DanRob

Hi raiders! I have decided to take the 3 days off between Easter and Anzac Day and get 10 days to go on a family holiday. We have a baby and 2year old and want a pretty laid back holiday. So, who has any ideas of places to go? Would love to find a place where there is great fishing but that can't really be the focus of the trip. fishing close to where we are staying would be good. Happy to drive or fly but keep it to a minimum with kids. Cheers, Dan

Just my two bobs worth: the Govt. report you linked to also gives levels for fish caught EAST of the bridge. I'm not going to go into weather these guidelines are right or wrong but they are there and have been developed based on scientific research and statistical interpretation. What I gathered from this was that the buildup of dioxins are accumulative and there are some levels of conservatism built into the risk assessment. But If you eat a greater amount than recommended once in a blue moon it may not have any impact. It was the Sydney harbour fisho's who worked the harbour for years who had elevated dioxin levels in the blood, and the old blokes had more than the younger ones (this indicates it builds up in the body and doesn't really go away) So when fishing east of the harbour, do consider this government recommendation. Take from it what you will. Also, some of the fish tested were caught at common harbour locations like Clifton gardens and balmoral so you could consider the the problem would be throughout the harbour with the fish migration. Though it wasn't as bad as around homebush bay. I don't want to be a scare monger but also think we still need to be reminded of this ourselves and not to just tell people that it is fine. Maybe if I could actually catch more than this recommendation I might have to reconsider Dan

Great report mate. I never thought the US was much of a fishing destination but I was so wrong! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi raiders, Work is sending me to gunnedah for the week so I thought I would check to see if anyone knows the area and if there was any fishing within reasonable driving distance. Cheers, Dan Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good work mate. No better person to take this role. I think the quality of your posts can vouch for this! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mate, Boat looks great. Others than any import restrictions which I am unaware of, I wouldn't hesitate to bring it if you can do it. As for suitability around Sydney there is ample waterways for you to have a good time and a great way to explore the city. As for suitability off shore I don't think it matters - only use it in conditions you are comfortable with. I have a 10ft punt and have a fair bit of fun around Sydney harbour. Dan Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One question is do you already have another setup? If this is your first setup I would go lighter say 6-8kg rod and 4000 sized daiwa or 6000 shimano reel with 20-30lb braid. This will be good for a range of fish from the boat including kingys. If you find you keep getting smoked by the big ones - tell me what you are doing as I haven't had that problem yet! Good luck, with any rod reel setup it will never do everything, so make compromises for what you think you will use most. And when you find from multiple trips that you are missing something then buy a new set up for that later. Dan

Morning raiders! This morning at south mosman wharf I was greeted with Pilly wrappers, plastic bags and a general filth from someone's previous nights fishing. To make matters worse there was a bin on the wharf. I wasn't the only one not impressed. I am preaching to the converted posting this as I know most people on this site take a fair bit of pride in their fishing environment but if someone takes note of this I have achieved something. So like others have suggested on this site, we should all lead by example and I picked up the wrappers and binned them. This is the only thing we can do in a situation like this otherwise the non fishing public will do their best to make sure all our great public wharves are closed to fishing. Apologies for the rant, Dan

+1 for the nitro viper. They make great rods. The 5piece packs down really nicely.

I fish circle hooks and they work well. I find you just can't strike the fish. The only negative experience I had with these was fishing for drummer at lord howe. The fish were really timid and with the circles I had I would watch the fish hit my bait and never hook up. I switched to same size suicide hooks and started catching fish.

As far as I understand and please correct me if im wrong the human health risks are associated with bio-accumulation of chemicals through the food chain. Filthy water that you would expect from a few rainy days would not impact fish caught in an otherwise clean catchment. Unless there is some evidence of stinky sewage or oil which you pull the fish from. As for the parramatta river. The damage done by past industry on the banks of the river is practically irreversible in the short term. Contaminants like dioxins are high in the sediments of the river which bioaccumulate through the food chain. Unless they physically dredge and clean all the sediments in the river, this is going to stay there. I personally take heed of fisheries advice but i guess it is up to each of us to make a decision if we want to eat fish from that area.

I think fillets are too much trouble. Fish with them like you would a Pilly.

Thanks mate, Yeah she's a good egg! I only ever go when the kids are sleeping. That's why I love daylight savings. I get an hour in before dark

Thanks for sharing this! I thought everyone can fillet a fish... This guy has taken it to another level! Goes to show what a sharp knife can do.

Cheers guys, I will give it a try. I took some 2" zman grubs down to athol beach this evening. Not a touch! I think it was too dark when I got there. Good thing I just enjoy being outside!

Hi raiders, So with a recent baby at home, fishing is pretty much off the cards. The only time I do get is an hour or so around 7 and I really want to make the hour count when I can. In that time I can usually get down to Clifton gardens (never the wharf as i like a bit of peace and quite) or Sirius cove depending on the wind. My gear is a daiwa sol with 6lb braid and a light 1-3kg rod. I don't want to keep fish I just enjoy being out trying. I generally pick a spot and throw a plastic around (generally until I snag) then I try another. I haven't had much luck though. Caught the odd undersized flatty, and the one time I got something decent it broke my light leader. Does anyone have tips for around that area or surrounds or just generally any methods or different lures/sp worth trying out? I try fishing areas where I can get to deeper water but am interested to know if the shallows at the ends of the bay are worth a try. Cheers Dan

Just to add another one to the mix, I use the weather zone plus app. This uses the bom data and also the radar. I generally check more than one site to get a good overview and take the conservative option. I also look at seabreeze and coastal watch. I will check out willy weather as I haven't used it before.

Great catch, if you do t mind me asking were you fishing under lights or just in the dark. I am still trying to work out this squidding business!

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the tips, ill give them a try. Hopefully post a fishing report soon!

Hi raiders, With very little time to fish at the moment I've been heading over to the rocks around Clifton gardens for a quick 1hr session of throwing a squid jig/ plastics. Not a huge success. Last weekend while throwing a squid jig I was watching thumper blackfish at my feet grazing around the rocks. I have seen a fantastic post on this forum about weed flies for blackfish so I made a few to try out next time I see them again. What I would like to know is what good forms of burley do people use to keep the blackfish around especially if there isn't weed on the rocks to mush up? Any help to catch on of these would be greatly appreciated. Dan

Nice work, I am not yet sold on SPs but in my case it's the operator rather than the plastics which are the problem!

Hey guys, that app looks great. Do you get local ( or at least regional) tidal info with regards to times etc?

Great work! So how were you fishing? Did you use bait? Cheers Dan

Great work, you make it look easy!

I was at daiwa yesterday servicing my Sol 2000 - great reel, I would recommend it but probably the 2500 for what you want. I asked the bloke what the difference was between sol and caldia and what would he recommend. These reels are both around the same price same specs. The main difference is the metal body on the sol. So for the bigger size reel/ if its going to get a lot of force through it, go with this over the caldia. For the smaller reel sizes for bream etc The plastic/metal body will be less of an issue. I find it quite funny they have such similar reels in the range.