W4z

The council is replacing all the timber I'm pretty sure. No major changes just maintenance. They're fixing a whole bunch of wharfs and ramps all around the shire. Check the sutherland shire website for details. I believe lilli pilli wharf was scheduled to be finished about a month ago

Thanks mate I'll keep that in mind. Looking forward to seeing you with some big ones! Keep em coming

Nice one mate. Do you think tides and conditions play a big part in this type of fishing? Only caught a couple of small ones myself but put a few hours into it last year

You definitely got around! Sounds like a top trip. Some nice Browns and salmon there. Still yet to get a salmon myself. Hope you enjoyed the scenery and had some quality time with your son. I saw a picture pf woods lake ramp just the other day, must have been 30+ trailers there. Guess the secrets out! When we were there a year ago would of only been about 4 boats out on a Sunday. How did the salmon eat up? Better than the bought stuff?

Good on ya for getting him out and teaching him a new technique. Nice catch there. Hope you can get him on to some fish soon!

Cheers guys. Mii11x scroll up, Mithras posted a pic of his trev

Cheers guys. Sorry I don't have a photo of the trev, they were on my mates phone. It was a beautiful fish and he was over the moon to catch it. Yeah this was in port hacking. I've been told since I was a kid that they were manta rays but never looked into it or anything. They're just like small looking manta rays, quite common to see them around port hacking. Did a quick bit of research just now but couldn't find and definite info

I first got hooked on kings a few years ago fishing with a mate from work (who also introduced me to this site, wish2fish). Since then I've caught a few rats and spent a lot of time gathering info as catching a legal kingy turned out to be a more challenging goal than I had first thought. Yesterday morning everything finally came together. Hit the water at 4am on my mates boat (Mithras) and told him my plan for the morning. Had about 6 squid in the tank by 5.00 and even though we could see 4 or 5 more squid playing with our jigs we decided to head off to start trying for kings. Anchored up and started burlying. Dropped a live squid each then threw some pilly cubes around on light rods. Mithras quickly hooked up to something on a plastic. It put a serious bend in his rod. Took a bit of coaxing but eventually got it in, a 57cm trevally. Only a few pinkies caught for a while until I noticed some movement on my live squid rod. Holding it and waiting suddenly it bent over. This fish had my arms burning in just minutes and I was pretty confident it was a king. I didn't want to let it run much with a bit of structure around it could of ment the end. Some colour shows and we know we've got our target. Some whoops! We're let out as it slid into the net and I had a smile from ear to ear. It went 69cm and I was over the moon to finally land a legal king. The fight was more intense than I had expected. Soon after our burly trail really kicked in. We had a kingfish circling around scooping up the burley, although passing by our live squid. We watched as another king swam up to the surface with one of our squid in its mouth, but only the tentacles and head, not where the hook was. It seemed to just spit the rest of the squid out as if to say 'here, you can have that back' I caught my first salmon too, about 60cm, followed shortly by a 50cm model. Another trevally caught and a bream. All in all a top morning and home by 10am. Something interesting we came across in the main Chanel on the way back to the ramp was about 50 manta rays all in a tight group like a ball. Was cool to see. Could they have been spawning? Anyway, a thanks goes to Dave who first got me on to kings and Futon who always invites me out. Also a thanks to Krispy! For some advice! Cheers Waz Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice work on the queenie! They are up there on my list. Keep the reports coming

That jewie is a nice reward! Good story. So in the end did you work out that the Johnson is still good?

Congratulations mate and nice fish! Is this the best time of year for catching them? Seems like most reports of catches of them are around this time of year

Nice work as always Krispy

Nice haul of squid. Sydney fish markets have a video on YouTube about how to prepare squid, it turns out pretty nice that way, cutting crisscross as a form of tenderising.

Oh and something I realised after I replied. I thought you meant a caravan but since you'll be in a campervan I don't think you will have much trouble getting around. At woods lake you might want to check the tracks leading down from the main track to the campsites before driving on them. Otherwise you will be fine.

Nice work mate, you smashed it again!

Good on ya mate! What an acheivement. Must be a great feeling to have finally succeeded.

Nice report man and a good session. I like the dog dish!

Hi mate, I saw your pm before I saw this post so I replied to you but thought I'd post the reply up here to. It might be of some help to others in the future as well. Hi mate, I am by no means an expert but I will help with what I can. The Great Lake is a beautiful place if you like the high country. Take some warm clothes as it can get pretty cold at night. We only spent one night on the shores there and as we arrived late (about 1am) so we just camped at the boat ramp in Miena. There was a large flat area 20m up from the water that you could easily set up your caravan. There's a couple of boat ramps I think though but from memory I can't tell you exactly where it was but it did have a kind of floating wharf next to the ramp. I've been told you don't need to go far from Miena to catch good fish. The bay there holds good numbers that often patrol the edges. We didn't do much land based fishing so I can't give much advice there. I was told though if you follow the bay around past Miena, past the pub then there's a long point on the right hand side that is good to fish from. You should be able to drive most of the way out there if you have a 4x4. Are you taking a boat? Arthur's I can't help you much with. My mate who was showing us around who been fishing around there for 30 years said that Arthur's isn't what it used to be. He said something had happened but I can't remember now what that was. There is a really nice campground on the shore of Arthur's though, just north of flintstone. I'm pretty sure you have to pay for that one though. Crescent lake was packed last year. I don't know if it will still be the same. It was producing monsters last year and I think that would still be the case. One of the reasons they grow so big there is that there is a really good population of native galaxias that the trout are feeding on. It is a place where you need to put in a thousand casts and hope for one fish. We learned later that a couple of fish had been caught the day we had been there after we had left in the same spot that we had fished. We tried to cover ground drifting along the banks but we were told later that a lot of fish are caught by just staying in the same spot casting over and over. Obviously it needs to be a good spot though and the locals know these spots. It can be a tedious way to fish though and is not for everyone. How long do you have down there? The Great Lake is so high that there aren't really any trees around and looks quite bare. Arthurs is a bit lower and has some trees around. Crescent is quite shallow and had a dirty look when we were there. If you have time and want a place a bit more secluded I would recommend either woods lake or pine tier lagoon. Woods is a beautiful place although now thinking about it it may be hard to find a spot for the camper. Probably ask for local advice if you decide to check out either. Pine tier is a very small lake but you probably won't see many other people and it's also a beautiful spot. Let me know if I can help with anything else. As for lures I really like the berkley hard body that was in my report with the rainbow pattern. Nice cheap option from Kmart. The spotted dogs worked well and tassie Devils are always recommended down there. Didn't have much luck on spinners, but then again didn't put much time into them. If you do see any hatches in the afternoons and the trout are rising you could always grab a few dry flys and use a bubble float on the spin rod. I've seen them caught this way. Cheers Luke

I'm not the best filleter, so when I'm filleting my flathead or bream I always end up going back and getting a few more slivers of meat off the frame. These are my favorite part though, straight into some soy sauce and eaten raw. I'd have to say that I'd rather flathead sashimi than trevally. I have had bream before in a sushi restaurant. My guess is that most people don't think about eating bream or flathead as sashimi as they are so good cooked that there's no reason to tempt them to taste it raw. The one thing that I haven't tried yet is squid eggs. Any one know if you can eat them raw? I've had a few squid lately full of eggs...

Cheers guys Yeah adamski it was a 2.5" grubz in motor oil. I've also caught one before on a clear squidgy wriggler. Way I see it its just a bonus catching one on a plastic

That was a very enjoyable report, thanks for sharing. Sounds like a top day out

It's always good to hear about those nice northern species, keep the reports coming. I look forward to seeing some pics of some threadfin that you catch!

Hey fellas, I had a rare late start for work the other day so I jumped at the opportunity to wet a line. Went down to the hacking earlyish to a little spot with about a 30 minute walk in. I tend to fish the spots where there aren't so many people around. I enjoy it this way. First cast with a zman grub and up came a little blackfish. He was probably around 28cm but I put him back anyway. Second cast turned out to be a better fight. A tailor around 35cm And then nothing for the next 2 hours. Had my hopes up for a good session, but can't really complain about these 2 fish. For the blackfishermen here, would that one blackfish be a sign that there would be more around? Thanks for reading Waz Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool to see in the wild. How's the fishing going up there? I'll be up there August next year, looking forward to it! Good luck with the rest of your trip

I'm sure some of you would've seen this the other day - Selfies cause more deaths now than shark attacks. http://mobile.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/you-are-now-at-more-risk-of-dying-while-taking-a-selfie-than-being-killed-by-a-shark/story-fnq2oad4-1227539800134 No point living in fear and letting it control whether or not you go for a swim. Just enjoy the water