RexSenior

Hi Raiders It's been a long time between posts but I finally got out for 2 fishing sessions this week. Just thought I'd share the result as I know most of us are looking forward to the warmer months especially on the beaches. Headed out armed with a bag of pilchards and some frozen worms both times and was greeted by plenty of hungry bream! The action was a plenty from the first cast, the best results coming in the last hour of the run in tide then all went quiet. A couple of smallish whiting however the bream were all in between 28cm - 42cm. On the second trip I threw plenty under around 30cm back. Only kept the large amounts due to my friends and family asking constantly haha. Great fun though Cheers, James

Willy Weather has been my go to and very accurate on almost every occasion in the last few years for my area. Wind changes and times have been spot on which is massive for me being land based. You're right though Luke the last month or so they have dropped the ball. The data comes from the B.O.M. but there's a clear issue with the syncing into the Willy Weather site. For example this morning showed the peak temp to be 34 degrees at 6pm in Belmont, and stay around that until 11pm. When I checked the wind prediction this morning the southerly was 4pm - spot on as predicted which dropped temps dramatically - the weather section only picked this up as it was happening then adjusted the predicted temp down (after the fact). Hopefully this gets sorted soon, there are a number of complaints being actioned directly to the site. Cheers, James

Hi Dave I've been fishing the area a lot recently, just land based. I mainly fish with live beach worms, unfortunately having to go down the Central Coast to catch them at the moment. Salts Bay is fishing great and is a top spot for the kids & swimming also. Been plenty of whiting & bream, if you can fish the rising tide early evening anywhere in between the 1st & 3rd breakwalls you should do well. Blacksmiths Beach has also been great over the past couple of months, if you try there head towards the back of Belmont Golf Club for some big whiting. The weed has been a pain though. All the best! Cheers, James

Awesome catch! Such a chunky jew too it must have given you a bit of grief before it calmed down. Congratulations mate, not many reports of jews like this these days! Cheers, James

Most places I have wormed the larger ones will be closer to the low tide mark and can be caught anywhere after the tide is 2/3 of the way out (after a larger wave recedes exposing the sand). Speaking from the Central Coast & Newcastle areas, it's more about the place you worm which will decide if you get the big ones. If they are nearly all small ones I'd be trying somewhere else, sounds like the stocks of larger worms in that area may have depleted. If you have a spare half a day around low tide it's a worthwhile exercise to cover some km's and try as many different beaches as you can. I find that they move around a lot and sometimes they can be at one end of the beach then a month later on the other. Unfortunately this is something you may have to do regularly to find the king worms, but well worth it when you're onto them! All the best, James

Just adding my limited knowledge, trying to help - instead of talking about heart attacks and bush turkeys. Let's keep on topic Best of luck Fufu, let us know how you go next time.

I love the thinking Luke but stranger things have happened! A good friend of mine only fishes with his secret dough mix off the beach (also not in a fish's diet) and has done a lot better than me (using fresh king worms) on many occasions. Also I'm not sure polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is in a fish's diet yet there have been some fantastic catches on Gulp SP's. My advice would be to keep trying and learning from what worked, what didn't and keeping track of the conditions when you have a good haul (wind, tide, month, bait, swell, water depth & flow, moon etc). As mentioned above in the summer time live / fresh / properly preserved worms are the go. Many other baits are still great however worms will catch a variety of fish and for me, they have a better catch rate than any other bait during the warmer months off the beach. In my area the whiting have been consistent over many years, not the most prized fish yet with a couple of elbow slappers you get a nice feed to share with the family. Cheers, James

Well done mate! Any whiting over 40cm ill be slapping your elbows, awesome catch especially on a prawn from the tackle shop! Cheers, James

Hi Michael I agree with Rick. Like you I also fish land based and have had some experiences (good and bad) with burleying. It's hard to put into a short comment and it really depends on where and when you are fishing and what you are chasing. I do a lot of fishing off the beach and burleying just before dark on a rising tide has been beneficial. Three things to remember with land based burleying though: 1) burleying land based during the day can attract lots of unwanted undersize fish (most of these fish disappear at night) 2) Be sure not to 'feed' the fish with burley - don't over do it causing them to be satisfied before your line hits the spot. An anchored burley bucket is a great option, don't shy away from a metal star post, mallet & keeper net filled with frames from the last catch. 3) Consider the flow (if any) of the water, sometimes you can take fish away from the area you're fishing with burley thrown into a strong sweep/ tidal area Hope this helps. Cheers, James

Great catch with a nice kingy thrown in! I agree with the above, hard to tell without teeth marks. It's possible though. I'll try and post some pics of a sambo I caught at Magenta, a shark grabbed him on the way in & our fishraiders chimed in to say it was more than likely a bronze whaler which were plaguing the area at the time.... Cheers, James

No worries. I still don't use plastics myself however the evidence is pretty convincing. For some reason I like sitting there watching a couple of rods on the beach, I may catch more working harder but I fish to get away from work. Let us know how you go.

Hi Newy Fisher I've used them in Lake Mac & Swansea on and off for a long time and have had very little luck. I hear reports of people targeting flatties with them but for me it's almost at the point where I won't even bother using them. If you can find a place with a good concentration of flathead you'd be in with a shot. I may be wrong but I'd say it's because flathead don't move around much at all, so you need to cast pretty much on top of them at a time when they're keen to feed. That's the reason most people have converted to soft plastics, just for the ground you can cover. The best place I know to use them if you're still keen is on the southern side of Newcastle Harbour from Queens Wharf right up to Nobby's Breakwall. As I said though I haven't had any consistent luck. Best of luck mate. Cheers, James

Let the Christmas feast continue! Great effort - when they're hungry they're hungry! I use the vanamei prawns (think that's how you spell it) from Coles when I don't have time to catch worms, the bream and flatties love them! Cheers, James

Hi Raiders. Great discussion, love it! For me, I use mono off the beach for jew and to be honest it's a lot to do with price. I buy a mid range spool of 25lb mono and can afford to change it every few sessions - haven't lost a jew because of my main line yet. I find that it's a lot to do with the condition of your line, not what brand it is or what it's made out of. Most jew I've caught have hooked themselves. In saying that I fish with 2 rods off the beach - so am rarely holding one waiting to strike. An advantage of mono as mentioned is the stretch. When you're line is loaded up it has some give when the waves & seaweed are pounding you're line and the jew on the end of it. If the shoreline is steep you will need to play the fish and time the beaching, something I'm not very good at yet, mono has saved my catch on these occasions I think. Cheers, James

`Cheers Guys

Hi Raiders Happy to report that the whiting are on the improve in Newcastle. Set out at around 6pm off Blacksmiths Beach after a couple of hours catching a few healthy king worms for bait. The sting rays were still a pain however conditions were great and ended up keeping 16 whiting between three of us, up to 41cm with a few thrown back that weren't gut-hooked. Fishing pretty heavy with a 15lb fluorocarbon leader and massive sinkers (to cast around the breakers) however they didn't seem too fussed. Seemed to quieten down just before high tide (weird) so we left. Photos below are the total between the 3 of us that we kept and the ones I caught for the table. Cheers, James

That's a monster! Great effort. I know you said you usually fish lighter but even with 8kg line that's a massive task landing this beast from the rocks!! Cheers, James

Awesome catch. They look like a good size too. Well done on the bait change. I can't work it out but the bait of choice for fish sometimes is harder to pick than a broken nose! I've had nothing all day on live beach worms then threw a frozen pillie tail on for a laugh and snagged one of my best whiting! Keeps it interesting anyway! Cheers, James

Hi Mate I haven't caught too much in the channel recently however the beach is fishing OK and should improve leading up to Christmas. Blacksmiths needs a big swell to shift some sand around and make some banks, still recovering after the April storms believe it or not. Tactics for this beach depend on when you are fishing and what you want to catch. Obviously live/fresh worms are the go through the day however if you find a nice gutter and burley through the late arvo into the night you can throw half & whole pillies out to catch almost anything! Aim for a rising tide on dark if you can. Cheers, James

That's awesome! After 25 years of fishing my first Jew came about 2 years ago. If the taxidermist was willing to work with an illegal catch I would have had a serious decision to make! (Joking of course). Well done, Cheers, James.

Mike's on the money I reckon. Best to be out there full stop. The moon is one of many factors that influence fish to feed, this all depends on what you want to catch, what the other conditions are and what the surroundings are like at the time. Tides probably play a bigger part (which are controlled by the moon so easy to confuse the two) however I find the moon very important for night fishing. If the moon is full and the surface is flat I walk away, very few catches for me - possibly due to the difficulty hunting fish face in ambushing prey. Rough water like the beach or a windy lake night and the moon doesn't seem to matter, possibly even better on the lead up to the full moon (3-4 days). May sound (and be) well of the mark however that's my experience, hope it helps you. Cheers, James

Hi Fab1, As a dad to 2 little snappers I can re-assure you that a day out with the family and ticking all of the boxes below is a winning outcome... Fishing time Family time One on one kid time Wife time & teaching the family how to fish Great job. Looking forward to getting a boat one day when the kids are a bit older and doing all of that! Cheers, James

Great catch mate! I've caught a few sharks here and there but sometimes the juveniles are difficult to ID - my guess would be a weasel shark. Hopefully the link I post below will assist (remember that the pictures are of older average sized sharks). http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/631384/Identifying-sharks-and-rays.pdf Cheers, James

Cheers Guys. There's always the option on this beach for the slab bait or pillies for bigger species but I was happy with the strike rate on the worms. Some days conditions are perfect and I don't catch any decent table fish, take the good with the bad - still a great way to spend a few hours. Cheers, James

Hi Hobbitt. I learned how to catch Beach worms in Laurieton and will be forever grateful! Regarding the wrasse, I'm with Blackfish on this one. There and many different species, it's pretty hard to get info from the DPI as many wrasse caught look similar and colors change over time. There is a protection on the elegant wrasse however it's been a long time since I've caught one, most will be the common mauri wrasse which to my knowledge (please double check) is fine to keep. Taste-wise I highly rate wrasse, we used to cook them over the hot coals @ Catherine Hill Bay when camping & rock fishing, nothing better! Cheers, James.