Keflapod

G'day Kulch, For years I have ensured I would be out there as often and as early as Dave on the Tuna.com. I launch alone and often I'm the first one there (but it does help to live 300m from a ramp). When I return at about 2:00pm or so, I only get the googans on the trip home when I'm not in a huge hurry. I wait patiently at the entrance (my ramp has a one width car entry before the 3 lanes can be accessed. If the spot I need is hogged by a googan, I just wait until someone behind me loses their cool and hassles me, whereupon I indicate I'm being held up by said googan. But I myself, will always keep my cool... The googans I do encounter that bother me are in fact just like those on the show whereby they drive so close they cut my lines off or drive all over my area scaring the fish away. When the cooler months come in though, the googans generally disappear but there's always one, isn't there ? Like some sort of a representative of the collective, even in the depths of winter, they remind us that they shall return when next the summer embraces us... Tony

Mate I seriously need to pick your brain about a few things in the river and bay. Few people would know what you know about this neck of the woods and in fact many other woods as well. I have not seen a fan-belly leatherjacket since I was a blond 10-year-old peering into the wonderland under the wharf at Rushcuters Bay... One day we gotta catch up..... Tony

G'day Mutt, You certainly put in the effort. It's real hard to organise a fishing trip when you have two young kids, but you did it and got a great reward for it. Mate that's a fair fan-bellied leatherie you got there. Where did you score that ? I have never seen one in the bay... Tony

Hey scratchie, You know I can't complain either cos I get out virtually EVERY weekend and return home at maybe 2:00pm. Never a complaint do I get from her but all the relos get fresh fish out of it. Greeks never complain with a full stomach..... We must both be blessed with tolerant wives... Tony

Hi Scratchie, Well done on a good haul of fish, and under such a big load of pressure, both from the relos and the missus. Sounds like you must be a part-time charter fisho... ..and next time the wife says she'll be at the ramp to pick you up in an hour, tell her the next time she wants to go shopping, you'll be at the car park to pick her up in an hour. ...then RUN FOR YOUR LIFE !! Tony

G'day BSJ, Mate that's a good effort - cat food and chicken food to catch people food. Good system. A few bream a few flatties and a crack at a jew while being towed around by a big ray.... Sounds like a good time was had by all. By the way I have replied to your PM... Tony

LOL !!! Diesel - mate that is the funniest thing I have heard since the wife asked me to vacuum last weekend... ...and actually I did do it....she must have tricked me or something...probably not too hard to do so these days... Darg'em out to sea eh ? I can picture, mentally, a whole flotilla of jet-skis - full throttle, but going backwards towards the sea.....dark clouds above and white caps on the water.... Lol...still laughing... Tony

Mate - the world is full of people who have vastly different opinions to eachother. Some people accept that fact and deal with it while others have little tantrums over it. I was once asked for assistance by a broken down 7m plus cabin cruiser in the georges river. They asked if I could tow them against the current to the como marina (about 3km). I was in a 12ft open tinny with 30hp motor. I explained to them I would burn out my outboard and make no progress towing them against the current....but....I had a solution... The Seatow sharkcat was moored about 300m away from me. I could call him on their behalf and organise a tow for them... Well that solution was met with equivalent abuse, tantrums and gesticulations beyond the threshold of most mere mortals.... I have assisted people before and feel good about it but those people I couldn't assist - geez, it makes you wonder what's in people's heads these days.... At least you got a decent feed to compensate for the bad karma at the start of the trip... Tony

Hey Mr Funny ! Long time no hear from you. Jeez mate - took you two whole hours to bag out on the bream ? You must have been slouching around or something Mate you never disappoint with your catches. And the whiting look like good fish too. Are the fish spawning ? They certainly are in Botany Bay. I got one last week at 47.5cm,. Anyways, mate well done - excellent catch and give us a bell if you're keen on fishing the bay in my boat - just gotta replace that blown wheel bearing from yesterday.... Tony

Trung, I think your biggest talent is convincing the wife that you're doing a 'solo trip' at night.... ..and that its to go 'fishing'.... My wife trusts me to go fishing whenever I want, with or without fishing gear because she knows I could never play up on her... I have a face only a mother can love and my talents make women laugh, rather than make them weak at the knees... So she knows I'm a no-hoper for womanizing... So how can you get away with it so easily ? What if the donuts return and you come home smelling 'normal', ie no squid ink, no fish slime or sea salt ? Will she question you ? It's a big risk you're taking Lucky for the squid ink and jew slime....maybe carry a bottle of it around with you in case you donut. Well done on a nice catch and the tuna circle hooks you're using - hmm - interesting idea - might just catch on... Merry christmas mate - gotta catch up some day.... Tony

G'day Wizza, is it the flour that removes the iodine smell/taste or is it the 3 day refrigeration ? I would love to know because I tried many recipes for mowies and didn't succeed in finding an acceptible one... Tony

Hey stinkbait, if you got hit on a 45cm slimey bait - you can bet that king was a damn good fish. The rats don't bother with liveys that big usually. The smaller slimies are the gun liey baits, along with small cowanyoung and yakkas (just try and tell the cowanyoung from the yakkas - not easy). That guy that got the kingie on the small yakka - not a surprise at all. But that blue swimme - well that's a very nice surprise.... Well done.... Tony

Trung, You live life dangerously.... 1. You tell the wife that fishing is just for the table and get away with that one.......Well, OK - I use that lie as well.....WIN ! 2. You say "Catching and releasing 1/2 dozen fish in an hour on plastics while seeing 10 other people next to me catch nothing on bait" - That's a "Win" ? Mate if those 10 people turn on you they may decide to hide their undersized whiting on your person ! Then to release those fish in front of the fishless people is just asking to be chucked in.... And to do it with that fake erotic-feeling plastic stuff on a hook is just not fishing - it's cheating of some sort, right ? So did you take your fishing gear to JLo's concert ? Probably catch a fat-head or two there as well. Well done mate - you did really well to escape the crowds alive while catching and releasing some fish.... Stuntman Trung.... Tony

G'day Wizza, you got a 5kg groper in 75m of water? That's amazing. I only ever thought they stayed in 25m or less.... That's a fantastic haul you got there, especially solo and in a small tinny as well. I know the maps you're talking about. I have a copy of all of them but I don't go to sea anymore so haven't studied them for years.

Hey Butch, You know, there's a lot of finesse in this kind of fishing that most people don't realise. I haven't cubed for a red in years but I got it down to a fine art when I was fishing on the ocean. This was before the appearance of soft plastics and very few people even knew of cubing for reds. People need to take some decisions into account before and during fishing. First, when arriving on the spot and hopefully you find no wind, you need to try to guage the current strength by the drift speed and direction of the boat - otherwise it's a guess and knowing where to put the anchor in relation to your chosen ground. If the current is running hard, choose your spot and throw your anchor perhaps 150m up-current, and tie off the anchor around 100m up-current from the spot you wanted your burley to hit bottom. The current speed will carry your burley a long way before it gets anywhere near the bottom for the fish to smell or eat - if it's running hard. Only when your burley gets anywhere near the bottom will the fish find out about your trail and come looking. This means that you have to choose the right size sinker and try to guess how far back the current will take it before it reaches the bottom, along with the burley. It should sink at a similar rate as the main body of burley (the cubes and chook pellets). Ideally, it will reach bottom somewhere around 100m away from your boat.... See what I mean ? Only experience will teach you the right size sinker to use on the day. Also current strength can change during a session so watch where your sinker ends up. You could suddenly find your bait 20m astern and on the bottom (meaning you will get snagged or the bait will get torn up by tiny fish) - This means your sinker is now too heavy bcos the current has backed off. ...or the current has picked up and your sinker is now too light, such that when pulling up your bait, it now skips across the surface 100m astern and your bait is intact - your sinker is now too light...or it was so in the first place. The above techniques will get you in the ball game to get a red to find your bait. The rest is up to correct rigging (two hooks, 10kg trace, etc), baiting (pillies, head first, tail first, half pillie, cuttlefish, stripie fillet, etc) and then how long to wait on the run before striking, figting the fish, etc.... It's adrenalin pumping stuff eh.... It's been a few years since I've been on the ocean - these days I chase the bream and whiting in the calmer waters of the bay... I miss the reddies...but I sure don't miss the heaving swells..... Tony

Hey Josamill, That's a cracking bream mate. I couldn't help but notice it is quite a dark fish for the surf. Must be some weed beds nearby where it has been living for a while... It must have heard the squid splash down and came to investigate..

Chris me old mate me old pal, Long time no hear from you. I see you finally got out into your favourite spot with your old mate Meng. As usual, lovely red you got there, and that squid is a real stonker. Have you had a chance to use that light I gave you on the boat ? I hope it worked out OK. Those people who throw back sweep - all they need to do is a bit of experimenting with cooking them. As you stated, skinned, filleted and deboned is the wy to go. I add them to stir fries as the 'meat' ingredient with some soy sauce - utterly delicious with all those other ingredients in the rice... By the way - my fridge is empty again and I'm on the hunt for some bream and whiting in the bay.... See how I go. Tony

You have 5 ? Mate it's clear what you're doing when you're not fishing..... You're obviously raising kids ! And yes you will need to become an octopus to handle any more than 3 rods at once... Perhaps you can put a video camera on a stand facing the action and relive it many times over.....

Hey Steve, What a memorable day that was. The kids will remember that for a long time. Mate, when your youngest one crawls off your knee and wants a slice of the action, you're gonna have to grow an extra arm to bait up and net fish for all 3 of them ! Those fish also look very solid - would have been a real fight for the boys..... Well done mate. Tony

Mate I reckon that pike is actually a snook. Still, I reckon it should go on as a live bait - a jewie isn't gonna do a google search to see if it'sa pike or snook. Wo'nt be long before we see you boasting with a decent fish..... Tony

Cracking Croc Kel, Now I know why there were 4 or 5 other boats together in that skinny stretch of water. I'm sure I saw the group of boats you were in (if you fished Satruday) and now I understand why they are there. I don't really fish for flatties so your secret is safe with me... ...but if I did catch one...hmmmm...if it was under 75cm it would come home with me, but over that, I would have to botch my own netting attempt so it can be released. Coz if I get it into the boat, releasing it becomes something I find hard to manage.... In any case, you're a better man than I to release her - well done - I hope you catch her again and again...and her offspring Tony

Wildlife like seals and dolphins are amazing to see and be amongst. But like many things in life, they are a double-edged sword. One side, beautiful - a wonder to behold. The other side, they are competition for us fishos. I believe they are here in the bay to have their young, away from oceanic predators. They will search for food here as well but how much they find is debatable because I believe their main goal is reproduction. When they each go on the hunt, fish stop feeding and begin fleeing. You will not catch a fish while dolphins and seals are in the area, regardless of how many fish are there. This is my experience in the bay. Dolphins move around a lot and once they are gone, the fish relax and can return to feeding, but seals stay put and claim an area. They are territorial and can get very aggressive so be careful. They have been known to take fish off lines and discard them dead. I have experienced this before more than once. Seals have also been known to jump into boats but I have only heard this, not experienced it. So for me, I have a love-hate relationship with the animals. When I'm sightseeing, I love them, but when I'm fishing and they appear, I pull up my anchor, squint like clint and mutter under my breath "this town ain't big enough for the two of us...." Tony

Hey Funny, Long time no hear from you. I guessed you would have been busy with work. I reckon your kids would have driven you nuts in the last 4 months to take them for a fish. And the proof of the nuttiness is that you went out in 40 knot winds with 1.5m surge... I'm sure you should rename your boat to "NorthWestern" or "Time Bandit", or Kodiak or Ramblin Rose or Cornelia Marie or any of the DEADLIEST CATCH boats. Only them guys aren't scared by hurricane force winds to make their catch. Nice size on the bream mate - even the mullet are decent fish as well. Yeah I've seen those snapper and big flatties in that pond - woulda love to wet a line in there.... I haven't been in the bay for ages as well. Last trip I did was in the river a month ago - not many bream but the salmon in there made it interesting for me. Just itching for a reasonable weather day to go and see if there is any life on my grounds. I'm sick and tired of buying Atlantic salmon, barramundi, pink ling, etc - I want some REAL fish. Give me bream'n'whiting anyday ! Tony

Hey TJack, Mate it's the smokings that give us the urge for REVENGE ! When we get the fish, we are keen to get back there and get another. But when we get HUMILIATED like that - its more a case of "Get outta my way man, else I'll knock you over ! I've got a score to settle !" It's heads-down serious PAYBACK time.... That's what gets me back.... Well it used to get me back when my back was 100%..too many yellowfin over the years, then too much yabbie pumping action. Now, if I want a big kingie it's 600lb jinkai all the way to a 130lb leader and tie the lot off on the rear bollard ! Can't do it any other way..... Tony

Rob, Your BMT + car is 52 foot long ? is the boat something like 35ft and the car 17ft ? That's one hell of a rig and using public boat ramps would be very hard to manage to launch and park. Do yu have any photos ? My guess is that it may suit a mooring / docking setup.... Tony