Keflapod

Hey Orange peel, You must be a strong bloke if you can just 'throw' the boat in. Most mere mortals have to slide it off the trailer ! OK - apologies for taking the mickey...now to the more serious stuff... I find that in winter, if I don't burley I will likely catch nothing. The burley has to be oily / fatty to excite the fish. Fish need to pile on the weight in winter to build the fat layer to protect them from the cold water. If the fish are distracted by chasing baitfish, burley would not work - only lures or bait matching-the-hatch, cast into the bust-up. I would go to a likely spot, burley as heavily as I dare and fish baits at various levels - see what comes by. Something always does. That is my winter approach... Tony

Hey Nautica, I bet the sound of the air leaving the tyre after the valve 'fell off' was more satisfying than a drag going off !

Sounds like a great initiative. Is there a URL or any more information that can be posted here for all to read up-front before we all crash Krystle's email Inbox with messages ? It will also save her a lot of time reading and posting the same response to many interested parties. Perhaps Krystle can do a bit of a write up for us ? I would love to be involved but if I have to release all fish, I would think twice, whereas it would suit other anglers down to a tee.... Just a thought.... Tony

G'day Sido. Before I can reply, I will need some more info: 1. Size and type of your vessel (open, half-cab, etc) 2. Reliability of your boat 3. Experience you've had 4. Number of people you will take with you and their comfort levels 5. Your expectations (catch'n'release, must get a feed, etc) Why so much info ? Because 15-20 knots of westerly is not comfortable to drive through or to fish through and you will likely be exposed to the full force at some point in your trip. Your own experience and that of your passengers becomes an important factor. If you expect to get a good feed, you may not quite get that because the combination of strong westerly, full moon and stiff currents may present challenges that are not easy to beat to get onto a fish. See if you're in a 6m half cab with one other crew member, both fairly experienced, reliable boat and just flicking SP's around looking for a tussle here'n'there, then it might be OK to go. But if your in a 14ft open runabout, dodgy tiller steer 2-stroke and fishing with the wife'n'kids looking to put something in the empty freezer, you should either stay at home or go to an up-river spot and fish landbased. See what I mean ? Fishing in a boat has a lot of things to take into account so please think through the situation carefully before getting out there.... I hope this puts your questions into perspective. Tony

G'day Harbour Hoodlum, Very nice southern calamari you got there. You say you're gonna eat it (I would too), but with a name like Harbour Hoodlum, I'm thinking you may tempted to bait it fro a kingie. Either way, very nice catch. You know I'm a bit confused regarding naming od cephalopods. Squid is the english generic term for a, well, a squid. The word Calamari is the Greek word for a squid. At some point, the word calamari was adopted by the species-naming-people when they named the southern calamari. But there are lots of species of squid, eg, arrow squid, grays squid, humbolt squid, etc, etc. As well as cuttlefish, octopus and nautilus...the mind boggles ! So I guess when we are stating which squid we have caught, we can say we have caught arrows and southern's and occasionally catch the oddballs of cuttlefish and octopus. Bonne appetite mate.... Tony

G'day Steve, Mate you must be better than Santa Claus to these kids ! To put them all onto such amazing action is a credit to you and your selfless attitute. They will remember that trip (and many of your other trips as well) for all their lives. Well done.... Tony

Can I suggest you read the second half - that's when the kids start fighting - very funny....

G'day Kel, I think you made the right decision not to go outside in a pea soup fog. And that skipper, er I mean boat driver (can't call him a skipper, eh?) that drove too fast in the fog - well he's a statistic waiting to happen isn't he ? Well done on having planned up to having a 'plan "E" '. Most people rarely have a 'plan "A" ' organised. It paid off for a nice bonnie and cuppla flatties. Makes the M5 trip almost worthwhile.

Pete, Ian and Nursie, Thankyou for your kind words. I have to admit, I like the attention and I like to tell it how it is, especially if we can have a good laugh about it. On a more serious note though, the message is clear that for those of us who have families. Taking them out fishing can create some great memories that can last a lifetime. ...and I hope the ones I have created do just that... Tony

Thankyou all for your kind words. I have read many times, the posts of others who have taken their kids fishing and had a ball. I was waiting for 'something' to tell me it was time for me to take mine. I can't understand now why I took so long to do it. I'm glad I have done so and will try to squeeze in an hour or so at the end of most of MY fishing trips to include an hour with the wife and kids. I hope it will grow from there. Kel, I appreciate your feedback. It comes from someone who is perhaps 10 years ahead of me in my evolution of fishing in the family. I will take your advice on board, but I hope my kids don't move interstate. I would be devastated ! Thanks for your pics and no you have not hijacked the post. Someone looks bored though ! Chris (pongrass), I'm sure you will get your kids on the boat pretty soon. You need some competition and an anchor man ! Chris (Cdol9), mate your post is at 1:45am. What are you doing up so late ! Waiting for me to post my report at 12:30am ? I'm flattered ! McGoo, I haven't written a book bcos I reckon fishos are not that interested to pick up a book. Or maybe I'm generalizing based on ME not picking up a book...Dunno, I might one day. Tuffy - I agree 100% Motohead - I reckon the salmon ARE a darker colour - the river water is siltier and fish do take on colouration of their environment. I also noticed the leaps were quite lethargic as compared to ocean caught salmon so definately some differences there. Groper (Basil) LOL - love your work... Tony

An eternity has passed since I have penned a report. I hadn't wet a line in over a month and I found myself pacing the back yard. I respooled some reels and done some boat maintenance to keep me occupied. But I wanted to bend a rod. ....bad.... The weather prediction for Saturday looked, well... ....bad.... The fishing in the bay lately had been... ....bad.... I was starting to sound like George Thoroughgood... "B.B.B.B.B. B. B. Ba-aad... Baaaad to the Bone... I had also promised my daughter to take her on the boat. She is my deckie-in-the-making...At 4 years old, she mirrors my childhood excitement, whereas my son mirrors my mum's indifference. And yet another promise I made was to take some photos of her with her first fish and submit it to a boating magazine, along with an article I wrote for them. So I decided I was gonna go and just hope the weather was OK for my daughter to come along, later in the day. There was one trailer at the ramp at 6:45am. The wind was blowing the trees around, reminding me that it was not pretty out there. Sheer stubborn-ness pushed me through the logic barrier. I decided to stay in the Georges River and fish the edge of the main channel. The wind was blowing 12 knots southerly and the current about 5 knots rising. The burley went in and the rods were deployed - pilchard pieces were the only bait I had on board. The wait was about 5 minutes and the 2kg carbon rod bowed to a big run - the braid making that distinctive sound through the guides, that only braid can make. I jumped at the rod and took the weight - man it has been a long time and I was grinning like a kid. I was hoping for a jewie, but 30 seconds later, the line angled to the surface and a fish half-jumped and thrashed its head wildly. A salmon.... Now being the eternal optimist, fishcakes appeared in my mind, surrounded by steamed rice and some stir-fry vegies..... Oh yeah, I can appreciate this fish alright, so I got to work. This was the first salmon I have hooked in the river and it took full advantage of the raging current. It came to the surface 3 times and thrashed around, but spent the majority of the 25 minutes about 2 metres down. It was powerful and refused to come to the net. My patience was tested nicely, until it finally succumbed. It hit the deck with a thud, and on the lie detector, it stretched out to 70cm. I was happy with that. A quick photo and into the killbox. While I was fighting the fish straight down, I hadn't noticed, but another rod was peeling line and the wind had picked up a notch. The wind whistling through the rods in the rocket laucher had drowned out the sound of the drag on the other hooked up rod. Also, other boats had anchored about 30m downcurrent from me. Over the next 90 minutes, another 4 salmon decided to give me some sparring practice. The sight of a bent rod attracted a couple of other boats as well. It was kind of comforting in a way because it reminded me that I'm not a total nutcase fishing in those conditions. Had I been there alone, I would have doubted my sanity the whole time and I would not have enjoyed it as much. It wasn't dangerous but it was a very cold and windy day, threatening to rain at any moment. The tide turned and the fishing got quiet for a half hour, before a couple of trevally and bream got in on the act. They were such a pushover after those leviathan salmon but very well received nonetheless. At 11:30, the good wife rings me and asks if it is OK for her to bing the kids to fish. She was trying to discourage me from dragging them out on such a bleak day, but my daughter turned on the waterworks. My wife just cannot bear to see my 4 year old daughter cry so she said they would come. My 11 year old son equally cannot bear to have his sister doing something that he is not doing - jealousy is a powerful foe. I used my daughter's emotion and my son's jealousy to good effect and promptly picked them up from the wharf. They all squeezed into the centre cabin as we slowly idled through the Oatley Bay channel. The look of excitement on all faces was something I had not seen before.... This is because they have NEVER been on the boat while the boat is IN the water. I slowly idled to a sheltered spot near Caravan head and deployed my daughter's pink rod, along with the others. The burley went in and not 5 minutes later, the pink rod tip takes a dive. Everyone started screaming like girls, even me, as I handed the rod to Trinity. Her eyes as wide as saucers, she cranked that little pink reel handle. Every time that fish dived, she would let out a little high-pitched "ooh". The net scoops up her prize and the party streamers fall from the sky.... Well maybe not ACTUAL party streamers but we all felt like they were there. Photos, hugs, kisses and all attention is on her. Then my son muscles in for HIS turn on the pink rod. "Get you OWN rod" says Trinity.... Well it was on for young-an-old so I had to diffuse world war 3 by offering my son access to the "superior" tackle. That seemed to calm them down. I had just turned this into a competition.. I had no idea what I just gotten myself into. She had caught her first fish, a bream of 28cm and a keeper. But my son was hellbent to outdo her - the jealously had taken hold bigtime. Fortunately the next rod to go off was my son's, else they would surely use the rods in a swordfight ! A decent bend in the rod had him surprised at this thing called fishing. He pumped and wound the fish like a total novice - which he was - aint no pros on MY boat, not even me ! We fumbled around and eventually got the fish into the net. A nice trevally of about 36cm and he was stoked. "My fish is BIGGER than yours - B - I - G -G - E - R !!!!" World war 3 resumed. My daughter was having none o' that and started to lay the punches in ! For crying out loud - first no-one wanted to be here, now EVERYONE wants a piece of the action. Right - girls to port, boys to starbird and I'm in the middle between the warring factions. My daughter was next up with another nice trevally. This thing thing dragged her state-of-the-art, $2 reject shop gear, right to the gunwale. "Help me daddy" was the call from her, so I used one finger to support the rod a little. My son looked on with envious eyes... I could hear him muttering under his breath "Lose it, lose it...Lose it..." I netted her fish and she was more interested in bragging than anything else. "In your face" she says to her brother. ..and they were at it again - fists clenched and pulling no punches. This was out of control. I felt as though we were in parliament house but with much smaller MP's. ...or at a beauty salon on the movie set of Dallas..... I tried to ellicit the help of my lesser, er, I mean, my better half, but I noticed some shades of green around the gills and some blue on her nose. She was a little seasick and freezing. "They're YOUR kids" she says, as she so often does when they're mis-behaving. But they are HER kids when they a purring....yes...we know that story well.... My son started to make puking motions to his mum, as an act of sympathy for her condition - only kids would do that kind of stuff....... Gotta love them... About 15 minutes passed and no more hits, neither from the fish, nor from the kids on eachother. The expected "I'm bored" comments came from both camps. I decided that it was time we headed back before things deteriorated any further, both in terms of weather, the kids relationship and the wife's physical condition. I pulled the anchor to a chorus of laughter. What were they laughing about ? "Daddy, you look like Mr Bean doing his dance". When I pull in the anchor, against wind and current with a boatload of people, I have to put my back into it. So much so, I resembled Mr Bean doing his silly "pelvic motions" dance.... Except that I'm twice his weight and not as pretty. With smiles all round I put the hammer down and raised the boat onto the plane. It was the first time I had done that during this trip and that certainly got the adrenalin going. The kids decided they wanted to go fast for the rest of the day. Then my wife game them the Clint Eastwood look as we drove into Oatley Bay. I dropped them off on the beach and they went home as I retrieved the boat. A cold, dull, windy winters day had been transformed into an amazing family adventure, less than 1 km from the boat ramp. We all look forward to doing it again. I'll just try and pick a nicer day.... Tony

Hey Ritchie, Well done on finding some time to take your son fishing. He will remember this day for a long time. Priceless bonding session. And a huge fat carp I also took my kids out on Saturday for the first time. I will post it tonight - was a very funny trip. tony

Hey Butch, Solid snapper mate. So you were ANCHORED at 4:00am in winter ? What did you have with your weetbix ? Antifreeze ? You musta soaked your weetbix in antifreeze because you are also posing with the fish shirtless ! Ok so howzabout a few details? What was the depth of water ? Were you tucked in against the cliffs to get away from the early morning westerly ? Even if you gave away ALL details of your capture, aint no-one gonna get an anchor in at 4:00am in winter. But well done mate - you proved you are part eskimo - both in enduring the cold AND in catching fish..... So how atre your seal hunting skills, eskimo Joe, er I mean Butch ? Tony

Hey, just some insight from me, an ex-blackfisherman. When using the weed, tie it onto the hook in your usual manner, get a glass and fill it with seawater and dunk your bait in it. Have a look at how visible your hook is in the bait. My point is, ffroma fish's perspective, the weed will spread out and will expose the hook if it isn't tied well around the hook shaft. Also, use the green chemically sharpened hooks to blend in the hook with the bait. When fishing 'inside' waters, trace line must be as light as 6lb or less and use fluorocarbon. Float must be light weight and minimal lead below it, yet still have the rig balanced right. If you can see the fish approaching your bait and rejecting it, well I'm surprised you can see them at all. Try fishing 0.5m deeper as well as there level of shyness may be less when they have more water over their heads.... Also, give them longer with the bait unless of course they are ripping the float down.... Let me know what you think. Tony

Hey Jimmy, The bream catch rate of 5;1 when baiting with pilchard is true in my experience when: 1. Youre fishing an area that has enough current to make a burley trail effective 2. You're burleying with pilchards or a fish oil additive into the mix 3. You're using the right weight of sinker (or none) and fishing the bait in the trail, at midwater or deeper 4. You're fishing the cooler months If you're not fishing a burley trail, I agree I like worms and chook. If fishing the warmer months and the water is 22 deg or highrer, I go searching spots that generally don't have a lot of current running and so I don't burley.. Interesting post though that was started here. Gives us something to read and chat about while we are not fishing... I couldn't see the article you were reading Jimmy. I ain't a paid subscriber, but in any case I avoid the big bream. I still would have liked to read it. Mate I HAVE to get out there next weekend... Hopefully there won't be any frozen donuts awaiting me.... ...or bags of stingrays, banjos, catfish or cormorants.... Tony

OK - here is my perspective - be it simple or complex - you decide. I always take burley with me but don't always use it. Depends on the spot and moonphase / current strength. When the moon is full or new, the tidal run will be greater than the first quarter or last quarter, but check to see which of the two tide cycles for the day is stronger. Fish the strongest of the two if you can when fishing the bay. Fish the lightest when fishing the river, but I concentrate on the bay bcos I just plain like fishing it. Why do we fish the strongest tide cycle for the day in the bay ? Because that's when fish move and the burley trail in the bay will likely be most effective. Fish move with the tide (minimises energy usage) so the fish will more likely respond to the burley when moving and looking. When fishing a burley trail, pilchard pieces are the gun bait, but remember, you will not catch whiting, which is a big problem for me, so I also use worms (and sometimes nippers in the deeper water). When I'm fishing areas where the current isn't significant (and as a result burley would be of little use), I just cast baits around me. These are pilchard pieces, worms and chook. See which bait works on the day. BUT ...... Before I go fishing, I plan my itinerary. Ie, at 6:30, goto spot 1 - baits are a, b and c. at 7:30, goto spot B and fish the tide change, baits are d, e and f - use burley At 9:00, if no good at spot B, go to C and use baits a, c and f At 9:45 if no good .....etc, etc. The strategy far outweighs the baits. The strategy takes into account many variables. So long as the bait is fresh, you're in with a good chance, but I would rather use a pilchard piece in a burley trail than a worm.... Why ? because there is fish oil in the trail and the fish are instinctively tuned in to fish flesh baits. I'm sure you will still catch bream on worm in the trail but the pillie will outfish the worm 5 to 1 IN THAT SITUATION. See what I mean ? The scenario needs to be looked at holistically and approached with a specific strategy in mind.... Then, as murphy's law has it, I'll come home with a modest catch and the guy at the boat ramp with old servo prawns is cleaning a pile of fish ! So much for my theories, eh Jimmy..... Tony

Hey Jimmy, I haven't been out in a month. My brain must be going offline or something. So I apologise if I touched a raw nerve. But fishing IS rocket science. That's the point. Confusion will always happen, so when it does and people ask questions, it's important that they get answers from all angles, both simple and complex. They can then choose what bits of info they want to use and what to reject. I gave him my opinion as to strategy of what to do with the list of baits. Your list is well researched over many years of application so I'm sure it will be well received. Ultimately the decision of what baits to try, where and when is up to them. I try to set some realistic expectations when I pass on information. I would hate to see fishos disillusioned when they come home with very little and yet they believe they have done everything right. They need to be aware that fishing is an inexact science. Baits are but one of many variables. Some variables I bet we have yet to discover.

Hi Chris (Pongrass), Long time no see or speak to you. My apologies - I seem to have filled my life with so much stuff to do. Last summer saw me go fishing a fair few times but as soon as the temp cooled, I have been inundated with household fixes / chores, etc. At least you're still going out fishing and catching a nice feed. A bunch of tasty entrees there with the squid - and bonnies are alright as well. Shame about the reddies - you usually catch a few - youre the master bate bay fisher ! I believe the reds are not so keen on plastic in the winter but they love them in the summer. Then again, what do I know - never done enough to form my own opinion. We gotta catch up one day - see how your baby is going (6 months now ?) Speak soon. Tony

Hey flattiefisher27, You've opened the proverbial can of worms here - or is that prawns or nippers - crikey I dunno. Jim has a list of baits a mile long - but they only ever get used in the summer and autumn. The rest of the year is for hibernation hey Jimmy ? Actually I can't talk too much as I haven't been out much myself either. Mate, each area and even each state of tide can have a different answer. Even whether or not you are burleying (and if so, what are you burleying) will affect the fish's preference. Take 2 or 3 types of bait and use them all - see what works at what spot and on the day, tide, etc. Go gettem. Tony

Well done Steve, Mate when a kid wakes himself up before dawn in winter to go for a fish - there's no way we're gonna let them down. Seeing the smile on your son's face was worth braving the cold, wasn't it ? He'll be raving about it even more than usual because it was a hard-won fish - braving elements, structure and using crappy weed ! Kudos as well to those other good-hearted guys who gave you a couple of fish to complete a meal. People like that are not as common as they once were. So looks like you have a score to settle with the local big blackies there eh Steve ? Or maybe it was a surgeon.... Or a big hunk of kelp being dragged in the backwash... I'm sure round two will have fresh weed and burley on the cards and if your son does you over again, well, you won't have any excuses eh ? He will be the master and you will be the grasshopper..... Well done mate - look forward to another round on the blackies... Tony

Just look at how he's admiring that fish. The sleek lines, the contours, the colours... Oh yeah - he's hooked alright. That fish will go on the mantlepiece to be admired forever..... Better get some good shots of it, blow them up and put them on the mantlepiece instead... A true fisho in the making. Tony

Hi Angelvic, So whenever you get a nice fishm, your wife will tell you that it's about time ? Jeez she has some HIGH expectations of you ! So now when you come homwe without a jew, it;s gonna be 'where's the jew ?' is it ? That's a very nice fish mate. Where do you get your live yakkas from ? Going to watts reef or the yarra bay suction is too far.... Tony

Hey Extremeterror, I fish mainly for the table. I have eaten every fish that is not in the poison's information centre booklet. My experience is that each person has different taste buds. Taste buds are on your tongue, but many will say they are in your nose as well. Ignore the smell of the fish when uncooked. Cook it a bunch of different ways and decide for yourself if you like it any particular way. I personally love pike. They require a little more cooking than most fish (grilled I mean) so that the flesh firms up. If you undercook it , it will taste a bit mushy, but if you cook it until firm, it is really nice. The only fish I don't like is silver morwong. The strong iodine smell and taste lingers after it's cooked and I can't seem to mask it, even with tom-yum fish paste. But that's my opinion after extensive experimentation. If all people judged seafood based on looks and smell, then no-one would touch octopus or cuttlefish. They look like they're from outer space ! They would certainly give you extreme terror.... No-one would want to clean a drummer or a snapper because the stomach contents smell so bad. Half the fun is experimenting with your catch to see what you like. When you discover a recipe you really like, you will jump on any pike you catch and you will be in two minds - bait or food.....what a conundrum ! Tony

G'day Bruce, People are funny organisms aren't we ? Some of us know everything, others know nothing, but all of us are somewhere in between. Some of us will admit our knowledge status - for better or worse. Others prefer to live in that special little dreamworld inside our their own head that they call reality but the rest of the world call DREAMWORLD ! Oddly enough though Bruce, I do know some fairly old timers that have gotten very used to their techniques over the years and stick to them through thick and thin. Trouble is, when the conditions on the day are not compatible with their tried'n'trusted technique, they don't get much. Then some young upstart turns up with all the wrong gear and wrong technique and starts cleaning up. I have seen this before more than once over the years and it's funny watching people get the shirts. I even saw people LEAVING the scene they were so peeved off. Now in your case you DID catch fish so this guy was obviously a pelican..... Did he look longingly at your fish ? Did he have a big nose ? Tony

Trung, Next time you go out fishing, you will need two beanies. One goes on your head and the other beanie, well I'm sure you can figure it out. Make sure they are bright green, to match your downrigger balls.... Oh don't tell me they came up frozen as well ? OK then you will need a total of 4 beanies... At the very least you have exchanged the donuts for cold nuts. I'm not sure if that's a worthwhile exchange.... You probably screamed like Michael Jackson when the big tailor hooked up.... "Don't stop 'till the fish hooks up....." "WoooooooOOOOOOOHHHHH" Get those beanies.... Tony