harold

Thanks for the advice. If we get out will give it a go.

Well, we left bobbin head Friday straight after school was out and our son was adamant we should go to smiths creek. We were on a buoy at Twilight Inlet about 4.30 and 10 seconds later he had a line in the water. Truth be told we had zilch by diner time and we were all tired. I flew to Melbourne on the 7am and back to sydney on the 10am flight, I had to meet a guy at the airport for a chat. We were in bed before 8pm and asleep within minutes. Saturday was just marvellous the sun was warm and the wind was absent. We launched the dinghy and went down to the bottom of Kindred Bay as our son wanted to go squidding. As luck would have it he caught 2 very large squid and we took them back to the boat for Mimi to clean and cook. They were lovely. We then decided to drift for flathead, that was a great idea but someone forgot to tell the flathead we were coming. A big fat zilch. So back to the boat as lunch was on. After lunch we launched one of the kayaks and went for a paddle. Later in the afternoon I got the squid jig and put it out the back of the boat and within 10 minutes we had 3 more only these were a bit smaller. My poor wife once again cleaned and cooked them as an entree for dinner. We didn't bother trying to fish last night and got up this morning, cleaned up and was back in the berth about 10am. The water is really starting to warm up and we saw 19 degrees at one point and 18 most of the time. There seemed to be quite a few boats going out this morning as it was warm with clear skies. Next week the wind looks dreadful but if the forecast changes we will be back out there looking to catch our first flathead of the season. By the way, whilst paddling in the sand flats of twilight inlet I saw the largest stingray I have ever seen outside of the aquarium. I kid you not it would have been over a metre in diameter, I very nearly trod on it. Images of Steve Irwin went crashing through my mind for a second. As we were returning to the berth we saw a scary sight. A mum and dad with 2 very small kids all in a single kayak and only 2 with life jackets. Crazy.

I bet we have all done the same thing so don't worry about it. As the guys say, just keep practicing your knots.

the OP seems to be from UK. Can't be sydney as it doesnt look cold enough, they would have 4 layers on!

Great to hear of your sons goal. Fishing in the Hawkesbury this time of year is a bit hit and miss. Squid are there most of the time so we keep a rod with a squid jig on it ready at all times. One of the better squid places we have found is the mouth of the basin, it holds some good sized squid and there is usually a lot of them.

Wow, I also didn't know how badly they could hurt you. Glad you are on the mend.

The first movie was great. I thought the sequel was not so good.

150 to 200 boats is mind boggling.

Scratchie, that looks and sounds fantastic. Congratulations as usual. We haven't been out on the boat for 3 weeks as we have been sick as dogs. Come on the warm weather.

What a coincidence, my 92 year old father lives in Laurieton too.

Great catch. The others are right, 1 metre is just around the corner for you.

Have a great time and fingers crossed you get back on schedule.

It is a very sad dtime for Australia cricket. I am an avid fan and supporter of our team but seriously, you would be hard pressed to find a positive out of the last test.

It is sort of cute! You did better than us, with the best of intentions we didn't even make it onto the water this weekend.

that is huge. Must run in the family!

that is huge!

She I was a kid, Bermagui was renowned as a great fishing spot. Good luck with that. I have been promising myself a ride on my motorbike on the GOR for years. One of the things on my very short bucket list.

Glad you had such a wonderful time. Enjoyed your story.

I have never notice a little arrow. Bought a new car last Friday so will have a look tomorrow.

I only ever did it once and it scared the life out of me. I had a 26 foot bayliner back in about 1978 and we stayed on the anchor after midnight, I looked up to see a large cruiser about to run over the top of us, I screamed at it and somehow he heard us and stopped very quickly. That was off Luna park in lavender bay, as I said, never again. Good luck with it.

The site continues to grow its membership and its sponsorship. Great work guys.

What a great Trevor.

Bring your winter woollies for the Hawkesbury.

Looks like it has a bit of weight in it. We used to see fish like these at Wattamola when I used to skin dive. That was a very long time ago, circa 1968.

I have just clicked up a 1000 posts and I know that is not many compared to some but it had me thinking about my journey with Fishraider. I have fished all my life but have never been a great fisherman. The biggest fish I ever hooked was a Spanish Mackeral 80 kms off Townsville and quite frankly I stuffed that up at the boat thus it was never landed. It was estimated to be 80kgs but who knows. If I take out the Mackeral I have had my smattering of average sized Kingfish, flathead, bream and everyday swimming things, once I caught a beautiful giant turtle but I would prefer to not talk about that, I did cut it off and was not trying to catch it. I have also caught a Pelican, numerous Seagulls and my own leg (that hurt and had to be cut out). Years ago I happened to come across Fishraider and I thought the author, Ken, had some great insight into the Hawkesbury area, a place I fished or at least tried to fish often so I joined up. As I recall I was member number 8 and I learned a lot about what to do and where to go to catch fish. As the years passed and Stewie and Donna took over I observed the ever increasing membership and more importantly, the growing comradery between people who superficially only had one thing in common and that was fishing. Interesting enough, once you get to meet fellow raiders you realise you have far more than 1 thing in common, you find there are many things we all share and chat about. I encourage any casual reader to join up and take advantage of the membership. Crazily enough it is free and the forum is moderated by a group of fair minded, nice people who know how to catch fish. See you on the water.