wazatherfisherman

G'day mate sometimes they bury like it at night, but always in the daylight and really quickly- it's fascinating watching them do it and how quickly

Thanks Frank, it's funny how our brain works- every now and then (usually after reading someone else's post) something comes to mind that I think can be useful to others and pop it on Raider. Glad to be putting up nice memories for us both that can help in the fishy quest

Hi Dave- found they are easier to find towards low tide, got a feeling that they might be buried deeper on the incoming due to being prey for just about everything, so same as night prawning, try the run out

Thanks guys- the inspiration for the post came from reading the 'prawn trap' post, raking isn't seen much these days. As using live prawns is such a deadly and favourite method, plus the fact now is the time to have a go at doing it, thought it was worthy of putting up. Don't forget to use an aerator to keep prawns alive and a lid/cover over them or they'll jump out of your bucket- as happened to us a couple of times in the car. Discovered the "escapee's" under the seats the next day- no mistaking the smell of a dead prawn in a hot car!

Years ago while fishing for Whiting at Narrabeen Lake I was shown the following technique to catch prawns in bright sunlight. We had been using shop bought live blood worms and ran out pretty quickly, catching heaps of fish, but most were undersize. Fishing pretty close to us on the sandbank was an older couple who were also fishing for Whiting, they weren't catching them as quickly but the ones they had were all big- no little ones like 90% of ours. They were using live prawns which they had been catching on the same sandbank as we were all standing on. After chatting for a while, the older chap used his last prawn and then turned to his wife and said "we better show these young blokes how to get a few"- cool, we thought. Then he reached for an old garden rake they had with them and handed it to the wife, who walked just out from dry sand to less than about a foot deep and started to slowly rake the sand towards herself. Just slow, gentle movements. Sure enough, a prawn was unearthed from it's hiding place beneath the sand and flicked a few feet away before settling again on the bottom and re- buried itself, which took about 10 seconds. While the prawn re-buried itself, the old timer didn't move, but instead took a bearing by pointing straight to where the prawn now was- buried under the surface.. Next he walked over and placed one hand either side of the "burial" spot and gently brought both hands together. He kept the resulting "sandball" clasped tightly between his hands until back on dry sand and presto- a nice prawn in the sandball! I was amazed at watching him repeat the process a few more times, before passing us the rake to try for ourselves. Success immediately! Managed to get about 10 or so prawns before they needed the rake back. After refining the "technique" a bit over the years, it has proved to be a great way to get prawns in daylight hours here in Sydney and up the coast. The tips for success are obviously first find an area where prawns are active - most spots where folk prawn at night, such as sand-flat's close to lake/lagoon entrances are suitable, in fact many coastal river flats that have nice clean sand- you don't want it to be too muddy or silty on the bottom or the prawns can't bury themselves quickly (for protection in daylight hours), also a little current flow- not too much or your uncovered prawn can quickly remove itself from the area. Also, even though they are often found adjacent to weed patches, it's better to steer clear of raking close to weed as sea-grass beds are a fragile part of the ecosystem and we don't want to harm the root structures- they'd impede the "grabbing" stage anyway- you want to only be grabbing the sand with prawn inside. Try to tread fairly lightly after watching the prawn hide and cover itself, which they do amazingly quickly. Also wait until they bury their eyes- the last bit of them visible, if the eyes are still visible just wait till they're under so they don't see you (regardless of "feeling" you via your weight on the sand) Then approach quickly while focusing on your hidden target spot. You have to trust your eyes, as the prawn once re-buried is no longer visible, if you miss the exact spot but touch them, they generally do a few quick "flips" and are quickly out of good-judgement range. They are usually only about an inch under the sand once re-buried. Approaching directly from behind so you are looking (if prawn was still visible!) from tail to head, then move hands together and grab your sand with (hopefully!) a prawn inside. No need to go deeper than about an inch or two maximum, as the prawns although buried are only just covered by he sand. First time rakers will be getting prawns from the first day you try it. The odd one will jump out to freedom, but a little refining of your sand grabbing/pushing together will fix this. Not a real fast way to get your live prawns, but nevertheless a way of getting them while it's daylight- especially if you've run out of bait. Remember just to gently rake areas of clean sand, as you only want to reveal the prawn hidden below, be careful not to damage sea grass or other marine environments and always check fisheries and local council regulations re methods and area restrictions. One person raking is enough for a group effort, if you are using them on-site just get them as you need them, live prawns will catch virtually everything from Luderick to Kingfish

No offence! Started climbing about 14 or 15, but became a "regular" at 16-17. Not a pussy, that's how to stay alive on the rocks. Most of the bad wipeouts I saw (or was in) came from going when should have gone elsewhere due to bad sea conditions- there's always next week

I never met Speed, but heard all the stories from Wayne Taylor (at Weiss) and Slug who was in the AFA with me. The Penman's joined around the time I left, but I met them in their tackle shop down the far end of Burwood Rd at Concord. My old mate Steve G from Croydon knew them pretty well. Terry Brown also worked the ferries and he was a great fisho as well, a couple of years older than me (I'm 58). The Bream fishing gang from Bluefish sure caught a lot of Bream(and other stuff!) Got selected in the Syd Metro team for Harry Pontey but broke my foot 2 weeks beforehand Will keep an eye on your progress

I could never understand what the attraction to Bondi Beach was back in the days of the "murk" being released- you could see it clearly and you sure could smell it. What about the giant sea slugs in the back pools at Bluefish- never seen one the size of them anywhere else, must have thrived on the murk water. Like you, only went there for the Trev's when they were our "fish of the month", which you could catch all day on prawns. When trolling along the murk line from Bondi, you could see them sitting under the edge of where the clean water met the dirty, in their thousands- they were thick wherever the cloudy water was and you could catch them all day if you wanted to. Always a bit of fun on light gear

G'day again Paul Sullivan(Slug/Sluggo depending on how friendly you were) was a junior in the AFA and came to the Mattens a fair few times, he had an unbelievable lucky escape at the Mattens one morning, fell on the top half of the cliff and ended up upside-down with 1 loop of rope around his ankle- lucky the ropes were tied to a second set of pegs at halfway or we'd be missing another champion fisho. No doubt you heard of his exploits at Bluefish catching Bream while still at school. Learned to climb the cliff in the dark, could probably still climb it blindfolded if I was able to climb at all, as the minute toe holds are "etched" in my (and all the guys) mind/s, there was only one spot for each toe/foot both up and down, you couldn't even see half of them anyway and they don't change at all. Last time there with Tim Walker we cemented a couple of new solid stainless pegs in, one on the 30 odd ft climb above the big climb, but I never returned to fish again after near 22 years and multiple accidents, the last trip nearly got me twice, with a fallen Blue Tongue and then a Pigeon flying between me and the cliff, sense finally got the better of me. Macquarie lighthouse was just as bad a climb, just not as many long downs in one go and you needed a 400 ft+ pulley rope. I found it worse than the Mattens. by far. Fished Rosa, Gap/s, Jacobs Ladder, Cemetery and later in life Cape Banks and then Julianne at Little Bay, caught some good fish there and at Donkey's around the corner. When I was younger and fit also used to do the Gutter at Curracurrang and Burning Palms- which was a favourite spot also. As more often than not the Mattens trips were overnight, it was a great place to learn rock fishing, as you had time to chase all different species and they were all there. Younger fishers would be blown away by both number and size also. Anyway, glad you enjoyed it and great to see another old rock hopper on the site. Regards Waza Also do you know Mark "Reddog Jefferson?

G'day mate glad you enjoyed the post, there isn't anywhere like the Mattens. I actually had a great fear of heights, but had to overcome it (well, to a degree anyway) as the fishing was just so good and just had to be a part of it. Wally McLuckie one our mentors (who originally took us down) was still fishing it until he was nearly 81! Only allowed to carry 4 kg, so he used to skin and bone all fish before going up. Whenever he got a big Snapper we'd carry it for him. The catches of fish (especially in Syd Metro comps) were .just mind blowing by today's standards There were no such things as bag limits and if your team of 4 didn't get 3-400 fish you weren't a show at winning anything. Last one I fished I weighed 139 fish and ran 3rd, beaten by the East's guys who fished "Big Rock" at north end of the spot. Their Tailor were twice the size of ours and we got Bream, Blurters etc mainly under 1 kg that night. They also won the year before with a huge catch of Pigs, Bream, Luderick and Tarwhine all on cunje. None of my old crew go down any more unless you count off the front in a boat! They were great times. Rarely can get fishing these days due to really crook legs, but stay connected via Fishraider. As for peas and corn you forgot the rice and ciggy butts! Murk had to be banned for comp fishing as it wasn't a good advertisement for our sport and from the Mattens you could see the "layers" of guys at the murk fishing 3 "tiers" above each other at "Burger Bill's"- the boil where the outflow met the ocean. Anyone thinking this was "grose", well, Bondi Beach was always packed in a big Nor'easter that brought it all into the beach. Hence "Bondi Cigar's" became famous! Great to read your last post, brought back joyful memories to me too! Keep at it Regards Waza

Hi Will that's a bit too general of a question- if you say what you're after, gear using and locations then there will be plenty of advice. Good bait this time of year is fresh prawns as they are in season now in the estuaries. If you are restricted to frozen bait (especially prawns) buy some from a bait shop in a 1 kg block and 'decant' into session sized amounts. Use the whole prawn hooked from tail to head so your hook comes out through the legs underside of head and do 2 half hitches around the tail. Good for most estuary species Also try to keep your line strength in the 3-4 kg range maximum and as little lead as you can use- less is generally best. Live worms are expensive but are attractive to plenty of species as well. Better still, buy a prawn scoop net and a torch and scoop your own prawns- live prawns can catch pretty much anything and are around now til about March on nights with not much moon and a run-out tide. Most lakes, rivers, lagoons and creeks will have some sort of prawns this time of year

Hi and welcome. The AFA (Amateur Fisherman's Association of NSW) is Australia's oldest fishing club, about 120 yrs old now. Often mistaken for other clubs due to many having locality/area names before AFA- examples - South Sydney AFA, Brighton Le Sands AFA. The AFA is both an ANSA club and member of AFCA (Australian Fishing Clubs Association- Sydney Metro Division) The club caters for all types of fishing and is also family orientated. Club meetings are every Wednesday night in the clubroom at 7 PM underneath Concord Community Centre 1A Gipps St Concord (down the ramp). Just like Fishraider, great club, great people. I was a member for many years Regards Waza

Another good case for fibreglass! LOL- could have used a 'glass rod to thump it after catching it

Insane jumping Mackerel! Imagine that thing landing in your lap!

Thanks to everyone at Fishraider and safe and joyful times to all. Merry Christmas

First one is an electric ray or numbfish- you can get a nasty shock from them so better off releasing without touching them. Second one is a red mullet, sometimes marketed as "Barbounia" Welcome to Fishraider, there is a special section for fish ID called The Aquarium

Hoping the rod is just as good!

If you're lucky enough to have a council "tip shop" near you, they're always worth checking for old, outdated or unwanted fishing tackle. Old fibreglass rods, wooden reels, lures often turn up for bargain prices. Every now and again a real bargain pops up- my mate John in Murwillumbah picked up this Penn International 30 wide on a custom made 15 kg game rod with full AFTCO rollers and aluminium butt for would you believe $30! I asked him what he was going to do with it and he said "put it on buy/swap/sell for $60" needless to say I couldn't get my wallet out quick enough! Reel arrived here (Syd) in 2 days from posting and after having a thorough check, only needs a new rod clamp bolt (and maybe a service- still seems to be working as should)- he's bringing rod with him when he comes to Sydney in a couple of weeks- can't wait to see the rod

Got home today to a very nice surprise- a package of lures made by FrankS- he even engraved them "Waza Wobbler's" They are well made and will have a special place in my collection. A huge thanks to you Frank and Merry Christmas, to you and all the folk in this wonderful community that is Fishraider!

Great Lizard -hope it's the 1st of many big ones. Well done releasing her also

Nice catch Keith- well done

Hi Killemjohnny- there are no dumb questions about fishing- just things yet to be learned and this forum is the best place to ask! We used to get heaps of them at night, both off the rocks and in Sydney Harbour, especially Sow and Pigs reef. Look up "Reminiscing-Silver Trevally" in search engine

Ok thanks it would be over 20 years since we were launching from Mystery, just wondered if the ramps were still there

Hi JonD many years ago when the bar was too shallow or it was big run out in the morning we used to launch at Mystery Bay south end ramp (with a panel van and 15' glass boat) there was a worse quality ramp at the north end but 4wd only. Can you still launch from there? Just wondering- not going to. Thanks Waza

Thanks Rebel, I could put a thousand stories on here about adventures down the cliffs. It is an extremely dangerous place to get to, but the rewards were usually great. Sadly, the cliff claimed a fair few lives and ALL the old crew had near death incidents. Last few times I went there were from the safety of a boat! We've been thinking about a "44 year reunion" down there in 12 months, but it'd be by helicopter in/out!