nbdshroom

I only just read this but that is unbelievable how low some people stoop! Hope you are rewarded with a great fishing session once those locksmiths extract your rods from the car. Nice work on the 45 cm bass.

Thanks Ben, she'll be there waiting for you (or anyone else reading that gets her first) when she reaches the metre mark!

Thanks for the comments guys! I try to make the reports a bit interesting and glad you liked it. Not sure how I forgot to put that in Jeff, but I was using a 7'3" 6-14lb Majorcraft Crostage hard rock rod with Sustain 2500FG spooled with 1.5PE Unitika Shore Game (equivalent to 8lb Fireline Crystal in breaking strain) and 14lb Sunline FC Rock leader. The lure was a squidgie fish in silver fox.

Lately, I've been trying to catch another landbased jew but this time I've been trying new spots along the Parra and Georges systems. The reason for trying new spots rather than the tried and true places is because I had hoped to develop a better understanding of these fish's movements and behaviour according to the tide/moon cycle and effect of rain. This is still a work in progress but hopefully one day this may bear fruit. Anyway, back to the story. I got a tip from a friend to try a new place which he thought would be worth a shot and last week I struck it lucky! The general area was in the upper Parra. Right on the turn of the tide, my rod loaded up with the fish which I thought was a flathead at first. It was a powerful and short first run with the fish taking off toward deeper waters. Then came a sizable second run... punctuated by an even bigger third run. I was a bit perplexed at this point namely because I was no longer sure the fish was a flathead. Firstly, there were barely any recognisable headshakes and secondly it kept running! My heart rate suddenly shot up and all of a sudden I was conscious of my pumping and winding. I was not feeling as fluid as I was just a minute ago. I tried not to get my hopes up and calm myself down for the sake of landing the fish. Even though I was fishing solo, I audibly let out a few words under my breath that it 'surely must be a ray'. Surely... Well that worked momentarily. I calmed down and continued for another 5 or 10 minutes fighting the fish which was swimming with the current. I could feel it tiring but it was getting the better of me because it was starting to go around the bend. If the fish was to manage another several metres, I would surely have lost it due to the unreasonable angle required to fight the fish. So I locked up the drag, and battled against the fish and my machinery. When the fish was in safe waters again, i loosened the drag once again. By now, the fish was nearly in but it kept low in the water so I still did not have any idea what it was. In my mind, I was imagining a ray sucking onto the sea floor. After a few more weak runs, I saw a white belly flash and it was then I knew it was a jew. The pulsing heart, clammy hands and scared look in my eyes came back! I've lost plenty of good fish in close so I decided to make a quick landing. I pumped it in as quickly as I could and grabbed the fish out of the water! If you've ever seen the old John west salmon commercial where the guy hoists a fish above his head letting out a loud roar, that's what I was doing! ...actually that's not true, because it was more like a weak and hunched over position due to the weight of the fish. So there you have it! 95 cm of ghost caught on the turn of the high tide on a Squidgie fish. She was released for the future enjoyment of others!

Squid can be caught day or night but usually at night if landbased. Fish lit areas at night because the light attracts the bait which in turn keeps the squid around. Glow scent/jigs and red foil jigs are better at night but don't let that stop you from chopping and changing colours/size if it's not working and you know the squid are there. Try all kinds of retrieves, but you can't go wrong with a slow lift. Stay in contact with the jig at all times, and try not to strike (can be hard to do coming from normal lure fishing - takes some unlearning) when you get a hit. It can be hard to see the hit at night but it will be much easier to feel - feels like hitting a soft snag and after a few seconds it begins to pulse. When this happens, slow lift into it and the cephlapod will be yours. Also try not to 'fight' the squid in the conventional sense or you'll end up with a tentacle for squid Early on I made that mistake, but the big ones pull hard like a fish but keep the drag looser than normal because a squid cannot spool you but is more likely to rip its tentacle off in the powerful jets. Also always keep tension on the squid in the same direction. Don't switch up angles especially when landing because slack line = jig falling out. Good luck! P.S. don't strike lol

Well done, sometimes fish are hard to come by but nothing will beat perseverance. Keep up the good work and I'm sure you'll catch many more fish very soon.

Top report Jeff, heaps of information there for everyone. As good if not better than the weekly rundowns found in newspapers and local tackle shops!

Well done Jeff, my first bass was also yay big except it was caught on a surface cicada lure.

Wow, well done again Jeff! A worthy contender for COTM. That's a good picture, you look chuffed!

Fantastic fish and report. The weather has been savage and good to see the really keen anglers still risking life and limb (gales, lightning and hail) to get a few good fish.

Top croc Luke, love the colours on her. Also a very good photo.

Thanks for the comments Stan and Ian. If you guys ever get a time for a sesh hit me up!

Thanks for the comments guys. Yep, just the simple slow/medium roll during daylight to keep it down deep. When the fish were rising to the surface, I chucked in a few pauses here and there. Haha thanks Jeff, I thought it was kinda cool how the toadie had the greedy look in its orange eyes. Been putting time in and still hanging for that next Jew as always.

Well done. A bundle of fun that! Was trying it a bit during September but it was probably a bit too cold. Never got a whiting off surface (and only bass) so this is all new to me but this has inspired me to try again. I use the cheaper surface walker and popper alternatives ($15 and under) such as Berkley scum dogs, Berkley pop dogs and another of their 'dogs' Gladiato r kozamis and some unknown clear poppers. Another lure type which I have been literally salivating to buy and give a test run are those bent minnows (OSP and the new Banana boat surface dancer from Austackle). So real!

Always something new to learn. Some other pics, enjoy.

Hit the usual spots, Parramatta river and Georges past month. It's been a very windy period (and sunny) but good to just get out there even for donuts. I can report that there seems to be an abundance of flatties compared to winter. They are fighting a lot better too due to the warmer weather which is always welcome. Lot more action with the bream, heaps of small ones in many places following lures which is making it difficult to hook up. Lures were double hopped, and flatties found to generally be sitting on the lures. All fish released well, enjoy.

It looks like a 3/0 size, perfect for the average-sized flatty.

Couple of big mummas Luke. Can't wait for the effects of the new jewfish limits to start filtering through. In a few years, the quality of catch is only going to go up!

Good luck mate.

Cheers, heaps of raiders know a lot more than I do though. I only know those that have worked for me I get all my blackies as bi-catch on lures lol. You would be surprised how often a blackie will take a lure. Got them on all kinds of soft plastics - wrigglers, prawn imitations, medium-sized flickbaits. For that particular fish, yes I threw that hardz up against reeds and worked it over submerged weed and plant matter. felt the fish hit the crank and then tried to turn his head.

Could just be coincidence that the fish weren't there/hungry (etc etc..) on the day you had the 4". These 4" ones are fine for flatties and jew. The smaller mouthed fish like bream and whiting will struggle to engulf the hook point on these larger jigs however. The other plastics you mentioned will work too, just keep persisting, I'm sure you'll get it. Wriggler plastics are a big hit with the bream. They cannot resist them at all. That hardbody (atomic crank 38 in muddy prawn) is a killer in the deep model for me. Floats up a touch fast but its got an awesome action and fish just cannot resist trying to take a bite out its tail. A few non-tailor/flathead from the past week:

Hey Jeff, sounds like you tried a variety of plastics and retrieves so I'd assume you had that side covered. Were they Gulps or other plastics? Sometimes when a fish follows a lure and doesn't take it, I throw on a bit of scent (such as S factor) to get them to commit. If they are tail biting, I throw down some hardbodies because the terminal treble will get them hooked up. If you managed one hookup and countless follows, I would guess they were interested and just needed just that tiny bit more encouragement to get a taste of your lure. Good luck mate.

Good stuff. He said they are goldfish, plus the title of thread says Au which is elemental gold. They are part of the carp family. Looks a good place to fish out of all this wind.

Well done on a fantastic effort and result. As you found out, Jeff/Scratchie is a top raider (and bloke!). He is always generous with his knowledge and spots. Good on you Jeff!

Nannygai. Never tried eating it. Apparently ok/good but bony.