Mike89

Great catch there fellas, some real good fish there. What sort of gear are you using? Very curious as I've never caught drummer before and have been meaning to give it a go for a while.

Thanks guys for all the responses. I'll have to have a look into some of these rods when I get a minute (pretty busy as of late!). Also had a chat with Derek this morning who provided some good pointers. Got his two thumbs up on the Raiders. Cheers! I'll let you know when I have had a good look at these. Some good advice from @flatheadluke!

This is a good length for bait fishing when the cast doesn't matter so much. I find the shock leaders longer than a rod length really reduce casting length when pitching out lures. That said I used a x2 rod length of leader for all of my bait fishing.

I'm hoping to pick up a new outfit in the next few weeks. The setup will be for flicking lures, metals and plastics around wharves, beaches, and structure. I want the setup to be pretty mobile as I have a good metals rod for the rocks and surf beaches but at 10ft it is quite cumbersome to lug around and not as easy to move up and down. I also have a very light setup with a 1000 reel for flicking plastics but I would like something that will be better at handling the larger species such as salmon, jews and even kings. I'm looking for something that can flick around an ounce at a length of about 7-8ft. I'd like a fast tip with a bit of bend for knife-jigging as well. I want the rod to be light-ish around 4-6kg. The reel I'm likely to pair it with is a Daiwa Caldia in the 3000 size. I'm happy to fork out a bit of cash for this one as I want to get something pretty nice. That said, nothing ridiculous (over $350 for the rod starts to get ridiculous for me!). Any suggestions? I have had a look at Daiwa Generation Blacks but I'm not quite sure about this and want to look at a few more options before making a decision. I also don't really like the join at 1/3 of the length rather than halfway along.

They do go pretty hard! I would love to try to catch one on plastics or other baits. Watched a mate catch a couple on prawn once. Nice catch, good few blackies there and goes to show that persistence pays off.

Thanks for the tip mate, will have to give it a bash soon. Cheers!

Nice catch mate, excellent bag!

Awesome fish mate, interested how you work those lures. Great job and congrats on cracking the metre mark!

Great stuff there. A couple of beautiful fish. Well done, thanks for sharing!

Well done Wellzy, a solid effort and some nice sized darkies there. Good on you for giving the centrepin a go! Very impressed with Royce's salmon on the fly. Must have given a good pull.

Cheers mate, will give it a go.

Mate not bad for a quick morning session. I'm yet to get a trev on the plastics so hopefully soon! Nicely done!

That's an excellent fish and I must say a great photo. Glad you managed to bring one on board. Well done!

Cheers guys - yes I am pretty stoked with this one! Tried again last night at the same spot but no takers! Different conditions though: high tide, a stronger current and a bit of wind. Might wait until some calmer nights and if I have the time head out again for another mission. I had no idea that the Cooks was polluted and there are recommendations not to eat anything caught out of the river. I assumed that connecting to Botany Bay the water would be cleaner than the harbour and anything caught here would be fine to eat. Guess it goes to show you can never assume! Thanks @f1shen for the link. The chef cooked up a nice stew with the wings and tail boiled in for the flavour. Tasted great. I don't think I'll be sharing that link with the chef however! Hopefully no problems as it was caught very close to the entrance. Next time I will release the fish for sure. Cheers all!

Just a bit of background before I get into this report: having just started a new job in the last month my fishing time has been cut drastically short (can't complain after a good stint of fishing over the past year!) and I have only been able to get out once or twice a week for fleeting sessions bashing plastics and pinging lures. Bait fishing has been a weekend thing and most of my bait fishing has been directed toward bagging my first king of the season, which has thus far escaped me. That said I have had a couple of sessions throwing out jew baits. I have only ever caught one jew, about a year ago which clocked in at 62cm. I've had some late nights and many hours sitting by an idle rod hoping for some action since, but alas no jew as of yet. Managed a couple of squid last Sunday morning that I kept in the fridge intending to eat but ended up asking my mate if he wanted to use them to toss some jew baits out on Thursday night. Yep, he said, he was up for it - but only if we fished the slack tide and focused on this time only. 9:15pm: Finally rigged and ready. Sliced up some squid and tossed out the head. Had a nice bend in the rod and a good strike but no serious take. Head was still in tact. Threw it out again. 9:45pm: The tide was now on the turn. Water still as the night with no wind or current. No more good hits on either rods. Flicked some plastics hoping for a flatty but without much earnest effort. 10:30pm: Still no action. A couple of tentative nibbles. I had now switched to a strip of squid cut from the mantle. Decided if I wanted to get a decent night's sleep I'd have to pull stumps at 11. 10:45: An hour after the change of tide and the water still flat and unmoving. I was sitting on my camper chair flicking through the news when I noticed a little dip in my rod. Funny, I thought. Jews will sometimes pick up the bait, drop it and come back. At least that's what I've been told! I decided to keep watching just in case. Not two minutes later and my rod folded over in the holder; line started peeling out and I was roused from my inactivity by the sweet songs of my drag whirring off. I leapt from my chair and just about flew over, pulled out my rod and held my hand out ready to grab the spool for the strike. Waited, waited, waited and then wham! I hit it. My mate wasn't sure if the fish had pulled off so I yelled out to him that I still had it. As I clambered down the oyster-covered rocks I started thinking: was it a jew? What could it be? We were in at a depth of two or three metres at best. I suppose it could be a ray but once I had the fish under control after the first run I decided it wasn't that. It's not a king. It's not a large bream. It's gotta be a jew then, right? My mate, up on the bank helped me stay calm with his coaching. Take it easy, it'll come in. And it did. Not much of a fight, I must say, but adrenaline pumping hard. Confirming it was a jew, I lifted it up rolling it over onto the rocks. A jew, this time of legal size. Many happy snaps later, we got out the measuring tape. This fella clocked in at 77cm. Will be taking this one over to the girlfriend's place for dinner very shortly. Her mum is an amazing chef and will be able to do more with it than I ever could. Can't wait! With that we decided to call it a night. I will say that the excitement of the session made it difficult for me to get to sleep and I did have moments at work on Friday where I zoned out and drifted off with my thoughts of the night before.. Now the addiction begins!

Excellent fish your wife has managed there. Nice to see some decent kings are still around.

Beautiful fish mate, must have pulled pretty hard! Well done. Can't wait to get stuck into the blackies over winter.

I'd agree with the others who have suggested slide rigs. Try it and see how it goes in the area you fish. Also, you could attach the livie onto a large paternoster rig with the hook 2-3m off the dropper sinker.

I've been told that the seawall to the right of the baths by the disabled parking can produce fish at times. Tried the jetty once without much luck. It seems to get deep pretty quick there so it may have been the depth I was fishing. @macman Have you tried for blackies around there a lot? I've never actually tried the seawall but was going to give it a shot some time soon.

Mate that is a beautiful king you have managed. I still haven't got one since summer. Interesting about the finicky behaviour. Be happy with one! Second fish is a mac tuna or a leaping bonito? Can someone verify? Great stuff, awesome report!

Nice work mate, should make a good meal! Will check out the video when I get a chance!

Nice one Royce, glad to see someone is catching them!

Super stoked to hear that FR won't be closing down. As others have said, the wealth of information and the access to the FR community is worth much more than a few dollars. I'd be happy to pay a small membership fee to keep this place alive. Great news, good luck with it!

Nice session there. The drummer must have been a good bit of fun among the blackies. Good stuff, would love to go out again with you guys soon!

Well done on such a beautiful fish. Be glad that you managed to get it on board in the end! Must have been a hell of a fight. Excellent report, enjoyed reading every line. I know these moments where the adrenaline is running hard and I felt like I was with you every step of the way. Awesome!