saltrix

There are several areas around DY wide, the foul ground, or dumping ground is 33 46.9 151 21.025, but you need to poke aound, watch your sounder to avoid the hard reef, and try several locations around the area. Mark your GPS when you get a fish so you ncan drift back over that spot. Regards saltrix

After reading some good reports about Kings t Long Reef my mate and I decided to give them go , so after catching a supply of bite size yellowtail we headed out. On the way around North Head we set lures out and a nice sized Salmon took a pink squid lure. At Long Reef while looking for a good spot we put pink squid out and landed our first King at 58cm back it went. Drifting around with the livies out the back produce another this time 62cm, but with n additional 8/0 hook hanging from his jaw. He went back a happier fish after being relieved of his extra hardware. Then it was out to Long Reef wide where I have done OK on flathead and the odd red, but it was as very quite so we headed back to out trusted site off Dee Why. This produced flathead and some reds, and then moved further south to a Morwong spot I think is known as the dumping ground which produced some more reds, flathead, morwong, Samson fish, as well as several banjo sharks which went back after wasting time bringing them up. A pod of about 5 whales went past putting on a show for us, I tried to photograph them but I had to be quick and didn't have time to set up a good shot. The wind blew up and then eased, and we got a good feed and the salmon was as good as the reds for tea tonight. I have discover the trick is to cut off the red flesh and just lightly cook it. It came out just as nice as the flathead and better than the snapper which I think has a taste in the skin at this time of year. Maybe the larger Kings will be there next week.

I caught them in the middle of the day as my wife does not to get up early. The best time is about an hour each side of a high tide at first light or last light, but the change of a Low is also ok. They are a bit hit or miss as there is a lot of trawling which cleans them up. Set the hoops at about 3 metres at the edge of a channel, and avoid the big tides as the jellyblubbers will carry them away once the run starts.

Had a desire for a taste of blue swimmer so packed a picnic lunch and bought the wife a fishing licence and set a few witches hats off Dangar. Had lunch and threw a couple of prawns over to catch a 29cm red, a small jew, and a legal 39cm flathead. Just finished tea, the flathead and blue swimmers were delicious, washed down with a glass of white. a shame there were not a few more of them.

Paul. There are marks which produce fish at that exact spot, and the gps in a great tool to get you to that location and ensure you track over the mark. Just drifting around does pick up a few fish, but it is much better to mark the spot where the bites occur and go over that spot again. The spots we fish are about 5 nautical miles off Dee Why and I am happy to give you site marks or GPS for a site. After that drift around the mark and see where the fish bite, then mark it on the GPS. It gets a bit rough so do not exceed your boats range, and also the depth is 50-58m so we use 1LB sinkers and 3 dropper rigs as it a long way up. If the wind is more than about 5 knots a sea anchor is a good idea. Also watch the sounder as there are reefs at the edge of the gravel drifts which snag your gear and also are inhabited by pickers. PM me if you want a GPS mark. Regards Alan

The plan was to head out to the Sydney FAD to try for dollies, then head to Long Reef wall to see if there were any Kings around, but after rounding the heads it was too rough to make the longer runs and we settled for DY wide. There were a few fish around but it was very rough for the first couple of hours then it calmed down when it was time to head for home. We caught a good mixed bag of mowies, reds, and marbled flathead, with a few jackets and wrasse as well. Here is my catch. Not what we planned but a good day considering conditions.

The fish were caught on pilchards and tentacles of local squid left over after having eaten the tubes. Mullet or tailor strips are good as well as they do not get taken by by small stuff. We fish in 55m so we use a heavy sinker and 3 droppers as it is a long way up. The site is about 5km out from Dee Why.

Middle Harbour was as flat as glass as we headed out at dawn. It was so flat we didnt waste much trolling around Dobroyd as there was no white water at all, however around North Head was a different story and it was quite jiggley until we cleared south Manly, and even then it was a bit rough with some big swell and steep waves. It got a bit calmer later and some good fish came in. As we were drifting the fishing was better when the breeze got up a bit to give us a good drift, but by about 10.30 it was too fast even with the sea anchor so we headed home. Here was my share of the catch. It was too rough to take pictures outside. Saw a green turtle swimming on the surface on the way home so there must be a warm current.

The traps were set at 3 to 5 metres at the edge of channels with whole yellowtail sliced a couple of times but I usually use flathead frames with the same success. Th e tide was 1/2 out .

Took the grandkids out to catch a fish or crab, but after a few delays we missed the tide but we gave it a go about 11.30 am. Set 4 hoops around Dangar, and then tried to fish off the back channel with a few prawns. Got a surprise when the girls caught a legal flounder and a nice bream. The twins then worked together to pull the hoops up for 4 nice blue swimmers. It was a nice day on the water with a nice breeze.

At last the weather was good enough to go outside and restock my fish supply, although there was a big swell so we gave trolling around North Head a miss as the swell was rolling in. Also the few miles around North Head to Manly was like a washing machine, but calmed down as soon as South Manly head was passed. At DY Wide the first drop yielded a good flathead, and mowies and flathead came in regularly as well as lots of 29cm snapper which went back as gently as possible to grow that extra cm. The westerly dropped and was replaced by a light NE so we headed home around 10.30am with a fair catch. A couple more flathead were added after I took the picture. The measure is 39 cms and most of the fish were much longer, the largest morwong being a very good size. Although we had good pilchards and some Hawksbury prawns most of the fish took squid tentacles from from large local squid of which we had eaten the body and kept the tentacles for bait.

We were a bit late arriving at Tunks Park ramp today and thought we would have trouble find a park, but there was only a dozen or so cars there. The breeze was about 10 - 15 knots but the forecast was for improving conditions so after an unsuccessful troll around Grotto and a look at the big swell around North Head we decided to head for DY wide, while keeping a lookout for stripped tuna which were around last week. We were out about 5 kilometers investigating some working birds when we noticed the plume of a whale's breath. We were then treated to about 5 minutes of spectacular leaps and backflips from a large humpback about 100metres in front of us on its way down south. Just to see that was worth the trip in the jiggley conditions. At DY wide we both hooked up on the first drop to nice flathead, but several Sargent Baker and undersized flathead followed. It was hard to hold the bottom even with the sea anchor, but conditions slowly eased until there was hardly any drift at all. Good fish came in consistently and at around noon with 18 flathead, 2 snapper, and 2 morwong between us we decided family fish supplies were secure and headed home. Sorry there were no photos of the whale as looking at the ones I took there is only a blurry splash and several pictures of waves as the swell was so big we disappeared in the troughs. Attached is my share of the catch. The snapper was just legal at 32cms but some of the flathead were whoppers.

Even though the forecast was for rain my fish supply had run out and was keen to wet a line so with the calm seas and low swell forecast we gave it a go. There was only 1 trailer at Tunks Park so there was no trouble launching. Things looked good for a start and we picked up 4 tailor trolling Dobryd and Washaway beach area, although the big seas hitting the beach did not agree with the calm seas low swell forecast. As we were keen to catch some of those big flathead and mowies usually around at this time, we gave the tailor away, as they were only just legal size, and headed out to DY wide. Trolling around south head produced a salmon, but the seas were pretty lumpy so we kept heading out. The seas got better once off Manly although still a bit jiggly. After an hour drifting over our consistent spots off DY we had not lost a bait. Most unusual for this area at this time of the year. It seems all the fish had disappeared, so as the seas were getting bigger and rougher we headed back to the harbour where we burleyed for a while to try to find some trevally, but only found small jackets. Got pretty wet despite good rainwear. No pictures as nothing worth photographing except the rain.

Heading to port Stephens for a week. Any general fishing sites information would be appreciated, from the forecasts it looks like inside will be the go. Saltrix

Took the grandkids out for a picnic but took the witches hats and 6 prawns as well. The kids caught a 43cm flathead and a flounder that just made the 25cm while we had morning tea. Picked up the witches hats just after the picnic as the weather looked a bit dark and they had caught a couple of whoppers. Had a nice day on the water, the Hawksbury should do well for some serious fishing at the moment.

Ovalipes australiensis. Surf Crab or sand crab. 0 to 34 m. depth. Perth to Qld and Tasmania. max 105mm size Ref Australian Marine Life. GJ Edgar Not bad eating but mind the sharp bits. Regards Saltrix

Went out in the mates boat with a view to mixing with some of the palagics that have been reported in the harbour and startred well with a couple of tailor around Grotto. The harbour was pretty rough and got a nice bonito at North Head only to lose it when our lines tangled partly due to the choppy conditions. Strange to say the conditions outside did not look too bad, and when we cleared the southern Manly headland it was better than in the harbour. Went out to our mark off DY and got a few fish, a couple of nice mowies and some nice blue spot flathead, also got a few marbled flathead only just keeper size but I do not think there is any legal size for them. Dusky are 36cm and Bluespot and Tiger 33cm but there is no mention of Marbled flathead in the rules, however I always return them less than about 36cm if they are going to survive and these were all 34-35cm. Then spent some time chasing some working fish out wide, probably stripies but they ignored out Xmas trees and the pounding of the boat sent them down before we could cast into them. Headed home about lunchtime and picked up one bonito at North head. Got a nice feed and enjoyed the day.

Had not taken the boat out for a while for a few different reasons so thought I had better give it a run before taking it to Nelsons bay in a few weeks. Launched at Berowra ramp about 2pm with 4 witches hats, 4 very old trevally frames, and 6 prawns as well as a late picnic lunch. The motor blew a bit of smoke at first but seemed to then run OK so went a bit past Bar point to set the hats on the 3m bank in the middle of the river before anchoring on the bend to have lunch. The run was too strong to get to the bottom but eased off around 3pm. Decided to check the hats and got several very large male blue swimmers so reset the hats and threw the line over to drift for another 20 minutes. Managed 1 40cm flathead and then picked up the hats for a total of 6 very large blue swimmers. Just finished a nice meal of crab followed by a nice fillet of flathead.

After all the bad weather my mate and I decided to give it a go out from the harbour this morning. Tried trolling around Dobroyd without success so tried North Head with vague thoughts of going outside, but even 100 metres around the corner was too far and we beat a slow retreat back inside. Anchored up near Dobroyd bombora marker and put out a bit of berly. Was almost going to quit because of the little reds when the trevally made a brief appearance and we picked up 5 between us in a short burst, plus a few undersized. The breeze then really picked up and made it really uncomfortable even in the harbour so we gave it away except for a quick look at the wreck at the Tunks park bay entrance. When cranking the boat back onto the trailer the winch post broke off requiring a bit of ropework to get the boat on the trailer. On a close look it seems the bottom of the post fatigued at the weld and the whole bottom joint failed. I inspected my own boat to check it was OK. I would recommend having a close look at your winch posts to check for any signs of fatigue as I have seen this happen before. They really should have some sort of brace so that the weld does not have to take the load of the boat.

Did a similar trip on Saturday with my mate. Got a legal trevally while trying for yellowtail at Grotto. Should have stayed there. Managed a bonito trolling around under Mac. light then tried for the Peak but gave up when the southerly started. Tried the bottom on the way home but lost hooks and got one jacket before the breeze got too much. Persisted with the trolling in close but only with the wind and the mate got another bonito. They seem to like the smaller bibbed lures, 3 to 4 inch medium depth.

Thinking of trying the Peak to see if there are any Kings around. Any reports on whats around there at the moment?

Kill and them and bleed them, then keep them on ice. Don't bother scaling them, just take the fillet off and then skin them leaving the blood layer near the skin behind. Cut the fillet in halves leaving the bones and blood lines behind. To cook cut into large fingers and dip in flour then in a beaten egg and then breadcrumbs, Panko are good, then oven bake on oiled tray or pan fry in oil. The trick is to only lightly cook it, leave it too long and it becomes dry and stringy. Best done fresh, but I have frozen the fillets after glazing them in a brine solution and they are still OK. Regards Saltrix

Started the day with perfect conditions,(yesterday Sat.) no wind and a bright sunny morning as my mate and I rounded Dobroyd point. Trolled some minnows around Nth Head to try for some fresh bait as the plan was to anchor up off Long Reef and burley up for some reds or whatever. We managed one nice Bonito but the huge school of Salmon working a few hundred metres out looked promising so we ran out and got a couple to back up or snapper catch (just as well). They were feeding on very small whitebait and would look at nothing else but these small plastics went off immediately but the delivery system needs some work. They dont like any splashing around the lure and it needs some delivery system. The fly fishermen seem to do OK but I used a small lure a metre above the lure and a light leader. After putting a couple in the esky we headed for Long Reef On the way we saw several whales blowing but none close enough to photograph. A school of dolphins saw the boat and came over to ride the bow wave and check us out. On the way we made a stop at DY Widen where there are usually good flathead, so we gave it a few drifts, but there was absolutely no wind and little current resulting in no flathead action (a couple of undersized went back). On to the Long Reef and sent out a good berly trail and a couple of floaters with small sinker and dropped patternosters deep as well. Noticed the lines rising to the surface and found hooks bitten off. Also on the bottom hooks bitten off and a couple of jackets caught. I got tired of re-rigging and gave up and as a bit of breeze had come up the flathead drift looked like the go. Unfortunately by the time we got back there it was blowing 15-20 knots and the drift was too fast even with the sea anchor and the chop made fishing uncomfortable, so we headed back to the lee under Nth Head wher we burleyed to no avail. Then went back to the salmon and took another 1 each and trolled up a couple more bonito. Bit late home with a dissapointing catch but with my newfound skill at cooking salmon there was at least a feed. This was my share.

My mate was keen to look around close in for some tuna so we headed out around 10km from Nth Head but saw nothing and no touches on the lures. Reading the reports it looks like we needed to go much further out but that was out of our trailer boat range. Then headed for our reliable snapper spot off Long Reef but the wind started to come up so we decided to settle for a feed of flathead from our reliable flathead marks, but the wind got up a bit more and even drifting was out of the question. Then had a slow bumpy ride back to Nth Head where we left 30km and 2 hours before and anchored just north of the point and burleyed up with old pilchards. Fished with size 1 hooks and bits of prawn and pilchard fillets and got onto the trevally. The salmon were a nuisance as they kept taking the the minute baits meant for the trevally and released 4 or 5 after keeping 1 each for fish cakes. They were a very good size. Finished with about 25 trevally between us so at least we have a feed of fish. A whale came up about 30m from us only 40m from Nth Head

Great shot of the gannet, you must have been quick to get it as they are pretty fast on the dive.