Wammo

Fellow fishers, I have been fishing all my life and know many of the tricks of the trade but have always specialised on bait fishing. Over the last 2years with my little bloke doing life saving I have taken to taking the yak down to Narrabeen lakes and flicking plastics for flathead. Each time I go down I am getting 1-2 flatties but the numbers are slim and I feel like it is russian roulette. Does anyone have any theories on the Narrabeen lakes? I have many questions but few answers. To date my success has been on the back of: - Narra seems to fish better at low tide - Larger mustard seed plastics have worked best - Using the anchor off the yak is a must as you dirft too quickly without it. - Super light line is great - Flicking into the weeds is most productive As for the questions: - Really not sure about the tide issue - maybe I am just fishing the wrong spots at high tide - Rain - don't know the impact in the lake - Tidal - do the flatties more up stream at high tide and move the the mouth at low tide - Colour of plastics..... - Slow retrieve vs lift and wind - not sure how fast to retrieve Any light anyone can shed on Narrabeen Lakes would be appreciated. Cheers Wammo

Absolute cracker. Love this story. As many have said many fishermen have a lifetime dream of catching jewfish.... Odd fighting tactics. Usually a jew that size would put a bit more fight!! Enjoy eating the seaweed!! Congrats Wammo

Interesting. Are you of the belief that a slow drift is better simply because your covering more ground? Or are you working more than one rod?

Nothing in the wallet mate that is why I am fishing....cheap grub. Hooking up for my first ever marlin fishing adventure at Christmas with a dad from from daughters school. Should be a blast.

pic now added.

Bought a new small anchor so I could fish Narrabeen Lakes in slightly windy conditions (as opposed to drifting at 100kms an hour).....absolutely worked a treat. Anyone contemplating the yak fishing should give it a go. Hooked a nice flattie on Saturday approx 55cm (sorry no pics). Nothing better than to fight a flattie with super light line (4pb), no net, getting him to the surface and realising ....'hell he has it all the way down' it is going to break. The heart starts pumping....it is going to break soon....keep the tension just tight enough but not too tight...it is going to break soon... just keep fighting him until he is stuffed. Finally he (or she) glides over the surface of the water and into my left hand covered with a rag. Very satisfying. Cooked him up last night in a fish curry - not my usual way to do fish but sensational all the same. For those experts in Narra- i am continually getting either 1 or 2 flatties a session (which I am not complaining about) but cannot seem to crack the larger numbers. Am i better flicking in between the weeds or going deep?

Nice work Humesy. Fantastic bag of fish. Did you pick them up on the squid or the yakkas in the end? Great effort. How long did it take you? Picked up a nice 60cm flattie flicking SPs on Narrabeen yesterday whilst the little bloke was doing Surf Life Saving. Top fun that but not quite as good as hunting jewies. Cheers Wammo

Bad luck Humesy but thats fishing. Maybe you shoulda stayed home for the secret womens business.....

I certainly am no expert on flicking SPs around and on a scale of 1-10 I would rate myself closer to 1. That said i did have 3 hours floating and flicking on Saturday at Narrabeen Lakes and managed to pick up 2 nice flatties. (sorry no picks). Picked them up on Gulps - about 2 inches long red/green in colour with a very small jig head on 5plb braid. Anyone who fishes the lakes - do you know a reliable spot for a feed? Is there any point heading right up the end of the lake past the Sport and Rec???

Thought about heading down to the spit this morning. What time did you hit the water? Thinking of doing exactly the same though if i landed a good kingy and went straight to work with the yak on the roof not quite sure of what the work colleagues would think of a big kingy sitting in the corporate fridge with all the milk.....heheheh - i dream Well done Wammo

Zenman - mate relatively new to this sight but interested to here you have fished the same stretch of water as Humesy. I have spent many many nights chasing jew at that spot - an absolute gem. Have you worked that area in the last week or so. I assume with the bait fish you were further out to sea. Cheers Wammo

Great shots and a fantastic spot. Looks pretty similar in many ways to Gerroa down south. Ever fished that spot?

Roberta - come mate wouldn't you rather be stuffed into a cramped office in front of a computer and be told by the bubble and strife when to fish. No chance of skin cancer, your not going to slip on rocks or be swept off and your not depleting the ocean.......ok ok i may be a little jealous Wammo Roberta - come mate wouldn't you rather be stuffed into a cramped office in front of a computer and be told by the bubble and strife when to fish. No chance of skin cancer, your not going to slip on rocks or be swept off and your not depleting the ocean.......ok ok i may be a little jealous Wammo

Saltrix - do you have any similar information for Bream and Jewfish. Bream is a species I have targeted and specialise in - so catch and eat a great deal. Very interested in the results for them.

Actually if i had to guess I would say it would have a big impact. Apparently Jewfish and Bream are two species of fish that have high mercury levels because they are both scavengers.

Well the annual trip up the coast with 3 mates has now come and gone. After many years the lads have settled into their routines. One buys the bait, one does the shop, one books the house up the coast and one is the master chef. Anyway, I left work at 5pm Thursday. Had the car packed in 5 minutes and was over to my mates place by 5:50pm and on the road by 6pm. Got up to Forster by 9pm - did a quick unpack of the car and by 9.20pm I was joining my other 2 mates who had left an hour earlier. Nothing like blowing the worries of work away standing shoulder to shoulder with good mates fishing under a half moon for Bream and Tailor. The boys had managed to jag 2 good sized tailor and after some persuasion managed to convince him to donate one for fresh bream bait. After some reconnaissance i found a sensational hole with great foamy white water - perfect looking water for bream. Between us we managed to pull out about 25 good sized bream and called it a day at 1pm and by the time we had cleaned them hit the sack at 2pm. ALARM 5:45!!!! Up again to a dead calm sea . Thinking that this was going to be hard work today we set off for a slightly different spot. Managed to pick up about 8 stupid tailor and a few more good bream but had to work pretty hard for them and swapped spots about 3 times in the hunt. The sea was so small it was just lapping on the beach and there was no wash in any of our favourite spots. Time for a seriously good feed - bacon and eggs and a good coffee. The afternoon conditions we much the same - you could have water skiied easily on the sea it was that calm. Anyway made for great watching of a large humpback and his mate who put a show on for us. Hit all our favourite spots and worked hard again to pick up the odd bream. We found a good little hole which we fished for 2 hours between 8-10pm. Had a sandy bottom and was about 2-3 meters dead. Every now and then 2 big motherless sharks would come in and circle then head out again. Oddly enough didn't seem to scare the fish and we left with about 10 bream between 4 of us - respectable given the lack of sea. On the way back to the car one of my mates decides to have a close inspection of the local geography of rock formation. 8 stiches, 5 hours and a trip to Taree hospital meant the early night was reduced to another 2pm finish. Driving home from Taree Hospital we did a detour to see if the seas had changed. Nope nothing. ALARM 5:45!!!! Starting to struggle but out of bed again. Moving slower this time and by the time we get in the car we can see the size of the seas. Bloody huge. Got up from zip to 3-4 meters in a matter of hours. Driving rain, houling wind and big seas. This was going to be a challenge for a different reason. Whilst the bream love these conditions finding a safe place to stand on rocks to fish them was another story. I had picked up some sensational wet weather gear at the fish markets - i think it was branded 'Stormline'. After the life jacket and the rock boots - best investment I ever made. Despite big splash and driving rain I was dry as toast. The next 2 days was a battle as the seas picked up to 4-5 meters with a huge surge. We picked up 3-5 bream each session and the other boys cleaned up on some big salmon but I have yet to find a way to eat those useless of critters so happily passed on taking one of them back to the misses. Given the lack of safe options we decided to call it quits early on Sunday and drove home at lunch time for some well earned R&R. Respectable results but hard work to raise a scale. (sorry boys no pictures) End p.s. I had my mecury tested recently and found it was highly elevated at 30 parts per million (i think!) Was told to stop eating fish for 2 months . Has anyone else had similar tests?

your cousins scenario is what I had (i had no keeper hook). Amazing to see it.

Went up to Forster to do the overnight fishing session Friday night. Left work a little early 1:30pm. Picked up a mate on the way and managed to have a line in the water by 4:45pm. Wasn't long before I had hooked a big tailor (perfect bait for either Jews or Bream). Speaking of which do people now that tailor guts are the most sensational bream bait? Anyway with that in hand managed to convert that fish into about 8 good sized bream. Swapped spots for only 1 more good bream and no jew runs. Hit the sack at 11pm. Got up at 5:30 - quick heart starter and off again to the rocks. Gorgeous morning and the tailor were on straight away and we bagged 8 before they went off. Swapped to bream again for 4 reasonable fish and a few suspect jew runs??? Alas no jews but did have a first for me. I was fishing a classic running sinker down to a swivel then leader down to a 2/0 bream hook. I pulled in what i predicted to be a s..t fish (i.e. rockcod). I was right but to my amazement there were two fish on my line. I have heard of lots of double hook-ups but all with 2 hooks. Has anyone else seen something like this? Turns out the smaller one had the hook in its mouth and the larger one had obviously been harmering the bait only to get the line caught in its mouth and behind its gills. Photo care of mobile so not so clear. Finished the day going for black fish and being handed a thorough lesson by an old professional fisho. Pulled 6 boys out from under my nose before I decided to clean my fish and jump in the car to head back to Sydney (we were up there less than 24 hours). Got back to Sydney by 2pm Sat. Great way to feel like you packed a lot into the weekend. Cheers Wammo

Went up to Forster to do the overnight fishing session Friday night. Left work a little early 1:30pm. Picked up a mate on the way and managed to have a line in the water by 4:45pm. Wasn't long before I had hooked a big tailor (perfect bait for either Jews or Bream). Speaking of which do people now that tailor guts are the most sensational bream bait? Anyway with that in hand managed to convert that fish into about 8 good sized bream. Swapped spots for only 1 more good bream and no jew runs. Hit the sack at 11pm. Got up at 5:30 - quick heart starter and off again to the rocks. Gorgeous morning and the tailor were on straight away and we bagged 8 before they went off. Swapped to bream again for 4 reasonable fish and a few suspect jew runs??? Alas no jews but did have a first for me. I was fishing a classic running sinker down to a swivel then leader down to a 2/0 bream hook. I pulled in what i predicted to be a s..t fish (i.e. rockcod). I was right but to my amazement there were two fish on my line. I have heard of lots of double hook-ups but all with 2 hooks. Has anyone else seen something like this? Turns out the smaller one had the hook in its mouth and the larger one had obviously been harmering the bait only to get the line caught in its mouth and behind its gills. Photo care of mobile so not so clear. Finished the day going for black fish and being handed a thorough lesson by an old professional fisho. Pulled 6 boys out from under my nose before I decided to clean my fish and jump in the car to head back to Sydney (we were up there less than 24 hours). Got back to Sydney by 2pm Sat. Great way to feel like you packed a lot into the weekend. Cheers Wammo

Andy - got back from Canberra yesterday and was to head down last night but the bubble and strife got the better of me. Heading up the coast tomorrow for an overnighter to do some fishing up near Foster if you can get away from those little blokes at lunch time!! Cheers Jamo

Guys - in October 6 families are heading out to North West island on the barrier reef. We are driving up from Sydney and I am hoping either to hire a boat up near Gladstone to take over on the barge or buy a well conditioned boat to take up there. Anyone done something similar or know any contacts up in Gladstone or surrounding areas?

can someone explain what an HB is?

The obvious question must be asked. Who was the charter operator???? No doubt half the site would love to have a good crack of getting over there as well. Great fish. By the way what did you do with him? Sushimi, steaks...? Cheers

Anyone got any clues on fishing down at Gerroa. Heading down there with the yak after Christmas?

Mate i was lucky enough to learn as a kid and now the only worms that get the better of me are usually ones as thick as your finger and I just physically can't pull them out of the beach. Couple of tips: - make sure you give the worm the bait - pippies are good as long as you use the tougher part. Too soft they will take a bit and yibber yibber they are gone - dig your fingers in about 1 and ahalf centimeters either side of the worm and aim to hit about 1-2 cm below the head - on the head also works and you break less but harder to start - i may be a wimp but i usually need both my hands to hit the bigger ones. So i pinch the worms with one thumb and forefinger and then with the other hand pinch the pinchers to get extra strength. Good luck