wazatherfisherman

Bet you're hooked now Mike! Well done

We used to get plenty in the Parramatta River also, just by turning rocks over amongst the weed. Always called them green nippers or pistol prawns as everyone has said. Just about everything eats them, even Luderick. No collecting allowed in the river these days

Great stuff Mike I'm betting the plastics get a rest for a while now! Clifton isn't always an easy spot to catch them either. Hope you enjoy the feed!

Hi Mike the stuff on the right is the guru bait, the stuff on the left works at times but I'd concentrate on the box on the right. If the stuff on the left is slimy after washing it a bit it mightn't be much good. The fish sometimes feed on it in canals though- The cabbage looks fine. Try and keep the flat strands together and the round strands (roots) at the top of your bait. The round strand-ends are good for half-hitching as they are a bit tougher Good Luck when you go!

Hi Mike the cabbage found up around your area is great to use- the soft 'sheet' type works really well, you just have to use a couple of 'layers' to make a tough enough bait. Like Pete says above, night time they become more 'carnivorous' and nippers, prawns and squirt worms are the go. We used to get a few on bloodworms while night time Whiting fishing around Drummoyne and have caught them in quite a few locations using worms. Both Luderick and Surgeonfish readily take nippers also. They will readily take tiny shrimps day and night, but pretty much all fish eat them- a good bait to try when they are 'off' green bait. Off the ocean rocks, when the sea is rough they are a common catch on cunjevoi and we used to see big catches of them weighed in during competitions- all caught at night on cunjevoi. Curracurrang Bay in the Royal National Park is a well known spot to fish for them with cunje after a few days of massive southerly seas. The cunje gets broken off the platforms and ends up in the corner off the southern end of the bay, in turn attracting heaps of Luderick and Drummer who get at it at high tide. Bread also accounts for plenty off the ocean rocks, but more of a 'sight' thing in my experience during the daylight hours. One of our Luderick mentors- Wally McLuckie- caught a few on standard float tackle off the rocks in the dark, so they do feed on vegetation also. To @Duffy75's original question- they go right up major rivers during winter and spawn amongst the Mangroves, my own theory is they 'need' some 'meat' in their diets around spawning time, even if they are feeding on vegetation during the day, they readily take the above mentioned baits of a night. How far up the rivers they end up might be related to how much fresh (rain) there's been. Definitely worth a try, but not overly familiar with the area up there.

Nice report! They go hard and are underrated as a sports fish. Really good when cooked in foil in the coals also

No worries- just trying to save you some money as it's your first o/h - while I was an active rock hopper Tortue was the best line in regards to abrasion resistance, followed by Schneider and Weiss Perlon. If a Kingfish runs more than 150mtrs away it's lost! Like slowjigger said you need big capacity for Longtails. Braid hadn't been invented in my day!

Hi kc687 have you considered a Shimano TLD 25?- For what you want to do they are fine and considerably less expensive than most of the other lever drag reels. They hold enough line, have a decent drag and aren't too heavy to hang onto for long periods. 15kg for kings in Sydney as a minimum- most fishers can't break 15kg through the rod. I spent close to 18yrs fishing for Kings off the Sydney rocks and used 15 as a minimum before going to 25kg (mono- 'Tortue') and although using different overhead reels over the years kept going back to an Alvey 651E5 with 25kg line- plenty of guys laughed at the idea of using that type of reel/set up as it is both heavy and 'unfashionable', however, my old crew caught tons of Kings up to 20kg on these reels combined with 8 and 9ft 9 wrap rods and landed the majority of fish that we hooked, washing a lot of them out without a gaff.It's a different style and more 'physical' . We mainly fished our live bait deep (over 20ft) and close in to the edge. As you intend to fish for longtail's with it also it mightn't be as suitable for that type of thing- hence the suggestion of a TLD as a starting point without breaking the bank balance and getting a suitable type reel. Also we only used 25kg for leader as we were fishing over a 'clean' bottom and minimal 'undercut' edges

Nice report! They're great fighters and excellent on the plate. While the westerlies blow you can get onto the low ledges and fish for them productively

Great report and photo's- sounds like an excellent day out Jim

I remember being really disappointed when papers went up from 8c to 10c and tips all but vanished. Used to get 80c for doing the near 3 hour paper run and many of the paper boys quit. The newsagent had to up the pay to $1 for the run before anyone would take the jobs after that. You used to get 10c for returning the largest glass Coke bottle around the same time! Be interested to see any other photo's of the old stuff- the last "Old Things" post a couple of years ago ended up being one of the longest posts ever

Good find Dave- the Alvey boxes are always popular with collectors, the Wonder Wobblers no doubt still good for a cast and enough big sinkers to last for ages. Always like seeing old finds

We caught a few on tiny lures at Ferry St Hunters Hill a few months ago- they busted up like Tailor and we were surprised at the size of them- around 20cm, biggest ones I've seen in the river

If you mean line diameter then yes- I've been using them for years- only on mono up to about 25lb, they are really hard to get on 30lb and over. Use 2 of them for live bait fishing as the strike can be violent enough to move them. I've been using 2 of the smaller sized ones for Luderick since they were first made available and they're great for floats and corks. Reason for using 2 is when fishing inside (running float) you can easily see any shallower depth changes you make by just moving the one closest to the float- makes for easy reference. If you run out/don't have any beads (for between cork and stopper) just fold a piece of electrical tape over on itself, cut to a small size and poke a hole in the middle- works fine. When live bait fishing with heavy line off the rocks we used to tie 2 stoppers on and face them towards each other, you just use the same line as you're using for best 'grab'- just remember to leave a piece of line separate before rigging up

Hi Neil great thread! I've enjoyed reading everyone's replies also. For me it's float fishing, watching the float teaches so much about fishing and Luderick fishing even more so. You learn about tides and water movement, bait types and presentation of bait, timing the strike and then playing your fish on light line, how to land fish by washing them up. Simply watching the float you get to know what's going on in the water around you, where you should distribute your burley so it brings the fish to you (not away from you!) and it brings together many facets of fishing that combine to provide a picture that makes sense. Luderick more so because you are purposely hunting just them and although you do encounter other species that are interested in your weed/cabbage presentation, you are specialising in what you're after. You learn the limitations of your 6lb line and are playing the fish on a reel without a drag system- it's your judgement of when to give/take line on a centrepin reel and whippy rod. Dealing with Drummer and Surgeonfish on your light tackle is always challenging and in many locations, not knowing with certainty what's taken your bait adds to the fun. The fact that Luderick are a viable target almost year round, a species available at 'gentleman's hours' and take some skill to become proficient at catching, makes them appealing, being good to eat is an extra. Then comes float fishing for bigger stuff, drifting a cork out off the ocean rocks with a live bait under it provides 'adrenaline fishing'- when the cork disappears at lightning speed it could be anything from a Tailor to a Marlin, the excitement of watching the big cork fly under and knowing that your foot long bait has been grabbed by 'something big' always gets the pulse rate up. Using large live bait on an illuminated cork at night when chasing Mulloway off the rocks is really exciting as well, due to them grabbing the bait at speed and seeing the light vanish into the darkness would probably be the biggest rush of all. Then there's more 'sedate' float fishing for lesser fighting species like John Dory or Garfish- still the same enjoyment and expectation when the Dory downs the cork or the Garfish pulls the tiny float sideways. This year I've gone Hairtail fishing a few times, land based, but again using a float/cork, and watching the battery-lit cork bob around erratically in the dark when the live bait becomes nervous always keeps you on your toes. Hairtail can be tricky to hook when using live bait and a cork, so waiting until you're sure they've taken it well down their throat before setting the hook requires both luck and patience, sometimes that involves watching the submerged light moving around for a few minutes before attempting hook-up- so far this year, more landed than lost (thanks to the new flashing lights we use under our floats/corks) So for me, 'float fishing' would be my favourite- watching the float and the expectation of it going down at any moment is hard to beat

Hi Bessell 1955 yes- I fished that area from about 1973 onwards! There are still good fish to be caught there, however, winter isn't the best time for many species in the shallower areas there. Luderick, Surgeonfish, Bream and Tailor probably the best targets now.

Good sized squid and a nice feed. Cool photo's also

Park on the corner of Iluka and Morella Rd's and there is a track down next to the 'Manor'- the most easterly home. Far better spots if you go east rather than into Taylor Bay - turn left at the bottom of the track rather than right to go your circled area. To access the other spot there is a track going east from the car park immediately inside the entrance to Bradleys Head, where this track meets the other intersecting track and go left, just cross straight over on the first track on your right. When you get to the open space where the path meets sandstone ledges, go down two steps on the left side of the ledge and follow the track to the right- don't go left as you can't get down. Keep veering right- the track is really narrow and comes out right on the corner where there are some really narrow old sandstone steps. Only worth fishing there while the tide is up- if you walk back around the rocks to the south (right) about 10 minutes along is the best area, known as White Rock or White Wall, where there's an obvious 'platform'. This spot only fishes well from just before high tide to about an hour or so before low tide for all the species there.

Hairtail were really abundant up until Easter but have tapered off in the big numbers since then, but are still around. They were getting them off the shore at Illawong Bay from Feb this year- we went up and caught a few using live Yellowtail, they weren't interested in Pilchards when I was there, only Yellowtail. Returned again last new moon and didn't lose a bait, only one was caught between about 40 fishing for them. Interestingly, none of the ones I've heard of have had any roe in them, so the 'early season' run didn't seem to be the usual spawning run and maybe this year will be a great year for them? They have been getting them from Port Kembla to Newcastle Harbour for a couple of months and have heard there's been some in both Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay- love catching them. The new 'strobe' light method of catching them works really well- you just put the flashing light on directly above your wire trace and it definitely attracts them. We caught them at the Mattens a few times and they get them off the top of the cliffs at the 'Block' at Eastern Avenue

Only just read this- good on you Rebel, very generous and the boys will get great benefit using their own gear. It's great that you've been showing them the ropes and they obviously enjoy it. Plenty of fish to come now for all three of you

Alex Bellisimo posted his opinion on this a little while ago- he made some good points on things like access for older, physically challenged and beginners having a fairly safe easy to get to spot. Luderick fishers should also note possibly no more collecting weed on the platform- Mona Vale weed has always been a highly regarded bait throughout Sydney. 'Proof' for any sanctuary needs to be demonstrated, as to what environmental benefits can be accomplished (if any at all) Seems like a bit of a status proposal in my opinion.

I bet the whales look pretty big from a jet ski. Great day out catching over 20 fish

@FrankS made me some 'Wazza Wobblers'- even better than the original in stainless steel- everything from Trout to Tuna have been caught on the trusty wobblers. My curse lure was the first plastic minnow I ever bought, a Bill Norman "Swayback"- it cost 4 times as much as other lures and although fish often followed it they rarely struck at it. The swayback was just a jointed minnow, same shape as the Husky Jerk which turned out to be a great lure.

Great bag of fish Chris!

For years I used to have a "Kentucky Fried Chicken" foam surfboard with a cut out for a box and another for a tray for unhooking etc- take anything you want then because you're just towing via a cord attached to your belt, you could even put a cooler bag on (I had a keepnet with net corks around the top instead) "Anchor" was the bottom piece of a 'Totem Tennis' pole tied on to push in the sand as you went, even melted a hole for a rod holder (for re-rigging not fishing). Landing net sat on top instead of hanging off the belt. Really handy when you walk extensive flats with no dry land for your keys, wallet etc and the tray was good for rigging on as stuff stayed on it rather than rolling off into the water. Surprised someone didn't sell something similar commercially