PPSGT

Snapper in SA tend to have less of a pronounced bump than eastern states, yet you catch more "knobbers" fish with big growths on their noses. Snapper caught offshore below Kangaroo Island tend not to have a bump at all, regardless of size yet the fish caught in both gulfs over 60cm nearly always have a bump. In New Zealand they also catch lots of big snapper without the bump I think it has to do with where they spend their time, until they start feeding on the inshore reefs ( of which SA has very little ) the hump doesnt form. Even though the fish in the pic are large, they are still school snapper - so it makes sense that it might not have a hump as it may not have spent a long time in the gulf and only ventured in there during the spawning run big resident fish (17kg+) which spend all their time in the gulfs and mostly on one reef are generally loaners and always have a big hump. I've seen lots of pics of QLD and Far North NSW snapper with massive humps on small fish that are almost triangle shaped. I've never seen one even close to that in SA, so I the environment must play a big part in forming the hump Jason

Hi Stewy. Could you and me to the list. I Now its a late entry, but I got back from my work conference a day early so am now able to go Burley King (Jason) + 1 Thanks Jason

YUM - Sardine sized slimies!! If you could catch some that size for bait it would be non stop action everything thats swims in the harbour would be trying to eat it

Spent all day today looking for a tackle shop that had white stick baits.... Couldnt find a shop that had them, and I went to a few.... Got home, looked in my soft plastics box and there was a brand new packet plus a packet of nuclear chicken ones. I think the purple clear ones will work well on a bright day, but Sat was overcast and they looked terrible in the water. Dicko: All the tailor we caught were on 15g All rounder metals in blue and silver All the tailor we lost were on the purple stick baits they chewed in half Are you going to the Kingy social? Leatherjacket: I think Clifton has taken the crown away from the quarantine marker as the Kingfish carpark. At those two spots its hard to get upset about people anchoring on top of you I had a charter boat drop right on top of me, but everyone wants to catch fish and on a good day the 50 meters east of the can is the place to do it. The fish are only around the can or along the drop off if your too close in you get hammered by bream ( and after dark it is plagued with Tailor) People who fish west of the can give the fat security guy some excerise. Its funny watching them stop, fat guy leaves offices, boat drops anchor and is just about to start fishing, by which time the fat guy is at the end of the wharf is waving and yelling He reminds me of Neuman from Seinfield Image how many people will be there on the Kingy Social, the land based guys will be able to walk out there, hopping boat to boat. Jason

Hi Raiders, (first post with new username, was PPSGT, i was reminded by my brother / best man during his speech at my recent wedding of my families nick name for me from about 4 years to 15 years - Burley King, it wasnt being used on FR so I got Mrs Swordfisherman to change it (Thanks ) Hit the Harbour with my dentist who i'd promised to take out fishing in the new year to get him onto some fish. The morning started out great, landing 4 tailor up to 50cm in the main harbour in the first 15 mins We then headed around to Clifton, it was chocker block with boats, but no fish. And I mean zero fish, didnt loose a bait all morning we waited for the change of tide, which didnt help so we started back home. Got back into the main harbour, to find it boiling with tailor again, so we had a few more casts and picked upt a few more. The tailor were of mixed size, then the smaller ones started clearing the water, being chased by some monster kings, that looked like mini Torpedoes ( I watched pearl habour last night on tv ) I had some that would have gone 90cm right alongside the boat, with their tails sticking out of the water We had them that close to the boat we could have netted them. Threw everyhting we had at them and they didnt seem to be feeding on eyes, and the only fish jumping out the water were little tailor - we didnt see a single bait fish in a hour of chasing them around. They seemd to be rats in with the tailor, then pods of big kings smashing the smaller tailor, although frustrating not to be catching them it was very entertaining to watch. Used 6 inch stick baits in clear/purple opalescence not a single strike in over 100 casts. Found one dirty white stick bait in the bottom of the tackle box, three cranks into the first cast and got absolutley slammed but 20lb fluro and 15lbs braid on my tierra 2500 was no match and I got busted off. The jet boat went through the school over ten times when we fished, along with the ferries, motor yachts, tour boats you name it, yet the school didnt disappear once. So much for them being spooked by the motors. My dentist went home with a esky full of fish, I dont like tailor be he seemed to like them... I'm off to the tackle shop tomorrow to stock up on white stickbaits... See you at the Kingy Social Jason

Well done on the great "small" fish, the charter blokes there dont get excited unless a client pulls in a 14kg (30lb'er) plus, I've gone on charters and they tell you the crew has'nt done well, and you got a bag limit of 7-10kg fish laying on the deck.... Port Broughton is one of my favourite places to fish. I fished there last year before the Nov snapper ban, on the Illussion wreck which is probably the No1 snapper spot in Australia. They are like catching yakkas when they are schooled up, any bait in the water gets smashed, and the sounder looks like you hit the bottom when the schools swim through When they are on the migration run its hard to get a fish under 60cm Closer to the Pt brougton channel you get a lot of ruggers (under 60cm) Back in Adelaide for Christmas, so I'm going try and get up to my Uncles shack and get into them Did you lose any fish to white pointers while you were there? Jason

You need to set a lighter trip on your anchor, that will break easily when the anchor is forced the on the horizontal by the moving over the anchor when it gets stuck. Your reef anchor should two eyes for connection, one is at the top the other underneath in the centre of the picks. Connect your chain to the bottom eye with you shackle Run the chain along the shaft to the top of the anchor. Buy some heavy duty cable ties from a marine shop the thicker the better ( or make a clip from very light coat hanger wire ) Connect the chain to the top eye with the cable ties, with a little bit of slack along the shaft. Now when the anchor gets stuck, you simply motor over the anchor, break the trip and the anchor comes up backwards Have a supply of extra cable ties in the boat for when they break. If the anchor is not stuck you rarely break the cable tie, as you you are pulling it up vertically and not putting to much strain on the tie. As soon as it is stuck the horizontal force of you driving over the stuck anchor breaks the trip. Coat hanger wire works well, but you need to put more force on it to break, but it it will never come undone. Use the really cheap thin ones from the dry cleaners. Cut a section loop it around the chain and eye and put a couple of twists in it. You want it to pull apart easily if it gets snagged I have had the same reef anchor (touch wood) for 8 years and have snagged it badly many times and have always got it back. (inc last Thurs at North Head, I've seen the underwater videos its an anchor graveyard down there) Hope this helps Jason

Hi Raiders, Headed out to the harbour today at the gentlemanly hour of 7am, loaded with twice frozen squid and three times frozen servo pillies Tunks park ramp was loaded up so we new it was going to be busy. Headed to the kingfish carpark (aka Quarantine maker North head ) There were boats going everywhere, but the only guys hooking up that we saw were waving the fly rods. Put my mate on the lever drag outfit to get his first king, I warned him that I'd reset the drag to the heaviest I could set it so that it would skull drag rats and give him a chance at a big fella - drift past the marker 1 minutes into it he says "i'm getting a nibble" before i could say hold on, the rod tips in the water, the drags screaming and the lines with a rampaging king attached is charging to the buoy. It was all over before i could start the motor and steer the boat to help him turn the fish. Rerigged, another strip goes down and he's on again, I started the motor and pulled the boat away, but this time his adversary was in the 50-60cm range, couldn't pull any drag and was winched into the boat. the fly guys had hooked a few landed a few and lost a few, and one king some one had hooked was still attached to the buoy's line and swimming around in circles about 10 feet down. The bite shut down so we headed in further into the harbour. I kept on my tierra 2500 and nibble tip rod, loaded with pillies and got 5 kings of various sizes which was hugely fun - especially the other boats around laughing as I'm battling them for 5 mins with the rod tip under the water the entire time. My mate hooked and lost another big king - then the biggest hookup of the day with the reel making noises i never new it could, it all went limp and I thought he'd been reefed. On checking the rig - the crane swivel ( an expensive and heavy duty one ) snapped so it was very disappointing..... Tied a binimi twist straight to the trace, but he only managed another 2 rats before we pulled up stumps Great day and the water temp in the harbour everywhere was over 20c Saw heaps of other getting into fish, so I'm guessing some other raiders did well. Kept one for the table just on 65cm - released all the other of various sizes. One boat we fished next to, I spoke with back at the ramp and he had several fish in the 70cm-80cm plus range, some my mate lucked out and his fish would have been a nice size.... I didnt touch the heavy gear all day - so we could work as a team and get him a good fish... But my new rule is "Three strikes and your out" - next time he can got into battle by himself Jason

Hi Raiders, Went for a quick afterwork session today, more of a reconnaissance mission then fishing to check where the kings are, so I can put a mate onto them on Sat who is yet to hook one Arrived at North Head at 6pm to gets some squid, but it was too rough and the wind was still hadnt swung to the East so squidding was out, I deceided to anchor at marker further in the harbour, but with wind and tide were running opposite it kept swinging me all over the place and almost into the marker. I looked over the side, and saw a heap of little rat kings about 2 metres down, All i had was 1 squid strip in a bag of old bait that had been frozen a few times, I dropped it down and one of the rats charged for it, I pulled it out of the way as it was clearly undersize, but as I did a monster king slammed it and headed back to the marker. The lever drag was already at full strike, but it was making a futile effort at stopping it, and just like the Kevin Bloody Wilson song, "it was over......... before it began." With only freezer burnt pillies and yakkas left , headed to the clifton can, which was covered in Salmon and whitebait. Hooked and released a 50cm Salmon (while the fisheries guys waited, so they could check my license) on a metal lure and lost two kings on pilchards all on 3kg gear The weather report said calm, and dropping wind in the afternoon - it was still rough when I was out... so was back at the ramp before dark Cant wait for Sat Jason

I have seen Kings smashing bait under the Tarban Creek Bridge on Burns bay road, which is the next lot of water from Lane Cove as you head towards Victoria Road, It is a lot clearer and deeper than the Lane Cove river, so would probably be a better chance for a squid The Lane Cove river gets a lot of fresh water which would push any squid out, but its also full of shrimps, prawns and small fish so later in summer if there hasnt been much rain your chance of success might improve. Squid turn up in strange places, if you have success let me know Jason

Its an interesting topic, especially Kiwis dans comment on the his charter. I have caught all my big snapper in shallow water (35 feet ) at anchor and always with the sounder on and have bagged out on small snapper (38cm - 60cm) whilst do the same. And every snapper charter I've been on never turns of the sounder (just the GPS ) when your at anchor All I know is when I got my first hummingbird 100 sounder I caught more fish When I got my Lowrance X125 i caught even more fish If a fish has been scared off by my sounder - well, theres always going to be one that gets away, and I can make up a better excuse than "it was my sounder" Having said that, I'm not using US Military spec, weapons grade, able to belly up whales on a single pass sounder. One thing I do take note of though - on the American Pro Bass fishing circuit, where the top guys make seven figures in winnings and sponsorship, they always have there sounders on, even the guys not sponsored by marine electronics companies. if it gave these guys a 1% advantage over their competitors they would probably do it. Jason

Hi Raiders, Went out looking for the Salmon on Sat morning, and not a single bit of surface activity around North head all the way around to Manly, even the birds were looking lost. Headed back into North harbour and picked up some squid, and a very angry moray eel that destroyed some very expensive squid fishing tackle So with siome squid on board, we started after the kings, went around to Clifton Gardens and the kings were smashing up the surface within casting range of the jetty, our squid completed his mission round the cans without incident so we went off into middle harbour. Saw another raider , Kingiemaster battling a king out of his canoe near the spit it looked like a lot of fun, his DIY downrigger looked cool By now the morning had dragged on, and I was supposed to be at a BBQ for lunch @ 2pm with a fish, but like many raiders would, I was still fishing at 12.30, when after passing many schools of unresponsive kings the rod unclipped from the downrigger and the charter special is screaming its head off. I grab it out of the holder, put it into full strike and set the hook and the fish takes off, the road is doubled over and a couple of passing canoeist stop to watch the show. No sooner had it started, it was over, the fish was gone and the line limp in the water. The guy in the canoe starts chatting to me and says he was keen to watch the show and disappointed I'd lost the fish As I chatted back to him, the rod buckles over and still set on full drag starts screaming off the reel and almost jettisoned out of my hands, by this time we had drifted towards a big moored Catamaran, and the king was charging full steam ahead along the surface towards its propellers. With the king now on the surface and within striking distance of the props, it was all or nothing and the drag was pushed to sunset with the hope that everything would hold my mate put the boat back into gear and we skull dragged the king into clear water as he was pulled form the Cat, he headed straight for the bottom so the drag was pushed back to full strike, but it was an easy battle as he had nothing but middle harbour mud beneath him. He was netted a short time latter and went 78cm, although I didn’t weight him it was a very long and skinny fish so not sure what he would have weighed. (Hey, they do look better when you hold them closer to the camera ) We time against us we tried for another fish ( it was 12.45) but we had to go and headed back to the ramp. I went to get the car, when I came back to the ramp, Troy and the boat where no longer tied up to the ramp A boat had broken down in the channel and needed a tow back, even though we were running very late, we gave them a tow back to the ramp - It was a cool boat - well not a boat really but a wake boarding machine and it was funny watching my 1975 1/2 cab in drab orange drag this brand new start of the art wakeboat back to the ramp - didn’t get a photo as the camera was still on the boat. We practised catch and release (whats the min size on wakeboats anyway?) the guys were rescued where very happy, and were goign to give me a late note (shes a teacher) explaining the rules of the sea.... Got home at 1.50pm - but was in luck, the new wife couldn’t decide which shoes to wear ( to a BBQ - i was going to wear thongs!) so wasn’t ready anyway The King was great on the BBQ - just lemon salt and pepper, cooked medium rare yum! Jason

Last kingfish social, one of the weighed in fish came from Bantry Bay. A friends often sits his cruiser in there most weekends over summer , and has caught kings in amongst the bream on peeled prawns its full of yakkas and mullet in there so you'd assume the kings would patrol it regularly Jason

Hi Josh, I saw you out there in MH on Saturday at spot X. I was admiring your rig, as I used to live near Port Adelaide on the "northbank" of the Port River where your boat was built. Glad you christened boat with a nice king - Jason

I always go through a few basic steps before eating fish from polluted waters: Firstly count the eyes, anymore that two - dont eat it also count the tail - anymore than one, although it means its probably got more meat on it - i'd still advise no fillet the fish, then stick in the fridge, open the door up and hold in the light switch if fillets are glowing green - dont eat them Fish displaying any of these symptoms are "for the mother-in-law" fish and are not fit for human consumption

I some swimming around in Sydney harbour, they looked like snook, took a small metal slice trolled on a paravane like a snook, and tasted like a snook, and if you displayed it in Sydney fish markets you'd legally have to call it a snook It is the very northern limit of there range but you can get them here And the heads are top snapper bait

its definately a snook, Sphyraena novaehollandiae I have caught them in North harbour and they exactly the same as the ones back in Adelaide. On the web a lot of the fish id sites have the same fish picture for both species, and the official Australian govt fish id site has a very bad picture, my fish id book lists as a snook in southern states, or striped sea pike but then has a picture of a snook Sphyraena novaehollandiae without the dark bands which would make it a sphyraenella obtusata They are pretty much the same fish, its just one likes to holiday on the gold coast, the other heads to Melbourne

Filled the baittank with Yakkas from mars bar mini size up to king size in about 20 mins Didnt get a nibble though on them in middle harbour unfortunately, and let them all go when we pulled up the boat . a least they got some exercise swimming back from tunks to north habour Thanks for sharing all the tips! Jason

With the new official seafood names they are "snook" Snook: CAAB Code: 37 382002 Standard Fish Name: Snook Scientific Name: Sphyraena novaehollandiae Authority: G�nther, 1860 Family: Sphyraenidae AQIS Code: PIK Obsolete Names: Pike; seapike; short finned barracuda; short finned sea pike; shortfin pike; shortfinned pike; short-finned pike They are good eating if you skin them, especially when they are big (metre plus) coat in Tandoo Southern fried Chicken coating mix With the skin on they have a very meaty taste. They look similar to sea pike (from the same family) , which have a thicker body, smell a bit and taste terrible. snook have a forked tail and are greeny bronze along the top, pike are more silver and have a more wedged tail Back in Adelaide we'd target snook specifically over summer using paravanes with small metal lures, when you found a school, you could get you bag limit of twenty very quickly Jason

I use all rounders in metals size 7g - 25g for casting / fast trolling in blue and silver or silver or cd7 magnum for slow trolling These work very well, or a homemade eye-fly off a bubble float if the are eating those megalops things But if they are hungry and feeding on baitfish any metal lure will work, i use the all rounders as they are available from 5g to 120g and all have the same action so its easy to swap around to match the hatch Jason

thanks for all the tips guys, I'll be hunting down those mars bar sized yakkas tomorrow... Jason

After recently rebuilding my engine, I'd strongly suggest getting rid of the old fuel. Your local service station ( one with a mechanic ) has to have a waste oil collection bin, mine let me drain 40 litres of 2 stroke mixed fuel for free. Others places charge (like the local council) If its mixed with 2 stroke definately dispose of it If its straight unleaded it would be great for the lawn mower, for your outboard not so good Most of the dirtbike sites (another passtime where fuel gets left unused) say over a month is risky with modern fuels, thats a bit harsh but three months i'd be a bit more concerned I'd go with $50 of fresh fuel, cheap for piece of mind, and seeing fuel is the No 1 cause of engine problems why risk it.... However I am more concerned for your general health - you havent been out fishing for 90 days+ Jason

Hi Raiders, Just wont to get some local knowledge tips in locating Yakka's West of the Bridge. From the mouth of the Lane Cove river and around to the Zoo, where is the best place to pick up the mars bar sized Yakkas? I sometimes launch from that side of the harbour instead of Tunks Park, but usually end driving around to Balmoral I sounded around everywhere only to find clouds of snapper 5cm long, around Pyrmont. If they arent there at the moment, when would they arrive? I've never squid around any of the bays to Clifton, have any regular success? PM me or Post here if you have some good tips, always happy to swap knowledge Thanks Jason

November is the gun time for the big snapper, as the big fish school up and head into the shallow water to feed up and do the wild thing.... In South Australia, Snapper fishing is banned from Nov1 to Nov 30 as it was like shooting fish in a barrel, in 1998 before the ban we hooked, landed and released 20 fish over 20lbs in an hour session, not a single fish under 20lbs. I have had great sucess last year hooking big snapper in shallow water ( 30 feet or less ) in Nov, they fight really hard in shallow water - in water over 50-60 feet they get the bends on the way up as they cant equalise their swim bladder quick enough and dont put much of a fight up at all Whole fresh slimies are the go, floated down a berley trail just give them time to swallow, as they will grab it sideways before they swallow it. Long Reef and the lumps around North Head are all worth a go, if you start catching fish over the 35-40cm mark and they are mixed sizes, the bigger fish are there, there just either not getting to the bait quick enough, so try a big bait like a whole yakka or slimie or slice it in half so you have to halfs with eyes if you are getting fish 30cm and under move spots as there will be thousands of them, all around the same size and thats all you'll pull in. Check your sounder, when you start pulling in snapper check so you know what they look like on the sounder, they generally show as little clumps just above the bottom ( within 3 feet ) although they can be anywhere in the water column Snapper arent hard to catch, in fact they are quite stupid and will eat just about anything, and will keep eating until they throw up and will eat again. I have caught them when they have been at bursting point in the stomach and still took a big bait. The hard part is finding them - being that they are breeding or getting ready to breed they are extra hungry and extra stupid and will feed through out the day The water can be a bit rough that close to shore, but the rougher the day generally the better the snapper fishing is. Caught plenty over 30cm in Middle harbour last week - so I wouldnt be suprised seeing some reports on Fishraider of some bigger fellas during the next 6 weeks coming from there. Jason

I spent Wed, Thurs and Friday in Middle Harbour running in my engine after a rebuild. I had to spend 2 hours under 2000rpms at mixed speeds, so did a lot of sounding around. There was lots of Kings around seaforth, sugarloaf and the moorings along the way to Bantry bay. Didnt see many bait schools though (it was the middle of the day ) Only fished for an hour or so while the engine cooled and hooked a king an really light gear under a mooring just like the people who need to call up the nasal delivery experts it didnt last long.... Also plenty of 30cm+ snapper in Middle Harbour, threw back heaps of them and they were hungry Can wait for summer to be be in full swing, my local servo freezer is chock full of pilchard blocks that sat there all winter and slowly defrosted marinated in their own juice during a few blackouts then refrozen and freezer burnt................ Perfect for my Kingy missions ! Glad you got onto a king - There were a few successful people at the ramp when I was launching with some nice fish Jason