saltrix

Got away from Roseville about 6.10 am, with fellow fishraider Pete as crew. Tried for squid around Grotto, and trolled there and at Nth Head but it was quiet so did not persist. Bottom bashed at DY wide for some flathead, and then a bit south at my mowie spot. Got a few nice mowies, some small reds, although all were legal, a whopper gunard, a couple more flathead, and lots of red rock cod and small and large sergeant baker. Pete reckoned the large seargent baker was OK to eat, so I will get a report on how it went. Thanks for your company Pete. Finshed with a reasonable feed.

Thanks I will have a look there Regards saltrix

The weather looks good for Friday so I aim to leave Roseville ramp about 6am or Pennant Hills about 5.30am. I have a 5.2m plate boat, GPS, radio, etc and all safety gear. I have 1 down rigger, and am are very experianced fisherman. The plan is to see how the squid are, catch some live bait, troll the headlands for tailor or bonito and if the is calm enough go out to DY wide to catch some flathead, mowies, or reds drifting in 50m. While I have enough gear for a guest if you have gear something to troll bib lures, throw for squid, and bottom bash with 1/2lb lead with about 30lb line is the gear required. I would welcome an experianced fisherman that does not get seasick or takes medication, no assistance with the boat etc is required. We can work out the bait but I have pillies and some prawn bait and burley and usually pick up live bait and sometimes squid, or tailor or bonito on the way out. Email me at aljohn@tpg.com.au or on this site. Any previous guests are welcome. I aim to be back at the ramp about 12noon +-1/2 hour. Reply up to 9pm Thursday night as I am going anyhow. Saltrix Got company now thanks for the reply Saltrix 11 am

The boat that the trailer is required for needs a dual axle overider braked trailer which as when last put on a weighbridge went a shade under 1200kg all up. I have found the dual axle arrangement to be a good setup which gives a safety margin and added stability when towing. I have found the brakes to be the maintenace problem but they are essential for this boat. This is not my personal boat that I own which is just under the 750kg all up and uses a single axle unbraked trailer. Thanks for your suggestion. Regards

I am looking for a new boat trailer for a 6m plate boat, it be would be a dual axle braked trailer capable of a long trip. Does anyone have any recommendations or hooror stories about new trailers? Also I was thinking about some rustproofing compound. Has anyone used a product called Xtroll?

Thats a great fish and land based a top effort. Congratulations.

That was a good effort and a couple of nice fish. Regards

Went out with my mate this morning to get him some Easter fish. Tried for squid at Grotto Point for a while on the way out without success but there were plenty of bite size yellowtail so we settled for a dozen of those and head out to DY wide to give the flathead and mowies a go. Got one just legal marbled flathead which we kept, one Giant Sydney Cuttle which went back, and one nice red rock cod. There was Southerly current at DY and with the SW wind we had trouble keeping the bottom. Tried at Long Reef where I had been getting some nice sweep and a mixed bag but the current seemed to be going east at a great rate and the burly with it, so we moved in close to long reef to about 15m. After a bit of burly the sweep turned up so we got a dozen or so for a feed. The live bait we set out only caught another Giant Cuttle which got itself off while we were thinkin how to release it.

Nice bream, it is a striped catfish and has the venomous spines more hidden that the estuary catfish but they are there so treat them with respect. Regards

Great photos and a nice bream, I used to live around the corner.

Thanks for the tip Peter, I have some fillets frozen with the skin on so I will try smoking them. Regards Alan

Left Roseville ramp at about 6am with a fellow fishraider companion. Planned to pick up some squid around Grotto Point but the low tide and choppy conditions did not encourage us to stay too long so we picked up a dozen yakkas and down rigged them around the Dobroid bombie and inner North Head. Once around the corner outside nth head it was too choppy so we headed for the DY grounds that had been pretty good last week. Today they were not firing and we only got 1 mowie and 1 flathead before heading up to Long Reef where we fished a good sounding of fish. A large cuttlefish provided a bit of excitment before posing for a photo and going back in. I know they are good bait but they are a magnificent animal and they are great to see while diving so I couldnt kill one. Caught a few nice sized sweep as we like eating them when they are this size( 31-34cm) and the frames make good crab bait and berly.

I am heading out from Roseville at about 6am, or Pennant Hills at 5.30am tomorrow. My boat is a 5.2 plate alloy with a 75hp, sounder,GPS, 1 downrigger, and all safety equipment. The plan is to get some squid and live bait, downrig the harbour and around Nth Head and then fish off DY if the sea is calm and the Kings are not playing. Plan to be back at the ramp about 12noon. I am a nonsmoker but dont mind the odd smoke, and I dont drink on the boat. I am looking for company, prefer someone with some sea experiance who doesnt get seasick. Sorry about the short notice but tomorrow looks like the best weather. Give me a ring on 0412 898 778 or 94846549 or reply via email to aljohn@tpg.com.au Alan got some crew now thanks.

Great photos, sounds like a good day out.

Dont be cruel fellas! Touching the numbray is likely to give a an electric shock in the vicinity of up to 400 volts, well severe enough to send you flying of the pool wall, or hurl limbs back violently enough to cause severe injuries. Best to cut them off or use insulated pliers to take the hook out and poke them back. Regards Saltrix

I used to fish the northern end of Palm Beach out on the headland for many years. It is a bit of a hike around the rocks. Best to go out once in daylight. Once you get to the point avoid the front of the point as the waves break overr the shallow edge and is is very dangerous, but inside the point you will see a ledge out by a gutter which is relatively safe as it is out of the main break. This area produces tailor, bream, jewfish, and snapper, with tailor and bream being the mainstay and most fish in the first 2 hours after daybreak. All rockfishing precautions apply here, watch the waves for 10 minutes before fishing and give it a miss in heavy swell, but it is a relatively safe area. Fish I pulled in here include a 22lb snapper and a 30lb Jew, but run of the mill catch would be 3 or 4 nice tailor and a good bream. Fish are caught on unweigthed pilchards or floated pilly bits. If you are inexperianced at rockfishing go with someione who knows the ropes. Regards Saltrix

That is being pretty innovative, glad it paid off and you got a nice fish. Regards Saltrix

Good catch, your perseverence paid off, I couldnt catch anything in the harbour yesterday.

That is true, I do not scale, clean, or fillet fish until I am home and it goes into the fridge for immediate use or into the freezer sealed with a brine glaze for later use.

Yes even though some members have said the flathead seem unaffected I thought there was a lot fresh and coloured water around, and the big schools of yellowtail or cowanyoung were outside the harbour probably because there was too much fresh inside Regards

Go to the fishing chat section, and look at fishing for squid. click on "articles" in the reply by Hodgey to go to some good articles. Generally kelp areas seem to hold the squid but they are not consistant so try different locations until you find them. I have caught them around the island at Balmoral, under the Spit bridge but only of a night or very early in the morning, also around Grotto point close to the rocks, and at South head around the inside near Lady Jane, but they do not seem to be in the same place twice, or like the same size jig or colour as they did the day before. Some other members might have more information.

Started about 6am from Roseville, the plan was to get some squid and live bait and fish the harbour. The squid wouldnt play ball, probably too much fresh, so I thought I would try for flathead on the sand area in front of Sow and Pigs, with some pillies and prawns, but each time I put a bait out it only lasted a few seconds before the little reds devoured it, so after catching several of them I decided to fish out on the sand between the heads. There again the bait was quickly taken but the culprits this time were small jackets. Birds working between the heads caught my attention but they were huge schools of yellowtail or perhaps cowanyoung, but they ignored small spinners and bait jigs so I decided to head out to the DY flathead grounds. There was no action there either, they only seem to be there Sept/Oct/Nov, but there is a good reef or gravel area just to the west of the grounds so I tried a few drifts there. At last I got a few fish. Every time I went over a certain spot I got fish. Unfortunately some were Sergent Baker and one a king of 62cm, (returned reluctantly as it was a deep powerful fish) but the mowies were a good size. Finished up with a good feed and spent a lot of the afternoon filleting, skinning and packing them up. I find if I leave the scales on the fillet and skin them and take the stomach lining and bones away they are good eating. Send me an email if you want the marks, I will have to take them off my GPS as I marked it and got bites every time only on that spot.

Where abouts do you live? I am at Pennant Hills and am happy to scan your photos for you and show you how to store and pin them, or show you how to use your scanner. Give me an email if you are interested, this weekend doesnt look like a good one for fishing or diving so it would be a good time. Regards

About 10 metres in front (East) of Dobroyd Light is a good spot, have a cast for squid from the same place. Berley required of course.