Short

I don't remember saying that.

Yeah fair point about fishing the surface rather than bottom. I thought fishing with livies should cut back on the ports and wobbies as well, but then you need the time to get the livies. Thanks for the safety tips/considerations - I fish some risky places but do my own risk assessment and controls before getting a line in. Hard to fall over the edge if you're harnessed in to the rock! Some of the other things I see on rock ledges are pretty ridiculous however - can see disaster written all over them. Some people are just oblivious it seems.

G'Day Raiders, Moved close to a spot with a really some really good elevated rock platform/cliffs. Talking 5m - 9m above the water with an overhang. Deep water, can fish it in any swell so ticks lots of boxes there. My drama is landing stuff that can't be cranked up with a rod. Even with my heaviest beach gear (80lb braid, 15-24kg 14ft rod) I can't deadlift stuff up to the rocks. Got a gummy, port jackson and wobby last night and had couldn't pop them off straight (using 80lb leader) so had to maneuver them close to a low rock and use that to saw through the leader. No chance at all of cranking them up would have busted a rod. Meant to be a fair few jew and king around this spot so need to get a strategy together. I know you can get cliff gaffs that slide down the line but wouldn't imagine they are much good for releasing port jacksons, wobbies etc. Any other options out there? At the moment I'm thinking of one or a combination of: - Stiff overhead casting rod + reel with 80lb mono main line all the way through so smaller stuff that can be cranked up or "hand over hand" pulled up - Cliff gaff for the stuff that is going to the table - Running lighter leader than main line so I can pop off ports and wobbys Would really like to find a way that I can fish that spot and be able to release ports and wobbys, sometimes the ports are in plague proportions at this time of year. Really do not like seeing them swim away with a mouthful of hooks. Don't like losing gear either! Any ideas let me know!

I reckon someone will buy the brand there has to be some value there. Near enough to a household name for anyone that grew up near the coast.

Yeah great read! Need more of this sort of stuff on the forums IMO.

No swell no wind is the safest and risk/discomfort goes up from there. So many variables and so many parts of long reef to give an answer. I would say forget about it in any wind over 20 knots from any direction. Not necessarily dangerous but wouldnt be pleasant in a yak. Aside from that walk up to the lookout right at the end, watch for 15 mins or so and make an assessment yourself.

I'm not aware of any restrictions on fishing for them in harbours/estuaries.... I don't think there is any way you can choose a "small bull shark" fishing place over any other size bull shark fishing place.... They choose not you! There are loads of bulls in the harbour but don't hear of that many being caught even as bycatch. I've never heard of anyone going out intentionally to catch bulls - out of interest why do you want to do that? Spend enough time fishing the surf beaches you will get plenty of bronze whalers, dusky whalers, gummies, rays, nurses, wobbies etc. might even come across a bull. I always target jew off the beach at night and get loads of sharks as bycatch, have landed up to 7ft nurse (protected species) and bronzies/duskies to 5ft (they go much harder). If you do hook one, just take care when you are landing them and releasing - could easily lose a few fingers or end up with some arterial bleeding if you don't get it right.

Just launch right up in the eastern corner of fishermans beach where the old dinghys, winches and cleaning tables are. Should be right launching in pretty much any swell there. Can be a mean shoredump near the boat ramp.... have a look at some of the vids on youtube, its carnage.

Narra lakes.... bike track the whole way around!

I got a waterproof laptop messenger bag.... originally for work but ended up as a fishing bag. Perfect for walking long distances climbing rock hopping etc etc if you are land based. Fits a small flat tackle box nicely and has a million pockets/compartments for all sorts of stuff. If you are boat based or dont need to walk or climb with it maybe just go for something bigger though.

Heading down near Bermagui for work for a few weeks, hard to avoid thinking about the fishing prospects however. Does anyone have some advice they are willing to share? At the moment im thinking trying to jump on a few charters, 1 bluewater for tuna and 1 inshore reefs for snapper, kings etc. and the rest rock or beach based... Any pointers will be much appreciated!

I wonder what makes it more challenging to fish around Sydney... Is it the commercial fishing? Is it high numbers of rec fishers? Is it 200 years of industrial contaminants, human waste and garbage following the path of least resistance in to our waterways? On a world wide scale it would be hard to find a truly global city with better fishing, on an Aussie scale Sydney is a long way behind remote corners for sure.

Hey mate you are definitely paying attention in english class! Good writing for a guy your age, keep at it. There is plenty of information on the forums to help you out, just search for it, or spend some time looking at google maps and RMS waterways maps to work out places of your own.

Yeah any beach (or series of beaches) should fit the bill.... or any of the national park around pittwater/hawkesbury.

I think you would be very lucky to land anything bigger than some rats with that setup. Kings off the rocks you need to go heavy - LBG rod or GT popping rod and minimum 50lb mono main line with leader double that and then some.

Don't forget it is not just a sun exposure or fair skinned thing - it can appear anywhere on your body on people of any skin colour with any amount of sun exposure. Bob Marley died of melanoma under his toenail of all places!

^^ What model RIB is yours Jon D? I was thinking about getting a rib or thundercat/zapcat inflatable. Local boat ramp is very sketchy and swell and being able to beach an inflatable and man handle it to launch is appealing....

Flying gaff handle?? Don't know...

Good Topic! Catch them early and most skin cancers can be removed and no more dramas. Once a year for checkups can literally save your life. My sister died of melanoma aged 33 and left behind 2 young kids. Never was in to the outdoors/beach lifestyle and had very limited exposure to the sun and almost no sunburns her entire life. Never got a skin cancer check however, when they found it was in her lymph nodes and too late, less than 3 years later was all over. A true tragedy. GET YOURSELF CHECKED OUT!!

You can see the lagoon entrance on the surf cam. The shot moves around every 15 seconds or so.

This might help: http://www.coastalwatch.com/surf-cams-surf-reports/nsw/avoca

I have done a bit, recommendations would be: - Use mono for where the slide will be running, braid can be used but I find mono slides better and less chance of a burn off if you get a hookup - Get weighted (ie. with sinker attached to the slide), non return slides. You can make these pretty easily if you want - check youtube - You need a good solid anchor so either paddle/swim something out (preferably before the sun goes down if you swim!) or use minimum 8oz (230g) grapnel sinkers for sand. Can get away with pyramids off the rocks as these grab in to crevices etc in the rocks but grapnels are a must for the sand and need to be heavy with solid wires. Let the grapnel set for 5-10 mins before sliding the first bait out - If you use dead bait in swell you need to "whip it" for a fair while to get it out the back. Livies swim out a bit so offer some help but dead baits need a fair bit of work Solid anchor point is critical - you really want it set so hard you nearly have to walk up the beach with locked drag to break it out. If its loose you'll never get your bait to slide out all the way. Need a decent size rod to chuck 8oz/230g a good distance as well. I'm not expert but have dabbled a bit, only sharks to show for it so far.

Could try a pulley rig as well. You want your sinker as close as possible to the bait during the cast then allow them to spread as far apart as possible once settled. Beaches are going off at the moment, went out Thursday night on the low tide and got a bag of tailor, few big flatties and a few big runs that got away.

I've done a bit off the rocks in low swell. Glow stick stuck in the top of the float, some of them have hole already or you can punch a hole in one. One time fishing like this we didn't see the float go under as we were doing something else, my mate looks over the edge as says "WTF!! a glow in the dark fish is swimming along!" Big bloody salmon had taken the bait, float and glow stick under and swum back towards the rock shelf and then along so the drag didn't go off, my mate seriously couldn't work out what was going on for a few seconds...

"To gain an understanding of the environmental knowledge of Chinese-Australian recreational fishers" Why Chinese rather than any other nationalities I can't tell from the doc, it's a good question.