Byron

Please include me in the draw Ken. Cheers Byron

Nice work Dan!! Great fish. Now please elaborate on the methods, tides etc...in particular what did you get her on. So when are we finally going to get out there and hit the water??? Take it easy champ.

G'day all, I spoke to Ross about this very topic only last Thursday and have the following update on availability: These are the only days left: Feb 1,2,3 March 6,7,8 or March 29,30,31 April 3,4,5 or Easter Ross does have a few stragglers that would join a crew if necessary. Costs are as per Martin's original post and I can highly recommend the accomodation. Self-contained at Soldiers Point and close to Salamander Shores and Bowling Club for dinner and drinks after a big day on the water. NOTE a day's fishing is approx. 8-10 hours offshore. Cheers Byron

Tell us the story Dan! I am assuming you are serious?? Cheers Byron

So tell me Captain, have you blooded the Okuma yet?? Great report as always mate. Byron

2 thoughts for you mate. First, try swimming one of the Ecogear SX40's around in the natural colours. I have caught more whiting on these, whilst targetting bream, than any other lure. Secondly, Ken A highly recommends a bunch of small soldier crabs as a prime bait. It resists the pickers well and any keeper whiting will have no trouble getting them down the hatch. Give them a try mate and good luck

Blackant, Allen Glover made me up a beautiful 10kg spin stick for exactly this purpose. It is 7 foot with a fairly sensitive tip for lure casting (not unweighted sluggos though), and heaps of grunt in the butt section. $400 is plenty unless like me you opt for the super custom bindings that Allen can deliver. Off the shelf alternative is one of the new Shimano Bluewater T-Curve range. They have a 10-15kg sppin rod in the range that looks the business and should not break the bank. Good luck on the kings mate

Thanks for the tips guys!! This is what makes this site so awesome. The sharing of ideas!! Cheers Byron

Cheers all for your comments. let me see if I can put a quick response together. Bashir - like Dan, please explain why crimping 60lb leader would be a weak link. I thought it would help the situation, but keen to hear your thoughts on this (btw GO THE FREAKIN TIGERS!!) Inspin - I like the solder idea, may need to look into this. Matrix/Leelee - Had my 10kg Allen Glover Mega Spin with 20lb braid on the Caps, and a 40lb Black Magic leader. 2 hook Gama rig knotted with fixed snells. Kingy - Live squid on the 2 hook rig; one through very tip of mantle and one lightly pinned in the mantle base. Small ball sinker and lumo bead. Just flicked out in about 20M of water near the Spit. Got the hit mid water. Martin - Cheers mate. Never saw him unfortunately, but 20lb braid and 40lb trace. Dan - yeah I expect theer must have been a few around, but maybe we fished spots that had already been hit. Saw a boat with 3 guys in it at Balmoral who were squidding but they left as we approached. I think they got chased off the Naval Wharf!! As for our session, it is only a matter of time mate. As the water warms, things can only improve and we will put a plan together. Cheers Byron

G'day all, Once again I am here to give a big wrap to Eric and Ben at Yabbie Marine. Spent a few hours down there early Saturday arvo to have a few small issues taken care of on the Poly. Eric went out of his way, not only to resolve the problems I had raised (blown pump and battery check), but gave the boat a real thorough look over and made a few additional changes. Given that it was a Saturday arvo, and the Swannies were due to kick-off in less than one hour, this was a welcome change from the normal service levels I have experienced. Best thing was when it came round to taking care of the bill, Eric looked after me 100%. Great price on a new Deep Cycle Delkor as well!!! Thanks again Yabbie Marine, and in particular Eric. Great job as always!!

Just a quick snapshot of a yesterday on Middle harbour. On water with Swoffa before 6am and headed out with high hopes of a few fish, and some sweet squid for supper. First plan was to head out to Balmoral and work the shores for a few tasty cephlapods. Not sure what the problem was, but the squid were not in any mood to play. Jigged shallow, jigged deep, jigged small and large jigs in a variety of colours and styles for absolutely nothing. Unbelievable. Headed back upstream to the Spit and had a few more casts for squid, before taking a break on a mooring. As I rigged up anew, Swoffa was pitching a shad around in the deep water and had a squid follow it up. A quick flick of my jig over the side and we were in business. Rigged up a twin hook rig a deployed the squid. This is where the kingie plan began. All the ingredients were right; fresh live squid, first hour of the run up and not too much boat traffic. Well it took less than 5 minutes for a kingfish to complete the plan. I noticed the touch-up and free spooled the big Capricorn, in time to see line zip off the spool. A quick gear engagement had me ready and as the line pulled tight a succession of heavy head shakes signalled that we had a hook up!! Well it was touch and go at the start with boats on all sides, so I got Swoffa to cast off the mooring in case we needed to give chase or manouvere around. I slowly pumped the fish up, only to lose line again and again as the big fella continued to shake his head and blast off with powerful runs under heavy drag. I was however confident we had him in the clear and it would only be a matter of time before we would be attempting to land him. As soon as this thought entered my head, the fish powered off again only this time I felt the distinctive pop of line parting and wound in to find the trace had failed at the hook. Looked like it might have been squeezed in under the eye of the hook and finally parted under the strain. Well, there was plenty of excitement for all concerned including our spectator fleet, though I was disappointed not to get my first big king of the season. In hindsight, 40lb leader was a mistake. Should have opted for 60lb as a minimum. Will be crimping next time as well!! The remainder of the day saw us catch very little. We mainly stuck at breaming in preparation for the Roseville Social day. If our results were anything to go by, it will as tough as Cowan. Cheers all, Byron

Congratulations Ben!! Hard work finally paying off. Great work!!

Sweet news mate!!

Excuse my ignorance, but where can I access the results for ProBream events??

Not sure mate, Give Ross a call direct (his preference) and see if anything has opened up. they have been doing great work on the Snapper and I noticed Glen got a 200kg Mako last week!! Byron

See PM response Weiry. Thanks JewNut you are spot on mate!

Rabbit, I too have a mate looking to sell his excellent Stacer Bowrider. Send me a PM if you have any interest: 4.75mtr Stacer Bowrider 70 Mercury $22k ono ! Cheers and good luck with the search. Regards Byron

Hi Tinny Fisher, Unfortunately Ross Hunter will not be up at Port Stephens till Dec/Jan in time for the Marlin season. If you send me an email address I can share with you a complete list of all charters out of Port Stephens. plus a few words of warning about a few with dodgy reputations Regards Byron

GIO beat everyone hands down for me Boppa, by a significant margin as well, and without me having to ask for a better price. Agreed value as well. They would be on my list to call after you have done a little shopping beforehand to get an approx. price. Stevo got some great covers done for the Poly from: Mid West Marine Trimmers P/L Greystanes NSW 2145 ph: (02) 9604 3514 he was really pleased with the result despite the initial cost. Fully trailerable covers are not cheap but worth it. Cheers Byron

Great shots Mick, Care to elaborate on the camara and techniques??? Those last two deserve framing mate Byron

I would suggest the new Pflueger rods as Lee has mentioned. Really nice stick for the money (best prices around $130). They have a couple of sizes 2-4kg and 4-6kg from memory. My mate Nick at Port Stephens has just got himself one for our snapper sessions on plastics and he loves it!! Cheers Byron

Now you are talking Iceman. Was up there last year and it rocks. Can't wait to explore Middle Creek and the more isolated spots next time though. Ran out of time, and was having too much fun fishing Baffle Creek!! My personal favourite for a great weekend's fishing is Patonga. Offshore, inshore, and creek fishing all on the doorstep. Cheers Byron

G'day Gaff, Hmmmmm seems like a few people rate me as a Patonga expert. Not too sure about that mate but happy to share a few tips. At this time of year I would be concentrating my efforts on flathead. (I fish lures only for the main, and you will need a boat to access the best of the breaming water). With the water slowly but surely warming up, the flatties will be getting a bit more active. I have always done best on the run up tide at this time of year. Largely as it tends to be warmer. Target the shallow flats with sp's and work the entire shoreline from the Caravan Park down to the end of Bay St. A good few hours wading. The best of the water starts from the point where the kayak launch area is. At low tide I like to walk out to the edge of the drop off and slowly work plastics on the bottom. The flatties need to have a lure run right past their nose at this time of year so give each area a good going over. As Jaso says the creek mouth can also be good fishing. I reckon you could float a livie out on the run out tide and get almost anything if you tried at night. Enjoy mate, I love the place. Remember the best fish and chips in Sydney is right there for you if you don't turn a scale. Byron

Just a quick reminder of the Snapper Charter available on Saturday. $180 pp, with 3 spots available. Check Ross's website for details. Might make a good Father's Day gift for a lucky dad!! Bonus of a few snapper for the table on Sunday lunch. Cheers Byron

G'day all, After prompting from Joe and Mark yesterday, I have spoken to Ross to get an idea of his availability both currently as well as over the summer Marlin season at Port Stephens. See details below: Saturday 3rd September - 3 spots for a Snapper fishing extravaganza out of Botany Bay at $180 pp. See Ross's homepage for details of his recent float baiting trips. Port Stephens availability is running out fast to grab one of the following spots asap: 1st-6th Feb - Full crew of 6 required for days in this time frame 24th-26th March - crew of 4 required 28th- 31st March - full weekend charter available for 6 people at $960 pp, including top notch accomodation. Ross will also be fishing the Northern Waters Invitational between 17th-19th February, and Swoffa and I are in the process of getting a team together to fish this. I will post another note once we know the plan and have confirmed numbers. PM me with email details if you would like a fact sheet for Port Stephens. I will continue to post last minute opportunities for Sydney trips, both Snapper and Yellowfin when they reappear. Regards, Byron