fragmeister

Hi Raiders, Back in the harbour a day earlier than my usual fishing trip. School holidays dictated a much later start with my teenage son who has a little trouble getting up at 3am and fishing constantly for 10 hours ... Whats wrong with teenagers today?!!! Anyway, we headed straight over to Sow & Pigs to see if the Tailor and Trevally were still there in numbers and they were. This was the boy's first attempt using soft plastics so the old man gave him a few tips... but whats wrong with this picture? Its a little hard to make out but I left the little piece of protective plastic tubing over the hook which covers the point and barb.... no wonder I had trouble hooking up! So much for the voice of experience! Anyway, this was one of a bundle of trevally caught in an hours fishing on the reef. Most of them were caught with the lure "on the drop" after the initial cast. I just let the SP sink on a slack line and most times it is taken before I even start the retrieve. This strategy does not work so well for Tailor though as it seems to give them too much time to engulf the lure and the chances of being bitten off are increased. Given that the point of the day was to enjoy some time on the harbour with the boy, the fishing ( for once) was secondary. We anchored over at Clifton Gardens , kicked the footy and cooked up some sausages. It was a glorious 20 degrees and the water temperature was sitting on 18 degrees so we braved a swim. Wouldn't be dead for quids! Cheers

Very unusual catch... any chance that it a Raiders record?

No worries buddy. Happy to help where ever I can. Cheers Jim

Interesting ramp that one... went there once with a full tank off fuel and spilt a couple of litres out the overflow because she road is so steep. I caused the guy in a sedan all sorts of problems trying to get traction back of the hill after taming his boat out. Its a little hard knowing how full my tank is when refilling so I have been reluctant to go back there as I am not keen on spilling fuel near any waterway.

Well done if not a little unexpected! Interesting that there are still some rat kings about with the water temp under 18 degrees. Looks like a good feed you hde there.

As an electrical engineer I often hear what I recognise as poor advice given to boat owners regarding electronic equipment. Without intending any insult often the worst advice comes from electricians or boat retailers who mean well but are offering advice with a limited perspective or technical qualifications. In this case the statement "as long as your diligent with battery selection;" is very significant. The problem is that good advice needs to useful for the average punter ( and I include me in that category) who, in the excitement of a fishing trip can always remember to switch from the cranking battery to the running gear battery and then back to both every time you head out or back to a fishing spot. I could write chapters on the misconceptions regarding how much ( or how little ) the typical running gear draws from your battery and how that really impacts your dual battery setup but I will leave that for a detailed post later. A quality VSR takes this all out of the equation and it is a highly recommended bit if gear but it does depend on what accessories you run. If you have the money it is a good investment if you don't then I wouldn't stress too much unless you have short trips and run a lot of accessories while achored up for 8 hours or so. Cheer Jim

Well, you did say in a recent post that the wind doesn't turn you off fishing! Still, a good catch again. You can't complain about the larger trevs... they are a good fighting fish and very nice on the plate. Good work. Cheers Jim

Hi Raiders, Did my regular Friday fishing trip in the harbour today. After getting some live bait from Clifton Gardens I headed over to the north of the harbour. It was a little windy but that didn't interfere with the fishing. I usually put out a live bait, a dead squid ( fresh strips if I have them) and I fish a lightly weighted squid or salted half pilchard on lighter gear. Not a singe hit on any of the bigger baits and I got bitten off heaps of times by chopper tailor although I caught pike, trevally, chinaman leatherjackets and some big slimey mackerel which I used for cut baits. The pickers turned up in droves so I headed off to the drop off in middle harbour as the tide started running out. Nothing much happening there so I headed over to sow and pigs at around 10AM. Sow and Pigs was firing nicely but I was getting bitten off a lot by tailor so I changed to a 3 gang hook setup. I missed a lot more fish but the ones I caught were all much better quality. I caught half a dozen each of bream tailor and trevs all around the size of the ones in the picture. The trevalies got a little larger towards midday but I had a feed so everything went back. The Tailor hung around unit about 12:30. I had two large strip baits out. A tailor fillet and slimey mackerel fillet. I was on the southern side of the reef and the baits were swinging around the to the east in the current. One of them went off with a steady strong pull but any hopes of a jew were quick dashed as this had the feel of a shark or ray. It was a port jackson shark. I reeled him in remove the hook and released him. A little later I pulled in a very large octopus which I also let go. Headed home at about 2pm and saw a large pod of dolphins near Bradley's Head. Plenty of winter fish around at the moment and I would recommend fishing ganged hooks and pilchards at sow and pigs... the better calibre bream and trevally will hook up and there are some good quality tailor around. Anchor on the up current side of the reef, burley up and you should get a good feed. Trevs later in the day were like this This is the typical size of the fish This poor trev is a little deformed Octopus ( not a good photo) The Port Jacksom Shark Cheers Jim

That'll work. Basically the crab gets its claws caught in the stocking. I have caught plenty of crabs on whole fish...the buggers are stubborn and won't let go. Just reel them in slowly and slip a net under them. Cheers Jim

Not such an easy task... A fish bait inside an old stocking cast over the sand flats and checked periodically will often work. If you find a log wharf extending over the sand flats with areas of weed that can be good. If you find a fairly dead weight on a retrieve bring it in slowly and have a net ready. Cheers Jim

Hi John, Great read, great pics and I loved the flavour of the report. Dogfish, thornbacks and tope... we do't hear those names a lot in Australia. Keep those reprts coming. Cheers Jim

In my boat if the wind is a little strong I put on the clears so in anything but the strongest current the wind tends to push the boat away from the anchor. This means that when I am sitting in the front of the boat looking out over my lines I am in almost complete shelter. If the fishing is good I don't notice even if I am standing in the wind. In general though I am with you and I would tend to fish in a more sheltered area. Last Friday the wind was about 20 knots from the north west at 4am and over in Rose Bay it was very unpleasant so I just moved over to Clifton Gardens to catch live bait and it was calm as can be.

Love it.... now there's a man who's got his priority right!

Hi Raiders, After a recent post I became aware that others may have a different opinion to me on what constitutes enough wind to turn you off fishing. Whats your "No Fish" wind conditions? I guess it depends on a few factors but I would be interested to compare. Cheers Jim

Is that right... I have never heard of them that far up. Looks like a hairtail and jew session might be in order.

I'm with you there Sgt Bundy! I had a couple of kids later in life ( as well as a few very early in life with the same partner). Have been working my guts out for nearly 40 years now and even when I could finally afford to take the time off I almost forgot to do it! I started taking time off work about 12 months ago to go fishing every Firday. It makes a huge difference to me and the people around me notice... they all wish I had done it early as they figure I might have been easier to get on with!

Nice tip... so obvious when you think about it but I didn't did I!

Thanks Kell, I might do this scientifically and compare all sites with the 7 day predictions and check my one day either sde theory. Can't agree more that the final check is the day but I like to know a week out if there is a reasonable chance thet weather will be good... keeps me motivated through the week! Cheers Jim

Interesting comments but I think I have given the impression that I am struggling to read a forecast. I am not saying I have any trouble reading the weather or finding a place to fish in the harbour out of the wind. What I was saying is that the official forecast for a particular day a week out are just as likely to be a day or so out. I find the BOM site reasonably reliable and at the moment Weatherzone is predicting the same which is Norwesterly winds light in the morning increasing to 15 - 25 kph in the afternoon. This would be the conditions I encounter more often than not in the harbour and its quite fishable. Perhaps you fish offshore in which case I would agree that that can be unpleasant in a small boat but it certainly doesnt mean the fish are not around. Any winds from the north mean that I collect bait off Clifton Gardens where a Norwester can blow at 20 kph and you barely notice it. Then I will fish over the north side of the harbour close in to the headlands and sure there is little wind but it doesn't hamper the fishing at all. I don't think I have had a trip the year where I have been surprised about the weather, just to expect a forecast to be right a week out. My simple rule is check the forcast a day either side as well and if they are good too its a pretty safe bet. Cheers Jim

lol... I get what you mean! Sound like something from the " Ministry of Silly Sentences " I hope you got my drift though. Cheers Jim

Hi Raiders, I try to get out on the harbour every Friday at least so I am always checking the BOM's forecast for the upcoming week. I have come to the conclusion that if you check the weather prediction a week out for say a Friday (as I do) you often find that that the actual weather ends up being what was predicted for 1 or even 2 days either side of the Friday. The same applies for any other day of course...its just that my focus is on Fridays. I guess this is because the general weather pattern, like this week's clear and windy weather, is known but how quickly that weather pattern will come through is not as easy to predict. At the moment this Friday is looking ok but it will not surprise me if if the outlook gets changed closer to the day. So, now when I look at a 7 day forecast for Friday I pay most attention to the report on Sunday because that projects out to the Thursday before and the Saturday after my Friday... if they are all favourable I am always confident How do other Raiders read the weather for their boat trips?

Good summary Geoff.

I launch from this ramp at all sorts of odd hours and there are a bunch of guys who target Jewies from this wharf. They tell me they do ok

I usually fish alone ( and that's not just because I have no friends lol) because I fish week days and mates are at work. I have a new Quintrex Lazeabout 570 which I bought last year and it comes with a "drive on trailer". The trailer is designed so that it is to some degree self aligning. If you get the bow in the guides it will straighten it up as you drive it on the trailer. Having said that, sometimes with cross winds, currents and the occasional river-cat wake it can be a little more difficult. Under those conditions you can find that the current or wind wind will drag the stern around and powering on will leave you misaligned on the trailer. That is relatively easy to overcome by just correcting with the steering bringing the motor back to dead ahead as the boat pulls up straight. My 14 year son can do this even in reasonably tricky conditions. It is easier and faster than winching it on particularly when you are alone but I do appreciate that without a trailer designed for the job and if you had a glass glass boat it is a different proposition. Once I did cause a little damage on the keel when I hit the trailer with too much speed... it was my very first attempt after its maiden voyage. There was an incoming tide assisted by 35 knot cross winds! In retrospect this was a winch job if there ever was one. Cheers Jim

The hole of the end of the wharf at Clifton Gardens is one of the more prodcutive spots for hairtail but as Reubs says its all pretty random.