Pickles

No bananas today ((too ripe to bring)

Another brilliant day on the Bass - crook weather (wet & windy), but better than the harbour. Hit the water with some kids from school & their dad (still on holidays and wanted a lesson in the freshwater). 11 fish before 7 am and 31 fish by 8.40, (with multiple hookups and one where we all hooked up on a school). Gotta love Feralcatt lures - deadly. A great morning with Tony, Lachlan and James, now “Bassassins”

Great report and excellent vid @Cballz. Some great action on those salmon. I agree with you about yellowfinned pike, if bled straight away, eaten within 24 hours, they are sweet delicate flesh. Those that say “They stink and taste just as bad” have forgotten what Jew fish smell like and no one complains about how they taste ( don’t like how easily the scales come off all over the boat though). thanks for sharing, look forward to future reports.

Hey @Jfish, no land based for me anymore due to mobility issues (only have 1/2 a foot and a pin from my knee to hip and prosthetic hip due to getting smashed up on my motorbike in 2015). I did love rock and beach fishing though and used to do lots of it in and around Sydney. If you get a week day off, I’m sure I could get someone to drive and we could meet at the ramp at Roseville some time soon to get out for a fish. I try to avoid weekends - especially in Summer.

Great work James, any Bass over 40 is a fish to be proud of and you scored 2, well done. (I have a few Bass & Silver Perch in my dam and I’m sure after the floods there ar a lot more dams in the Hawkesbury that have Bass in them.)

Well done @Jo5hC- great report and god work with the SP’s.

Kind words jenno64, working / breeding dogs is like fishing, it’s all about research then putting in the time. This pup gets trained a min of an hour a day and 3 - 4 hours twice a week.

Well done @jm94, Bass are great fun and there some big unit between the Yarramundi bridge and Devlin road - if you can beg, borrow or buy a yak or canoe and head upstream and pepper the edges, you’ll have great fun. Watch your car though friends recently had their window smashed and stuff taken from inside.

Interesting encounter @Rebel, When I used to fish the beach and rocks I had several similar very confronting encounters with bold and aggressive folk who accused me of “murdering naturalistic kindred spirits with whom we were linked by shared cosmic energies” - and I would certainly be punished for my indiscretions. This happened more than once, at first I ignored it, then I began to remind them of Gods direction to mankind in Genesi 1:26-28 “ God said to them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”. (Of course this also requires a responsible and balanced approach to conservation and ensuring future resources exist for our kids and grand kids etc to enjoy). Having a boat now means I haven’t had these encounters fora while and I clean all my fish at home now out of sight of others.

Hey @dnardy, it’s a while since I’ve fished Durras beaches (ND and South Durras), but I remember getting good numbers of beach worms and pippis off the beaches (mid to low tide) and heaps o salmon on pilchards and spinners in the gutters. Good advice from @R E G I C Y C L Eand @noelm (Noel is a legend on the forum and always gives good advice). I would definitely take the kayak and fish for Flatties. if you want to target Bass in the fresh water it’s first light and last light and “match the hatch”, if you notice cicadas are “screaming” & Christmas beetles around, use surface poppers (soft shell cicada type lures) small whopper poppers and my favourite are Feralcatt’s in purple and black and especially the p&b with pink spot under chin (you can buy these direct from Greg on his website), also “Stuckey” lures have a great action. hope this helps.

Hi @Amilyo, I’ve sent you reply of two good spots to try land based for Bass (as requested). You’ll find Raiders very helpful and sharing, but remember “He who waters will himself be watered” (pr 11:25), in other words “what gos around, comes around”, so respond in kind, be willing to share costs and share with others and recognise their help. @XD351, @Koalaboi and @noelm have given excellent advice. In my experience it is important to do the research on the species and the area (contact local tackle shops) and put in the hours. It took me quite a few years to catch my first kingfish, now I am relatively successful (last trip I boated 12 Kingies). BUT ENSURE YOU ADHERE TO THE SIZE AND BAG LIMITS and don’t be tempted to keep “almost legal” fish. Last year I boated 980 kingfish and released over 900 - many of them 63 - 64cm. I always make it clear to anyone I take out that we won’t be keeping more than 3 kingfish each and the bag limit is 5. Let me know if I can help further.

Land based is awkward, I’d try at first light (5.10 at present) under Nth Richmond bridge and flick toward bridge pylons or Devlin Rd at Yarramundi - bth very productive land based spots.

Thanks for sharing @kobi caught a fish - slimies fight well on light gear, make great bait and if bled when caught, taste great.

Welcome Stu, a great tutor in Derek - he’ll get you on the right track. Are you only land based?

Always welcome to join me any time you want a session - only issue for me, I need someone with a towbar to pull the tinnie.

Haven’t stopped at the fridge for quite a while, good to know they are back there 😊

Well done on the Flattie - Aim high 😊

Great work @jed38- always a good feeling when a challenge achieved.

Hey @Jfish, Cobia are called “Black Kingfish” and very similar to the seriola species (kingfish, Amberjack, Samsonfish). Size for size, I don’t think anything fights like a kingfish, but I’ve never caught a Giant Trevally or Dog tooth tuna.

👍

Very kind @Jfish, in our obsession there are no “experts / whisperers” only those who put in crazy hours and connect the dots to see patterns of behaviour that can be reproduced - sometimes successfully, sometimes not. God has been good and I’ve had some great mates to share experiences with and opportunities to take advantage of. The thing that really rings my bells, other than having a wonderful family, fishing and sharing Gods goodness is Dog training. I compete in Gun Dog sports and breed Labradors and spend 15-20 hours a week training and then on weekends in winter competing (my Lab (Rosie) is currently running 35th in Australia on the national leader board, so I’ve been blessed with a great year fishing and working the dog.

Hey Neil, this has been an unusual year with the floods and now very dry. The cicadas and Christmas beetles haven’t had a significant “hatch” this year, but the prawns have been running so the “normal” behaviour of the fish has meant the summer dispersal hasn’t happened yet as they appear to be hanging around to feed on the prawns rather then heading up river and into the creeks as they usually do - but it probably won’t be long. The breeding season for bass is usually July - August (closed season when they are down stream in the salty / brackish water), so there it’s common to catch quite small ones that are the bigger of this years hatchlings - often not much bigger than the lures.

Great feed Dave well done. Pumping Nippers is almost as much fun as fishing.

Had a shocker on Tuesday with a few lads I used to teach and their dad. We took my boat and James borrowed his brothers (30 year old Tinnie with 65 hp Evinrude of the same vintage) but aborted fishing as it played up and thwarted our plans for an outside session on Kingies). I suggested a follow up on bass today as a storm was predicted and if we could get a leave pass to hit the water just before, I was confident we’d have a cracker of a session and so we did. We launched at 4.15pm and boated 16 fish before 5pm and home and cleaned up by 6.30 pm. The boys were pleased indeed . Although there were some tiny ones, we also got several in the 40+ range, but nothing at the magic 50cm mark (still waiting this year). No Flatties or trout today though, but a great few hours on the water in Gods great outdoors never the less.

No worries @fatcat531, there is an extensive and detailed outline n the archives, but if you try the Centurian wreck off Quarrantine station near Canae Pt, there are not only Yakkas, but also slimey mackerel most of the time. The other spot is George’s corner. A third place they are nearly always available is directly off George’s Head, just around from Middle Head. Burley is essential and no 8 or 10 “Mosquito hooks” on 6lb momno with no sinker, but a swivel. I hope this helps. (If you still can’t get on to them send me a PM and we can organise to get out and I’ll show you (but not a weekend). Bob (Pickles)