Keflapod

Hey Jewgaffer, I can't believe I have driven over this area for the last 12 years and not bothered to look around. I make a bee-line for the bay and I have sorted out the bream/whiting fishing, but at the expense of learning about the jew. Considering I fish alone, it's hard to generate the will power to experiment on the jew and risk not catching anything, when the family love the bream so much. That's why I'm happy to spend some time fishing with someone who is willing to fish with me for the bream (on my terms) and then fish with them for the jewies on their terms, so long as they know the jewies well enough to be able to get me on my feet with a few head-start spots/times/baits. I have had some bad experiences in the past with so-called-friends who come fishing with me, complain a lot, don't fish a lot, don't want to help clean up, want half the fish and when it's time to contribute towards bait and fuel, they suddenly have to leave. This is why I spent $75K to build a custom 5.7m plate alloy boat I can fish alone in, so when it comes time to fish with someone, I look for somebody who will be fair in all respects, including contributing fishing knowledge. I have not yet found anyone but with 2 kids and limited time on the water, there's not much time I can socialise with people to find such a fishing buddy. I admit it's an unusual situation I find myself in, but it's true. I'm a visual person, so I have attached a googlemaps drawing here. I don't suppose you can draw some contour lines on it with some X's to try, can you ? I could use the description you gave in conjunction with the drawing. It would give me the option of trying this spot early mornings before work, or as a last option at the end of the day (midday'ish) if the tide is right...

Hi tide'n'knots, Gotta love those eagle rays. I have battled those things more than a few times and they usually don't go more than 50m before stopping on the bottom to bury themselves. I hate them with a passion. So if this thing ran 250m, my money is on a bull shark. In any case, if it was a shark, it means they have a good food source to follow up the river in the form of good schools of decent jew, and of course, psychologically, it gives me more incentive to wet a line for a jewie ! These days, I need as many incentives as I can get ! So, I will therefore brave the rain this weekend to look for one of these fictitious jewfish.... Tony

Are you still gonna go if it's raining and blowing 15kn at night ? I'm considering giving it a go but my mediocre level of experience with jews combined with the lack-of-comfort factor at night might persuade me to fish daytime for my beloved bream - I have not fished in 10 weeks due to overseas committments so I'm a bit rusty... If you're still gonna go, let me know - I haven't decided what to do yet..... By the way, the bull sharks follow the jew up the river - if there are sharks about, you can bet there are good schools of jew around. Sharks often get only lip-hooked and don't cut the line - if the leader is heavily chafed (rubbed with sandpaper), you can bet it was a shark.....

Yiasoo Niko. I just came back from Greece - I baptised my daughter at Ayios Rafa-il on the Island of Lesbos. Yes, I have a Lesbossian heritage ! I went fishing one day on my cousin's boat there - 6km of long line with 750 hooks. We caught 5kg of little tarwhine and they reckon that was a good catch ! It's terrible what they have done to their waters - beautiful crystal clear oceans, but devoid of life. I hope you don't expect to do too much fishing there between soccer games.... Keep your mind on the ball and you'll go far.... By the way, I live near Oatley Bay boat ramp - 5 minutes from Como. I also fish alone. Any chance you want to share some of your jewie secrets with me? I'll keep your spot warm for 12 months and give you up-to-date reports.....I promise ! I don't do a lot of jewie fishing at all so I need a few pointers but hey, if you want pointers on bream/whiting in the bay - I can reciprocate...when you return...a soccer hero. PM me... Tony

So you were fishing the top of the tide ? I thought como was a bottom-of-the-tide spot. Also, what bait were you using ? That bustoff would have been a bull shark...

you mean you were looking to launch your boat at 3:00am or so ? the low tide was 02:47 1.0 hour diff makes 3:47am. Am I right? And you favour the live squid for bait there ?

You better watch out Mrs FM - Jacinta might hit you up for a loan on a 10 metre sailfish ! After all, she'll need a big freezer for the burley, a sizeable killbox for the yellowfin and kingies and a decent barbie to toss the fillets on....Then there's the big deck for Brett to entertain the guests while she fishes on ! That's a great story and I hope it flourishes into a lifelong relationship between them, the environment and a way of life we all know and love...

Hey Tinnyman, what's the temp on your spot at the moment ? I haven't been out for a few weeks - last I checked it was 14 deg. By the way, any bream or whiting?

Hey Fezza, Thanks for an interesting recipe. I don't chase salmon bcos I have not found a good way to cook them. I might get out there and catch some to try the recipe. Just a question. Do you dip the fish pieces into the thickened cream sauce or do you pour it on the fish pieces ?

Yiasoo Achilles2, This is the first year I have fished the bay summer through to winter. Usually I head offshore by July but sincew I'm fishing alone these days, I won't go offshore alone. This means it's the bay or nothing so I've been fishing on. I'm still working on cracking the winter code but being the first year of sample data for the winter, I can't draw any conclusions. people like Penguin and Sideshow might have a better idea... My catches were still at summer level until mid July, when the water temps fell below 17 degrees. This slowed fish down a lot when using baits. Now the temp is 14 deg and my catches are more like 5 bream, 1 whiting.... Last week I was down to 2 bream, a pile of undersized trevs and reds and a solitary 55cm kingie. Very poor - not even enough for a meal.... Only one area has been producing some action and that's the oil wharf. It's a big structure and it's worth prospecting the entire length but you can't get inside 100m which makes it very hard. The hot water outlet has some fish but there is too much of a clash between lure tossers and bait soakers and trollers and just plain idiots that like to drive all around the other boats like it's a slalom course. You must burley in the winter - no questions about that. I hope this gives you a bit of perspective but if you crack the code, you don't have to tell us the spot but please let us know stuff like the time, tide, temp, water clarity and any other observations.... It will be tough fishing, I believe, until early september. My records on file begin at that time but June, July and August are still being evaluated..... Tony

Hey Billy, What time did you get the fish on Saturday? I was out there too and I got my fish up to about 8:30, then things were very slow after that...... Did you burley?

It's a case of the proverbial poodle grabbing your leg between it's teeth and trying to rip it off... How big is the poodle compared to you? Yet it still thinks it;s gonna have roast human leg for dinner.......

That squid looks like the deep water variety. I have seen them at the fish markets advertised as "Grays Squid". They are a much more tender variety to eat than the arrows or southerns. That squid was probably caught in deeper water. Did it have rings of teeth in it's suckerpads ? I bet it did.....

Hey penguin, I haven't been out in a couple of weeks. Is your not-so-secret secret spot producing any bream or have the trevs taken over? I'm still planning on getting out there this weekend if the weather isn't too windy and/or rainy. See how many of your fish I can rustle up...

Hey poddy trapper, Very interesting and bloody well done ! How cold was the water you were fishing in? Were all the fish around rock structure / wood pylons, sunken trees, holes or near the river mouth ? I'm just trying to work out some common denominators for winter bream fishing in Botany Bay. It's good to have inshore options when the seas are too big outside, ie more that 1m swell is too big !

A pearlie that far south? Wow - I guess some fish just don't understand human laws. I know of an ex-pro who used to catch several spangled emperor each year in the fish traps... We all know of cobes and spotties coming around as well, but always in the warmer months.... Well done on the catch - pearlies, pigfish, reddies, jackets....I'm drooling again.....

OK, I'll stay away - I promise... hehehe Penguin - I think you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him catch the fish... Some people I know look for bream on their sounder before they drop anchor to fish for them. Even though the spot isn't secret, there are a few little things you need to do right before you put the fish on the table... but I understand that it doesn't help the fishing when people troll lures 10m from your boat... Also, just wait until winter really hits with daily max temps of 12 deg and night lows of 5 deg - not many people will want to go out...

Hi Wahcat. The spreadsheet is actually an Excel workbook, consisting of 13 worksheets. Each worksheet is a tab at the bottom of the page and each is labelled for each month of the year. The reason for this is that I can see all the January data in one go, from year 1 to current year. So when I want to plan the strategy for the next trip I look at this time last year, the year before and the year before, etc. For each trip, I record: Date, fishing start/end time, general area fished, specific spots visited, high and low tide times, water temp, moon phase, water clarity, wind speed and direction including changes, baits used, the catch by spot, general fish sizes and any unusual info (eg the fish were not swallowing the bait, or I missed some runs - (extremely rare)). I also put in my theories and results. If other people are catching fish on the same day I put their results in as well. I also try to find out via radio listening if the water quality on the coast is good and it's temp. A major failing of this is that I haven't got a barometer to record the pressure. I'm sure Jewgaffer and some other knowledgeable raiders will tell us how a changing barometer will make the fish feed but one it gets too high or too low and stabilizes, they'll stop biting... I will try to post an example of a page in the workbook but I will have to take a photo of my computer screen and post the photo - I'm sure I can't post an excel spreadsheet to the site... Then you can start capturing the data and it will really make you think about the complexities of the variables - you will form theories about when and where and it will give you some enthusiasm to try out theories. I'll post something up this evening.... Here it is...

Next time use a mouse-trap lure and sweeten the hooks with a camera... Always good for a laugh mate....

Jeez Ray, what a beautiful part of the world Davistown is. The serenity of the place would relax me to bits. The steely grey sky with wafting low clouds over the heavily wooded hills gives you the feeling that it's still 1960. The mirrored landscape over the calm water tells you that you are alone - possibly the only person there. The quiet chill in the air reminds you it's a wild environment and that you need to have your wits about you. Then the scream of the reel shatters the euphoria as the river gives up it's treasure... Well done Ray - I think that by just looking at the pics - I'm there.....

Hey cjchen, I have used lures a little but being a bait fisherman all my life, I'm reluctant to spend a lot of time with them unless I just want a change of pace... Bait in the bay - I just use the worms - blood, tube or beach - they all work. I like to burley a little pilchard as well and often put a fillet out in the trail on a very light sinker. Mainly get trevs but some nice bream often move in on it as well. They are expensive them worms but everything eats them. That's pretty much it - but I'll admit, strategy plays an equally big role in success. You need to make an excel spreadsheet and make a note of all the variables and results of each trip, to work out what conditions give what results. Then you will begin to speculate on the 'what if's, you'll get those results and you'll decide what's important and what's not - it can be very complex and I don't know it all, but I like a rising tide when the water quality on the coast is good, and that coastal water gets sucked into the bay, bringing the fish on the bite - but how do you know what constitutes good water? Is it temp alone or is it temp plus other things like chlorophyll content, silt, chemicals or some unknown things that only fish can understand? Once the good water is sucked into the bay and the ocean water stays good quality, then the fish will bite well on all tide phases - but once that coastal water turns bad, then as soon as the first of that bad water comes into the bay, the fish will begin to shut down. Temp alone slows down the metabolism of fish so they don't need to feed as much, but I bet if that coastal water turns good, the apetite will return. In a nutshell, for each trip, tabulate your results and look at the variables and their results. My results go back about 6 years - not very long but it has given me a reasonable insight... Good luck - c u out there..... Tony

Hey sideshow - mate if you got a dozen bream around the 850gm mark each - you found a bigger class of fish than me. Well done. It is also a big advantage to have someone fish with you so you can fish 6 or 7 rods. I fish alone as I have no friends so I can only fish 4 rods. That's OK - I can manage. Did you find much fish on the seaward side of the wharf or did you get the most fish on the hot water outlet side of the wharf? By the way, what time did you leave? I left at 3:00pm and you were still there...I also got no fish after about 2:30 so I'm curious to see if you got much on the second hald of the runout tide.... Also, out of curiosity, who was the naval architect of your boat ? Send me a PM and we can exchange emails - I would love to find out as the guy who did my custom boat for me was the only architect interested in a custom design....what a long story that was.... Tony Hey 'Funny', Mate the week before last, I went to 'your' spot and couldn't lose a bait. That was with the water being 18 degrees. So I passed that spot by (it was 15 degrees this time) and I went straight to the wharf. In hindsight I should have spent some time there bcos the tide was rising, bringing warmer and cleaner water into the bay and that may have brought the fish on...but the report posted by Penguin that week (on the Friday) showed me the fish were at the wharf so I went straight there. Next week will be a new moon and a falling tide - not so good, but if the water on the coast is good, then I'll time my trip to fish the rise - gotta get some whiting - they're better than a 'hundred bream'.

Ray, those photos are spectacular. It makes getting up early all worthwhile. Those blue groper are pure powerhouses. I have seen my old rockfishing buddies spool up with 150lb braid to prevent bustoffs, but all that happens is that they get dragged across the rocks, sparks flying from their dragging cleats until one of his mates has to grab the fisho and hold on for dear life ! Them heavy duty rods are doubled over like spaghetti I have seen them land groper to 13kg. One guy once decided to keep one and kept him in a rock pool at bare island. A diver saw it and a major confrontation erupted between the angler and diver. Tensions between the two groups often flare up as divers often jump into the water at the feet of anglers, then swim and cut heavy lines off underwater. Now you know why I gave up fishing for groper and blackfish years ago. Anyway, I'm sure that big bluey is collecting your hooks as body piercings, but one day, he will collect one too many. Then you can have a word with him face to face, in front of the camera..... Tony

Mate that's a real nice croc you got there. Did you get her on the runout tide, and if so, the first half or the last half? I found the bite stopped for me on the second half of the runout and I'm not entirely sure if it was due to boat traffic or the tide stage itself... Well done for letting her go - you will have many more future generations of flatties to catch...

Hey Raiders, I haven't posted in a little while - haven't been out in several weeks. Boy has the bay cooled down or what. While I have been absent from the bay, the water has really plunged. The river temp around oatley is a brisk 12 degrees, 14.5 at Captain cooks bridge, 15 degrees on the southern side of the bay and 16.4 at the oil wharf. Understandably the fishing has quietened down a lot but the fish are still there and can be caught if people don't drive over your head while fishing. Seriously, I had at least a dozen incidents when people drove less than 10 metres from me, catching my lines in their propeller, cutting me off, wrapping metres of line in their prop in the process. The fish would spook and no bites for maybe half an hour. I even had one guy nearly drive over my fish as I wound it in - fortunately it was only a stingray but some people are stupendously ignorant. Jeez that sounds like a very apt description of the perpetrators. Well I'm sure they are decent friendly people (most of them) which is why I give them the benefit of the doubt and I always ask them nicely if they could not drive so close to my lines. Most just smile at me like spongebob squarepants and keep on driving, while others have threatened to break my arms (threats and aggro done in front of their kids too). It speaks volumes for their intelligence. What do you do ? I have to laugh it off and just remind myself that I have 16 bream and a trevally in the icebox while they would have maybe just their bait to take home and eat..... hehehe I was out there fairly late at 6:30 - gentle cool breeze at 5kn out of the NW. Rugged up but not like the proverbial eskimo. Some fish were coming in which kept me enthusiastic, then by 8:00am, the zephyr turned into a 10knot breeze - the windchill began to cut through me and sent me scrambling for more clothes. By midday the wind calmed off to nothing and it was very pleasant, so I stayed out there until 3:00pm. Then it seemed that every man and his dog lined up in front of the wharf to fish the last of the runout tide, the fish stopped biting as boat traffic got out of control. The maritime boat came around several times, flexing it's muscles but didn't shoo anyone away. They also drove very close to me but I was 100m from the wharf. By then the fish had stopped biting and so I left the mayhem to itself..... While out there, I could hear the charter boats complaining of a distinct lack of fish - and lack of current. Some stripies were being caught but no kingies on the peak. They speculated the good water had gone south, and that there was in fact too much current from the hump and down further south. Another friend of mine fished Sunday in close from the lighthouse and also complained of no current and no fish. All up, I think I did OK for a cold winter's day - but the water hasn't finished cooling down yet - the hardest yards are yet to come. I may have to install a fireplace in my 5.7m platey ! The obligatory pics... NB - the bay behind me is barren of boats - because the whole fleet is on my head.....