Itchin'faFishin'

Thanks Neil. I find it easier to stay out the night than face getting up early in the morning to get on the water for sunrise.

Thanks Phil. Maybe it was a combination of the tide, time and the rain we'd had in the previous 24hrs.

Hi everyone, Has an unofficial hairtail "social" been agreed and if so what would be the date?

Thanks Regan. It was all action stations when they all came to the party in about 1 1/2 hrs before the end of the outgoing tide.

Yep. On the south east corner there's a nice hole that is about 9 - 10m deep.

Went out last night to see if there was much action around Berowra. I launched at the boat ramp near the ferry and motored slowly up to the southern side of Bar Island with the intention of getting some sleep on my boat and waking before first light to be ready for any morning action. Low tide was due around 10:30 a.m. so on the outgoing tide I put out a mix of rigs. One paternoster with double droppers and large 6/0 circle hooks. One running ball down to a swivel with a long leader ending in a 2/0 circle hook. One 4" white paddle tail soft plastic.The paternoster rig did all the damage. During the night I was awoken a few times by some stray by-catch including a mud crab, an eel and a catfish. Around 7:00am the real action started and lasted about 90 minutes, including two double dropper hookups. With a strong outgoing tidal flow I caught 9 flathead in a row, the largest ones coming in at 600mm. A soapy jew finished off the session at about 11:30. Very different to my normal pathetic efforts. Tried both prawns and salted pilchards for bait but all were caught on cubes of the salted pilchard. Maybe my luck has changed. Thanks for reading.

Any date set yet for the social ????

Great to hear you're up again Stapo. Keep up the fishing as I say every day of fishing adds a week to your life.

Hi Jani, I'm heading over to Sweden and Finland for a holiday starting late next week. Where are you located? I'll be in Ulricehamn in Sweden and in Rovaniemi in Finland (Santa's village and hopefully see the northern lights while there. I'm hoping to try some ice fishing too.

Hi Tristan, Stapo's having luck at The Entrance. Check his Fishing Report from this weekend. Peter

Forgot to ask, were you wading or from a boat?

Hi Stapo, Based on your advice of 4-5 days after the full moon and looking at the moon and tide phases it looks to me that Friday 21st or Sat 22nd Oct would be a good weekend timing. Would you agree?

How do you get land-based near the mouth of Cowan? That must be quite a trek?

Would love to learn some of your techniques! Have sent you a PM.

That bream is a classic! What a beauty.

Hi Norm, That was me. Carl_131 and I were using the floats on our rigs. We got them from a Korean fishing tackle store in Rowe Street, Eastwood. They are an EVA 3 float made from closed cell plastic. They have a recess in the top to hold a battery powered small red LED indicator light that easily lasts all night on one tiny battery. It takes a 2 bean sinker to nicely balance the float rig when you have a whole pilchard on. We also used waterproof flashing battery powered attractor lights down on the leader just above the bait. Regards Peter

Carl_131 and I had a fantastic time. It was a great social and we couldn't have asked for better weather! We came away with 7 hairtail but the friendship from everyone was what made the event so special. Many thanks to everyone, especially Sword, Mrs Swordie and Harold. I'll definitely be back next year.

Looking forward to getting to JB by about 8:00am tomorrow. Bringing my son, Carl_131, to help haul in some big ones. Sounds like the place is humming already.

Great result. I could do with a guide like that. I've sent you a PM asking for your guide's contact details.

I run a new 75HP Etec which is really a tuned down 90HP. All the rest of the unit is exactly the same and saved me about $1,500. You do still get some of the oil smell when you are trolling and if you are sensitive to it it can affect your sea comfort. At the end of the day you can still end up with an oily smell in your nose even though the Etec oil consumption is very low. I put the Etec on purely for substantially reduced weight compared to an equivalent power of 4-stroke and with terrific fuel economy. I have a 4.7 fibreglass half cabin (Stejcraft).

Thanks for the update!

Hey Stapo, How did you go on Thursday night? What's the water quality like?

Hi Guys, I was planning on trying some prawning at The Entrance with my son tomorrow night but I guess with all the rain and flooding on the Central Coast it is likely to be a washout. Would you agree? How long do you think it will take for the rain water to clear and make it possible to successfully prawn again?

Great result for putting in that effort! CoolChange

I use chicken thigh fillets as I'm told they are a bit tougher than chicken breast and stay on the hook better. CoolChange