gregh1

I think there are plenty of spots for squid but where I have seen them is on the west side of the RIP bridge on the left side heading towards Woy Woy. We were in under 20 ft of water and in weed. Good luck mate!!

G'Day Raiders, Went out early around 7am this morning with the wife hoping for at least 3 hours and she did really well staying 4 hours. Started off in Hardys bay drifting for flatties but no luck. Another boatie approached me asking if there was any fish to be had and asking what bait etc. Apparently he is from Denmark and has just landed in Oz. Gave him a few pointers and said he could follow us up near the RIP bridge to have a go but said he had hardly any fuel on board. Wished him well and headed over to another spot near the bridge. Caught a nice little snapper which was nice instead of those little pinkies that seem to be about. It put up quite a good fight and had some fun getting him to the net. At the same spot I got onto a nice sized blue swimmer and thought I had him but instead of bringing him in, in a straight line I thought I would change direction and bring him closer to the the left side of the boat so the wife could net him for me. Big mistake! I should have kept pulling him in in a straight line. Not long after I changed direction he dropped off and we watched him slowly desend back down. We had a few more pinkie hookups and decided to move to the squid area as we were getting low on bait. We got onto 3 good sized squid but could not get them into the boat. Each time we almost got them into the net and they would release and go back down. The tide was about to change so we headed back up to the RIP bridge hoping for a Jewie or a good flattie. Instead I hooked up a bream in 80ft of water. By the time I got him into the boat his stomach was hanging out. We lost a few more pinkies and another crab after that. Another good day on the water and looking forward to the next one. Cheers, Greg

Badfisher, there are plenty of marks on this site in previous posts. Do a search and you are sure to come up with something!!

A hungry man can't be choosy!! lol

You did my trick mate!! Oh well, you will have fun picking out the latest in burley buckets at you know where!! Always heaps of pinkies to be had!!

A couple of nights ago they were catching salmon at North Avoca using 3 gang hook pillies! I was walking the dog and saw 2 big ones that had been caught on the sand at about at least 2-3kg each. Plenty of tourists at the moment but still plenty of fish around. Are you land based or have a boat?

Well Belligero and I headed out at 7am this morning and our first stop was drifting in Hardys Bay. We picked up a nice flattie around 55cm. It went down well for the wife and I. Headed over to the rip bridge and drifted down to paddys channel catching pinkies, plenty of squid and a few swimmers. We moved back to the east side of the rip bridge and lost what we thought was a decent jewfish, a nice sized blue swimmer and possibly a flattie. Caught an undersize flattie and more pinkies. We moved on to lobster beach trying for bream but no luck there. My singlet ended up in the water and I foolishy jumped in to save it but the tide was running out quite fast and belligero had to pull up the anchor and come to my aid. I was swimming and not making any headway. Belligero caught the majority of our catch today and it shows that he is very experienced. I am fairly new to boating. Just bought my boat in October and it was nice to spend the day with someone who knows his way around the waters. Not to mention all his help in setting up my new sounder!!! Looking forward to another day out there soon!! Greg

I will inbox you mate!!

Actually I have been thinking about getting out to West Reef. I am fairly new to boating and haven't got a handle on my new gps sounder as yet. I have read the guide and documentation that came with the unit. It's a Lowrance elite 5 chirp. I will keep trying and I am sure I will work it out eventually.

Nice catch mate!!

Goldfish it was about 4.30pm

Yes they were! It drops off to around 110ft. Last week I caught a large shovel nose shark there!

Well the lovely wife and I headed out to Woy Woy to try our luck and must have caught at least a down pinkies all around the 20 to 25 cm mark and all released! We were hoping that we would eventually catch a legal size snapper but it was not to be! We eventually headed back to the Rip bridge and anchored in about 15 feet of water off to the side of the bridge. Again we were onto plenty of pinkies, leather jacket and bream all undersized! My better half caught a 32cm tailor and I caught a 37cm flattie that both went down well for dinner. I was watching a crew a blokes just over from us drifting in a very fast current and they caught a massive jewfish at least 5 kilo and over 80cm. He held it up for me to see it! What a fish!! Not sure what he was using for bait but they looked like they new exactly what they were doing. It inspired me to try doing the same on further fishing sessions. I am coming home on most occasions now with a feed for me and the wifey. When I first bought the boat I would come home with nothing at all and sometimes not even a story of the one I missed. There is a lot to learn about fishing and experience is something that generally comes with time and lessons learnt. I might head back out to the Rip bridge soon with some live baits. Cheers, Greg

Certainly understand what you mean about the jet skis!! Some have no respect for fishos!! I am off until the 12th Jan so I will definitely be having a few more days on the water. We may go up to the gold coast for a few nights after xmas. Hope everyone has a safe xmas!!!

Hi Raiders, I headed off to Gwandalan to my brother in laws around 7am this morning looking forward to trying some new fishing grounds as I hadn't been to Lake Mac before. I was surprised at how large the lake is and I only really ventured around the southern end of the lake. We headed out to Pulbah island where the only thing biting were pinkies, ended up moving over to the mouth of Dora Creek but didn't get a bite at all. Finally stopped at Mannering Park near the outlet to the power station and caught a beautiful 60cm flattie in around 3 feet of water. I knew I had a decent size fish on but didn't expect it to be a big flattie. It didn't put up much of a fight until it got to the surface so we got the net under it straight away. Only 1 decent fish for the day but it will make a good feed for the missus and I tonight. I am thinking about heading out again in the morning to West Reef if I can muster the energy to do so. If I do I will head off very early to make the most of the light wind and small swell. Greg

Hi Raiders, I think I have sorted the problem with what I thought was a leak in my boat. It appears to be the bung drainage screws but I will know better after the next session. I am heading up to Lake Mac in the morning to catch up with my brother in law and try our luck. Pulbah Island might be worth a try according to other reports. I will be putting the boat in at Gwandalan!! On Sunday I will try to get out to West Reef if I can work out my new sounder. Anyone wanting to team up for Sunday give me a yell/inbox me. Good luck to all!!!

Ah found the bugger! I noticed the green rubber is shot as well. I think I may end up changing the whole housing and putting in new screws instead of rivets. At least it wasn't the sounder!! Not a good time of the year for this to happen.

Mine look very similar to your mate! I was trying to think if I did anything different and realised I had a sounder installed the day before this started to happen. It might just be a coincidence though. What did you do about your bung housing setup? Greg

I am stumped at this stage. It's a pretty standard aluminium painted boat. I will have a look again tomorrow.

Thanks for the replys everyone! Sounds like good advice! I am not sure what is wrong with my boat. The last 2 times I have been out in broken bay I have ended up with heaps of water onboard. I thought it might have been the rain as it is kept in the open with a waterproof cover on it. I checked before I went out this morning and there was no water flowing when I opened the bung holes but when I came back in there was heaps of water again. I put the bungs back in and went around the boat looking for any leaks and couldn't find any at all. I have an onboard bilge pump and will use it until I find out where the water is getting in. I am not quite sure how to go about it but I might give Huett Marine a call to get some advice. So, I might hold off going to West Reef until I get it sorted. Cheers, Greg

Hi Raiders, I am thinking of heading out to West Reef and was wondering how far out it is and how long it might take in reasonable weather. Also, is it far enough out tgat I would need an epirb. Another spot I would like to try out is Trawleys reef. Any feedback is welcome!!! Gregh1

I wondered what this comment was about. A couple of weeks ago I saw a Jewie around 45cm long floating in the water just off the Pitwater side of Lyon Island. I assumed catch and release went wrong. Rules are rules and once you start breaking the ones you don't like you are in trouble.

Hi Raiders, Just wondering what the rules are around keeping yakkas. Is there a quota or size limit? Thanks in advance!!

I haven't bought an epirb as yet but intend to do so soon. I certainly won't be getting any xmas pressies this year. Over the past month I have bought a 2nd battery, a new canopy, a new lwrance 5 elite chirp gps fishfinder, boat cover and not to mention fishing gear. But I think I should be able to sell the idea of getting an epirb to the missus based on safety. Not actually sure if I need one to get out to east or west reef though!!!

Hi Raiders, Hit the water about 7am on Monday with the missus and headed off to catch some yakkas. Ended up getting around 6 in about an hour. I kept baiting and burleying and Chris kept catching em. It was good to see her happy catching something even if it was only live bait! Headed over to barrenjoey lighthouse and put 2 yakkas in, one with lead and the other without. The only thing that we came close to catching was a huge brown squid that had taken the live yakka and it let go just as we were about to get the net under it. I am not sure but I think this particular squid may be protected. Headed back in to see if we could catch something on the turn of the tide. We were drifting along and I said to Chris "where is my graphite rod with the blue shimano reel"? It was obvious that we had lost it on the way back inside. Lesson learnt not to leave my rods in the rod holders at the back of the boat. Hopeing to get plenty of fishing in over the next few weeks whilst I am on holiday, if this weather actually permitts!!!