kiwicraig

Nice work @antonywardle and @zmk1962 I'm with you Ant - I don't fancy anchoring in 50m of water without an electric anchor!! Not unless I have a deckee with me to haul it up! ? Hope you enjoyed your feed. Always nice to get some flatties on the plate and they were on Saturday!

Good effort. Always nice to get a result again after a bad session.

After several not very successful attempts to find snapper and a trip with the boy last weekend I wanted to make sure I put some fish on the table today. I was up early and out the door before the sun was up. My plan was a couple of quick drifts on West Reef then head out a bit wider and drift for some flatties. When I got to West Reef I put out a squid jig and paternoster out the back and then cast ahead of the drift with a soft plastic. I could see plenty of fish on the sounder, but I did not get any hits on the plastic. No sign of quid either. Then I had a big hit from gent in a grey suit that snipped of the bottom half of my rig. I did one more drift on the reef and managed to pull in a double hookup with a red rock cod and a Sgt Baker. I kept the latter for bait and header out to about 45m to drift for flathead. After a slow start I decided to make myself a coffee. Trying to make a coffee turns out to be a great way to bring on the bite. As soon as I was trying to pour hot water the rods started getting hit. I pulled in a few little flatties in the 25-27cm range. I was pulling in what felt like a slightly better fish when the other rod buckled in a big way. It was in a vertical rod holder and the tip was nearly touching the water. Anyone who says that guys can't multitask has clearly not seen me fishing. I paused winding in long enough to reach over and lift the other rod to set the hook. I wound it up a bit to get it off the bottom. Then I turned and hit the mark button on the sounder and raced to skull drag the first fish the rest of the way up. I got him in the boat and it would have been about 30cm but still under so I left it on the hook and started working the other fish up. I could tell this was a decent fish and when I saw it this was confirmed. It was a really solid flattie that measured 55cm - nice and fat too. From then it was on. I put both rods back down and they were both hit one after the other and delivered good flatties between 45-50cm. I could barely keep a bait down. I got lots of little ones and a few just legal that I let go and ended up with 6 really nice fish from a bit over 40cm through to the 55 that came up first. I'm sure I could have bagged out if I had continued that drift but I needed to head back. I filleted the catch and gave a friend who has just had a baby fillets form a couple of fish. I had already filleted the first two when I realised I had not taken a photo of the catch. I could not help hearing @antonywardle saying to me if there's no photo it didn't happen. So I grabbed a fairly grisly shot of what was left. I've been instructed to make fish tacos tomorrow, so I put some fillets away for that as well. I then had a late lunch and tried Flathead wings - damn they are good! I'll add that to the list of great things I have learned from the fine people on Fishraider. All up an awesome morning. Came away with a good haul and shared with a friend. Got to try something new in the wings and I still have a great dinner to look forward to tomorrow.

? I asked my son what he learned today. He said how to hold fish for photos. Ah well - that is a pretty important angler skill.

I really needed to get out for a fish this weekend. My son has been saying he'd like to come so I asked if he wanted to come and he said yes. We set off at a kid friendly 8am. Beautiful morning in Brisbane Water. We cruised out past Box Head and made for West Reef. I was thinking we'd drift over the reef a few times. I've been getting heaps of bycatch here and he is happy catching anything. I pulled up a bit short to judge the drift and we dropped a couple of lines over. Within minutes we were both on to little fish and pulled in a pair of little flatties that we released. By now I had the direction of the drift sorted so we moved the boat, revisited and drifted across the front of the reef. We pulled in several red rock cod on the first drift, getting bites as soon a as we got into the bottom 1/3 of the water. There was a bit of swell - about 1-1.5m. My son said he was starting to feel a bit sick. I decided we would move out a little wider to get off the reef and try for flatties. Figured in the deeper water out a bit the waves would not be quite so pronounced. I moved to a mark I have in about 33m of water where I have caught flatties before. I didn't want to take him further out in case he got properly sea sick. I put the first rod down and it buckled straight away. Technically it was Ollie's rod, but as he was lying face down in the cabin I brought it in. He perked up a bit when we landed a nice fat 38cm flounder! Great fish! But he still wanted to go in. I said let's give it 10. I rebaited his rod and sent it back down, but didn't bother with the other one as he was looking a little pale. Again the rod was hit straight away, but this time they took the bait and left. I really wanted to stay, it just felt like it was on. But I didn't want to turn a good experience for the boy into a bad one so we headed in. Got home to hear the the words a fisherman hates hearing... You're home early. All up the boy had a good time and the wife and I got to share the flounder for lunch. Did it whole on the BBQ and served with a burnt butter and sage sauce. Delicious.

Great thanks. I'll have a read.

I have 2 batteries in my boat, both housed in battery boxes that are strapped in place under the rear seats - one port and one starboard. The problem I have is starboard one sits a little further towards the centre because of the throttle and steering cable running down the starboard side of the boat. This causes the battery box to slightly overhang the recessed section of floor. When the boat is rocking side to side that battery box has a habit of sliding out from under the strap and sliding around on the end of its cables. If I had an alloy boat then the battery box would be a no brainer due to the risk of the corrosion a stray current can cause. But I am wondering if on my FG boat they are more trouble than they are worth? Would I be better off fitting one of the trays with the metal shackle that secures it like in a car? In its location I would be reasonably protected from the elements but I would assume that some spray may get through. I am just not sure how much of an issue that would be. Thoughts?

There are three different limits that could be applied. Here are the official definitions. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/fishing-rules-and-regs/rule-definitions It boils down to: Bag limit = the most one person can take in 24hrs Possession limit = the total amount 1 person can have at any one time, either with them or stored elsewhere (e.g. at home in the freezer) Boat limit = the total number a single boat can take in a single 24 hr period. So in your example if there were three people on board they could each take 10. If there was a boat limit of 20 rather than a possession limit then the boat could only take 20. Clear as the currently muddy waters of the Hawkesbury, right?

Sorry for the delayed response. Have not checked on for a few days. My rig is as simple as it gets. Cheap handle spooled with mono. I slide on a sinker to suit the current. You can go a bit heavy, you want to keep the bait on the bottom. Then tie in a gang of three hooks. I usually use about 3/0. Bait with something tough. I usually use about 1/3 of a recent flathead frame. I fish for crabs at anchor. Put the handle over a rod holder and put the handle of the net through it. When a crab picks up the bait and started walking away the handling will start spinning. Then just wind it in slowly. Net it from behind while it is in the water. If you lift it out it will almost certainly let go. Happy crabbing. Careful - it's addictive.

Totally and happy to do it. I was more saying that after I helped him the decent thing for him to do would be to get out of the way

After a frustrating weekend weather-wise and another forecast for this weekend I decided to get out for an early session before work yesterday. I prepped the boat the night before ready for a quick get away. I was up at 4:30, threw down an espresso and out the door as quick as I could manage. At the boat ramp I encountered my first challenge of the day. When I pulled up to the side to prop the boat for launch there was another guy there who looked to be coming in - in that he had an empty trailer pointed in the general direction of the ramp and was trying to line it up and back in. When he was still trying when I finished I wandered over to wave him in. The tide was dead low so he has to back a fair way down. By the time I got there he had finally managed to line it up and was backing it down the ramp but too quick. I shouted "stop there" and he hit the brakes. He did to a stop with his wheels just inches from the right angle edge of the ramp. If he had gone over I reckon his 2wd van might have struggled to get it out again. I don't think he realised how narrowly he dodged a bullet. I gave him a hand to get the boat on trailer. First boat, had not had it long. No problem with that - it was me not so long ago. But then he stood next to his boat still on the single lane ramp and launched into a big (and fairly one sided) convo about why he only just got the boat, what he likes to fish for, different kinds of hosts he considered etc. Dude just get out of the way! I don't mind helping out, but what should have delayed me 5 or 10 mins cost me 25 and that is a big chunk out of a session before work. Eventually I got it to West Reef and started drifting across one end of it. I put a couple of paternoster rigs out the back and tried casting out soft plastics. The drift was too quick and my jig heads too light. Even with the drouge out I could not keep in touch with the plastic. When the bait rods started going off I decided to put the softies aside and focus on them. I was running a combination of tailor cut baits and pillies. One of the rods had a basic 2 hook rig I tired and the other had a black magic Snapper Snacher which is basically the same thing with some bling added. I landed and released several rock cod and when I pulled up a Sergeant Baker I added him into the bait mix, including putting a fairly big chunk of his tail on the bottom hook of the snatcher. At some point I hooked something that reefed me and I lost the bottom hook and sinker from my plain rig. In the interest of time I just tied a loop, added a sinker and made it a single hook rig. Then my rid with the snapper Snacher snagged up and was pulling line it with the drift. I was at the end of the drift so I decided to open the bail arm and do a wide circle around to see if I could recover the rig by pulling from the other side. This worked and when I started pulling it in the was weight on it, then it started pulling back. After a short fight and a couple of good runs I pulled in a Port Jackson shark a bit over a metre that had taken the SB tail. There was also a small red rock cod on the other hook - bet he had a wild ride! I sent the cod back and started trying to unhook the shark. Somehow he had managed to hook himself and then bite the hook closed. While I was inspecting that my single buckled over and I stopped to pull in a nice little Trev that went 33cm and became lunch. Getting back to the shark I decided I would do less harm cutting the line and sent it back with a stylish new fashion accessory. No pics from the boat as my phone had fallen out of my pocket in the car. Didn't catch any snapper, but given I was only in the reef for about an hour and a half, there was a fair bit going on and it was good fun. Lunch was fresh as Trev sashimi and it was awesome.

I have had some success with yakkas in Cowan Creek. Pull into the eddy in the current on one of the points where the bank drops down quickly. Almost any point will work, but which side depends on which way the tide is running. If in doubt use the sounder to find the bait. Shark Rock by the entrance to Jerusalem Bay usually produces as well.

I am no expert but I am wanting to crack both jewies and the Hawkesbury in general. If you want some company while you learn let me know. I am based near Woy Woy, but can travel. Happy to put the hours in at night. I have a boat too so we can mix it up to share the cost. I'm under the impression that Kings like slightly cleaner, saltier water. And structure. I think if you wanted Kings you would do well to put some time in to finding and marking structure in pittwater. I have come across then in there, but not further in. Craig

Winding new line on to your reel is easy but getting the old stuff off can be a pain. My little hack is to use a big gal flat head nail and a power drill. The flat head stops it running off the end - can strip a reel in minutes.

I went out very early this morning before work for a short session targeting snapper on West Reef. I was up at 4am, on the water by 4:45 and on the reef not long after 5. This time I decided to drift the shore side of the reef rather than anchoring up. That said the wind and current were pretty minimal so I did not travel very far. I started out with two heaver rigs in rod holders one baited paternoster (tailor on one hook, whole pillie on the other) and one with an Oci jig. I cast ahead of the very slow drift with a large white paddle tail soft plastic. In the second retrieve something hit the plastic – but I wound it in to find a significantly shorter plastic – so I am guessing the tailor are around again. I am replacing the tail and the bait rod goes off. I can tell by the lack of fight it is not the target species – up comes a red rock cod. The first of many. For a while I can barely get a bait rod down without hooking one of these things. While I am sorting out the 4th or 5th Reddie the Oci jig rod buckles. My hopes are quickly dashed when I realise I am snagged on the bottom. After a valiant attempt to free it the leader gives and I wind in and drop down a second paternoster I had rigged up instead. I decide to re-position a little off the reef and drift back to where I marked some bait. Casting ahead I let the plastic sink down and on the retrieve I feel a bit of weight but not much. There did not seem to be any fight in it so I assumed that the tail had fouled the hook point and it was coming up sideways. But no – up came a red rock cod roughly the same size as the soft plastic. LOL! I re-positioned a few times – but that was the way of it until just before the end of my session. I landed about a dozen red rock cod, 2 big yakkas and a small sergeant baker. I converted one of the yakkas to cut baits and released everything else. By now it was just after 7 and time to head in and get back for work. I cast out the soft plastic and let it waft down with the bail arm closed, figuring I could stow the bait rods, work the plastic back and then head in. I was just starting to wind in the first bait rod when it came up tight. I struck and it held. This was in a totally different league to everything else I had hooked today but this was the heavier outfit on the boat and I was working it up to the surface and fairly confident I’d get it to the boat. Then suddenly – all the weight is gone. I wind in and I am left with the swivel, half my top dropper loop and a little of tag the main line below the dropper knot. The rest of the dropper and the mainline are neatly snipped so I am guessing I had a fish on and it got sharked. I look over my shoulder to where the soft plastic rod is and that rod is buckled over. I grab it out of the holder. There is a lot of pressure on it and my first thought is that it has snagged the bottom as well. I give it a pull and it takes off on a screaming run with distinct beats. Interesting. The bottom does not usually do that. This is only a 2-4kg graphite rod and I am feeling decidedly out gunned. I am also conscious that I need to get this up and get home to start work. I put on as much pressure as I dare and I gain little bits of line, but every time get a bit back it takes off again and on the whole I am losing more line than I am gaining. I’ve been fighting this for 10 mins already. I need to head in. I tighten the drag ever so slightly and put more pressure on it – and ping – it is gone. Visions of one of Scratchie’s monster snappers swimming off with my hooks trailing behind. Crushed. Nothing else for it – time to head in. With iron will power I wind in the other bait rod. There is a bit of weight but no fight. I am expecting another red rock cod. But I am wrong. What I get instead is a decent consolation prize – a good size squid had managed to hook itself. Slightly mollified (but still mostly gutted about 2 good fish lost in 15 mins) I headed home. Cut baits – both tailor and yakka – performed well. Pillies were barely touched. I had a productive work day at home – with a break in the middle for some fresh salt and pepper calamari. Not a bad day really – but I can’t help thinking about what might have been or when I will get out there again.

So I went out for a pre-work fish this morning - report later. I rigged up my biggest, whitest soft plastic. You called it @Scratchie - I caught very little crappy bycatch! Gotta love his attitude thought - he's only just longer than the lure!?

I usually just fillet mine - can you take the wings off then still get a decent fillet?

Not as strong as what comes out of my home espresso machine but certainly good enough for it and about. Smooth and balanced with just a hint of pilchard... I have a fairly healthy respect for these. I got spiked once through a soft sided Esky bag and it certainly hurt a lot. Could of been worse though - I was fishing from a yak that day and put it between my legs to land it! That said they are much better eating than most people give them credit for. I've got a recipe for cooking then whole and they come out looking like a sea monster!

It was nice but a fairly strong flavour, next time I'd bleed it if I was planning to smoke it.

Had a really good experience at the local blue store that sells fishing gear (and two other categories I can never remember ?). You take the rod in and buy a new tip guide and they will remove the old one and fit the new one free while you wait. I had two decent blanks with broken tips and they repaired both in about 10-15 mins and it only cost me about $10. I reckon it was so cost effective I can justify that dedicated squid Egi rod combo I have my eye on...

Thanks scratchie - will give it a go. Cast ahead of the drift, right?

I got out yesterday morning for an early session. My plan was an early start to be on West Reef by the time the sun was coming up. I wanted to get a fish in before the forecast gale came up late morning. I did all the prep Friday night so when the alarm went off at 4am it was a coffee and a quick bite then hook the boat up and go. I was on the water before 5 am. Given that I was starting so early I wanted to chase snapper - which is something I have not actually done much of. I had done some recon on Navionics and marked a few underwater dropoffs around the headlands between Box Head and West Reef. I sounded each on the way to West Reef but only saw scattered bait, no bigger arches. After the 4th ledge i headed to wards the Landward side of West Reef. In the hole between I marked some bigger fish so I dropped the anchor and drifted back over it and started a burley trail. Not long after I hooked up right on the bottom. I turned out to be a blue spot flathead that went 35cm. I figured that meant that I was on more of a sandy bottom and had not seen the bigger arches come back so I decided to push forward to the reef and restart the trail. I could see lots of bait on the sounder and hoped there might be some snappers below it. What I found instead was tailor. I quickly landed a 33cm tailor and a yakka. Shortly after I hooked something with more weight but hardly any fight. I was not surprised to bring up a red rock cod. I didn't feel like risking the spines so I used the pliers to shake it off the hook without lifting it from the water. I rebaited and decided it was time to try out my Father's day present - a camping espresso maker. You fill it from a thermos and then pump it to build the pressure. Not the easiest thing to anchored over a reef with a side on swell, but the result was worth it. I had figured that the red rock cod was a sign I was too far up on the reef so I was planning to finish my coffee and move off a little. Just as I was enjoying my coffee the rod in the holder got hit. It had more fight than the cod so I thought probably another tailor. But I was wrong. It was the target species, just not the target size - it only went 27cm so was released. Given that catch I decided to stick it out. Over the next hour I pulled in another 3 tailor and 3 more red rock cods, but no more snapper. I decided to call it and head in, with a few drifts inside (and one more coffee) along the way. Once home I smoked one of the tailor and filleted and vac-packed the rest and a yakka as future flesh baits. I don't have any photos of the fish because I had to go out in the arvo - but here is one of Cafe Envy.

It's my fault. I got my boat fit for service again which has caused the weather to go to hell in a handbasket...

It is definately a test of will power, but I make a point of sacrificing sleep time, not work time. I set an alarm for when I need to head back and when that goes off I wind in and go home no matter what. The flexibility to work from home sometimes is a privilege I very much enjoy. I'm not going to risk it by abusing it.

I was working from home today so decided to sacrifice a bit of sleep and get out early today. Got up at 4:30 and was out past Box Head before the sun was up. The swell and chop were a bit all over the place but the wind was very light. I decided to stick with the pan and drift for some blue spot flathead. I headed out to about the 45m mark and quickly landed a couple of small flatties. No need to measure, they went back. With the primary and secondary swell going in different directions it was a bit of a washing machine and I was struggling to keep the baits down in the zone. I decided to head back in a bit closer and do another drift. That was a good call as I soon hooked into a much better flattie. No need to measure this one either, is coming home for tea. I picked up several more spikies - no need to measure any of them, they all went back too - before I ran out of time and had to head in and do some work. There are worse ways to start the day. The flathead I kept went 53cm and was delicious.