon trees... Anyway, I'll be back down the nepean the next opportunity I get chasing the bass. Cheers David.

Good fish'n mate. Always love the "one more cast".... I wonder how I get home sometimes Cheers David.

Yep.... that's him - missing teeth and all...

Hi Roberta, That was down the Nepean yesterday. There was quite a bit of flow actually (well, more than normal) and I had to find a little eddy down stream to float the bread in. There was water flowing over the weir and below the water was rushing through in places and in a side stream. It also smelt like a sewer down in thick brush and scrub way down below the weir.... I was going to bring it home but I didn't have anything to put it in and didn't want to lay the stink'n thing in the back of my wagon so I gave it to a bloke down there who was very happy to have it. This same bloke told me he recently caught 11 "good sized" bass at the weir and had them at home in his bath tub..... I didn't believe him (you'd understand why if you'd seen him ) but none the less had a conversation with him about protecting our native species and not exceeding the bag limits etc etc. He kind of understood but wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box so I didn't worry too much. Cheers David.

Hi guys, The picture kinda tells the story. Stink'n horrible thing it was... I went for a Bass this morning but took some bread in case the bass didn't want to play. I got one average size bass on a spinner and then saw these fellas swimming around. Dropped a bit of bread on his nose and that was that. After a run to the middle of the river it fought like a bucket. Cheers David.

Mate tell me, how does that big one come off the semi and... get back on?

Yep, I've seen a ray jump while swimming in QLD on the sunshine coast. Right out of the water, looked awesome. It was followed a little while later by a school of small jumping tuna, I got the hell out of the water, as did a lot of other people, in case it was a bitey chasing the fish... Cheers

A great day indeed Greg - fantastic fish. Well done... Cheers David.

G'day Pete, There were heaps of carp, I managed to count seven before I spooked them, right in close to the bank burrowing into the mud, I assume for worms and stuff. I got really close to them, I could have clobbered one with a big stick if I was quick enough.... When I spooked them they all broke the surface in a huge splash - got the heart beating a little quicker... I imagine some of them were right up there around the 60cm mark and over... they had tails like shovels. I might give them a go to thin them out a bit if I can... there's just so many big buggers down there below the weir.... Cheers David

Hi guys and girls, I scored a great Bass from below the Nepean Weir today - my first ever from down that way. Arrived very early and fished normal spots about the weir for not even a little fella so decided to do some exploring. Just hopped down the river a little way and found a deeper little channel with fast flowing running water into it so cast a spinner and grub down stream. On the 3rd cast the lure got absolutely smashed and the drag was singing its head off. The fish put up a great fight and had the drag singing two more times before I landed it. Also saw some massive MASSIVE carp and even got one to mouth a spinner right near the bank but couldn't get one. Geez they're big!!!! Anyway, here's some pics of this morning's efforts... Oh, and I scored a micro bass bush bashing a bit further down as well... Cheers David.