Ryder

Fantastic catch. Congrats.

Great report mate. I wouldn’t be surprised at your estimate, there are big ones out there, bruisers that refuse to get caught. I know the big fish shakes when you lose one. Takes a while to get over, just thinking about what could have been can bring them back on, Haha.

Hey Keve Learning to catch worms is on my bucket list, I've never really tried. I have watched heaps of videos, Manly seems to be one of the better beaches. A stinking stingray does seem to be a favourite in the beachside camps at Crescent Head. You see them hanging from the trees, the guys use them for days, they just get smellier and smellier. Maybe we could organise a Fishraider beach worming social/ tutorial this summer ?

That was great, thanks Richard. Have to agree the net was not up to the job, it looked like a butterfly net. Watching the guy get towed around makes me think is there an advantage not being anchored? The kayak would act like one of those barrels Quint shot into JAWS. As for size, it looked over the magic metre.

If you are going to Dee Why try The Pole. It’s a shorter walk from the Long Reef carpark. It’s a stout metal pole on the beach, look for gutters, deep water where the waves aren’t breaking. Eg just above the mark. Fish the deep at the edges of the white water.

Hi Raiders, Not a report because today it just didn't happen. I organised to take out a couple of young guys from work to chase Blackfish. I sourced the weed, got all the gear set up, and they turned up at the wrong spot. A quick phone call and we were back on track. I started getting touches but no good downs, the boys turn up and it's the same result NOTHING. Then who should show up...... Tetsuya Wakuda, the famous chef from Tetsuyas restaurant. I recognised him straight away, I've seen him on TV and have a fishing video from a Sydney guide that features him. He loves his fishing and we started chatting about Blackfish, fun to catch, good eating etc. I had a spare rod, if the spot was firing we could have fished together, cooked up the catch at his restaurant, exchanged recipes, he'd be ringing me up wanting to go out again, I'd introduce him around, we'd be mates. Alas, the bromance just wasn't to be. Haha. Im sure it happens to all of us.

Well done Useless.

Hi Neil, nice pictures. Like Green Hornet, these kind of experiences are one of the perks of being a fisherman. Carp on fly would definitely be worth a try. Some of the big ones could turn you inside out.

Great couple of trips, too bad it's added to your list of chore. Filleting fish has to be top of the list now, then BBQ, then filling friend's orders for fish, then tag along trips. You have to get your priorities right. Haha

Monster. Well done. Captain Nemo would be afraid of that.

Sounds like a great session Tyrone, thanks for sharing..

I've seen them around Cockatoo, and the lower harbour from Rushcutters to Watsons. Mostly salmon. I think the baitfish are still quite small so small ,plastics or fly would be the go.

Here is a Fenwick built on a Grizzly I think they are the same sort of blank. Not disappointed, Don Green started Grizzly, was an innovator in hollow glass rods. He sold the business to Fenwick and stayed on for years and they produced the first graphite rods before starting his own company again.... SAGE!!!

Now I’m not so sure it’s a Sportex, Royce suggested it could be a Fenwick or a Grizzly. Fenwick used Grizzly blanks before producing their own. Here is mine

Last Sunday I took Big Neil out to chase blackfish and meet a few of the boys. We started around the inner west and it was dead.!!! 5 guys fishing and nobody got a touch. We changed spots and still nothing. The conditions weren't great with the southerly so fishing options were limited, the guys packed it in and Neil and I went to the eastern suburbs for one last go. The theory being with all the rain the fish had headed towards the mouth of the harbour. There were signs of life from the start and things were looking up. We were getting the downs but no solid hookups. I almost hooked an 80cm king that followed my weed and Neil hooked 1 blackfish but lost it at the net. It just wasn't going to happen. Yesterday was totally different, I planned to go east again but after a late night I stayed close to home and fished the afternoon runout tide around Woolwich. The forecast was for northerly winds so I thought I would be protected, funny how the wind seems to follow me, it hooks around in the harbour and starts blowing east. Just had to put up with it. I found weedon the rocks at Curly on Thursday after work and when I went back on Friday to collect, it was mostly covered with inches of sand. I got what I could, scraped up the sand and grabbed heaps of cabbage to mix in the berley. The action started from the get go. I hooked up to a decent fish but lost it at the last minute trying to lift it rather than net it. I didn't make that mistake again. More followed including a couple of sleepers, they didn't take the float under but they did take the bait. The berley was mostly cabbage but all the fish were taken on weed, I tried cabbage bait but they wouldn't touch it. Most of the fish were around 30cm but 1 was well over the 40cm mark, a big square mouth. I could have bagged out, but I called it with 9 in the keeper net. I let 6 go including the big one and kept 3 for the smoker.

Very nice bag.

Hi Kingfish Beast This is one of the Articles on squid pinned in the Fishing Chat section by Mrs Swordy. There are more pinned there. Enjoy, and go get em.

Its done. When the old reel seat was removed with a Dremel it showed it was on the bamboo sand spike rather than the blank so that was cut off. The rod now measures 15ft. New Alps reel seat, Hyperlon grips, 7 new Fuji guides and tip. Classic burgundy and black binding with silver. Those fissures were just scratches probably from being dragged up the rocks. They almost disappeared with a light sand. Very happy.

Hi Raiders, Just looking around on eBay UK and I found this odd looking reel. It the Grice and Young ORLANDO minor, made in England in the 1950's. To cast you remove the spool and place it over the second spindle at the top of the reel, so it's sort of like the casting position for a side cast. After the cast you replace the spool and fish away. To reduce the problems of line twist from repeated casts, the spool can be reversed on the casting spindle from a handles up to a handles down position every second cast. So line comes off clockwise one cast and anticlockwise the next. I think it's pretty cool, but I couldn't imagine trying to use it in the beach at night.

Cheers guys, there is another one in the same shop, but in far worse condition. Both were on Slazenger rods. This was on a bastardised 11A, the bottom section is genuine Slazenger, the top is solid glass. The reel seat is interesting, winds both up and down. The other reel is much more corroded, I don't know if it even spins, but it's on a better blank for Blackfish. 10 ft one piece with a great slow action. Needs a full rebuild, the lower grip is PVC. Still only asking $40. I can't do it just now. I'm having the 15ft Sportex rebuilt.

I found this at Vinnies yesterday, Grice and Young Avon Royal MK3. A little corrosion around the reel seat and some paint loss. It would barely turn when I found it, I put that down to old grease. With a degrease, clean and lube it now spins for 2 min 30. Not bad for $40.

The long binding I removed may have been a repair. I notice some dark lines, and there is a fissure.

Congratulations Jeff Youre gonna need a bigger esky.

Thanks Gordon, I was just supposing as the efficient Germans were using metric way before us and 4.5m is around 15 ft give or take. Royce has the Sportex blackfish rods in 662, 663 and, I think the heavier 36 or 3902, that’s really what I’m looking for, but I came up with this monster. It will probably be the longest rod on the beach.

It’s a pretty heavy duty beach rod, I take the numbers to be 450cm and 7 wrap. It needs some TLC, but I’m not sure if worth it to do it, up or sell as is.