wazatherfisherman

Thanks mate- a very under-utilized spot in Sydney and I used to eat the Whiting but no other fish!

Thanks GF - I know it's polluted but there's plenty of fishing action in there

Thanks Rick! Congrats on those choice Reds too!

Hi George and welcome. Manly dam has Carp and Redfin that you would be familiar with, as well as Australian Bass. Where the dam eventually flows to the sea is through Queenscliff Lagoon, which drains through a man made viaduct at the extreme northern end of Manly Beach (known as Queenscliff Beach) The lagoon suffers greatly at times from pollution (commonly from super phosphates and similar which probably leech into the water from the surrounding golf course) however, there are plenty of different fish species in the lagoon, particularly during summer. There are also prawns, which are easily scooped with a prawn net on the small sandy area about 150 mtr's in from the ocean bridge end- prawn season starts around the dark of the moon in late October. These prawns are the best bait for just about all the species in the lagoon, but are obviously not available at the moment. Lure spinning with light tackle and small shallow diving lures will account for some of the common (to Sydney) species such as Bream, Flathead, Tailor and Trevally, but there are other 'northern species' that turn up every summer that are geographically 'miles from home'. The lagoon fishes best on the larger incoming tides, marked above 1.6 mtr's in the tide charts, with the best fishing on the biggest tides around 2 mtr's which occur during both the full moon and new moon periods. Large 'king tides' around Christmas/New Year always fish well- although that is obviously also a few months away yet. The influx of clean water that pushes in through the viaduct seems to trigger fish activity. The simple rig for bait fishing the lagoon, is to use no larger than a pea sized ball sinker running freely down to a size 1 or 2 baitholder style hook (such as a Mustad 92247 or 92647) and whole green prawn bait, threaded on from tail to head (don't take the head off unless you are peeling the prawn). If you are using live prawns substitute the pea size sinker for 1 or 2 small pieces of split-shot lead so the prawn can move around reasonably freely. A good place to start fishing there is the Hinkler Park end, either from the park on the right hand side as you look towards the coast, even up in the blocked off section or the canal side that goes under the Pittwater Rd bridge. You can almost fish out of your car from the small car park adjacent to the canal entry into the lagoon, Bream Whiting and Flathead are the common species here. Anyway, there is a little information to get you fishing locally, albeit not the best time of year for lagoon fishing (or prawning) but a sneaky spot that can produce some surprising catches- just fish it as a catch and release area, due to pollution levels which are at times quite high- though you often wouldn't know. Any other questions feel free to ask Regards Waza

Hi James my tip for you is to keep a simple 'log-book' of ALL your fishing trips. Buy a decent hard-cover foolscap sized book to keep your info in. You can write in about 3 trips to a page- doesn't take long and you have an easy to reference reminder of what you did and what worked or didn't at particular times Record all the following:: Date and time, Moon phase, Tide phase/s and size, Weather and water conditions, Your target species, Then add your method/s, bait/s, tackle, rigs and results. A 2-3 line summary of what you think happened and why is how you finish your entry. It only takes a few minutes and you can look back on this easily.- EG "Bream were biting on last of run in,stopped at high tide, got a run from a Mulloway on high slack water, wonder if it spooked the Bream?" and so on I did it for years and found it to be invaluable as it relates to your own experiences/triumphs/failures etc. and is "location-specific" for where you are fishing. You can add a symbol or rating for easy reference of particularly good trips. Cheers and good fishing. Waza

Windang was a fishers paradise for catching 'eating fish', prawns and Blue swimmers and most of the folk in "Oaklands" caravan park seemed to be connected by fish, prawns or the cooking/eating of them. Wonderful memories

Never boring Frank! I for one, love reading the 'old' stories of times past, when there were fish everywhere and all the different methods that were used to try and get them- we didn't realise then, how good we had it. I started writing my own fishing 'memoirs', thinking how do you 'catalogue' so many tales? It came down to doing it by species, but after a year or so of writing I've only got as far as 'E' alphabetically and will probably never finish!

Very hard to pick a favourite from a lifetime of fishing 'joys', so it has to be an early one. My Grandparents had a permanent on-site caravan at Windang (Lake Illawarra) and my Grandma bought the first Aluminium boat with an outboard motor that the Windang end of the lake had seen. She won a big daily double at the races and surprised Grandpa by not telling him, instead having the new boat delivered to the caravan. The boat was bought from Knock and Kirby's hardware at Warrawong and as it didn't have a trailer was delivered by a big truck, along with the outboard, which came sitting on a 2 wheeled trolley. The Windang end of the lake was always alive with fish (and prawns) in those days and you only had to go and anchor in one of the 2 channels, use either fresh lake prawns or squirt-worms and you'd catch heaps of fish. Mostly didn't even bother taking the motor, just unchained the boat from the Casuarina tree next to the water and rowed straight out from the van, which suited my Mum, who used to love taking me out and loved handline fishing too. A cork handline with about 30 yards of about 10 pound line was all you needed. The rig was a small sinker sitting above a half a matchstick for a 'stopper' then about 10-12 inches of line to the hook. There were only 2 kinds of hook (so I thought)- bronzed longshank "Whiting" hooks (which came in larger sizes for Flatties and Tailor) and silver (cadmium plated) "suicide" (octopus they're called these days) pattern, which were also known as "Bream hooks"- I liked the Longshanks because the fish didn't swallow them! Method was simple- peel the prawn, then break it into about 4 or 5 bits, each one only about a half inch long, put it on the hook (it only covered the hook-bend!) and drop straight over the side of the boat, hit the bottom and bring it up a few inches. This rig and method used to catch pretty much everything, you never knew what the next fish would be- That was over 52 years ago and I can still remember my excitement every time we hopped in the boat and rowed out to the '2nd channel' - fish of some sort would soon be pulled over the side, as a 5 yr old, that was about as exciting as life could be (for me anyway) and I guess that started the lifetime passion (obsession?!) I've had ever since

Hi Yowie, some years that one would win you 1st prize (which is always $2,500+) there are great prizes on offer

Hi Jim, yes it's a stay on the beach and fish all night trip. Part of entry fee includes a ticket for a stew (or similar) that a fisho known as "The Arab" drives along the beach with, great idea and we got ours one night about midnight in constant rain- nice to have a hot feed on the beach when fishing on a cold, wet night

Hi Yowie, up to 6+kg, plenty of years won by fish in the 3-4.5kg range. Best fish I've seen weighed was a 20+kg Spanish Mackerel caught off the rocks at Cabarita Head on a Tailor that was being retrieved. All fish weighed in are made up in lots and there is a big public auction held on site Cheers Waza

Welcome back Jim, hope you recover quickly. Cheers Waza

Some good info there Ah, welcome to Fishraider. I have fished a few Greenback's over the years. Well organised comp with excellent prizes on offer and a lot of fun. I'm living in Murwillumbah now (ex- Sydney)- great part of the world with heaps of fishing options. Cheers Waza

Well done- some great eating there!

Hi Spool all good builds use thread, all guides replaceable. Suggest contacting manufacturer but sounds like "owner malfunction"? Guides shouldn't fall off especially from expensive rod- are you sure it isn't epoxy that has 'cracked'? Some expensive brands of off the rack rods sell replacement sections but in truth they are big $- Go see your local tackle dealer- they will tell you your options- carbon fibre great for 'responsiveness' but fragile in a different way and sounds like rod 'caught-up' in some way and may now be susceptible to breakage anyway. Sorry for bad news! Regards Waza

They are called Green Nippers or 'pistol prawns'- awesome bait for all estuary fish. Used to get them myself by turning rocks over in Parramatta River when I was a kid. Cheers Waza

When I first stayed at the camp ground there was nothing more than a small amenities block- I don't even remember there being an office or anything like that, I think the ranger came around in the mornings and collected overnight 'fees'. A few years later, stayed at Mystery a couple of times and the facilities were more modern. We launched from the bay and went to Montague. One year when we stayed at Narooma (outside of the convention days) we had to launch from Mystery Bay because Narooma Bar was so silted up and dangerous- at least we still got out to the Island. During the convention, when fishing at Mystery, we targeted Salmon on 3kg and Luderick and Pigs on 2kg, Always wanted to have a snorkel at Mystery but never had the time with all the other fishing going on, looked like a great spot for lobsters too. Incidentally, there was a house there for sale for a couple of years, for get this- $15,000- it was on a huge block on the opposite side of the road from the camp ground, There was only 1 other house on that side then, when we stopped in there about 3 years ago it was a full-on suburb, but the bay looked the same

Many years ago, my old fishing club (AFA of NSW) had an annual trip to Narooma for the Narooma Sports-fishing Convention, which was held the 2nd weekend in March every year (might still be). We usually went down about a week early to 'suss-out' what was going on in the area, which of course meant going to Mystery Bay at least a couple of times for a fish off the rocks. The camp ground end has a couple of great high spots where you can throw a pilchard out into good looking water for Salmon, the odd Tailor etc. Bobby cork rig set about 2 mtr's deep off this end caught us a few fish. As often there were a dozen or more of us, the southern end of Mystery afforded more room, so we usually fished there. What you do is wade out to the "island" about half tide in and stay till about half tide out- it's a safe wade amongst the rocks in the water. When you get out there, you go to the south western end and leave your gear on the higher part. There is an obvious spot along the inside of the southern side, that's good for slow spinning pillies or gars for Salmon (mostly) and Tailor. Big Kingfish taking both the gars and hooked fish created a bit of havoc a few times, but it isn't really a place to try and get one out- not that deep and plenty of obstacles for them to find. When we went out there Luderick and Rock Blackfish (Black Drummer) were the main targets and just back inside the south western side is a great spot for them. Plenty of cabbage there and plates (and safety gear these days) recommended. You set your float 3- 3.5 mtr's deep for Luderick and are fishing facing back towards land, so mornings are best, otherwise the sun's in your eyes. This back ledge is also a good spot to spin for Salmon, back then the "Nilsmaster Invincible" was the go to lure, or any of the Rebel shallow diving minnows in about 15 cm size. Bream and Trevally were also caught by non-Luderick fishing members and we saw really large Blue Groper there more than once. Just keep an eye on the tide, as depending on the condition of the crossing, you could be neck deep going back at high tide. Apparently the crossing silts up at times and you don't even get your feet wet going over, if that's the case, the Luderick spot might be a bit shallow, but it's the gun spot and worth checking out. Years ago, we stayed at Mystery a few times and launched our boats from the ramp at the southern end, bound for Montague Island, but the ramp was often sand covered and 4wd needed. There were only about 15 houses there then and it was a really unique place. Hope this helps you get a few fish, it's old info I know, but reminded me of some fun trips with many club members- even a few of the "boaties" came out to the "Island" at Mystery Bay Cheers Waza

G'day mate - those Botany Hairtail were also some of the biggest ever. From memory, Botany also produced the catches of the biggest Trevally for the AFCA comp fishers. Plenty of 2+1/2- 3kg+ fish weighed from the Bay

G'day Frank, have to agree, by the early 80's the fishing was only "half as good" and in constant decline. I can remember hiring a boat from Lavender Bay as a 16 yr old, going past the Opera House and the whole harbour was boiling with Tailor in every direction as far as you could see- that was in 1977. Your sprayer would have been great to use for the Trevally. Cheers Waza

G'day mate, the old AFCA comps were only about numbers. My club fished the AFCA comps and also ANSA comps. We mainly used 10 kg outside and 1, 2 or 3 kg inside. No sports-fishing during AFCA comps! My all time favourite outfit was a Lamiglas "UL 168" (5 ft 8 in) that I built myself, matched with a Shakespeare 2499 threadline that held 220 mtrs of 1 and about 150 mtrs of 2. At the time, it was the world's smallest threadline.(spinning reel for those that don't know!) Had countless 'epic' battles with Trevally on the 2 kg- most of them were too good for me on the 1 kg in the harbour, they'd always find the reef!

Thanks Toilor3000- always happy to answer any questions, particularly about 'back then'

They are in Manly lagoon, along with all sorts of 'unlikely' northern species-

Got to admit, I wished I'd been born about 15 years earlier- but that'd make me 72 now! Fishing was really good in the 70's and 80's

Thanks Ojay, always happy to divulge any knowledge that may help in the 'quest'!