TurtleTown

After failing to wake up at the crack of dawn to go fishing i was getting the itch to go fishing by mid afternoon despite it being low tide. So i decided to leave all bait at home and give the soft plastics a go as up to date i haven't been able to catch a fish on the darn things ! Off down to my local shore based fishing spot in middle harbor i headed despite it having limited shoreline to cover i thought it would do for an hour or so. After arriving i start casing my wriggler SP on a 1/8 head and #1 hook doing a slow bounce across the bottom only to pull it from the water tailless ! ok a good sign i thought something thinks it looks alive, so i re rig and go again. Two casts later i felt two strikes bringing it in and that wriggler now has a chunk out of its belly in the shape of a mouth and its tail missing, i repeat this with two more wrigglers before i start to get worried i didn't bring enough SP with me ! So i changed to some Berkley grubs that are over 7 years old in pumpkin seed that need to be used up and decrease the hook to 1/16 #4. The same pattern continues and i start to think i must have slow reflexes or only very small fish are attacking it. After going through 12 SP of various types i finally got a hookup, to be honest i was quite surprised when i actually felt some weight on the rod not just the usual tap tap nothing, so i reeled it in and could feel it didn't have much weight to it but i was pleased to see what had been destroying all my SP's!! I did a double take when the fish broke the water, a Leatherjacket !?! now that was not what i expected, i have never seen a leatherjacket taken on a soft plastic before but it explains how i had so many nice neat bites out of the precious wrigglers. With that i decided to call it quits and try a different location next time - maybe Narrabeen for some Flathead. Anyway now i can at least say Ive caught a fish on SP now ! Dave

I’ve caught mullet and bream at morpeth years ago, didn’t get anything else at that time. Hope you have better luck !

was opened by council, haven’t seen it my self yet but saw this post with a video from just after they did it

Hi just wondering what affect it will have on Narrabeen Lake now it’s been opened again yesterday? Better fishing inside ? I assume would be good fishing on the beach where it flows out. I’ve never fished inside when it’s been open before though?? any thoughts / past experiences?

That’s pretty deep, would take half my reel of braid on my spin rig just to get that deep! I would guess just a heavier jig head, depending on the current as too how heavy. Having said that I’ve never tried SP’s deeper than 5-6m so maybe wait for a more experienced person to chime in.

Got it ??

Can you link to non sponsors web sites ??

Thanks I think I’ll go with solid soled dive boots, the price was similar to crocs and the Shimano only no sand ! Couldn’t think of anything thing worse than Sand in my shoes !! Also extra insulation at 6mm as I get cold feet easily

So I’m getting into soft plastics more and as I’m boatless that means some wading. In the last couple of weeks I haven’t been wearing anything on my feet but after a nice oyster cut and seeing a few sting rays I’ve decided shoes are in order. What does everyone else wear, joggers? Those reef shoes from Kmart etc? Dive boots? Was thinking those neoprene dive boots now the temperatures will start to drop over winter?? Thanks Dave

Cool thanks for the feedback guys, looks like they will get to live another day till they are plate size !

Land or boat based? What type of fish are you after ?

yummm! if only those chinaman leatherjackets were close to shore, would give me a tasty feed !

Hi, So i had a rather uneventful session shore fishing in sugarloaf bay (middle harbor) with my bait being continually stolen so i downsized to some size 12 long shanks to see what was taking the bait and ended up catching one small chopper tailor, one small bream and two small 15-20cm leatherjackets (all thrown back). I was thinking should i keep the small leatherjackets in the future and cut them up and use them fresh or salt the fillets for future bait? i know i'd eat them if they were a bit bigger but do other fish ? also would it stop leatherjackets from stealing the bait i.e. will they eat themselves?? The only information i can come up with is using them for snapper bait but I'm more after the usual bream, flathead, bigger leatherjackets, tailor etc would they eat them? Dave

You can try Narrabeen Lake, has many shallow areas some sandy, many areas that are good for wading

Land based or boat fishing?

Hey, was waiting for the worming alvey worming pliers to arrive, thought they would arrive Friday but didn’t make it so did a bit of float fishing at roseville bridge instead - only got some yakka and undersized bream. The pliers should arrive tomorrow so am hoping to try again this weekend - I’ll keep you posted on what I expect will be a frustrating but hopefully fruitful trip ! Hey rick, might have to bury some stockings in my shopping basket- thank god for self serve registers lol

Hi, So i pulled out my 15yr old 10 ft Jarvis walker rod and noticed the paint was flaking off some of the legs of the runners with rust (i obviously hadn't cleaned it as well as i thought before storing it) just wondering what paint i should use to touch it up to prevent it corroding away too fast now I've cleaned the rust off? Just metal etching primer and normal enamel paint? I know its not the best quality rod but it still works so might as well try to keep it going ! Thanks Dave

wow that looks like some serious fun for sure ! those boys will never forget that, Makes my memories of pulling bream in as a kid look tame lol

Very true, to be honest hadn't thought of looking at other peoples photo's for lure selection purposes, a good idea that !

There have been problems with supply of the key ingredient Hyoscine hydrobromide from what i understand, i've had to try other medications as well. Hope it comes back soon, last time they had supply issues a few years ago it took about 3 months to get sorted if i remember right.

thanks for sharing that, I'll pack it away in my head and pull it out next time I'm drooling over the lures at the shop - might save me some money lol

Great write up ! might have to get myself down there soon Nice work

Looks like a nice feed, good sized flathead will give plenty of offspring at that size, good idea to let it keep swimming. Nice work

Thanks, will give it a go this weekend hopefully

Lol I agree the postage for the average man of say 80kg who might be fishing guide as well would cost a fortune, Australia post might have a problem with it though ... human trafficking?? ??