Mike89

Nice catch! Great to see you really getting into your fishing. Where do you find long tom? Anywhere around the harbour I could target them?

Most of them just unhooked themselves when they jumped out of the water. None busted me off - just don't think the trebles held very well with them. @flatheadluke - Yep, it has begun.

Cheers. Had another go this afternoon and hooked up to not one not two but SEVEN salmon off the rocks and didn't land a single one. A mate suggested switching the trebles for singles for salmon. Was real close to landing the first one. Getting there though!

Good stuff Sam nice to see you are getting some good fish there! Maybe up the leader if you are getting busted by the big breambos on the rocks.

Headed out this afternoon to ping some metals off Little Manly. I've been trying from a few spots to bag a salmon on a metal as I have yet to catch any fish on a metal lure. Persistence paid off on my second cast today as I picked up this nice bonnie. As we had the barbie already cooking with some snags this fella went straight onto the hot plate for a nice addition to our lunch. Now for the salmon!

Always best to play it safe! Well done on the bonnies, nice to pick something up for your efforts!

Well done mate, that sure is a cracker fish. Hope you get out there and pull in another one real soon!

Nice report. Don't think I'd be too keen to get in the water with big fish let alone sharks swimming amongst me. Brave girl!

Not sure myself about the area but if you are planning on taking fish for the table Ryde probably isn't a great area to be fishing as it is in pretty close proximity to the still-polluted waters of Meadowbank and Homebush Bay. If you are planning on catch and release my advice would be to get out and give it a go! Only way you will find out for sure.

Wow. That is a great story to tell. Yep I've seen it in a few Youtube clips but never had anything 'upgraded' right in front of my eyes. All I get is the pesky cormorants hassling my livies. Well done on the kings, shame you couldn't bring home more of them!

Cheers Ryder. I thought I'd read something about dropping barometric pressure and gun fishing days. Just had a read through. Something I'll definitely remember for next time! As far as I'm aware you'll get kings all year round in the harbour, just with thicker action and more of the younger rats in over summer. Pike was left for bait. Ate one when I was a kid though. Very bony!

Interesting that the fish thrive in such cold environments. Have you ever caught a big pike either ice fishing or in the summer? They look like a good fighting fish. Your English is fine! Would love to see the video when you are finished with it.

With the end of summer closing on in, I've resolved to focus my efforts on getting at least one king for the summer in the bag. Too many distractions! Learning plastics and metals and the ever-present allure of the blackies over the last couple of months have meant less time on my tried and tested method of tossing out live baits. Back to basics then! Hit the wharf at lunchtime yesterday on the rising tide. Figured I'd see about the yakkas and if they were on and the water looked good I'd toss them out there. My mate arrived and started spinning metals and before I'd thrown out my first jellybaby yakka he had nabbed himself a nice little bonnie. I rigged up my 12kg rod and pitched out my livie. Before I had even set the rod down I felt an almighty thud followed by a quick run. That was quick! Unfortunately, so was I - in my excitement I hit the strike much much too soon and pulled the hook. It has been so long since I've had any decent takes on big baits that I'd actually forgotten that I am supposed to wait a little time before hitting it! The action was pretty hard and fast and a steady soup of yakkas just below the wharf meant that I was able to keep fishing livies. Not long after the first I had another big run - this time I waited for what felt like an eternity but once again hit it far too soon. A third run a little later teased me as the fish dropped the bait after what seemed like a promising hit. A fourth big hit and I was finally onto something. The sluggish nature of the resistance I was feeling led me to call it for a flathead. Up she came and into the net; not a baby but not a monster at 53cm. The lightning and thunderclouds loomed over the horizon signaling our need to pack up reasonably soon. Still, I had a couple of livies left and continued to send them out. The efforts finally paid off on the last bait of the day as my rod buckled over and line began to spew out of my reel. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiinnnnnng! Ah yes, I do remember that sound! This time I actually waited. And waited. And finally grabbed my spool and yanked my rod up sharply. Twice to be safe. I was on this time! Wishful thinking had me calling it for one of the rat kings we had seen chasing down my baits and my mate's lures, but some aerial acrobatics around the moorings revealed that it was a simple salmon on the end of my line. Apparently this just wasn't the day for my trophy summer king. Still, a good fight and nice to finally get into the pelagics this season. By the time I had cleaned my fish and packed up the gear the rain had come down hard and I was soaking wet. Soaking wet but with a nice bag of fish for the table and some good baits for the next session. Great day out with a mate and a productive session with non-stop excitement!

Great work there mate, that big one must have pulled some drag. Well done. Table or bait?

Rose Bay Wharf is a nice place that keeps pretty dry when the rain comes in. Try there!

I was down there a couple of years back and decided to pack a fishing rod and do a bit of exploring. I found a couple of good places around West Lakes, Patawolonga Creek and the marinas. The raised piers that face south along the beaches (start at Glenelg and follow the shoreline) are also popular fishing spots. Good for pike, KGW and squid. The squid were real monsters there and in good numbers. The only thing here is that the piers are so high up that a crab pot on a rope is required to land anything half decent. I'm sure though that someone will be able to assist you if you hook a stonker whiting off the pier! Another spot that I heard about but didn't get time for was the St. Kilda area and breakwall to the north of the city. As far as I know no license is required to fish in SA. They have some different size and bag limits so check out the Fishing SA app on your phone.

I started using the paternoster at Walsh Bay just to get the bloody jigs down all the way to the bottom. First time I fished there another bloke told me that was the best way to fish it. He didn't work the jig at all, just made sure that the distance between the dropper sinker and the loop was sufficient enough that the jig would sit off the bottom. He just let the current do the work. Small jigs in the 2.0 size or smaller seem to be the go here. The basic rig is a swivel down to a surgeon's loop on a trace of about 1 to 1.5 metres. Put the dropper loop just 20cm or so below the swivel, and attach a swivel clip to the dropper loop so you are able to change the jig easily. I cast it out pretty far, wait for it to hit the bottom and work it just as I would a regular squidding rig (no swivel, just a clip to a jig). It hits the bottom faster, but the current gives it a bit more action. When the jig is right in front a simple lift and drop can be enough to get some attention. Interested in any suggestions for improvements on this or other techniques! Most people squidding this spot use a paternoster, so I'm simply copying what I've seen others do. @flatheadluke - cheers mate! I do hope so!

Had an hour to kill early this morning and decided that a quick squid bash at the piers seemed much better than early morning TV. Hadn't been for a serious squid in a while and with some recent Facebook reports of squid firing at Walsh Bay, I felt I was in with half a chance. Stuck a small pink Yamashita on a paternoster and worked a couple of spots until I hit a nice patch of lollipop-sized squidlets. They were very aggressive, with one or two chasing the jig all the way up behind the hooked squid each time I was on. Ran up the pier to tell a bloke I'd chatted to before getting started that I'd found a good plot, but with the same setup and a different jig he was unable to get any hookups. They must have loved pink this morning. Managed a nice fat one to make it five before heading off. Later this afternoon headed to one of my blackie spots where I'd seen a couple of guys pull in a good-sized king a few weeks earlier. Had some good runs on the squid but unfortunately no kings were to be had. Did land a decent bream (released) and a nice tailor (recycled) which was good fun. Think I had a pretty solid croc on the end of my line at one point but it spat the bait as I was winding her up. Fished until I ran out of squid. Looks like I'll have to get back to the piers tomorrow morning and restock!

That snow is definitely a world away from our 40+ degrees Sydney summer! Great report. It's always nice to read reports from abroad and see the different styles of fishing in other countries and areas. I'm interested to know what kind of fish you can catch in the ice there? Is there pike?

Awesome report! You had me there right with you. Funny how we buy all the right (and expensive) gear for our targets and more often than not it's on the other setup that the magic finally happens. 80cm is a great size for a first legal king. I'm still chasing one this summer. Who's the chef? The sashimi looks amazing. Enjoy! Excellent job! Edit: And, happy birthday by the way!

Chin up mate, sometimes it just doesn't work out the way you would have liked. As another said, if you can hook one you can hook another. Keep at it! Can't wait to see your beach jew report when you land that big one.

I'd agree with this. Some of my blackie spots I have only come to know after seeing others catching bucketfulls of blackies there. I still kind of feel like I 'found' the spot myself. Well done on getting out there with your dad and having him on to some good fish. Nice report!

Good stuff mate, great to see a full bag of blackies. The bug has got me again and I need to get out there and fish for them. The cabbage weed does turn pretty pungent pretty quickly if not stored properly. I guess perhaps it helps up to a point! Well done!

I'm not one with any experience hauling in big jewies from breakwalls but.. I might just suggest that it's all part and parcel of the fishing game. There are always heartbreaking moments. I would have cried too. Good luck next time!

Yep, certainly a master of plastics and a fantastic teacher. Headed out again this afternoon. Managed a few nice chases by some nice sizey kings. Hooked a flatty but dropped it pretty soon after the hookup. Getting better!