Brew

In winter when wet and cold I wear an old pair of ski pants - waterproof and warm. When hairtail-ing I wear a battery heated bike top under a rain jacket, the ski pants and fake $5 buck ugg boots. Some may say get an injection of concrete but I’m happy and warm in those bitterly cold Hawkesbury nights. Lastly, my better half just got me some waterproof socks for my birthday. Looking forward to giving them a go in the winter off the beach when I usually wear shoes. Shoes can get soaked but in theory my feet should be warm and dry.

Pippis are few and far between at the moment. Heaps of worms. As per Rick no yabbies on beaches. For the worms you need to move away from the flags at both ends.

Hi Paddy, Do you mean the Sydney Harbour FAD which is near the Dee Why waverider? Don't think there is a waverider near the Sydney North FAD. I don't want raiders searching all day for something that isn't there. Brew

For tailor/salmon I usually use 40-60lb leader on about a 15lb line. You can go way smaller however. For Whiting go as light as possible. 1-2lbs is fine. You don't need a heavier leader as use a small long shank hook and you will hook them in the lip nearly every time. The bream are usually just over legal so you could go the same as Whiting or a little heavier plus a slightly heavier leader. You can get some big bream there so you might get dusted occasionally. I recently got a 43cm as a by catch when fishing for jews and it took a half bonito fillet on a 6/0 hook.

Yes, however the gutters are usually closer to the lake than the rocks. Any rig will work. If the surge isn't too strong just use a basic running sinker to swivel then leader to hook. Match hook to suit. Gangs with whole pilchards for salmon, tailor and flathead or larger hook for pieces of pilchards or pippi, worm, prawn, etc Small hook will get you Whiting, dart, bream and flathead. Occasional jew also.

Chaos this time of year. Give me a patch of quiet sand any day.

It's easy to report. Download the NSW fishsmart app and under contacts you can report by phone or by the online form.

Hi raiders, This morning I went for a walk and came across a little old lady probably in her 70s fishing off Avoca lake wharf. We had a good chat and she seemed quite nice. She was using a handline and clearly knew how to fish. First cast she catches a bream at about 22cm and she keeps it. I think little old lady I'll let it slide. A few casts later she catches a bream about 10cm. She tells me how good the little bream are fried in butter. I told her that they need to be 25cm and she says she knows and slides it into her bucket when she thought I wasn't looking. Then comes the dilemma. Do I report a little old lady? I walk for a while to consider. I then decide that no doubt she would keep an undersized flathead, founder, jewfish (although I don't think I have ever seen one caught in the lake), etc. In the end I decided to report however I feel a bit bad. If it was a bunch of blocks I wouldn't think twice so where is the line? Would you report?

In Sydney harbour we got one off Balmoral 2 weeks ago. In Pittwater heaps off Barrenjoey, Lion Island and Box Head. Central Coast there were truck loads caught today off Avoca Rocks and someone posted yesterday they were at Terrigal Haven. Good luck

Hi All, I was walking past an op shop the other day and a couple of rods caught my eye. Not sure if I needed them however I couldn't help myself. 3 rods - 2 x Penn Ultimate Baitcaster 5'6" and 1 x Rovex Aluma 5'6" 3 reels - 2 x Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6501C3 and 1 x Abu Garcia 5500C The two 6501C3 were loaded up with near new braid the 5500C with mono. Both reels and rods seemed in reasonable condition. I hear they are pretty indestructable. Here are some picks. I'm ok with the left wind on the 6501C3 Bought for $210 all up. Question is - good buy or bad buy and has anyone had experience with these reels? Do they last?

Hi All, Big boil of Bonnies off Box Head today. Should be close by tomorrow as they were holding there. Also small tailor schools every 100 metres about 1 km out. Mostly small however we found some larger ones around West Reef.

About a month ago I saw a guy catch a carp in the lake in front of Westfield Belconnen. If looking from the Westfield he was on the board walk off to the left. There is a few car parks there and you walk across the grass. Not sure what he was using for bait or rig. Good luck.

Beach usually fishes well with dead baits. Pilchards and prawns will get you flathead, bream, tailor, salmon and the occasional jew (especially if the lake is open). Whiting and dart are also common. Look for the deeper water (gutters) usually around the lake. Southern end near the flags doesn't fish well. Rocks are good at the southern end however you will need cleats otherwise you are likely to slip and fall in. I've seen it heaps of times. Good luck.

Hey Zoran, Did you get out there? Are they still around? Anyone else do Barrenjoey on the weekend? I'm taking two guys out tomorrow who don't fish much so would love to know if anyone got any this weekend?

Hi mate, Cape Le Grand is nice for camping and fishing. Also ask the ranger for directions to Margaret Cove (Secret spot). Very remote which is great if you want some isolation. Fitzgerald NP had fish and abolone. Mussels in front of Rivermouth Caravan Park in Denmark. Pemberton has the Gloucester tree to climb. Busselton has the pier which you can go under the water to view the fish. If caves are of interest there are a few south of Margaret River. I think Lake Cave was our favourite. North of Busselton is a campground that is dusty at Herron Point, Harvey Inlet that you can get prawns and crabs. This was all back in 2004 so much could have changed. Enjoy.

Yep, that's the one.

Good luck. Hope the wind drops for you.

Halcos are the best. I've caught everything from GTs to Coral Trout to Cobias to Black Jewfish up north on them. Never fail. Lost too many to those bloody baracudas in recent months. My recent report on the Mako was a Halco too. And no, I'm not a shareholder - wish I was!!

Yes, had an xrap out in pink that got bitten off straight away. Just used the one rod after that due to being solo and the swell. Halco Laser pro white head did all the damage. Caught about 15 Bonnies and 5 tailor.

The tailor in the photo was 40 so just above that.

Hey Guys, Just a quick heads up to those who fish Pittwater/Hawkesbury. The bonnies and tailor are around in decent numbers between Barrenjoey and West Head. Had heaps of fun today however the swell is nasty so be careful. Look for the birds. Good luck.

Yep, shovelnose ray/shark

Hi all, Last week the family and I stayed in some cabins on Wallis Lake part of a caravan park. Highly recommend the spot if anyone wants to PM me even if you just want to relax and not fish. We were there for my father in law's birthday so managed a few sessions with him, my brother in law and my son. First session caught a few small flathead on a hard body, a long tom on a live mullet and some really fat big bream on mullet strips. All were released. There is a channel there that you wade to so your feet go through weed (more on that later) and you're no more than waste deep. Second session was at night in the same spot with live mullet. Managed a 55 cm flathead, some bream and this river monster! It was nearly as long as my leg and fatter than my calf. Made us think twice about wadding through the weeds! Imagine that rubbing up against you in the dead of the night! Great few days with the kids as it's perfect for them with the shallow water. A few days later went out in Pittwater overnight with my daughter and moored in Americas Bay. Managed a 55cm flathead, some garfish and this guy. Can you guess what it is?

I can't get away from them. My last four trips all had baracouta catches. Went out for a troll this afternoon with a mate and we couldn't get away from them. They were at Barrenjoey Headland, 2 km off as well, Lion Island, Box Head and West Reef. Only managed one tailor in between many many baracouta. Losing too many lures at the moment! Back to the shop. This was off Lion Island. We hooked up before even closing the bail arm many times. Anyone know why so many are here and when they will move on?

Hi All, Managed to get out yesterday for a solo session on my boat. Left Akuna Bay around mid morning and got out past Barrenjoey shortly after. Trolled around for a few hours and managed to get a few just legal tailor and barracouta. Birds everywhere. Not long after getting a barracouta my halco pro got absolutely slammed with line screaming for a good minute. I left it in the holder while I got the other line in and finally after about 150 metres it jumped. A massive mako. I only had 60lb mono leader on so I thought this won't last long. It jumped a few more times easily clearing the water by a couple of metres and goings crazy. Managed to hold on for 30 minutes and got it to within 10 metres of the boat before it had enough, thrashed again, and bit me off. I got a decent look at it and it was well over my height so I'm guessing 2.5 metres ++ On mono I'm calling it catch and release! Called it a day as it doesn't get much better than that, headed back in and took a few photos of these guys on the way back. They are on a rock off Barrenjoey headland. Great morning to be out. Cheers Brew