Razzell

Hi Camel, The idea is that they're the cream of the crop in terms of flathead. They've evaded predators, disease, and fisherman so far! So by allowing them the chance to breed, the idea is that 'better' flatties will be reproduced, giving the species the greatest chance of survival in a heavily pressured environment. The same thinking is applied within conservation in all species.

Was up there Sunday and noticed a lot of crab pot markers on that shoreline. Is it a good time for them? Didn't have much joy myself on Sunday. Plenty of marks on the sounder but kept getting my lures destroyed by leatherjackets. Pittwater can be a fickle mistress...

Reload!!! If I didn't get a reload I would've gone glass and got a stealth, but they're built for offshore and I do a lot of estuary fishing.

Damn, sounds interesting... I should've pulled a sicky!

How did you go guys?

Was there about 10 days ago for two days, so might be a little out of date, but: Early morning around Portuguese bay is holding bucket loads of mac tuna on the surface Tailor, good size, are marauding around the same space. I assume there are kings with/under them, but didn't get any Have heard there are good kings around scotland island and the wrecks This time of year the mouth of careel bay is normally pretty good, so keep an eye on that Hope you get some luck

Top morning guys, really enjoyed it. Highlight for me was watching Krause squirm at the thought that we were going to blank on kings and blame him, haha. I knew there would be more as soon as I buggered off... I picked up a mac tuna on the way back to the ramp which gave a good account of itself. Stopped by BCF on the way home to grab a replacement setup, but of course they had a sale on so it would have been rude not to get two set ups... Lose one, get two. That will make sure I'm never out of gear no matter how many I drop! Look forward to the next one!

Correct. Ray, were you walking a Golden Retreiver? I was getting out as you arrived, with the red profish.

Haha no worries bud, good to meet you and good morning on the water - glad we all got stuck in to some fish. Looks like Krause is untangling another mess of lines there...

The amount of times you've swung up here, I could swing down there perhaps! Will need to keep an eye on the weather and a bunch of other variables, but could be tempted.

Mate, sorry I didn't respond to your message. I headed up north and didn't check/forgot. Harbour has been hit and miss recently. I've had some amazing sessions and some abysmal ones. Sorry you didn't get stuck in. I'm looking to start heading off shore soon and see you're already on it... Want to do a maiden trip out to Longy or something together?

Mate I'd love to but I'm up North for the weekend. Hope to hit the far north beaches for Mulloway... If you decide on little manly/the harbour, drop me a note and I might be able to give some pointers. If you're in the hacking you're on your own - I have never been able to figure that place out.

Yo! I'm here, sorry. I could certainly be tempted, think that date is currently free unless the missus has other ideas. Also I've just bought a new profish reload, so any chance to get that out and I'm keen... Think Swordie is on to a winner - chippo has plenty of parking and has been going well on bream/eps recently. Athough I've failed to get them, the Jewies are there in numbers as well. Been getting stuck in to kings in the harbour around rose bay as well, so that could be a possibility.

Good questions mate and something that's bothered me in the past, also. Not an expert, but here's my two cents: 1) I'm not sure about crushing barbs... I would be wary though, as it might damage the structural integrity of the hook. For course fishing in the UK (which I grew up with), barbless hooks are a legality now. I don't know many fisherman who complain about it anymore. My father claims it didn't impact hook ups or losses, because the rest of the gear is so good nowadays that it compensated for the loss. So I would maybe look to source barbless for a go if you're worried about it 2) I use singles on hardbodies now. I had the exact same concern as you - too many fish that I didn't want dying were having their mouths destroyed. Some very experienced hardbody yak fishos encouraged others to switch to singles, so I tried it, and found it fine. They swear swear they hook up more often as a result... I'm not sure about that as I don't use HBs much, but I certainly never noticed a dip in performance and it's much easier to release safely. 3) If I don't want a photo, I don't take the fish out the net. I unhook in there then let it swim out when it's ready. I do, however, use lip grips where necessary. I used to be guilty of holding them in the air by lip grips, but now I slide them on to my (normally wet) leg and get a photo. My reasoning is that I don't want to touch it with my hands for their benefit. I was an avid fish keeper for years and the idea of touching fish is, generally, a no-no. Fish have a protective mucus - dry hands in particular remove that (or so I was told), and if you add in sun cream etc, it's a risk I don't really want to take... I'm far from a saint on the matter, but like you I want the animals to do alright after we've let them go. I'm sure I'll change my approach as I learn more, but for now those are my thoughts.

Shit the bed, so sorry to hear that. I'd be devastated. I keep an eye on gumtree etc. for gear, so if I see anything fitting the bill I'll let you know, as I'm sure anyone else on here will. Luke, that's a really good point and one that more people should be aware of (as in, your photos containing more than just the image!). However, identifying them will only be possible if the perpetrator have an accurate profile and if Ms. and Mr. Swordy have that capability enabled through their database management system. Don't want to be a downer, but I wouldn't hedge my bets. Still, nice thinking.

In the summer, you should be in with a chance of all those fish in those locations. But you certainly haven't picked the easiest fish to catch! Your best bet is to find a spot on that map that looks good, then google the name of the place along with 'fishing report' - you should get an idea of how to fish them and what to expect.

This might help: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&mid=1Xbjzo7Q-Q0RmI8DAi4nPlzXHARQ&ll=-33.833509883110935%2C151.2674257573242&z=13 From here:

Mate, you got the reload! I've got my eye on one of those... Where did you get it from?

Hello mate, I Was out there on Sunday morning - got some marks and a couple of fish, but it's pretty quiet still. Looks like it's ready to go, though. The pelagics do exist, but it's often hard work on the kayak because you have to find them and then keep up with them - they're not known for staying in one area. I tend to prefer fishing sugarloaf bay and up around tunks - bit quieter and you can get stuck in to other things more easily if the kings etc. aren't around. Cheers, Razz

Hi mate, You'll struggle to get anyone to give up their favourite spot that meets all the criteria you're looking for. The consensus in the Mulloway community seems to be that, if you want to catch a good fish, you have to earn it. It took me over a year to get my first targeted jewie, and that involved constant reading of reports and learning everything I could about how the fish behave. I'm still inconsistent in my efforts! Google is your friend. Search with different criteria and you'll start to piece a puzzle together. I would say do things in this order: 1. learn the fishes behaviour. 2. look on the Navionics webapp/google maps to scout out potential spots. 3. search for reports on potential spots. 4. Read through every report on Jewies every made This thread has a lot of good info : Good luck!

Think I saw you at the wharf, if you were wearing a raider hat? Was at Double Bay festival with the missus and took a walk along the pier to see what was happening - very clear water and lots of little baitfish about. Hoping the big guys come in numbers soon... there were dolphins in Rushcutters on Saturday, so they must've been chasing something.

Good on you mate, great fish Nice on for letting her head off and make more bigguns'!

Hello mate, The two bodies of water you're surrounded by are good fun (iron cove and hen & chicken bay). Expect bream and flatties by walking the shore line, and the whiting will take off the top of the flats in the summer. Don't keep from there - it's rank (which is one of the reasons why the fishing is good).

I feel you mate, I get it all the time on the yak. Most people are really good; slow down, give you a wide birth and a nod/wave... Some don't give a toss, though. It's particularly bad if I'm on a fish or anchored, because that makes facing in to the wave difficult (without which, capsize risk increases dramatically). There are just some horrible people out there. Same on the roads.

Saw you guys out there on Chippo today while on the yak - boy it was quiet. Barely got a touch....