jgrant666

Bugger! I'll be in Thailand and was really looking forward to it... Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

You thinking morning or afternoon as I live round there? I'm trying to learn them as well though so may not be much of a teacher, but a bit of company is always good!

So I bought myself some 2.5" grubz in watermelon red, some 1/4oz jig heads with 1/0 hooks, and a pack of these pre-rigged red and white minnow type plastics about 3" in size and headed down to Patonga yesterday. Highway was pretty foggy so it took me longer than I expected to get up there, but I still managed to arrive and have a rod in the water by 7:30am, about an hour before the top of the tide. Started off just up from the little boat rmp near the camping ground and slowly worked my way upriver from there. second spot I stoped at I managed to hook what felt like a pan sized flatty, but I mist have tied a crappy not as it busted me off after a couple of runs (was using 12lb braid and a 20lb flouro leader so I doubt it cut through....) I worked a good section of the bank up and back again but unfortunately other than that one decent hook up I had no other takes. Could feel (and see) plenty of little pickers having a go at my plastics but no other takers unfortunately, except for one poor unfortunate little poddy mullet that I somehow managed to foul hook just behind the gills (I think it was more embarrased than I was!) - if only I'd had my normal tackle with me I would've sent it out as a livey, but I was on a mission to try these SPs that everyone raves about so it wasn't to be. by 10:30 the rest of the fam had arrived and it was time for a swim and a muck around on the beach so I had to pack it in. Anyways it was good to get a morning to myself in a beautiful part of the world, fish or no fish. I'm thinking though if I head there again I should probably park the car on that little road that runs to the back of the town so I can get further up river away from the boat ramp and all the houses as I might have more luck there, a couple of yak fishos managed some nice flatties a bit further up where it was quieter Also, do they make jig heads with smaller hooks on them? the 1/4oz seems to be a good weight for casting a good distance then getting to the bottom in the current, but the 1/0 hook especially on a little 2.5 grub seemed a tad big to me in hindsight - maybe I would have had more luck with a slightly smaller hook, but they were the smallest ones I could see when I was at BCF on friday (I'd prefer a local place but I've got one 5mins away from my work and didn't have much spare time) Either way still al ovely day, and thank to everyone for their tips so far. persistance might have to be the key here Oh and @Jaybe - did you have any luck at all?

Thanks mate, gonna be at Patonga this time but that's a good tip anyway till I get the boat back! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

That's what I figured, thanks Neil! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Just curious if burley is still useful if you're flicking SPs and moving round a bit? Just bought a couple of different types to try this weekend (one pack came with scent) but not sure whether it's worth cutting up some pillies for burley if I'm landbased and targeting flatties Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

that's ridiculous! My best ever squid sesh was 3! Great stuff - you could open up a stall at the fish market with a haul like that....

With the engine, 4 strokes tend to be quieter and more fuel efficient, which will be plusses if you plan to do a little trolling offshore. Bit priceyer than 2stroke though. as to your options: rear door - useful if you're likely to be swimming off the boat a lot or landing large gamefish extended bimini with clears - in my opinion a normal bimini will do fine unless you're planning on sleeping on the boat, extended bimini can get in the way of casting and let's face it you're probably not gonna be doing champagne cruising if it's raining table - may come in handy for champagne cruising but would probably just get in the way otherwise, weigh up cost vs how much you might use it live bait box & bait board - i would get both of these, definitely the bait board but live bait well would depend if you plan to fish with live bait casting deck - I assume that would be on the front, depends how many people would be fishing, probably only useful in estuaries sounder - I'll leave that for other raiders who would have far more knowledge let us know you're budget as flathead luke mentioned might help us figure out where to put your $$

Nice catches mate, well done! what general area were you fishing if you don't mind sharing for other raiders?

Cotm? Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks mate, now if only work would F off and we had some time on a weekend I'm golden! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Good on you for releasing too, I couldn't have helped myself if I bagged a legal king, it'd be straight home for dinner! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Nice! If you don't mind what was the general area, I'm stuck to landbased myself atm so am keen for tips on good areas (don't need to give away specifics just a general area) Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Nice to see a fellow metalhead on here!

thanks guys. The boat's still up in coffs, managed to totally dissemble the motor and clean all the major components, but ran out of time to start on the rebuild. I'll be back up there over Easter and by then I should have all new bearings sorted for the crankshafts in addition to the gasket kit already purchased so fingers crossed we can get it back together again and running @locodave - yep it certainly is a nice part of the world up there. yet to fish it properly but it looks like we're finally going to be able to get the family off the sydney hamster wheel at the end of the year and move up there, so I'll be looking forward to exploring the region. I'm especially keen to give the lower clarence round yamba and kalang river near urunga a crack, they both just seem to scream fish and mud crabs!

great looking fish - caught land based by the looks of it? Do you mind if I ask the general area, I'll most likely be moving to coffs myself towards the end of the year so I'm keen to start figuring out what's doing in the area

Oh and make sure you post a report up for us with how you go! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

My pleasure. Also for land based round Cowan Creek I would probably suggest aiming for around high tide. Cowan Creek doesn't get anything like the currents the rest of the hawkesbury proper does, but I would think that round high tide the fish might come in closer to shore to feed on the oysters etc on the rocks. The lack of current is what can make it so hit and miss unlike the rest of the hawkesbury where you have known and regular drop offs, channels and eddies where fish will reliably congregate. Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

I've not used a proper burley bucket myself, but landbased it could be a bit of a pain, especially if you're moving around a bit like I imagine you would in cowan creek. In the boat for burley I usually just soak a bunch of wheat in hot water over night (you can get big bags of wheat for very cheap from petfood places) with a good squirt of tuna oil that you can get from any tackle place, seems to work great for Bream especially. Carrying a big heavy bucket of wheat around would suck landbased though........ I've not tried it yet myself but a good many raiders on here swear by using a cheap an of cat food - simply poke a couple of holes in it to let the oils and smells slowly leach out. I reckon that could be a good option land based, just tie a length of thin rope round it then you could chuck it out a decent way from the shore then try and cast near it so it brings the fish toward your bait. With the rope you could give it a jiggle every now and then to encourage the oils etc to leech out, then it would be easy just to pull it in and stick it in your bait bucket or something if you're moving spots. I plan to give it a whirl myself whenever I next head out to see how it goes. easy on the wallet too.............

Great stuff, glad to hear the hawkesbury producing! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

I reckon it's always better to be fishing than not! If the water's a bit murky burley will be even more important and I've found that 'stinkier' baits like chicken or mullet gut or maybe pillies will tend to go better than your usual prawn or squid Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Hey mate, I haven't fished it land based but be prepared to move around a bit if you fish Cowan Creek from apple tree Bay. In my experience the fish move around that system a LOT. But there's lots of likely spots you could try within say a half hours walk from apple tree Bay a spot that works one time could be dead the next.. With my boat dead atm I might even see you there Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Nice haul of reds you got there! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

what a monster - well done!

hopefully my boat's fixed by then. Used to love hairtail fishing as a kid and am very keen to see how many of the skills I can dust off!