kingiemaster
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Posts posted by kingiemaster
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Howdy Raiders
Have been out in the Canoe last three Saturday mornings.
Did my usual, catch squid and downrigg em around Seaforth and the Spit.
Three weekends ago I had to cut my session short for a family do so didn't really give it a chance and left empty handed.
Last weekend I only got the one rat.
Yesterday I got three rats.
All from the Bluff.
Yesterday morn other boats were having a ball getting em on plastics, jigs etc using light gear but only after they had found and hooked one on a downrigger. I didn't have any lures with me so had to stick with downrigging live squid. I figured it was good practice and better than nothing.
Anyway I think this will be the theme for the next 3-4 months in MHs usual haunts with bigger fish making random appearances in the upper reaches ie vague reports from yachties moored in Bantry Bay about 2 metre kings eating BBQ chickens and eskies.
Judging by the reports it seems there are Kings everywhere. The dilemma seems to be skull drag in the rats on heavy gear or get smoked by the hoodies regardless of the gear used
. Not a bad problem to have though. 10-20 years ago it was zilch, nothing or zip.
So I'm going to concentrate on the main Harbour now with the occasional sneaky fish in some spots I have had my eye on for years in the Upper reaches of MH.
Cheers
Dave
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hi fellow fishing people,can someone help me, i would like to try downrigging,but don,t have said contraption
is there anotherway it can be done? and also where can i get one of those fishraider measuring mats
cheers herdsman
Howdy Herdsman
Have just gone through this process so I can save you some money, time and possibly a fish. Your best just buying an off the shelf downrigger as I have now done. My backyard job looked the goods but simply didnt work. It was OK for lowering the bomb and adjusting depth but didnt have the torque and leverage to get the bomb up quickly with two hands let alone one. I had enough when I lost a fish the weekend before last when I didn't have time and two hand to get the bomb up.
If must do it on the cheap at least buy a proper bomb ($20) which you can use when you inevitably end up buying a proper down rigger. Then buy a roll of 2mm cord ($5) and possibly a large diameter hand line reel to keep it tidy. You'll need to tie the cord off to a bollard or rail. Might need something to keep clear of the boat (I didn't worry about in the canoe). Attach snap swivels to both ends of some wire trace or 50lb mono. Attach one snap to the bomb and the other to a rubber band which you wrap around the unweighted main line. The rubber band will need to be strong enough to hold the bait in place when trolled but weak enough that it will break when a fish hits it. Or you could do what I did and just buy a proper release clip for $20.
It ain't pretty but his simple and cheap set up will work the only issue is that it gets tangled on the deck when you bring it up in a hurry hand over fist. If there is two of you it could be less of an issue as one can careful wind onto the reel while the other deals with the fish. Or you could just have two or three rolls of cord and just switch them over.
Good luck.
Dave
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Howdy raiders,
Went out in the canoe yesterday morning.
Got some squid and put em in the NEW bait tank.
Down rigged the squid around the Bluff with my NEW down rigger.
But it was very quiet with nothing on my NEW sounder.
I and everyone I spoke to blamed it on the full moon.
With the Souwester picking up and more rain I decided to head back to the Spit and drop a squid around the moorings off the marina on the way back to the launch pad.
Paddling into the wind I was thinking I should be rewarded with a fish after all this effort.
Sure enough the rod goes off and a nice just legal King comes up.
Released a just under a 10 minutes later in exactly the same spot.
Gutting the one I kept I could feel something hard in its belly and thought it was a crab claw only to find this...
Here's a photo of the fish and me NEW toys.
Spent the rest of the day at home refining my set up. Will post details and pics on Boats section for those that are interested.
Cheers
Dave
PS G'day to the fellow Yak tragic in the very nicely fitted out Hobie that kept me company. Didn't get your name. I hope you found some fish. Good luck to you and your Mrs with the soon to be born bub.
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Went out in the canoe morning.
Hooked up to a nice King at the bluff. Didn't have time to bring up the downrigger bomb as the fish was motoring towards other boats/moorings. Just as I thought I had it under control and close enough to see it inevitably it got caught up in the DR cord and ping!
Things went quite after that for me and other boats (who were also getting into them) so headed back to the Spit. Caught and released a rat around the SE marina moorings.
Despite the lost fish I was happy enough. That 4 fish in 4 trips. I only hope my new toys in the mail don't jinx me.
Dave
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Looks like a nice purpose built canoe, any chance of posting a pic of it?
Shes not bad but not my first choice for a fishing platform let alone a Kingie fishing platform.
Would have preferred a single man sit-in Old Town with the large opening or better still my old mans Seafarer Vega 5.75m (thats another story, need a decent 4WD to tow it and she's all mine).
But the bottom line is she cost me zip hence why I dont mind throwing some money at new toys for her.
Cheers
Dave
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What time of day have you been getting the kings?
Southerly
Interestly enough all three where caught around 8:45am.
PS
Have a proper downrigger in the mail due this week.
Also ordered a clamp on Hmgbrd Fishnbuddy AA battery powered sounder due next week.
Have had trouble keeping squid alive so have up drawn plans for a fully plumbed bait tank set up but that will require a bit of work and fiddling.
Will post pics once I have it all set up.
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good job from a noo mate. nice looking craft, what is she?
Thanks. No idea what she is. We bought her about 20 years ago from an old bloke in Wollongong who made them in his backyard garage. I think we paid $300. Have caught heaps of fish from her. Fibreglass not ideal but easy enough to repair.
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Howdy,
Last Weekend report
Went out in the canoe last Saturday and released a 64 cm model off the Bluff. No photos as I had me hands full.
Then went out in a mates tinny on Sunday dragging live squid all over the main harbour and even up to Goat Island for zip.
Today
So with the aim of bringing home a legal model I went out in the canoe again this morning to down rig live squid around Seaforth.
An hour or so into on the second pass the rod bends over. Unlike the 70 cm model from a couple of weeks back this fish pulled like a tug boat, literally. (Will be fun and games if i ever hook up to a hoodie. My PB of 93 cm towed a 4 metre tinny with two of us on board)
Left the bomb down as was to busy keeping the fish under control. Luckily it stayed clear of it.
Managed to subdue, gaff it and brought it on board, went 74cm
.So that's three fish in three trips out in the canoe since I brought it up from the South coast. But like the last two weekends I have not been able to hook up after the first.
But can I back it up again next weekend. They're around but not exactly thick as thieves. Have a feeling they're a little boat shy too
. Maybe I should go out Tuesday afternoon , I imagine it will be nice and quiet. V2.0 Kingiemaster downrigger is working OK (see pic) but think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and a get a proper one as it is real hard work winding it up, even harder when I have a fish on.
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Nearly fell off my chair when I saw your photos. I have a couple of shots exactly like them.
I was only fishing that very spot on Saturday afternoon to no avail. The bass just aren't there.
My mum moved down to Moruya in 2001 and I have fished that spot at least twice a year ever since.
The first time I discovered it in 2001 the bass were everywhere.
The following two years the fish were harder to find but a decent size. I got bricked by some monsters.
But haven't caught a single bass there since.
As you know the Deua is very long narrow river and I think the fish move from pool to pool. But there are very few places you can fish due to the terrain or private property (you wouldn't want to test the NO TRESPASSERS warning signs in that neck of the woods if know what I mean
). 2003 was the beginning of the drought I think that may have had something to do with the fish being harder to find as well.
There is a great camping ground, Bakers Flat I think, half way between Aruluen and Moruya that has some very nice looking stretches that would be best tackled in a small kayak. I've always wanted to spend a few days camping up there and giving the it a real bash.
That said I often get bass and EPs off the bank of my mum's place much further downstream in the saltwater tidal section and so don't see much point driving all the way up the river when I can just walk down from the house with a bass outfit in one hand and a beer in the other.
The banks are full of large granite boulders and dead trees that fall in and get stuck between them. The bass and bream love it.
No doubt about it that whole river system is a gem.
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Howdy Raiders,
Been a while since my last post as I haven't had much to report/ been fishing much.
This morning was one of those sessions when everything went just so.
Brought the canoe up from the south coast on Monday. Has been down at my mums in Moruya for the last few years. As good as the canoe fishing is I don't get down there much so thought I'd bring it up to Sydney.
I have caught plenty of quality estuary fish from this canoe over the past 20 years, from Sydney to the Vic border, but today I thought I'd take it to the next level.
Put the canoe in near the Spit and had four squid in me (new) keeper net by sun up.
Paddled over to Seaforth and dropped d'Bomb.
Have been thinking for some time that down rigging from a canoe made sense.
But as I don't have a down rigger at the moment I came up with the next best thing. 100 metres of cord attached to a 3lb bomb with the std off the shelf clip.
I dont have a sounder but I know Seaforth intimately so I marked the cord with five foot intervals with the liquid paper to 50 feet.
It's not pertfect but...
- it works
- saved my a few hundred bucks
Half an hour later as I past the Bluff moorings the rod goes off and I'm on. After the initial rush and panic subsided I paddled, with the rod still in the rod holder, out of the moorings into deep water before fighting the fish proper.
It went 70 cm.
Spent the next hour or so trying to replicate to no avail.
Hopefully this is the first of many for the summer seasons from the old faithful.
Off to Fiji tomorrow for time out but think I would rather be chasing Kings in Sydney.
Life to sure is tough looming recession and all......
Kingiemaster
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Howdy raiders,
Got a call from my fishing mate Mark last Friday who suggested we go for a fish in Middle Harbour as he had first hand reports of kings being caught a few days earlier. I met him through my tennis club (where I also met my girlfirend interestingly enough) and had never fished together before, or at least not in the same boat.
So we met at Tunks late Friday night and then went to the Spit to get some squid. 6 hours later we had a couple dozen squidies and cuttlefish ranging from littlins less than 10 cm to several biggins over 25cm, including a nice sized southern calamari squid.
With sun almost up we anchored at the recommended spot (I won’t narrow it down but it was somewhere off Seaforth). Wasn’t long before the rods were twitching and bouncing and we were on.
Over the next 2-3 hours we landed 6 Kings ranging from 65 to 75cm with plenty fish failing to hook up in between. Good result but problem was I couldn’t hook any fish on my outfit on my side of the boat
. Some fish seemed to be tentative (my side/shore side) whilst others jumped on to the baits and wouldn’t let go (my mates side/drop off side). So I resorted to taking the last hook up on my mates outfit which had caught all but one of the fish . With the tide change they seemed to disappear so we headed back to the ramp.
It was absolutely freezing before sun up, especially in the wind in an open tinny
, so not completely convinced it is was worth it but not a bad session overall. Bring on spring/summer.
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Howdy Raiders
Only fishing I've been doing lately is off reliable Old Mans Hat (OMH) for blackies.
Have been going for past 4-5 weekends and going home with a feed each time. Fish have been small averaging 30 or less cm but on Monday the fish were all over 30 cm the biggest going a fat 36cm.
Unfortunately the drummer either aren't around or not eating weed. I have only had two or three bust offs from drummer the past 6-8 weeks compared with one after the other earlier in the year. The cockies on the other hand seem to be taking a liking for the weed. Caught two on Monday.
Anyway if you haven't tried fishing for blackfish now would be good time pack away summer gear and give wacky weed fishing for blackies ago.
Dave
PS Having had a good read of the "best ever Blackfishing tips" I recently started using a new rig with a running float above, single split shot, a running bal sinker and a swivel tied to fluro carbon trace and then the hook. Has been working really well. I have always use a fixed float rig, using floats made by a Northern Beaches local, straight through to the hook with split shots for weight. But I can’t get the floats any more so I started using traditional floats on a running rig. Doesn't have quite the same direct feel as a fixed float but I have less tangles when casting and the fluro carbon seems to do the trick when the conditions are calm.
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I recently started to catch the Manly ferry to and from work and naturally I always have a look around the wharf to see what the resident blackies and surgeons fish are doing and looking out for Kings.
Last night and this morning I saw a big a school of salmon milling around the baths and the wharf.
Didn't appear to be any more baitfish than usual so just another example piscatorial phenomena?
Also noticed that a few guys bringing in a net next to the Aquirium. I can only assume they were netting the salmon to feed the sharks and other critters at the Aquirium. Fair enough I suppose?!?
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Hi Chris,
I like you and many others have pretty much spooled all my reels with braid or gelspun. The only execption is my blackfish outfit. But I'm also beginning to think it's not the be all and end all and maybe contributing to less fish in specific circumstances.
So now you got me thinking. When chasing harbour Kings we envriably fish in 20-40 feet of water around the markers etc. with the fish hovering midway so anywhere between 10-20 feet of water. Therefore on a bright sunny morning you can imagine the Kings swiming around a marker looking skywards at a bunch of live squid and yakkas with funny dark lines protuding to the surface from their noses or bums all except for one. Guess which bait they are more likely to hit. I also tend to agree the zero stretch results in pulling the bait from their mouths when they hit it.
So my next harbour Kingfish session I'm going to take some light to medium mono outfits and do the fishing version of the nappy san challenge.
All that said I am tending to use longer and longer wind on leaders, sometimes up to 3 metres long. Someone would argue this negates the benefits of using braid but I find it to be a good compromise as well providing other benefits that have been discussed ad nauseam in other posts.
Will keep you posted
Dave
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hi kingiemaster
i remember last time i was at OMH i met you and was pretty quiet that day. i'm glad you're on the blackies and drummer again.
did you use weeds as bait?
i myself went fishing off the rocks at whale beach. it was way to dangerous to get close to the ledge, big big waves that day.
cheers
bertrand
Hi Bertrand
Yes I remember. It was great meeting you.
I was a little cranky
that day with the fishing being so quiet. I'm usually a bit friendlier than that. Look forward to seeing again some day, I might even have a go at Whale beach some day.
Dave
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No reports lately as I haven't been out much for one reason or another that I won't bore you with.
With the weather looking good for Sunday morning and no other excuses we commited to another round of the Kingie Kup.
Woke up at 3am to find it's raining and blowing SW.
, all be it lightly. So we set off to the Spit for squid along with a dozen other boats. Managed a total of 4 having dropped a couple. Certainly slower than usual. Rain wasn't much fun at times and thunder after sun up was plain scary with arsenal of graphite rods on board.
Headed off to the harbour and tried the Western marker. Decent mid water archers on the sounder but no takers just pickers. Mate gets one good hit but didn't connect.
The good news was that the weather had turned perfect. Light NE breeze and blue skies.
Another boat turns up and with seconds lands the smallest mouse King I have ever seen. Couple of minutes later and I'm onto a similar sized fish. I didn't measure it but I reckon it wouldn't have been more than 25-30 cm long. No photo as it is on my mates phone. Can't see much of anyway as my hands are in the way!
Move onto another marker. Similar story spending at least 20 minutes for a couple of follows and tentative hits, but the fish were definantely there though. Just as we were about to pull the pin and I'm on and bring up up a rat that went just under legal. Took this pic and let him go. Did a bit more fishing before giving up and heading home.
No prizes for guessing exactly where this was caught.
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Got up Sunday morning, coffee in hand and went to my local lookout to check out the conditions. Much friendlier than previous two days with the SE easing.
So went home and grabbed my gear and headed for Old Mans Hat.
Got down there about 11.30am to fish the falling tide. Haven't had much luck over the past month or so with condidtions being either too rough or too calm. Today conditions were perfect, still a bit of SE swell but not too much that it would be dangerous.
First cast with the light outfit and within a minute I'm on. The 8lb mono peeled off the reel and all I could do was hang on, and then hook pulled.
Next cast with the drummer outfit. Next 30 minutes or so I lost a few baits which I think was down to the No 2 live bait hook I thought I'd try out. So I switched to my trusty size 10 sneck and finally landed a nice blackie of 36cm. Another 20 minutes go by and I'm on big time. Text book fish control, changing the angle of the rod, waiting for waves to bring it up ledge by ledge and finally land a nice fat piggy. Went 48cm and 2.5 kg. For there size I reckon they fight as hard as Kings. Hook was starting just to bend straight.
Caught another blackie that went 33cm and not long after decided to pull the pin.
So a good day off the rocks followed by an OK day in the boat chasing Kings (see other report).
Dave
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Was that you on the rocks.. how did you go?? we were a little noisy when we landed the big one..
Yep. Did Ok. Got busted off 5 times though by some big drummer, refer my report.
I actually think the Kings are hanging around inner North Head after the big seas we have been having. There are some big calamari squid amongst the kelp beds around there as evidenced by the one in the stomach of the King you caught. I'm tempted to catch a few and float them out on a ballon.
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Went down to North Head Saturday morning with a bit of hang over
and remembered why I don't go drinking after work on Friday nights . Was made worse as I was the first person down the track and had to watch what I was doing to avoid a mouthfull of spider webs. Got down to the platform and conditions were perfect. Bit of a swell, very little wind.
Left my blackfish outfit at home and rigged up the 20lb drummer stick to fish the outgoing exclusively for drummer.
Got the first hit within about 10 mins. Managed to get fish to the edge of the platform but just as I was about to wash it up with a wave it made one last lunge and wrapped me up in the cunje. I reckon it would have gone about 50cm. Got smashed two more times before bringing in one just under 40cm .
Got smashed two more times after that. Hook almost straightened on one and all the others were lost at the knot. Can only conclude that the Sunline mono leader doesn’t tie well to terminal tackle(no problems with the superglued Albright joiner to braid main line). Think I am going to go back to the old cheapo 30lb Superflex. Have also bought some small 2/0 live bait hooks and that a Mack truck couldn't straighten.
With the turn of the tide things went very quiet and didn't improve with the run in tide.
This is the first time I have haven't caught a single Blackfish from OMH.
It's as if the Drummer have taken over. But I'm not complaining it's blast getting amongst the drummer week after week and make use of my drummer outfit.
Saw some boats bring in Kings (including Delta's nice 95 cm model) and another boat that appeared to be bringing in either salmon or frigate mackeral on lures.
Dave
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Nice fish.
I thought it must have been a good one. I could see you bringining it in and could hear you both yahooing and see you high fiving when you brought it aboard.
I was fishing off the rocks.
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Went down to Old Mans Hat on Satuday arvo for another blackie and drummer session hoping for a repeat of last weekend's effort.
First few hours were VERY slow. Hooked up a to a couple but they spat the hook.
After several hours I finally hooked up to a nice drummer and managed to keep it connected only for it to bury me in the kelp right at my feet with the rod doubled over.
So I grabbed the drummer outfit only to catch a keep blackfish shortly after.
With things so quiet I thought I'd give some fresh peeled prawns ago. I threw them into a nice bit of wash, and what do ya know, I caught a few small drummer between 10 and 20cm long. I have never caught small drummer off there using weed so I can only assume the small drummer prefer a bit of protein to greens whilst the older bigger drummer don't mind their greens or a bit of meat if they can get to it before the littlins.
Anyway I plan to stick with the weed and the drummer outift exclusively this weekend, I'm not even going to take the blackfish outift.
Till next time.
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awesome catch there Dave. I fished OMH a few weeks back using cunji and got bricked by a few solid drummer no doubt. Which ledge/gutter were you fishing? I was on the main ledge facing east. I see many fishos try that spot for nothing, but it does tend to fire up when the NE are on the up.
I fish the main ledge facing east. You can also fish the same water from the lower ledge in the corner that faces south. I just fish the same spot out of habbit and to some extent convience and safety. Blackfish and bream patrol the entire area and can be caught anywhere around the platform but the drummer seem to prefer that north east corner where, funnily enough, there are lots of bolders, nuggets and kelp.
Dave
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When the water is a bit too rough, try fishing without the float - I find it just takes you away from the "zone". Were you using weed, cabbage or cunje?
Hi Roberta
Was using cabbage. Float is more or less a must as the "zone" in question, a kelp invested nugget, is 20-30 feet from the platform. Wind was turning easterly. I also like to stand a few feet in from the edge so I don't get drenched by the spray. I sometimes go floatless when it's not as rough as I can stand on right on the edge of the more exposed parts of the platform and simply drop the bait in nice bits of water. A westerly also helps as you can use less weight.
Dave
PS. PM me if you like as I'd be happy to go for a fish with Cam or you for that matter if when your in Sydney again. Also my old man is thinking about moving up your way from Bermagui and I'm keen to find out more about the area. From what I've seen and heard it's a nice part of world.
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AND has anyone encountered sea lions in Sydney before/is there a colony nearby??
Couple of years ago I had a big sealion come out of no where right up to the rock ledge within a about 10 feet of me whislt fishing off Old Mans Hat. Scarred the crap out of me. Suspect he/she was attracted to the blackies i was catching.
Dave
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.
. Maybe I should go out Tuesday afternoon , I imagine it will be nice and quiet. 
). 
. 
that day with the fishing being so quiet. I'm usually a bit friendlier than that. 
and remembered why I don't go drinking after work on Friday nights
Mh Kingfish Session
in Fishing Reports
Posted
Howdy Raiders,
Went for another go at Kings in MH from the canoe.
In brief, lots of rats about. I only got one rat as I deliberately avoided them to try some different spots. Also caught and released a fat salmon that went 57cm. Fought damn hard, thought it was a decent King until I saw it launch from the water about 70 feet away!
Anyways it was good practice and nice to be on the water.
For those that are interested in the stats etc below is the modified extract from my diary....
Lost count of how many squid I caught around Spit bridge. Did a count later and think it was 16-18. At least a dozen of those were in exactly the same spot (4 metres in diameter) and most were caught on my favourite 2.0 maroon/white jig. The much lauded 1.8 pink jig on the other rod only scored a couple including a bubba calamari. I also got a couple around Clontarf moorings.
Started fishing by putting a squid down off the Clontarf moorings for jew at around 6am top of the tide. No good so went downrigging Seaforth shores from 8 knot mark then around Bluff. No good and only rats being pulled on other boats so went to check out Castlecrag/Northbridge Marinas. Back to Seaforth and did a run back to the Spit with some loops around moorings that looked promising.
Rat caught off the bluff about 9am. The salmon was caught 30 mins later on the return run 2-300 metres west of 8 knot sign at Seaforth in 70 feet of water. Lots of activity on sounder as I went past each mooring.
As per last session rats are prevalent in middle harbour. There could be bigger resident fish in Sugar loaf/Bantry bay etc but too much hard work covering that much ground in the canoe.
Appeared to be a lot of fish on sounder this weekend which I presume were Kings but they must be a little shy of heavy leaders and downrigger when sun high up as I passed through them several times with no hits.
Northbridge/Castlecrag marinas interesting. Quite deep in main channel at 50-60 feet and 35-40 feet closer in off Northbridge marina and baths. Could be a good spot to drop a live bait and drift about on bad weather day as it is very protected. No good for downrigging, to dicey as it is a bit of a squeeze between structure and moorings etc, as I found out losing my rig to an angled mooring line (fortunately the bomb didn’t get caught up). Have been meaning to try this spot for a while. I used to fish here a lot from the marina about 15-20 years ago and cannot let go of the memory of my yakka being smashed by what could only have been a decent King. Worth a couple more goes I think.