Captain Spanner

Definitely worth going the Navionics Platinum. I have a mate who had a CMAP card come with his Simrad NSS12 and we ended up using my navioinics card every trip until he recently bought a Navionics Platinum Plus Card. Personally I wouldn't spend money on a card these days that didn't have the resolution of the sonar charts layer. Just don't forget to turn on "Fish 'n Chip" in your chart settings to show the Sonar Charts Layer. I only have a HDS 5 GEN 1 so I don't get to utilise 3D function on my boat but the sonar charts are great and i take my card with me fishing on friends boats.

Good work mate. If you run a tiny hook (between size 6 and 10) under a float and use the same method you will run a chance of catching some mullet too.

I don't think all trailers need an inspection. My last trailer didn't need an inspection but my new one has brakes and is noted as a braked trailer on the rego so it needs an inspection.

Hi mate, First of all, what is your main line. Because if it's only 10 or 12lb then going up in leader probably won't help. If it's 15-20lb or more then going to 20lb will help in some cases. It also depends what type of bottom you are fishing. I squid with 10lb braid and 10lb fluorocarbon leader and if I pull VERY smoothly, most of the time I get my jig back as the jig tears through the weed or kelp or the weed tears. If you pull too quickly or jerky then you have a higher risk of breaking the line. Some guys say if you sharply jerk and bounce the rod tip when you're snagged it slightly wears/tears a hole in the weed and the jig can fall out. I think sometimes it shakes free but I think it often makes things worse. If your jig or line is caught on a rock or if the prongs are caught in cunjevoi or some other similar thing that is seriously stuck to the bottom you will lose either way.

Thanks guys

Just to continue the side track, do you guys have recommendations on brands/models of pie oven. I've seen small ones in big Auto Shops for about $70 but was unsure how effective/reliable they would be.

There was a current line and a bit of a temp break similar to those temps along the top of the shelf from browns to the southern canyons. The current line had sauries and scattered birds. We caught a couple of stripies but no fin. We sounded fish that were down 300m in the afternoon at the southern canyons and cubed but couldn't catch them. There was no wind but we were moving at about 2 knots with the current.

We fished yesterday. There was about a 19.8- 21deg break (on our sounder) on the top of the shelf inside browns first thing in the morning. We found sauries and caught two striped tuna and continued to browns where the water was around 22.5. We caught our 4 Gemmies by about 10:30-11am and trolled to the southern canyons. The water was warm everywhere outside the shelf and gradually got down to about 20.8 on top of the shelf. There was no sharp temp break but there was a sharp current line with scattered bait along most of the top of the shelf between browns and the southern canyons. The water at the southern canyons in the afternoon was about 21.2. We sounded fish at about 300m and cubed for 2.5 hours (until 3:30pm) for nothing and had to come home. It was nice being able to come home at 25kts.

Nice one guys, good luck tomorrow. We'll probably head to that area early and then head to Browns for a drop later in the morning/lunch if it's dead to try to get a feed. That order might change but the general area will be similar. We'll be on "Spanner" probably on channel 21.

Thanks for the report mate. I heard it was pretty quiet all along the coast today. hopefully some news will come out of tomorrow. It sounds like that recent sst scan was pretty good.

What are people's opinions on the difference in the SST charts (Ripcharts) from the multi-res scans to today's first clear scan in ages. They show significantly different scenarios off sydney. Do you think there could be temperature interference in the results of the scan even though the image looks clear in that area? It looks like there is a nice break running northwest to southeast and kinking around browns on the most recent scan but the computer modelling looks like the is much more even temperature across that area with maybe a few more minor currents running north south over browns. There looks to be a tight looking cold water eddy off JB but looking at the altimetry it is on the side of that big depression, whereas it appears the fish have been caught on the edge of the upwellings. I don't know which ones to believe at the moment. I'm hoping we get another good scan between now and sunday to allow some more accurate modelling. We're heading out of Sydney on Sunday

Our Sunday trip was cancelled but the guys that went saturday got a couple of yellowfin wide off Kiama and some other guys on sunday heard mixed reports of mid sized blues and yellows around browns. Hopefully next week.

Thanks guys. Good luck out there. Hopefully someone finds them tomorrow.

I'm hoping to head out of Botany for tuna on sunday, the others are planning both days. Does anyone have an opinion on the temp break south of the southern canyons on the inside of the big depression vs the warmer water on the inside of the upwelling northeast of browns. It appears that the fish earlier in the week down around Batemans and Bermi might have been squashed between the upwelling and the coast and that eddy may be being pushed back down the coast. I'm not sure if there is a chance a few fish snuck through the gap as the currents were turning back before the weather, or if there were also fish out wider in the cold water that came around the outside of the depression and up into the top of the cold eddy south of the southern canyons. The wind and swell conditions down the coast look better for the weekend than Sydney if a weekend trip were an option but not for us.

The less air contact the better applies to pretty much everything. But I wouldn't bother vac sealing for overnight (due to the plastic being expensive and other reasons mentioned above). I'd go snap lock bag with the air squeezed out and packed in a well sealed esky surrounded by frozen bottles. Or the coldest (not freezing) part of the fridge if you don't have the frozen bottle /esky option. If you put the bagged squid in an esky with any normal ice hat can melt make sure you leave the Bung out and the esky tilted that way so any melt can drain out so there is no water near your squid.

You can get good quality ziplock bags in bulk at the supermarket. some are a tougher plastic with a double seal. I just use the large ones and only have one squid per bag to make bait selection more versatile and economical so you don't need to take and thaw more squid than you need. I keep my squid in the live tank while I'm Squidding in the boat or land based I pop them all in one zip lock, quick squeez out of the air and into an esky between freezer bricks. When it's home time I put one squid in a bag, seal the bag 90% of the way and push the bag under the water except the last little bit. The water pressure pushes most of the air out of the bag with a little bit of wiggling. I then quickly push the rest of the bag under and snap it shut. If you want to fish it the next day or night it will keep colder in a sealed esky packed in freezer blocks. This will be close to freezing but not freeze the squid and is colder than the fridge. If you aren't using it the next day then straight into the freezer as soon as possible. I do own a vac sealer and have used it but the plastic is expensive and the unless you get a commercial one you can almost get more air out with a zip lock bag. Plus when you take the squid fishing you need a ziplock bag to put the vac seal packet in once you cut it open to use the squid. Especially if you are not using the squid as a whole bait in one go.

It would probably be good for light lure fishing for bream etc as I think it's pretty waxy and buoyant and slows sinking of light lures and stays visible on the surface for bite detection. I stopped using it for Squidding as I think it effected the sink rate of the jigs. I had a couple of days where two identical jigs fished the same technique next to each other were running 4-6 to 1 and couldn't figure it out. Even the same rods. I switched both outfits to sunline momentum braid, both 10lb but different colours to help with tangles I think that works better.

This is not a fishing report so feel free to move it Mods, but I know more people check the reports section than any other section. Anyone planning on fishing botany or the Georges tomorrow morning before the wind hits or planning on coming into or through the river just before or when it does please beware of the conditions below. The water on the stretch from Botany Bay to captain cook bridge that runs between towra and dolls point is very shallow and the water moves quickly. This is not necessarily a problem for hitting the bottom because it isn't that shallow, but what happens in situations like will be occurring tomorrow morning is a perfect storm. The 7:20am high tide means that the run out tide will be at full pace when the gale force northerly hits mid morning. When the strong wind and chop are travelling in the opposite direction to the tide (same happens in strong southerly and run in tide) the chop will stand up very steep, tall and close together with a lot of water moving. It is very dangerous no matter which direction you are going. I have seen it absolutely brutal in both directions through that stretch and it is really bad, even in what seems like a big boat for a river 15-18ft half cabs. Open tinnieis and bream boys can be worse. So please don't get caught out in that stretch of water at that time or in those conditions. Be careful out there guys.

This will be a massively annoying answer, but each river and wall will be different for all of your questions and people will have theories and favourites. But the end of the run around turn of the tide is usually easier as a lot of water moves through the heads f most rivers with breakwalls. The safety and conditions will depend on the way the breakwalls face and the prevailing wind and swell. Big walls with big rocks are harder to fish.

A lot of the snags will be other people's previously snagged and busted off lines. I think it happens when the boat is drifting at a slightly different angle/direction to the direction of current on the bottom so the rig gets dragged across the lines that would be like grass in some places down there.

Looks good. If the lure looks like it's almost ready to cast. As long as it swims straight. The eye might need tuning one way or the other if it is flipping out. As for cleaning it, just try toothpaste with a towel first. You should still get some of the original flash out easy.

The eye of the hook is only sharp on one side and the problem of cutting off you are talking about can be fixed by doing your wraps in the other direction so they pull and stay away from the sharp edge. Just make sure you pay attention to which side the eye join is and which way you do your snell wraps.

That's fantastic. Great work on hatching and executing your plan successfully mate. You should be very proud. We're stoked for you.

Hi mate, not what you want to hear but I would probably save the money you would spend on the new 27meg antenna and put it towards a vhf setup. Marine rescue don't constantly monitor 27meg anymore as far as I'm aware and it does not have the range of the vhf, also a lot more boats on the water will be using and monitoring vhf if you want to listen to or communicate with boats nearby for whatever reason. I spoke to the water police about it a few years ago and they told me while my 27meg ticked the safety require the box legally it probably was not up to task for me fishing 12 mile reef off Sydney. We found we struggled getting hold of marine rescue on it a few times out wide or tucked in at boat harbour or watomalla due to the cliffs (can happen with vhf too).

Size doesn't matter. Most important thing to keep it firm is keep it really cold all the way until eating. I spike, bleed and straight into the esky buried in freezer bricks. I don't use a slurry. I will be starting to gut and gill pretty soon after it has finished the bleeding and back into the esky to see if that makes it any better.