fragmeister

Impressive fishing in the Woronora! Have you ever tried using a tackleback to retrieve your lures? It often ruins the trebles but I find I get a lot of lures back this way and it pays for itself very quickly. I think I paid $25 for the last one and it has saved dozens of lures for me. Mine is on a small handline with 50m of nylon chord. I don't see them mentioned much in this forum so perhaps others may have tried them with less success and given it away.

Thanks.... I'll give that a go.

Thanks... that gives me some reassurance Thanks Linc... sounds like the pedals are the go... keeping things moving is always better.

I used to fish Jindabyne a lot about 15 years ago when I went skiing a few times a year. I nearly always went for two weeks in September. I had some young kids then so walking the shoreline and sight fishing was a little difficult. When I got a few hours spare I used to fish two places.... one with a fly rod and one with baits. More experienced trout fishermen may provide some up to date info on this as I am 15 years behind the times and I am out of touch with seasons, restrictions , rules and fresh water fishing in general ( hmmm ... doesn't sound like a good recommendation does it!) Anyway...I picked these tips up from the locals and they worked for me. Down from the Village centre on the shoreline of the lake is as good a spot as any. A few hours before dusk take a can of corn kernels with you and some worms. A running sinker rig will be fine but go light as possible. Toss some of the corn kernels as far out as you can ( the local I met used a slingshot but I just threw them out) Bait up with a few worms and a single corn kernel on the end and basically just wait. This worked for them when I watched them one day and it worked for me the next day and pretty much every other time I went. On the fly... Close to the dam wall on the Jindabyne side there are a few tracks that lead down to the water. There is a pipe which often bubbles up with water from somewhere else...no idea really but I have seen it with no flow and small schools of browns swimming up the pipe. Other times the water level is much higher and there is a real eddy at the pipe which is under a fair amount of water. We used to cast trout egg patterns which were bright orange in colour into this eddy for good catch of browns. Like I said, I am out of touch a little after 15 years but this is what the locals showed me and it was always a winner. Cheers Jim

Hi Raiders, Thinking of buying a yak. I have kayaked before on the inland rivers when I was much younger but the only paddling I hove done recently was on a surf ski and without the back support I found it gave me some pretty serious back pain after an hour or so. I am not overweight and I do plenty of bike riding and jogging but the back is not what it used to be so I was a little worried about investing in a yak and finding I couldn't sit in it for 3 or 4 hours continuously. So I was looking for some advice on how much support the seats offer and whether any one suffers from sitting in the seat that long. Happy to invest more if thats whats required to get a descent seat with good support. All comments and advice welcome. Cheers Jim

Nice fish. The southern suburbs raiders are certainly the ones with the runs on the board for Snapper this winter. Cheers

The third pic is a classic... Greedy bugger just had to have one more bite! Worst mistake he ever made.

Been out of the freshwater scene for a while but I like the trip idea...sounds great. Hopefully someone will share some tips. Cheers

Haven't been out for a few weeks which is unusual for me but there is no shortage of fish in the harbour around places like Middle Head, all the North Head spots and Sow and Pigs. There are also rat kings hanging around through the winter and there a quite a few reports of raiders catches in these forums. The fish are not huge but tailor and bream are in decent numbers and trevally are in plague proportions and respond well to pilchards ad bait and burley. I always catch the bag limit and end up throwing dozens back. I will grant you that the salmon certainly haven't shown in big numbers this year but that can happen from time to time... and there still is time. I do agree that winter is harder and I tend not to drift as much during winter because I feel that the winter fish are more concentrated and hanging more around the structure and burlying brings them around from a afar. Drifting by comparison relies on covering a lot alf ground for species that are often scattered or in loose groups like flathead. Be prepared to catch smaller fish first until the activity brings the bigger ones out out of the deeper water or the cover Cheers Jim

Fancy Lunch made by one daughter Fancy Dinner made by another 2 new pairs of polaroids from the missus a photo in a frame from the 9 month old granddaughter ( clever girl) A DVD from the boy A fathers day stall Beanie from the youngest daughter Did nothing all day but eat and get waited on

I agree with the heavier line too. The heavy line is not because of the weight of the fish but the need to turn these guys around and keep them out of the structure. On the surface in schools they are a little easier to contend with but off the rocks or around structure the fight dirty and you need to beef up the line and wind up the drag. I can't tell you how many 10kg plus fish I lost before I took the same advice. Cheers Jim

Nice report, I think you were pretty right will all the locations although the last one looks like the baths at Watson's Bay Cheers and keep those reports coming. Jim

Very good point

Well done buddy... silver biddy!... are there any fish that wont respond to a lure! I can remember a time for example when we used to think that bream on lures in summer was a ridiculous idea... how things change. Hmmm how about a leatherjacket on a surface popper... no that would be worth seeing!

Great read, great fish and very insightful fishing.

Certainly the deep water wharfs are the go and the prime position seems to be the Wharves at Walsh Bay These places can get very busy at times particularly on the weekend. Freshly caught squid is the gun bait and sometimes a bit easier to manage than a livey with lots of other fisherman around. Nothing wrong with putting the strips under a float with a little burley to get them interested. This all works best on the changes of the tide and early morning in my experience. If you are fishing with the sun up a little higher though I would get the bait down perhaps 5 meters in the water column because they can be cautious buggers when the sun is up and simply refuse a bait with a hook in it unless its very well hidden on a clear leader. Having said that I have had times where they just went crazy and would have smashed anything. Fishing at these locations you can expect to lose some fish in the structure and you can hook up an some real horses that will drive home why these fish are considered one of the hardest pulling fish in the sea kilo for kilo. Wind that drag up higher that you would normally and fish heavy... not sporting but these fish do not play fair! If you are still waiting for your first King at the peak of the season around February drop me a PM and if you are interested and can take a week day off I would be glad to take you in my boat to some of the hotspots in the harbour... if not just to see your reaction to landing your first Kingy! Cheers Jim

Thats an excellent question. I believe this wouldn't be a problem but its worth further research. Alloys are not all the same and they can have a range of different metals in them. if you do attach alloy to alloy and use stainless you will need to use something like TefGel to separate these two dissimilar metals otherwise you will get serious corrosion. Many boat builders use alloy rivets and fix alloy rod holders etc and I believe that is considered the best combination you can use if it is practical.

Great prep and presentation skills there. We are lucky to have the silver trivially in such big numbers and it is a great sashimi fish. I am keen to try the Israeli Green Skhug - any ideas where to pick it up.

I can't get the wife to go fishing with me.... something about the early starts hours on the water wind and swell the occasional spray of fish blood up the shirt smelly burley the "essence of prawn trawler" aftershave she reckons I must use the late finishes the boat cleanup after the trip She is by no means a slouch when it comes to getting her hands dirty... she cleans out the gutters unblocks the drains, fixes the kids cars on occasions She's a wonderful girl... but she can't do the boat and fishing thing. That means I have to go all by myself or with the boys... thats a shame!

Very considerate fish that!... returning your hook. Makes you wonder though... not the least be put off by the fight and the hook hanging out of its gob... Back in for another feed!

Good job! A 44cm trev is a good fish and a real fighter. Good on the old man for bagging a legal snapper...bit tough to get these in the bays and harbours... but it will be really interesting to see what happens in a year or so with record number of fish just under legal size this year. Good report and great photos.

Well done! You must still have the knack after 30 Years.

Good effort in harsh conditions boys. Pity about the kingy but thats what makes them such an exciting ( and frustrating fish) Just shows that its the fisherman that get turned off by the weather and and not the fish. Cheers

Hi Liamo, Winter fishing is a little tougher particularly on the sand flats around Rosebay. The summer species like flathead and whiting are not active or not there and I find the winter species tend to hang around more significant structure and water with a little more depth. Its always a little unpredictable but around the bay to the north you come to hermit point which has an old run down wharf into some deeper water around the boat moorings. Try early morning with a tide on sunrise. Get there just before dawn burley with some chopped up pilchards and drop unweighted pilchard tails down the burley trail on a 1/0 hook. Hook thorough the fat end and a half hitch around the tail of the pilchard. If you don't get yourself a few good bream I would be surprised. They are much less timid in the mornings and the smaller fish are still hiding. You can do the same at night time if you feel so inclined but there is something special about the harbour and sunrise. There are other baits and techniques of course such as soft plastics etc but give this one a go first. Keep us posted on how you go. Cheers Jim

Well Done.. yes its amazing how many anglers think its a good idea to cast in the same spot as you just caught a fish. Very light coloured for up the river that far.... hes been downstream for a while I suspect.