Short

I haven't yakked it but have fished it land based and dived quite a bit. Launch at Fishermans Beach Collaroy right at the eastern end of the beach would be easiest. Fair bit of shallow water both sides of the reef that can break in swells, avoid the south side in south swells - (good surf break there however called butterbox) and maybe give it a miss if it is over 6ft - there are some bombies a fair way out from the reef on all sides that can break. Don't have any GPS marks for you i'm afraid! Good tip if you are considering safety is to walk up to the lookout at the end and have a look around for half hour or so.

Nice one! Humble pilchards strike again... Think that is a kawakawa/mackerel tuna rather than bonito. Little bullets they go so hard for their size.

Hey raiders, Beaches are really firing at the moment. Last night went down 2hrs before to 1hr after high tide. Landed 3 bronzies, 1 gummy shark, big tailor that managed to get snelled 9/0s down his gob, flathead, bream, trevally and plenty of other runs and a few bite offs. Was not that relaxing but I ain't complaining. Few old blokes 100m down the beach got 3 schoolie size jewfish in 5 mins on servo pillies!! Couldn't believe it they must have swim right past my fresh tailor fillets to the good stuff! Seems to be a good time of year, hope you are all getting amongst the action.

Nice one will have to give it another crack once this swell backs off...

Epic catch mate! I've been spinning/jigging from the rocks a bit over the last few month but only got bonnies, frigates, mac tuna, tailor, salmon so far. Still waiting for something bigger to come along. What kind of retrieve got him? Were you going flat out or lift and drop etc? Trebles or assist hooks? Always fun sending metals out to the horizon and back 100's of times in a session!

Lots of factors, but in general; - Swell above 3ft can be difficult unless you find a good gutter. Check a surf report for this, they are put out on a daily basis from a few surfing websites. As mentioned prior direction of swell and beach direction has an impact. We have a long range east swell in the water now until Friday which will get in almost anywhere, predominant swell direction from now until spring is S/SE - After there has been a big swell event have a good look for seaweed, sometimes it can get pretty thick in the week or so following a big swell - Onshore/cross shore wind above 15 knots can be unpleasant and makes casting tricky. You can still fish in it but makes things less comfortable and a bit more challenging. I find in winter if you get days and days of cold south westerlies then nothing bites. - Generally high tide +/- 2 hrs is the go for fishing open beaches A good trick is to check the surf cams on a few surfing websites. Most beaches in Sydney and a good number of Central Coast and Newcastle beaches have real time cameras on them you can view online from your PC or phone. I find this is a really good way to check conditions before you go and also scope out the gutters and banks at low tide before you get there at high tide.

Thanks for the comments been waiting a while for this catch! Couple hundred bucks worth of fish in there by my guess and the taste is spectacular...

Got my first Jewy off the northern beaches last night. First cast on the bait rod with 30lb braid got absolutely smoked by something and bitten off, was almost spooled by then anyway... Thought the bronzies must be about so put the wire on the big rod with 70lb braid. Out goes a whole yakka and 5 mins later hooked up again..... Few minutes to bring him to the sand in heavy swell, thought it was a bronzie but no it's a Jewy!! Perfect timing for good Friday lunch but just missed out in the Easter Comp.... 2 casts 2 big hook ups and that was me done for the night. Shortest and most productive session I have ever had I think! Hope you all get amongst it this weekend! There is plenty on the bite.

Have a crack at the ledges on the beecroft peninsula. It's land based game fishing mecca - they get tuna and Marlin off there at this time if year!!

North end of the beach from the pines up to the lagoon entrance will probably be rammed. Further south goes OK but you will need a big cast. As mentioned plenty of other good beaches around, just go for a drive and look for a good gutter!!

Quick video on how to make slide clips. Pretty easy to do and costs bugger all compared to buying them. Get stainless wire if possible, gal goes OK but use it once and it won't slide as well second time out of the tackle bag. They call it an Australian slide bait rig when hardly anyone here uses them! Not that I've seen anyway. Sliding on braid isn't advisable, mono is definitely the go.

Bridle the tailor and back out she goes! I haven't got a Jewy off one yet but always get bronzies/duskies, wobbies or grey nurse when I've done it. Any tailor or salmon below 40cm usually goes back out as bait, time and effort to clean them vs yield usually means they're better as bait for me.

Nice one! Did you have a pot out? That's why you should wear shoes when wading the flats!

Hey mate not too sure. I was surprised they closed that path but didnt close Fairfax lookout (main pedestrian access spot at the end). The lookout is closer to the rock fall and you're pretty much standing right on the edge of the cliff there.

There are other ways to get down there from the road up the top (which should probably not be discussed on a public forum). They have closed the path but not the fishing spot. You can walk all the way from Shelley Beach/Fairy Bower right round North Head to Cannae Point along the rocks. Gets a bit tricky (and maybe illegal) around the old Quarantine Station. I do use the term "walk" loosely though there is a fair bit of clambering/climbing involved.

Wait until the next council clean up and grab an old pool scoop! Get a cheap hand held landing net and take the flat end off the pool scoop. Few screws or rivets in there to secure it and away you go. Might need a few cable ties or some gaffer tape in there somewhere to make it a legitimate home made work of art.

Go javelin spike shoes they are like those sprinting ones but have spikes in the heel too.

In December there was a big rock fall around 350m east of the end of that path to OMH and they have stopped access for a while; http://www.boatsales.com.au/editorial/news/2016/boating-warning-dangerous-sydney-rockfall-along-north-head-57372/ Would not have been fun to be down the bottom of the cliff when that happened!

Cheers Dan thanks for the response. The avets look pretty mean especially with some of those paint jobs they do. Might have to pull the trigger on a new setup, guess I would be well north of $1000 by the time I get reel + good rod + braid. Dead keen on an overhead though, I hear what you're saying star drags are better to cast with but I would think lever drags better to fight with if hooked up to something big. Plus the nice loud clicker would be a bonus night fishing with a rod set in a holder. Can be a bit hard to hear the drag on a spin reel.

Hey mate good post, I'm beach or rock based myself too most of the time. Spent hours trawling youtube for the distance casting videos from the brits and yanks - hatteras casts, pendulum casts, ground cast etc. etc. Don't see anyone in Aussie casting like that! I'm thinking of upgrading from current spin gear and beach rods with max. cast wight of 140g to overheads and better rods for casting big baits out a decent distance - you mention you have Avet reels, I've been eyeing off their magnetic cast models and some have really good line capacity plus with the mag brakes would be an easier way in to overheads without spending too much time picking apart birds nests, thats my thinking at least. How do you find the avets to use? Do you have an MC model or just the regular? Can you still use them for throwing metals off the rocks or is that better with a spin reel? Sorry to bombard you with questions....

Shouldn't be too bad in Spain - the attitude towards risk taking behavior by individuals in continental Europe and South America (and probably other 3rd world countries too for that matter) is completely different from UK/US/Canada and Australia. Euros have the approach - "if you want to do something stupid or risky and you're not harming anyone else then go for it" US/Canada/Aus try to put fences up and legislate against and police this sort of risk taking behavior. Doesn't stop it happening however and never will.

Should be a little tab on your reel somewhere to engage/disengage the anti reverse function....either that or take it back to the shop for a refund! Too bad he got away!!

Even though you say you don't consider yourself a rock fisho, you probably know more about rock fishing safety than 95% of the punters that have ventured out to a ledge. You know the power of the ocean, know how unpredictable it is, know when to stay the hell away and know what a life changing pounding it can give you when you least expect it!! Maybe the ticket for rock fishing should involve swimming out past the outside bank from any Sydney beach on a 3 foot day and back in again....would take out the vast majority I would say.

Yeah terrible news and a very stupid or ignorant thing to do. You will only see this kind of swell event 3 or 4 times in a year and these blokes choose to go rock fishing at one of the most exposed ledges in Sydney. On top of that was a rising tide up to a big high. They will start legislating more on this going forwards I reckon - compulsory life jackets and maybe banning rock fishing from some spots. Can't outlaw stupidity unfortunately. I hope if they do bring in bans it will be selective - ie. if BOM states hazardous conditions, no rock fishing etc. then you cant go to open ledges... we will see.

They are the sewerage treatments plants/wastewater treatment plants (STP/WWTP) across the Sydney network. These days they rarely have overflow events excepts in the most severe rainfall events like last year's 300mm storm. Even then the overflow water is very well screened/filtered and far enough through the process that there is nothing left for any fish or even prawn to chew on. There are a few rare exceptions like Turimetta and Diamond Bay outfalls I believe. I am fortunate enough to visit STP's on a regular basis for work!! For fishing storm water drains would be the go catching everything from roofes, gardens, streets, fast food car parks etc. The only thing standing between the source and the harbour/ocean would be the occasional gross pollutant trap that would catch a shopping trolley and not much smaller.