HenryR

and then then before we know it, hairtail social . brrrrr - yakers take note !

too uneventful might be one way of putting it ... In the end almost nobody could make it. Was just Krause and me. We went to Pt Kembla which wasn't in the great form it was last time. No kingies at all We paddled all around the end of the breakwall and the across and around the back of the port for a dismal fish total of 1 flathead & 1 salmon - krause, and 1 tailor - me. We watched two guys in a boat catch endless salmon on bait (they were the only people there catching anything). Sadly neither of us had bothered to bring bait - live yakkas being choice #1. We did find yakkas but the salmon weren't interested. 5 days sounds pretty good - going away?

confirmed

a second thumbs up a second thumbs up for the Windsor Bait and Tackle drain vids - pretty near my favourite thing on all of youtube on the sewage note: I talked to a guy last last year who told me; from time to time the toilets in the park at the back of Illagwong Bay (Colan anc Candle Creek) leak. It's the primo time to chase blackfish there. How's that for a hot tip? Another drain is where Iron Cove Creek runs under Timbrell Drive, in Russel Lea. I've never tried it but drive past there enough to know that it does get fished moderately regulary. Has been people there this week ... Just round the corner, there's Hawthorne Canal. I used to live very near there. Wasn't fishing at the time and it doesn't look like a great spot but .... under the bridge there (City West Link and the Lilyfield Rd footbridge) I have seen the water thick with baby prawns

oh, and tuna style: roll them in a mix of black and white sesame seeds, sear them, and eat with a little wasabi and soy - it rocks

my favourite fish to cook !! Kill them fast and kind, bleed and ice them ASAP. They're definitely best done either end of the cooked spectrum - rawish or very cooked. Good sashimied, great as numus or ceviche, and awesome in strong curries because the flesh holds together well and they have enough flavour to show through.

you could try emailing Sydney Water - they'd know before fishing near the Lane Cove weir was banned, the overflow there was an ace bream spot after rain.

Tunks Park, Cammeray, beside the boat ramp great idea for a list idea ! There's not a storm water map available somewhere?

on the 11th and hopefully you bring along some of the good karma you two earned being good Samaritans ....

Allen, awesome write up... what a day !!

for those that don't already know it, this is a really, really great way to tie FGs. As he says in the clip, the hardest bit becomes putting in the the half hitches after the FG is tied I reckon, for leaders 10lb & heavier, it's a no-brainer. Scratchie, this works in a kayak in 30 knots no probs - For lighter leaders - again, just I reckon - the story is a bit more complicated. The FG, if you tie it perfectly is great for light braid to light leader but, there's at least two things that go wrong. 1. It's hard not to damage the leader by sliding the leader against the braid during the first few turns of the FG - before friction settles things down. 2. if you don't keep both braid and leader tight at the beginning (which is one way to avoid sliding line on line ....) you tend to get a small kink on the first twist and, again, things will break super easily. For me, FG on light braid to light leader, even though it can work, is just too hard to get right. I used to use a modified albright but have since ditched that and now use straight though fluoro when fish light - 4lb and under. Simpler and totally reliable. There's a youtube clip, titled 'Bushy Talks About How to Catch Bream', where he describes a version of the slim beauty that he uses. I had a few goes at trying to figure it out and couldn't. Would love to hear from anyone here who has or can, it sounds like a great knot for light leaders and I am sure Buishy has had more than enough time fishing to figure out a sensible option

either day that weekend is good for me too

good job on the write up krause & allen. And awesome job krause, getting people down there all at the same time that's not such an easy thing... Was great to meet everybody, see everyone's yaks, and get a mini tour of a new spot - one I've been meaning to visit for a while but just couldn't break out of old routine enough to do. Weather, as promised, lol, that's a marketable skill if you can keep it up. And, of course, the bonus of being there on a day when the place turned in to a rat king fun park - totally awesome

and ... the novelty fish from the day, which, I think looks, a little reminiscent of of a great dane pup. you know? all paws, ready for the rest of it to catch up in size

to be clear: there's a metre and bit of cord between the Copper and the grapnel - they are not tied directly together

great question I reckon. anchoring is less easy that you want it to be. I actually have 4 anchors ... which, kinda works 1. a stake out pole - I use an extendable boat hook with the end cut to a point. it's mostly useless but in shallow fast running water with a silt, mud or light sand bottom it can be great. There 's a few Hawkesbury upper reaches creeks I chase flathead in and, when the tide's running, it's the only way in some of these. 2. a drift anchor. So often wind is your enemy, sometimes a drift anchor is your friend. if you want to drift sandflats, edges of mangroves, river banks, across open water, whatever it's often the answer to a happy pace. And, as well as slowing your drift , it'll let you keep the yak pointed in a useful direction. 3. this is a bit weird but after some trial and error it seems to be what works for me. I do regular anchoring with two anchors tied together. A little Cooper (the red one) - Coopers are light, easy to carry and good in sandy bottoms. The Cooper, I tie to the bottom of a miniature grapnel - the fold out type (I think that's a grapnel). The grapnel works as a weight to get the Cooper down and help it set (a conventional Cooper set-up is use chain for this) but, big bonus, unlike a chain, if there's weed on the bottom and the Cooper has real trouble setting (which they do, in weed), the grapnel doesn't. Similarly on rocky bottoms the grapnel sets more easily The pair works well in deep water on most bottoms. The one time my set up doesn't work is when there's little current and changeable wind - when that happens I tend to drift back over the anchors, unset them , etc...... A bigger anchor or bag of bricks would fix that .. Importantly - look this up online to be sure you've got it right - don't tie your anchor line to the top of your anchors (unless you use a bendy grapnel). Tie to the bottom of the anchor and the use a cable tie to hitch your anchor line to the top of the anchor. When the anchor gets snagged, if you pull hard enough and the cable tie snaps, then you're pulling the anchor from the bottom and most times it'll come free. Super important: remember, kayak - you can't pull very hard without overturning a kayak - don't use a heavy duty cable tie, use a light one

absolutely ! Anywhere within 100km or so of Sydney ... I am long overdue a day out

Saboo, yup, lots more fish in Sydney Harbour and everywhere else commercial fishing has been banned or limited. The thought pains me. I'm sure it pains many fishos. On bad fishing days, I often think back to an article I read, in I think, Fishing World, a long time ago (probably too long for it to be up online), that detailed accounts of Sydney Harbour way, way back in the day: whales in the harbour, people catching lobsters from Balmoral beach, a story about a marlin that got stuck between the shore and a wharf somewhere up the Parramatta River, etc. It was an eye-opener. No doubt what's normal for us, now, is a million miles removed from any historical normal. Still, surely, as much as we have a right to go catch our own fish from those places, people who don't fish for fun have a right to buy fish. It doesn't all have to be local but sharing what's on our doorsteps seems kind of fair. I'd count myself as Green, very Green ...... maybe in an imaginary fairy land, (really, who can tell?) but certainly not alone in the world of rec fishing and I certainly don't want us all eating mung beans, living in caves. (however, if mack tuna ever make a return to the railway bridge, I won't complain!) Think Bass Sydney and groups like that all across Australia - more needs to be made of the very natural (ha-ha, pun) crossover between fishos and environmentalists. The impression I got - or, what I thought was the good take-away from it - is the Landline piece's tone was one-sided (though, not totally) because it's trying to counter a push they consider/suspect is coming as much from the rec fishing gear retail industry as from a research base or from an actual public opinion. It didn't seem to me that the Greens in the story were against rec fishing (to be honestl, I know nothing about Green policies on fishing) it was more a call for some actual research. I would bet any good studies, would show rec fishing has little impact on fish stocks and the marine environment in most areas. Anecdotally Sydney Harbour and Lake Maquarie point very strongly this way, don't they? Are there not already studies being done for Sydney Harbour, Lake Maquarie and other rec only areas, anyone know? Surely rec fishers, should be supporting the push for good research.

it's up on ABC iView now http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2016/s4578037.htm thanks heaps for posting flatheadluke. Is, I reckon, a really interesting and, also vexed topic. Hardly a week goes by where the thought of how amazing a no-commercial-fishing-Hawkesbury might be but, I can see good arguments on all sides of the equation .... A case of too many people, not enough world? and given plans for big increases in Australia's population :/

There's a written into to the topic, also ABC, here: Recreational fishing sector pushes for ban on commercial net fishing near major centres http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-18/recreational-fishing-sector-pushes-net-fishing-ban-major-centres/8033432

probably also worth saying: I always use scent, S Factor &/or Pro Cure mullet are my flavours of choice. And, I'm fishing in estuarys.

hey Breamslayer, that is a lot of questions ! I'll keep my reply simple. One lure. My go to for Jewies - Z-Man jerk shad in 5' or 7', in blue and white or just plain white, with my current fav' being a 7' in blue and white. I do catch them on other things (paddle tails, soft vibes and occasionally slow pitch jigs) but mostly a straight soft plastic seems to work fine for me. Cheap enough to lose without hurting, a little bit snag resistant anyway, easy to throw around and easy to work - let them sink to the bottom and hop back, along the bottom, toward you. Too easy! I like the Z-Man ones because they survive tailor better than anything else I've tried. On a regular jig head (not on worm hooks) I rig the plastic 'upside down', I think they swim a lot better this way - more movement on the retrieve, plus they are easier to align. The one pictured has a smallish hook on it. A new thing for me. I did this last time I went out - lazy, couldn't be bothered digging a bigger hook from the bottom of my tackle bag - and the two fish I caught (55cm, 70cm) both absolutely slammed the lure on the take. No gentle tap, I didn't have to strike, both fish hit the lure and immediately ran hard. It made me wonder if maybe the less present hook made the plastic feel a little bit more inviting to chew. Speculative but, well, it is good to try new things, no?

ike jime - 100% effective and, a sharped screwdriver is smaller and easier to carry than a priest. on using them as bait: I've heard Rob Paxivanous say (on the radio) that carp make great jewie bait. anyone tried?

looking good !

Hi Kieran, If you haven't already, put 'Blue Mountains trout fishing' into a search engine. There's an excellent online guide to trouts in and around the Blue Mtns.