Keflapod

Hey Penguin, I was out there the next day (Saturday) and that wind was 12-13kn W. I only managed 4 bream and a trev. I fish the same strategy as yourself. Is your experience in the bay such that you believe the westerly wind puts the fish off? From your photos, it looks like you had next to no wind. Also, when the tide is rising, do you like to fish the same spot but from the other side of the wharf? Also, do you burley for the bream there? I found that I had to burley a bit to get any action at all. I haven't been out in a while so I have had no reports to post.

Love your nom-de-plume bananaphobic. Do you freak out when you're fishing buddy brings one on the boat? Over the side with both of them ! LOL - I love the tunes you came up with. Very creative. You see what happens when you get a bunch of bored fishos together with too much time on their hands and they catch a banjo or two? They start a band... One day, somebody is gonna plug one of those rays into an amplifier and start playing "smoke on the water..." Love the humour, love the pics, keep it up guys. Laughter really is the best medicine....

Hey Checch, Everyone is YFT mad - I'm more interested in the deep reef and bar cod. I don't suppose any details thereof would be forthcoming, would they? I only ask as my back is not what it used to be. My days of catching 3 or 4 decent fin in a day are over. Now it's cranking the handles of the reef queen reel. I may only get to use them 3 times a year but I like them and it doesn't hurt the back.... By the way, nice fin too.....

The last time I caught a unicorn jacket was a few years ago, on the south peak edge in about 80m depth. It tasted Great.

Can you use the crabs for bait? Just maybe disable them from reburying when they are cast out. Surely the surf jew would eat them....

I once took the plunge and tried the cockies. if you bleed them, skin / fillet / debone them and fry them in a tom-yum sauce they taste the same as the luderick. The sauce is quite a strong asian flavour and masks some of the iodine-type taste of the rock-cale. I don't fish the stones any more but if I did, I would still keep them... How do you think the first person to ever eat octopus felt? All his mates and girl-friends would have thought the bloke was a social outcast - a mentally deficient goof who would eat anything - until he opened up a seafood restaurant selling BBQ octopus as his specialty.... Now they line up for a table.... Have an open mind - experiment a bit and you will learn what an amazing source of food the ocean can be.

Hey Nudge, I'm one of those people who has an open mind about fishing. Traditionally, I'm a bait person and have caught plent over the years. I prefer bait due to the fact that it's a style of fishing I prefer - but when the going is slow, I'm champing at the bit looking for a better way to catch them. Then while I'm pondering the issue, a skeeter will rock up, and start catching the fish from under my nose on SP's.... Net result ? The realization the fish are actually there but are not really interested in bait. It happens sometimes. Usually the fish can be caught on both. My approach then is to fish bait until I decide that it's gonna be quiet for the next hour or so, then I'll pick up my flick stick and use it for an hour. You must drift to effectively fish SP's. Anchoring and chucking means you get maybe 15 casts and you have covered 360 degrees of the area you're in. You must then up anchor, relocate and try again - all too hard. Drifting doesn't work when bait fishing the groynes - the bait gets ripped off by the weed when passing through. You can't drift bait and SP's together there. My suggestion - fish baits until you decide they're not working, then drift-fish SP's for an hour, then try bait again or stick with the lures. Did you notice the water was VERY clean there last weekend? If so, the long leader on your bait works wonders so if fishing SP's, you will need to scale back the leader material to 2kg. Also, the size of the SP is important. If you fish a 3" size lure, you'll only get the bigger bream and flatties. If you use, say an bloodworm imitation, everything there will hit it, large and small. Also the jig head needs to be very small - not much casting distance but you don't need to... Anyway, I hope that helps...

So when jew fishing, are you supposed to fish the reel in gear with fighting drag set? I always thought it's best to let a jewie run 20m before setting the hook(s). Perhaps different rules apply when fishing live versus dead baits, day versus night or braid versus mono. I would love to hear the opinions of some of our jew gurus....

Only one small detail missing....Where's the 120 rod holders across the back fence ? ...just in case you hold a fishing club meeting / bbq in your backyard. Seriously, what a nice place to throw in a casual 130lb tiagra bent-butt with a sheep for bait and just wait for that run, while mowing the lawn.... What part of the world are you in? Property prices there might just skyrocket after those lovely pics... Also, how can the wife knock you back a bass trip? She just has to lean over the back fence and yell out "Byyyyyyy-rooooooooN !" and you're back in 2 minutes.... I suppose if hook that noah and your boat is being towed backwards at a rate of knots, she can just sit back on the lawn with a shardy and watch you.... She might even yell out some instructions when it comes time to tail rope it.... hehehe - I'm having a good laugh while writing this - I can picture the shenanigans in my head. I think I'm going stir crazy...I need to get out there.....

Mate you hit the crab jackpot. Were you in the bay, the harbour, hacking, hawkesbury or somewhere else?

What a laugh - starfish (Yes I got one in an earlier post) - sponges? Well not yet - I have to work out their tidal preference and migration paths first, then work out how to impale plankton on a size 77 hook. I almost caught a penguin when one stole a yakka while I was catching it for live bait - I have a photo of it to prove it. We've done the obligatory seals, mutton birds, seagulls, boobies and albatross, did a green turtle once and hung onto a mate who was being dragged around the deck by a manta ray. You gotta laugh, then re-rig....

I haven't fished for blackies for many years but the general consesus amongst the group was that if you were catching the cockies, you're fishing too deep. Blackfish apparently never go deeper for a bait, but will always rise (even to the surface) to take a bait. You get a cockie, raise your depth shallower by 30cm and try again....

Hey Guys - I agree with Jim there. I was out on Friday morning and Sunday morning. On Friday, I got about 10 fish off Silver beach early morning, then the bite tapered off by 7:30. Then I only got one fish here, one there until midday. Best one went 45cm (photos attached) On Sunday I only got 6 or 7 but my other mate got 14 bream and 9 whiting but he moved around a bit as well. I'm unsure exactly what role the moon plays - I'm thinking it's not the moon at all, or if the moon does play a role, the water quality and temperature plays an overriding role. In any case, the fish felt warm to the touch on friday but not so warm on Sunday - could it be the temp on the seabed that controls their appetite? Or perhaps the seabed temp controls what foods they prefer to eat because my mate and I were using different baits on Sunday and we weren't that far apart. The baits that worked for me on Friday didn't work on Sunday... The spot where I got the 45cm fish, I had gotten a pair of 45cm fish the year before (photo attached). It seems to hold some really big ones, but I only go there when I'm desperate bcos these big bream are the breeders, and they don't taste as good as their sub 40cm bretheren..... After I got those two, I left the spot - I can't bring myself to release them so I'd rather go somewhere else..... Won't be long now when the water will cool down and I'll have to concentrate my efforts offshore....unless you guys know of winter breamin spots.....

You know - I'm a bit of a nutcase - when I write my reports I laughy at my own jokes while I'm writing them. Then I read all your responses and I realize we're all nutcases. Yes I thought putting the banana into the picture was a stupid thing to do - hopefully upset those people who genuinely believe in bad banana karma. When I get a 20kg jew, I'll put one in it's mouth for a photo. The banana didn't have a bag or size limit but I would look even stupider than usual if I brought 20 bananas with me and put them all next to two bream. What the hell is he doing ? The gag about the bream arguing who's gonna go in the pan first - well I was giggling like a schoolgirl (well not exactly like one - my voice is a tad deeper) and I'm definately not wearing any dresses any more. The special magic words came out when I saw the eagle - thankfully there's no one present to wash my mouth out with soap. I did the same thing some weeks back when I landed a mega toadfish. I thought I would be a photogenius and get some nice shots of it. What I didn't expect was it to blow itself up while in the net and we just about destroyed the net to get it out. Man those spikes are like something out of 'alien versus predator'. The workout on that ray was OK because it was only light tackle - I think the ray just got bored. I haven't been to the gym for 15 years but before that I was a real junkie - 6 days a week - that's where I met my wife. She and her mum conspired to get me to stop fishing (I had other responsibilities now I'm married) but I inundated them with fish so they just said "ah let him go - we're saving a fortune on fish - we can spend the savings on the dowry for your 5 daughters you're gonna have !

Hey Raiders, It's been a little while since I have posted. I went out on Sunday morning at the leasurely hour of 4:00am to fish the river for a bream and a jew on the tide change. I nearly fell asleep the action was so hot. The place is full of 20cm tailor - excellent food for the jew but can't use these tailor for bait....I caught a small spotted whiting and used it as a livie - it also got bored...time to change tactics. I went into the bay while it was still early and even though the tide had changed, it was still very high so I went to a spot that my fishing memoirs told be produced some big bream at this time of year. Well I'm glad I kept these notes because it yielded 6 fish from 34cm to 40cm. Then one of the bream rods goes off and keeps going....What the fakari rug is that ! I had images of a 30kg jew rampaging into the bay. I pulled in the other 3 rods with the hooked up rod in the holder, then up with the anchor. Oh the joys of fishing alone ! You can't delegate any tasks.... Well I chased this thing for 45 minutes, winding, backing up my 5.7m platey with a full bend in the 4.5kg class bream stick. Then I god a flash of colour - the brown-ness of it sickened me - an eagle ray with stealth-bomber wings....well by that stage I just wanted to beat it, to punish it for wasting my breaming time so I put in another 10 minutes to get it boatside for some photos and a release. I also gave it a stern-talking to - these are the types of conversations you have when you fish alone. Yes you talk to the fish, to the rods, to the sky and to that fool whose reflection I can see in the glass windshield... So back I went to the spot and redeployed. Then another screaming run just the same as the other. How many eagle rays are there ? Man those things can move let me tell you. Well I did the sensible thing and broke it off immediately. I actually saw the pressure wave it created when it took off. Then - you guessed it - the next rod does the same thing....Stuff this - I proved my point I can land them so I'm outta here.... Go to spot 2 - bumped into a mate and we flashed our catch at eachother (ie the fish). He had about 8 bream and some whiting - quite a respectable catch - a couple of the bream were 35cm. He was a bit suprprised to see all my fish were good ones and I told him where to go (well not literally - ie the spot). He went there - stayed for maybe 1/2 an hour and left - perhaps the eagle rays ate all the bream there, or spooled him.... Well at my spot #2 - the fish were there as well - another 6 big ones and some smaller fish hit the deck - very nice - and no more eagle rays but the sting rays were around. If a bream doesn't find the bait, a ray has enough time to find it. Always a pleasure to cut off a sting ray - yes all 20 of them..... At one stage I had a tangle in my line - I wound it in halfway, no fish on the line. I stopped to unpick the twist knot when something hit the bait when it was under the boat - broke the mainline right at the knot - probably another nice bream - or maybe another eagle ray.... Oh well - I had enough fish - 15 bream (12 big ones) and 2 whiting - no complaints here. When I finally got back to the ramp I had a chat with a guy who fished soft plastics - he had 3 or 4 thumper whiting, a nice bream, a trev and a couple of nice flatties... Very impressive for a non-bait catch (I wonder if I have created an argument here !). Actually I have seen SP's catch heaps of fish by people drifting past me and I intend on trying them on reds - they are the way of the future I believe. I went home and the phone started ringing - the relos seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to fish. Or maybe the wife tells them when they ring up and ask her where I am. That's OK - I'm not going to eat them all (the fish, not the relos) - most of them maybe, but not all - in any case, how often have they brought us food and did stuff for us ? In fact they still do help out with food, kids, etc so this is a small way I can repay these favours. Unfortunately they help too much and ring 12 times a day, invite us to their parties where they try to create 'arranged marriages' for my 7 year old son and 16 month old daughter.... Anyway, the obligatory pics...

Justin's jousting with the crabs in the shallows.... I bet those onlookers were probably thinking "this guy must have been stung by a jellyfish or something" - else, they better get that straightjacket ! Tell them the straightjacket would be useless - a castnet would have been better - then the would have returned with a castnet and chucked it on you... Mate I'm gonna try for a crab this weekend myself - I guess I better get a rod, some boots and walk the shallows....

Mate, I think your bonefish is actually a box leatherjacket (from vague memory). They have a tiny mouth and bite extremely gently. I believe they also emit a toxin when in a fish tank with other competing species, such that they can kill the other fish....I wonder if this is true or I'm just filling you up with bull....either way, I believe it until I'm taught otherwise.... By the way, I'm sure if your mate gave you the frigate alive, cut it's tail off and throw it at the big kingies with a 9/0 in it's back, you would be hanging onto your rod for dear life.....

Mate it won't be long before he's hooking them and passing the rod to YOU ! Well done - great team effort, top fish and photos for the young bloke to remember a special fish... Blow the photo up, sign it, date it, frame it and put it on his wall.... He'll be telling his grandkids about it bcos flatties like that are rare, and the first one carries a special magic, especially for young kids.....

Hey excalibre, Freaky stuff - my worst nightmare. That bang - maybe a main fuse went that protects the distribution board from power surges? Do you have one of those big fuses? They are of a bigger amperage than the smaller fuses on the other devices. If something metallic hit some of the battery terminals (eg a burley pot muncher touched +VE and -VE of one or more batteries) maybe that would have caused a short circuit. the touching of the terminals could also have made the bang. It's also possible all fuses of all devices blew all at once. By the way, what kind of batteries do you have? Is the boat a plate alloy hull? More chance that something could have shorted on the hull - better check you have sacrificial anodes as well and that they are not painted and wearing normally else the boat itself could turn to swiss cheese.... I would be keen to know - I have a plate boat myself, twin AGM batteries and did the wiring myself and I fish alone (mainly inshore) so, you could say I'm putting my life in my own hands !

I can see the flaw in your approach. You have to be eating a Bacon and Egg roll when you're fishing.... Isn't it obvious ( ) ? The fish can smell it a mile off - THAT'S what they wanted to eat... So ditch the bait shop and hit mackas for 7 of them.... One for you and 6 for the bait. At least if the fish don't show, you can say you ate your bait.....

Go the kids! They have kidpower - something we lose once we decide santa clause isn't real. They have a sense of creativity, a sense of adventure and enthusiasm that we have long forgotten. They see the magic of a place, especially if it's new - the new smells, the landscape, the water, the sand and the excitement they feel just radiates from their eyes. Their mind goes into overdrive and they know exactly what they need to catch a fish - any fish. A stick, some length of line, a hook and a bit of something the fish might eat. Believe me, they'll remember that day when they are YOUR age and telling the story to THEIR kids. God love them....

Hey Raiders, I went out veryh early on Saturday morning. No rain and it was nice. I caught a few bream and whiting in my usual areas until the tide peaked at 7:00am. Then someone blew the knock-off whistle and all the fish went home. Not even the pesky pinkies were about. No banjo sharks, no sting rays, no nuthing... I was whistling dixie, while pacing around the centrecab, talking to the rods, asking them to take a bow - SOMETHING !!!. I even tried eating breakfast to try and tempt fate. In desperation I did a few drifts with the SP's and caught a pile of undersized fish. Bream, flatties, pinkies, flounder, whiting, trevally - they all put up a good fight on 6lb braid and my carbon fibre rod. It was a really worthwhile distraction from the REAL fishing (with bait ) - hehehe - only kidding - it's all fun, WHEN YOU ARE ACTUALLY CATCH FISH!!! Not so fun when you're pacing and pep-talking the rods... Then even the littlies stopped biting on the SP's, so back to the bait we go. I pulled in one of my lines and I thought it just had some weed on it, but it was in fact a large starfish, the likes of which I have not previously seen. It was a good 45cm from end to end. Anyone want to provide an ID? Then the rain came down and down and I just listened to the rain hissing as it hit the surface of the water around me. It rained against the glass windshield and side glass panels as well as tapping on the plate alloy roof. It was really nice, serene and very relaxing. It's a nice time to sit back, reflect on life, who you are, focus on the good things in life that made you the person you are, your family, your kids, the things you value in life. You get the goosebumps as that warm fuzzy feeling sweeps over you while the rain comes down and you appreciate the beauty of nature, even in her inclement form... Then one of the rods going off - I barely hear it while in the moment - Let it scream I says... I'm busy reflecting... The fact that it was pouring down had nothing to do with it...( ) Anyway, the final result was 12 bream, 4 whiting, 2 trevs and a nice flattie. Enjoy the pics...

Mate I LOVE reading funny reports. Yours is a beauty. The case of the missing rod eh? It would have been funnier if you went to your rods and there were three rods instead of two. Then you'd be scratching your head ! What the? Very nice bream by the way - I didn't fish in the daytime bcos of the rain - you went out AT NIGHT in the rain. That's very impressive. Getting 4 hours sleep - that's the hard bit....

Hey Dave, What you're saying makes sense and I hope you are right. My concern is that once the desal plant starts, it will keep going because politicians will see it as: 1. It creates full-time jobs and that makes pollies look good and give them their best chance for re-election. 2. Having qualified people employed 'as needed' is too hard. Staff may not be around when needed. 3. Having qualified people employed 'as needed' is too expensive. It may rival the cost of constant running 4. The govt are smart people. They will probably run it full time and sell the 'excess' water to irrigators and others, both intrastate and interstate - help offset the cost of running the plant full time.... This is why I think they will run it full time. You see, the govt. can still throw any reason at us to keep the plant running. After all it is critical infrastructure and doesn't need community consultation in any of it's decision making processes. That's one of the reasons I sold my big boat and my small boat and got a medium sized boat. I can still fish the bay whilst the desal plant is not running, but can also fish the ocean, in case the bay turns into the dead sea. Usually in summer (when we will need the desal plant the most), the ocean current comes down from the north and that will not necessarily pose a problem for the bay as the brine is swept southwards from it's discharge point. But when the ocean current is from the south (or a southerly wind is blowing) and the tide is rising, the brine outflow from the plant will be sucked into the bay, cooks and george's rivers. The salt concentration will be higher on the bottom layers of water and I think it will kill off a lot of vegetation and small fish, molluscs and crustaceans. Once the bottom end of the food chain dwindles, everything else will dwindle too. It will be worse for kurnell coastline, bate bay, all the way to port hacking, jibbon and who knows how far south it will go. All that brine will have serious affects. I hope I have it all wrong and that common sense prevails. To have the plant running part time when dam levels get low is the best idea for the environment - but I ain't holdin' my breath....

Cooking crabs? Oooh you have my apetite going again. The best way I have seen is the spanish way. Remove the cap off the fresh crab and clean the the gills out (grey spongy things up the top) and GENTLY rinse the insides.. Chop up the crab into bits like you would cut a pie - centre out, taking a couple of legs with each bit. Then crack the claws with a nutcracker so the insides can cook. Pour some olive oil and some lemon-pepper seasoning into the oil (actually you can put whatever seasoning you like into the oil) and get it fairly hot. Put the crab bits into the oil and cook on a lowered heat until it's done - 5 minutes per side, maybe less. Use this dish as an entree to a fish meal and you will definately go out and buy that bloody net, just as Brickman suggests....