wazatherfisherman

Good work on the fish Mike, pity they weren't biting for the trip with your dad. When the bait is being stolen like that, it probably is another species, such as Rabbitfish, Surgeons or similar. That float is an exact copy of the famous Geoff Barr river float- Michael Johnson should have called them after the original maker in my opinion- something like 'Geoff Barr Special' or similar would have been apt. Nice that you are tuning in to your local for Ludes, they are active in the estuary for much of the year and close to home is pretty special.

The current petition before the NSW Government has been declined. For those who didn't know- it was a petition to conduct an enquiry in relation to recreational use of National Parks within NSW, particularly the reduction of allowed activities. It was simply a petition desgned to discuss the viability of currently prohibited activities within some parks. Signed off on by Penny Sharpe MLC, the enquiry was not supported. Just for everyone's information

Those Crystal''s are good value for the price and they are well made and last for years

Have a look in the 'library' section here, go to 'waza's yarns' then 'Evil Lurking Surgeonfish' there's a few tips on them there

Great stuff Mike- you can now get rid of all your other fishing gear (except for the stuff the kids like using) and concentrate on the dark art- a life-long pursuit has begun methinks

Where exactly? It's a big area

The northern side of the long sandspit on the eastern side of the bridge should be avoided at all times! Yes there are fish up in the shadows along the edge, however, the mud on that side genuinely IS like quicksand and it is really easy to sink down 20-30cm. Doesn't sound like much? I sank down to my knees one afternoon and couldn't get even one leg out- totally stuck and my fishing mate had decided to go back on the other side of the bridge and out of sight. After about 10 minutes of trying all sorts of movements, I was only getting more and more into strife and was considering yelling out towards the homes along the northern side. Thankfully there weren't any fish on the flats on the other side of the bridge- the tide wasn't high enough yet- and my mate Craig appeared in the distance. Realising I was low in the water he came down towards me, before having a good laugh and then going back to the car to find something to get me free. Nothing strong enough in the car, he had to get a decent branch from a tree and was gone about 10 minutes. When he arrived back with the branch, it took a heck of a lot of energy to get me free, as the mud was by now totally compacted around both legs and it had a 'suction-like' effect. I don't know how long it took, seemed like ages, but eventually I managed to get free. I'd hate to think what might have happened if I'd been there by myself. There was a story in the paper some years ago about a bloke who took a 'shortcut' home from the pub and got stuck in Dee Why Lagoon in the same manner, at night, he was lucky to be heard by people on the beach, so be extra careful of that soft sticky mud!

Rod blank is on the way from Adelaide and components on the way from the USA. Some custom grip measuring needed still, but project has commenced!

I have about 4 x 12ft coarse rods from the UK and they do make really nice Lude rods Mike and they are pretty light for fibreglass rods. The rod you felt the weight (or lack of!) was an old off the rack Shakespeare Luderick Special, I've got both the 10 and 11ft versions. They were really cheap to buy- only about $22 because they had really cheap chromed guides and neoprene grips. I rebuilt both of mine, one with Varmac guides and the other with red and black Abulon guides. Shakespeare also brought out a 10ft Ugly Stick Luderick rod which was about triple the price but another great rod for purpose, but due to the cost they never really took off. Considering you could still get Sportex and Butterworth's or search for a Grizzly, the Ugly's were probably priced out. My one was stolen sadly

If they brought out a new series of Sportex, Grizzly or Butterworth (Snyder) Luderick rods they'd completely capture the Luderick fisher's market. Other than exacting performance, their robust construction meant a long lifetime versus the 'fragility' of graphite rods- particularly when used from the stones. We used to lift fish up 2 or 3 mtrs on the old 3145's when fishing higher up for Ludes or when Bream fishing at night- wouldn't recommend doing that all the time with graphite.

The only difference between the Black Queen and the Deluxe were the guides. The Agate runners were later replaced with 'Aqualite' guides, then porcelain Fuji's. The 'standard' Black Queen had chrome plated guides. Quite a lot of the premium range of Jarvis Walker rods had a single Aqualite stripping guide and they are still sought after, even though their were thousands made. Difficult to break 4-5lb mono on one of those! Other really popular models of that line were: The Stanley-2 piece about 7ft, Swansea 3 piece 9ft Luderick rod with moulded black foregrip, full wooden but - (my first Luderick rod and it was really heavy solid glass!) Burnie Deluxe (I actually hooked a Marlin on my Burnie Deluxe), Mundoo 2 piece 8 or 9ft, The Stephen Howard 2 piece 10ft (I think Rick Marlin had one of those also) The Clarence 2 piece about 7ft from memory. Jarvis Walker made rods for all types of fishing applications- solid fibreglass which were pretty much indestructable. They brought out several hollow glass models before launching their 'Gold Medal' range of 'new' hollow glass rods that were built to a higher standard. The popularity of the old Black Queens dwindled a fair bit with the release of 'The Port Hacking' a lightweight 2 piece 10ft Luderick rod in brown glass, had quality cork grips and closer spaced guides- it was my first hollow glass rod, but nowhere near as sturdy as the old Black Queen's. The old Agate and Aqualite guides are also highly collectable, as are the old red Agate guides set in German silver- things of beauty if you like old tackle!

Sure looks like a Butterworth or early Snyder- might be a 6wrap 12ft- if so that is the 'Jack Alvey Special' blank and highly sought after. I have the same rod but glass ferrule and it's a great beach rod bor Bream, Dart etc and throwing unweighted Gars off the beach. Another excellent find- might be worth as much as the 3145!

No, didn't deal with them, only Chapman's at Rockdale- who had an amazing and extensive range of bait and tackle. Gary Chapman was one of the best fishermen of the modern era. Sadly disappeared with Ron Nelson while they were fishing the famous 'Peak' one night and an annual competition was dedicated to their memory.

Never have known what 'club rod' meant, but they are the same as the GP 3145- excellent Lude rod. If you aren't in a hurry for the spacings I have 3 GP's t(hat I've built) in my storage unit and hopefully I'll be at the storage place in about a week. From memory guide sizes are 2x 8's, 2x 10's, 2x 12's, 16, 20 and 25 and tip is an 8. Highly sought after- especially the 2 piece. We used to use them for Bream at night also. Great rod for 3kg line. Awesome find!

As a rough guide- now until about the middle-end of November estuary Kings normally focus on jelly prawns throughout the daylight hours, prior to sun-up squid, small sized bait like juvenile Yellowtail. November-December focus switches to Anchovy/Pilchard fry in the 2-3cm range, followed by Whitebait during daylight hours. Early morning they will take a well presented FRESH Garfish and FRESH Squid. December onwards they are back on 'regular' diet which can be any of the above plus cuttlefish,octopus,prawns and then Slimy Mackerel. If using Yellowtail try to obtain the small 'jellybean' sized ones under about 10-12cm if possible. Most other estuary pelagics will be more interested in Whitebait and juvenile Pilchards around Christmas time, but the prawn runs on the dark of the moons and outgoing tides see almost all estuary species focus on prawns- including Kingfish. From the rocks- October is a great month for both Mulloway and Kings and they will take most live baits such as Yellowtail. Garfish and Slimy Mackerel, plus the ever reliable Fresh Squid. Along the eastern suburbs cliffs 'medium' sized Kings and Mulloway are keen on Yellowtail and Pike, but more importantly (in my opinion) is early morning from first light to sunrise, when they'll take slow spun Garfish and also large minnow-style lures. Tailor, Salmon and early-run Bonito are best fished for with chrome lures in the 25-50gm range during the same period when casting towards visible schools. Bait fishing for Tailor is basically the following 'formula'- little to no moon= dusk and sunrise for best results, 1/4 to full moon= night time for best results with usually only a short period around sunrise really any good. Surface feeding schools are likely to be seen and 'matching the hatch' with bait-fish sees trial and error using chrome lures from 3cm up to about 10cm the normal approach