Razzell

Hi all, Last year was my first year of proper fishing in Australia. I got my yak in November last year and haven't looked back - it's been a great Summer with plenty of decent trips. Now that Winter is well and truly heading in, I'm re-evaluating my tactics to make sure I continue to catch over the winter. Now, my question refers specifically to Salmon... I recall last year when my fishing buddy and I were running local landbased sessions.We had good fun picking up Salmon in the shallow bays around the harbour and middle harbour. Since then I've caught a fair few other sambo and I love them on the lighter gear - they go like stink! So, can anyone give me some insight as to when they'll start heading in to the bays and busting up? I can't quite recall the timing... Cheers, Razz

I fish lures on the lake, not sure if that will help... On high tide, the bream are on the flats. I get the most joy on the southern end of the lake fishing yabby/shrimp SPs. It's weedy, though, so be sure to use snagless jigs. You can also take them on the top in the early morning without bother. At low tide, they hit the edges where I switch to shallow divers cast in to the snags. Flat head are all over the place... I caught a 74 model up near the caravan park and have caught lots on the fringes of the flats where I fish for bream.

Hi all, Been a while since I posted. With the difficult weather of late, a lot of my sessions have been hit and miss. I've been fishing my local spots with nothing new to add, so haven't felt hugely inclined to post a report. Felt like I should get back in the habit, so here's some info from my outing on the weekend. Decided to hit the lagoon on Saturday morning on the kayak. The wind, for the first time in weeks, was scheduled to die down, so thought I'd give it a crack. Weather was 50/50 on the predictions, but I can put up with a bit of rain if it happens. Launched around 7 on the low tide after stopping at the tackle shop. Longfish was supposed to be joining me, but opted for beers on Friday instead, so it was solo. Started by fishing the snags and edges at the back, by middle creek entrance. Second cast with a bent minnow hooked me on to a flatty, est. about 45. Fishing bream gear with 4lb leader, and as I got him to the side of the yak he shook and pinged the lure. Damn! Was my only bent minnow and I could see him on the bottom with it in his mouth... Gutted... Because of all the weed and shallows, it's perfect for bent minnows, but I'd immediately lost my preferred lure... Oh well, change tactics. Headed round to the creek and fished snags with the shallow diver, as it's deep enough in there. Sure enough, got a couple of breambo out. One at around 25 and one just over 30. After that, I headed to the back of the lake to fish the beach edges with SPs; berkley prawn/yabby things. Got another couple out, which was nice. So far, so good! With the tide rising, the fish moved on to the flats over the weedbeds. Without the BM and the fish reluctant to take surface, fishing the flats was hard going... However I tried various things and found that the SPs had me snagging the least, so I persisted with that. Got another 3 bream, largest going to around 35. Some good fish giving a good account of themselves; they were lively. It was getting near to home time, so I decided to throw some heavier SPs to see if any flatties were hanging around. Pretty soon I was on to something nice, which turned out to be the fish in the photo, ~65. Apologies for the poor handling, she did not want to settle in the yak! I ended up with very wet/slimy legs. I need to get a net because I often feel I could be handling them better and it would be easier with a net (and probably some gloves...) Anyway, headed back around 11:30. A good day on the water with plenty of fish, all C+R as is my standard. Also got the pleasure of seeing the smellicans feeding, and watched a sea eagle catch a fish.

5" paddle tail zman on 1/8 oz for the jewie (bottom) and some mac tuna mid water. 3" minnow and slugs wacky rigged for all else, plus surface lures and bent minnows. No probs. We were around stokes point.

Hi all, Longfish and I headed up to Pittwater to hit and area we liked the look of for bream. Got there just after high tide and launched the yaks around sunrise. Light gear and surface lures produced a few fish, but no where near as many as we had hoped initially, although Longfish got some whiting on the lures which is always good. As it didn't appear to be happening as hoped, we headed to slightly deeper water... We headed off in slightly different directions and pretty soon I noticed a large congregation of birds. Hmmm, better go check that out, thinks I... I get to where the birds are and it's absolute mayhem. Had a quick look and realised it was Kings and Mac tuna. Only had light gear, but thought what the hell... May as well give it a shot. I flick my 2 - 4 with a 1k reel and SP at the mess and hook on immediately. It wasn't even a fight... I got smoked by what must have been a king. OK, time to re-evaluate... Luckily I had a spare 2.5k with me so I threw that on the rod and kept an eye on things while doing so. It became apparent that the kings and mac tuna were effectively taking it in turns, with the Kings heading deep while not attacking. So I flicked at the tuna and hooked on a couple of times. Great fun on the light gear! Then I put on a heavier slug and sunk it to see if I could tempt the deep kings... Second cast and I'm on. Felt like a much bigger fish and was expecting to get hammered by the king again, but I managed to get it under control... Up it comes and there's a big flash of silver - not a king. I bring it up to the side and it's a jewfish! My first one! I've only been fishing about a year and have always wanted one, so that was a great surprise... Came in at 59. Not awful for a first timer on light gear! After that, I caught sight of Longfish (who I couldn't get earlier because he'd left his phone in the car...). He comes over and then we're both flicking at the baitfish. More mac tuna and a lovely Watson's leaping bonito for Longfish - another first! After that, I managed to grab to nice Bream from under the bait - both coming in just over 30. Then something we didn't recognise, and a rather large yakka... It calmed down, so I went for a wander, but it wasn't long before Longfish whistled me back over - The kings were back. He'd just hooked on and got absolutely smoked on the light gear, but it was fun! We started having a play to see how to get good rates on the SPs... We soon found a way that was working and started having a crack. Longfish pulled up a nice trev and then hooked on to something very big... He managed to steer it well and it looked like he'd won, but then it managed to find some unseen structure to snap the line. All in all we'd been smoked by 4 kings... Great fun, but to be expected on light gear! It started to quiet down and the wind had picked up, so we were just toying with the idea of heading back... On my last flick, I hooked on... It went like stink and we thought it might be our last chance at a king but, alas, it was just a really nice trev - 38cm. All in all we pulled out 10 different species and lost count of fish. Fantastic day on the water - my best one to date. Unfortunately only got pics of the bream and the jewfish because we were too busy fishing to worry about photos! Cheers!

Hey bud, We've tried specifically for Jewies at least 20 times and have only ever blanked. We've tried various good looking spots in the estuaries and the northern beaches, primarily Narrabeen. My fishing buddy has had them on SPs while fishing the kayak as by-catch, but I've never had any luck. Honestly, I genuinely don't know if I can be bothered to try for them again! Too much blanking dampens the spirit, I reckon... Wish you all the luck in your hunt!

Aaaah my bad guys! I'm very much a novice! Truth be told, I did question myself because it didn't look entirely like my original one from Pittwater but I put it down to it being a rat. That's what wishful thinking does to you! Still, he was a nice size and gave me a great fight, so i'll take it

Hi all, Had my girlfriends' cousin down from Birsbane for the weekend so we (myself, Longfish, and the missus who was armed with a large book to keep her occupied) decided to take him out on Sunday the 22nd in Pittwater. We hired a tinny, which was a first for us. A few weeks previous we had a fairly unproductive outing there on the kayaks, but it did produce my first king, so we were hopeful. Weather was rubbish, but the sea was calm when we set out around 10. We headed along the western end where I trolled in hope of a pelagic, but we stopped in the bays and shallow areas to see if we could land a flattie which were our primary target. No dice. We then headed to a little inlet and had a bit of joy. The cousin got a pinky snapper, I managed a small flattie, Longfish got a nice sea pike and a flounder (dropped before landing). It was slow going, though. We then headed round scotland island and drifted the flats, but again with no joy. On the way back, we stopped off in an Eastern bay to find a huge bed of sea grass and a lot of activity. Longfish managed a small sea pike, but by that time it was 4pm and time to head back. We have vowed to hit it with the kayaks to try it with surface lures. All in all, pretty disappointing day. Slow going and we were hoping for much better... This morning, the 26th, I found myself with time for a fish before work owing to meetings elsewhere, so I loaded the kayak last night. With the weather looking still, the tide dropping, and the swell heading from the SE (finally!) I thought I'd hit the waters around Chowder bay. I only had a couple of hours to fish, but I had a blast. The jetty in the bay was rammed, so I headed away from there as I know that gets hammered, anyway. Paddled round the head while flicking, but aside from some smallish fish jumping near me (assumed taylor or salmon) and a penguin, I couldn't really get the hang of it, so I headed round the corner. Once round the corner, I could see a lot of baitfish activity and having checked navionics the night before I knew where to fish. I only had an hour left before I had to be back in the car, but I made the most of it... I was flinging SPs and once I'd figured where the predators were I hooked on to something. Got a nice little fight out of a small mac tuna (pictured), which is a first for me. He was only about 25 - 30 cm, but he was great fun on the light gear. Of course, I threw straight back out and while I'm retreating my second cast I get a massive hit. I was using a 2-4k rod and a sienna 1k with 10Ib leader (the lighter of the two rods I had with me), so I eased off the drag slightly and settled in for a fight. I didn't know what I had until the 5 - 10 minute fight was over, and I'd landed my second king (edit - users have kindly informed me that my ID was very much wrong; it was a sambo. I'm an idiot!) . He really went for it, taking half my line and giving me a nice tow - such fun to play because I knew I had to take it easy. He measured at 53, which I was more than happy with given the circumstances. The poor thing was absolutely shattered and I was worried he might perish as he was floating and looking very sorry for himself when I put him back in. I held him the right way alongside the kayak for a bit until he built the strength to flick back to the depths. After that I had a few more flicks at the panicked baitfish, but only managed a reasonable sized flatty (about 45 by my eye) which shook before I could get him in the yak (as is often the case). Then I had to begrudgingly paddle back for a meeting So that's the way it goes... You can plan an all day trip and get bugger all, but head out on a whim and have a whale of a time.

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I'm going to try and get hold of the DPI and will post an update when I do... To answer a couple of questions: - I pretty much exclusively C+R, so it doesn't matter to me that it's filthy there - I'd be heading down early in the morning before work if I go, so people wouldn't be too much of a problem

Haha, I may well do that. If they nab me, I'll give them your details ;-)

But this is the thing... It says 'except for cockle bay', which is where I would look to fish anyway. From the Imax up to the bridge... And this is further confused by the department of primary industries harbour and northern beaches rec fishing guide, which says it's all fine as long as you don't use any net other than a landing net.

Hi guys, I wander through Darling Harbour near the Pyrmont bridge fairly regularly and see some monster bream. I want to have a crack at them early one morning. The thing is, I'm completely unclear as to the legality of doing so... The NSW rec fishing guide says it's OK, as long as you're not netting... http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/329319/Factsheet-737.pdf But then I also found this which said it's a no-go... http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/shfar2011502/s13.html#darling_harbour_area Mixed opinions on all the forums online, too... So what the hell? can anyone shed some light on this definitively? Or should I call the council or something... Cheers, Razzell

Hi Camel, Very much agree with the 2h after run out and on the West, but it has to be strong run out otherwise the eddys won't materialise. All of the results we've have there have been on these tides, although only in the day (never had much success at night). I pulled out a 60-odd CM flattie (pic attached) from there just before Christmas. There have been Sambo caught and many flatties dropped around this time, too. A lot of deep holes in the area. Also know what you mean about the tailor etc. busting up around there, we see them every time we fish at the 2hr after high tide.. They're hug the bridge though and are in the middle. Reachable by Longfish from land with his overhead reel, but we're fishing sink bait so never expect them. It's a funny spot, that's for sure! Cheers, Razzell

Hi all, quick one... Longfish and I headed to the spit bridge on Tuesday evening for LB just to try our luck. We've had some joy there previously, but it's a hit and miss spot. Got there about an hour before HT and threw out pillies and squid. We were secretly hoping for a jewie over the slack, but we never trust a hope for that. Very little action overall, even when the tide started to run out creating the eddys. Longfish pulled in 3 or 4 pinky snapper, but it was generally unproductive. Some very well fed pinky snapper in that area now, though, because they picked our bait to pieces. Cheers!

We'll I normally use zman grubs, gulp 3 inch minnows, and a few others, but we had some little paddle tailed things hanging around that I don't know what brand or anything they are... They're about 3 inches long, brown on top and silver on bottom. No shape to them, they're just cylindrical with a paddle tail. I've had some success with them on fatties before, so they're now a pretty firm favourite with me!

Hi all, Long time lurker, first time poster. I've been meaning to start writing up my trips for a while, but frankly I've been lazy. However, today I had a bit of success and want to have a bit of a brag, so I'll use this as a platform from which to start posting more often. Racked up some brownie points yesterday so was granted a pass to go fishing this morning. I made the decision to hit narabeen lagoon, which I haven't fished before. With my usual partner, Longfish, away for the weekend, it was a solo session. Got to the ramp about 6 and launched the kayak, just after low tide. Lovely morning, very little wind, and the sun had just started to come up. Not really knowing where to start, I had a flick around the weed beds nearby my launch ramp. Plenty of baitfish around, but no dice. I then headed round to the little island (don't know the name, sorry) and saw a lot of activity. Within 20 minutes I'd picked up a few bream around 20 cm and a teeny tiny flathead. Then people started throwing lines from the bank, so I buggered off. Spent the next hour or so trying for bream along the banks, but no joy. I consulted the fishraider guide for the lagoon and paddled over toward the caravan park, with a quick pitstop on the way and a flick which produced some chopper tailor. Found myself near the corner and had a guess that I was over a hole because of the way the water moves. Started flicking my plastic around and pretty soon the rod tip went over. I was fishing a 2-4k rod and a little 1000 with a 6 pound leader, so when it decided to run, I let it and kept the drag relatively loose. Towed me around for a bit, until it tired and then I started to bring it up. Near the yak, I see a long shape with stripes. Flatty, and a good one. But she then decided she was going for another run, so off we went for another couple of minutes. Finally I got her up by the side of the yak and was terrified of her shaking the jig head because it was only a little 1\32. In went the lip grips and she shook, but by that point it was over. She came in at 75, which is a pb for me by quite a way. A bloke came over on a paddle board to have a look and said I was shaking, haha. After that, flicked about in the same area but with no joy. Slowly fished my way back to the ramp with only one small tailor to speak of, but I didn't care because of the big girl from earlier. All in all, a good morning. Do really need to hit the lagoon early though, because it gets stupidly busy... Every swim was taken on the shore, yaks and boats everywhere... Surprised there are any fish left in there!