wazatherfisherman

Wow these photo's have special significance to me- The first one is actually 'Bird Island' at Bondi Murk. The cables out were 'privately owned' and padlocks jammed tight on the cables prevented others going out in their own bosun's chairs. There were 'lockers' built into the wall where the gear was stored. Two of the guys from Eastern Suburbs Anglers who fished with us at the Mattens (1km north) told us how they used to go out there and 'bounce' their simple chairs over 2 padlocks so they could fish the spot. Zane Grey donated much of the gear he used in Australia and it ended up in the now long closed 'Australian Fishing Museum' which was located at Birkenhead Point. I worked there for a year and we'd allow visitors to handle most of the tackle while in the company of a museum staff member. Many of his early reels were like giant 'centrepins' with a leather brake-pad that was applied manually. First Marlin I ever ate was given out by the game fishers after weighing at Watsons Bay. They cut 2 up and handed out steaks to anyone who wanted some- I was about 12 and there on a family picnic. Went to see the fish being weighed and the fisher's just offered it to everyone on the wharf as they had 3 Marlin on board. Can lay claim to one of the last people to fish Nielsen Park wharf, my mate Fraser and I spent a cold Autumn night on there after being dropped off by boat to fish a Sydney Metro Estuary Comp. There was no access to the wharf from the land by that stage, after a huge storm had removed the connection to the shore, leaving about a 10mtr gap over the water. Shame they decided to remove the old structure as it was a 'fish magnet' that attracted heaps of fish and a great spot for many species from Luderick to Kingfish. Gordons Bay Amateur fisho's club were right in the proposed marine park and wouldn't have been able to fish safely close-in if the proposal hadn't been blocked. The bay featured on the news late in 2022 when enormous seas destroyed some of the boat storage area and washed a few boats out. The bay itself is a marine sanctuary and popular with divers. Thanks for posting these pics Donna, they're great!

Fantastic again- the stuff fisher's dreams are made of. Superb photo's. The Arowana looks like a cross between an Arapaima and a Saratoga- cool looking fish

Absolutely fantastic post Dave and Amy- what an awesome experience. Sensational photo's as well. Thanks for sharing it all

The army used to abseil down at Jacobs ladder for training. The swinging ladder at Macquarrie lighthouse was way more scary. There are quite a few more fishing spots along that section, many of which are accessed by rope ladders. Personally I much preferred to climb with ropes and never trusted some of the ladders, using ropes to hang onto always felt better. There was a death at Diamond Bay when one of the 'permanent' ladders broke free from the wall while a young guy was climbing it- he wasn't a fisher, just decided to climb down and a high section of ladder just broke off. From memory the council then removed the top section straight away. The ladders there had been there a long time when we first climbed down in about 1976-77. The spot at the bottom was known as the 'Block' and plenty of people fish from the tops of the cliffs along there, mostly using floats/corks. A guy called 'Ben Buckler Barnacle' has done a few really interesting articles on many of the old fishing spots from South Head to Waverly Cemetery with plenty of pictures, great descriptions and a couple of videos- well worth a look if you want to see some of the rock locations.

Hi Rebel not me I'm not that old! The rungs on that ladder are pretty far apart- wouldn't have been fun for my short legs! Have fished it though

Great and very entertaining video of a top day out! Pity about getting hooked Zoran but at least you got it out!

You've been catching plenty of good fish Chris! Another good and tasty haul!

Great report Mike! Good to see you've gone 'big'

Thinking about the old boatshed over the last few nights, I think there were actually two boatsheds not one- the larger one had a different type of boat and they were slightly cheaper than the one next door. The one closer to the bridge also had canoes, whereas the one closer to the caravan park had far more boats. From memory we always hired from the one next to the caravan park- it was a LONG time ago! I do remember they sold live worms in lake weed wrapped in newspaper. The Windang end of the lake was alive with fish, prawns and Blue Swimmers in the 60's and catching a feed was really easy.

I was only a small child but remember the boatshed well- it was always exciting hiring a boat from there. We (grandparents) had a permanent van in Oaklands caravan park and my Grandma bought a tinnie from Knock and Kirby's at Warrawong, it was the first aluminium with an 'outboard' motor down the Windang end. Grandma surprised Grandpa with the boat after she won the money on a huge 'daily double' at the TAB. First anyone knew of the boat was when a big truck pulled up and asked where it was to be put, Grandma just smiled and said to leave it on the bank next to the water and Pop (Grandpa) was stunned. The boat was left there for years in the same spot with a small chain to a Casurina tree- the logo on the side was a top hat and cane with the word 'Topper' painted onto the white hull. Motor and all boat accessories were just left in the van's annexe- only clipped up and nothing was ever pinched. Quite often had to hire a couple of boats as well, due to extended family gatherings and friends in three adjacent vans. Very fond memories of early childhood. There were always fishers lined up standing in the water either side of the boatshed fishing for Luderick. The old boats were classic style timber with a kedge-style anchor each end and no chain, just thick rope. You only had to row straight out from the boatshed to find fish in either the main channel or our favourite back channel

Great stuff James! You deserve to get one. Buggers fight hard eh! Now to get one in Sydney. Great vid too!

Fantastic! Beware Kingfish now! For 'inside' use I think you'd get away with just a weight-less hook. Just weighed the lure it's 41gms

Awesome! Great stuff Chris! I actually nicknamed this one 'Kingy Bringy' The idea was to make something heavy enough, attractive and durable enough for 'big stuff'. I was chuffed when I first saw how they swim 'by themselves'- hopefully be great for both other species you suggested but I made them with Kingfish in mind. Better make some more now! Thanks for the great feedback mate

Excellent Chris- looking forward to the footage!

Great day and great tucker!

Great stuff Mike! I better make a few more of them, been mucking around with some new ideas instead of staying with things that I usually make. Did you use one of those tungsten weighted hooks like you showed me?

Great result for 15 minutes of fishing Mike! First of many on the new set up!

Great bag of eating fish there Chris- cool you got a King on one of the big plastics

The Nilsmaster's were just about the best Bonnie lure I reckon, favourite colour was orange topped with yellow sides and the jointed 6 inch was the absolute killer- still got a few I'll put a picture up later today. Did you get your fish on metals Rebel?

Getting expensive too these days Noel! They last years longer than the new 'hi-carbon' crap

Just to add- if you can find some plain white feather skirts they are just as good (if not better) if they have red/white feathers pull the red ones out. Go 7/0 for the 115mm skirts- just make sure the hook is right at the end. If you're lucky enough to find feathers (lead head) with mother-of-pearl/ shell eyes they are way better than the red plastic ones. 75mm skirts are mainly for Frigates

Mustad 34007(stainless) are the ones Noel suggests 8260(tinned) are the Limerick, both straight patterns. Don't use anything smaller than a 5/0 or you'll lip and lose fish. Standard hooks for Stripies, Kings even Frigates we used to use 6/0, 7/0 or 8/0- don't worry they aren't too big unless you are using real small skirts, even then 5/0 is minimum size and make sure the hook sits with the bend adjacent the rear of the lure

I don't usually watch idol and only watched it after reading about it on Raider- WOW! Best of luck Jakob you have a great voice and style. Hope you enjoy becoming a star!

Good on you Rebel I hope your kind gesture made his day- and he caught some fish on his new gear. Well done mate

I'd be in it if possible- we've had 2 in the last couple of years, one at Frank's and another at a Thai restaurant up the central coast- great meeting other Raiders