noelm

No idea where that place is, can you give us a hint?

I just read the new laws, seems at last they have included all “colours” and an introduction date.

My “opinion” on all this, in a few months time it will be “who cares” Groper are at best a by catch, very few will be directly affected by the ban, strangely enough, I fish for them now and then, my wife likes them, because they don’t taste like fish….go figure. I also don’t hold much faith in anything written in a fishing magazine, they are always biased and present only one side of anything. I am pretty sure there will be a total ban on all “colours” but as yet, that’s not clear or published (that I can find) simply banning Blue Groper only really shows complete ignorance on their behalf.

Is that included in the fisheries response? If it is I must have missed it.

Not too sure it was thought through enough to include/exclude brown/red Groper, as mentioned, it was a stupid knee jerk action to a single incident, politics and emotion win over science in this case.

The no spearing law has been in place for decades, a bag limit of two was for line caught, and commercial catch was banned decades ago too. The fool that started this was either a complete dunce or simply didn’t care. Groper are at best fair eating, great for non fish lovers, big white flakes of tasteless fish edit…..of course accidentally catching one is not against the law, as long as it is returned unharmed.

The swell is nearly always from the east or south east (with exceptions) so anywhere that forms a bay type shape will have sheltered sides. Even if the swell is low, there is always the chance of a bigger group of waves (called a set) coming through, always have a good place to retreat to in an instant (I am not a firm believer in “freak waves”) swell is not consistent in every set, some are smaller, some significantly bigger. Any east or south facing platform is generally open to swell, as an example, Bass Point is quite long (in fact it’s called “Long Point”) and the northern side often has protected spots even in big swell, whereas the southern side is sloped into deep water and waves will just roll up the slope without any breaking white water, taking you and your gear with it……

I read that, but…..it still doesn’t say exactly when, from now, next week, soon? My “guess” is probably immediately?

I searched high and low for an “official” start date or information, but can find nothing except bogus political “blurb” as I said earlier, right or wrong, the ban won’t affect many fishermen anyway, I reckon you would be lucky to find someone who targets them specifically. While I still think it was a knee jerk reaction to an isolated incident, we will just have to “suck it up” and abide by the law.

Lots of places near Myola which is probably the closest, or dozens of places in the Shoalhaven river, and the little creek at Currarong has some too.

I saw that on the news, kind of an extreme knee jerk action (in my opinion) not that many people fish for Groper anyway, but it seems it all stems from that one incident a few months ago. There is lots of Groper around, and I can’t see the ban hurting too many people, but, it’s the law, so we need to abide by it.

I do similar, Lake Illawarra has tons of big Garfish (River Gars) and it is fiddly to do them, but well worth it, sometimes I just head and gut them, roll in flour and cook ‘till crispy then just “pick” at them.

You will find Bream on sand close to rocks, use light line, smallish hooks and probably Beach Worms or maybe some strips of fish flesh. You can also fish very early morning, right in close to the rocks with a tiny or no sinker and fish in the “wash” which is where white water is covering a deeper hole, use fish flesh strips or peeled Prawns (fresh from a bait shop, not frozen servo or supermarket Prawns) this method might also include Drummer in your catch too. If fishing on sand, don’t cast out as far as you can, all you will get is small Stingrays, look for reef close in and fish around that. Remember these places are in heavily populated, easy to get to locations, so chances are they are fished regularly.

Lots of those fish require different techniques, Drummer are found in rough reef/rocks, so sand is out of the question, Tailor and Salmon tend to be in schools and can turn up anywhere, Bream on a float is possible, but it would not be my preferred method. Your best option is to choose a single species and fish accordingly, chasing “anything” will mostly see you disappointed (in my opinion)

I am lost to think of how a jig can get washed back in when you’re retrieving it at speed, back to yourself on the shore. Sometimes swell size is irrelevant to currents (or rip) on a beach, whether that be a straight out rip, or a sideways current or “sweep” as it’s termed.

That spot at Wollongong will be fishing onto sand (if I understand the picture right) it looks like the south side of the lighthouse point? What do you intend to fish for? Don’t know much about Bellambi, but there does appear to be a deep looking section with some white water around.

It’s pretty common for rods to have a bend/twist/curve near the tip, best guess it was like that from new, I have an old Butterworth that has quite a bend about 150mm from the tip, used it for years without problem.

Not a big Sashimi fan myself, I do eat it now and then, but prefer fish cooked.

Just zoomed in on the picture, that’s an “interesting” rig used to say the least.

Not too sure I follow, do you mean jig or rig? A jig you cast out and wind back, it won’t get washed back.

I have eaten them, and they are OK, but hardly top shelf (in my opinion)

That’s a “Red Bigeye” distinguished from the other closely related species by what I believe to be small, light yellow spots on the dorsal fin, which appear to be present in that one. edit……they are reasonably common in summer, and almost pests in warmer water.

You can also get “multi fit” rims, that suit either Ford or Holden, which are probably a bit more handy in case of drama. Seeing as you are converting over from the ones pictured, probably best to stay with 13” so you don’t run into clearance issues with bigger diameter wheels.

Impossible to say what the axle you have fits, far better to buy a complete axle with hubs and new wheels (plus a spare) those ones you have are kind of OK, but can be trouble if not cared for. You will need to find out what bearing will fit (most had early Holden) if you want to get spares.

Bait collecting (for me) is entirely free (unless I am boating) but worming, pippis, nippers, mullet and everything else just involves some time, minimal effort and a bit of fun. I rarely buy bait, unless I am going crabbing, and then it’s a packet of servo prawns because fishing is not the main objective, it’s just a short “fill in time” waiting to pull the lift nets.