lakelad

Wow, that’s great info Jim, will try not get spiked but if I do I’ll give it a go for sure!

@antonywardle yes there’s a few things to look for on the way out, but it’s fairly safe if you’re careful and go out in sensible conditions. One of the better bars. A decent tide runs, maybe 6 knots max at full capacity, which can create that washing machine effect, especially against a sea breeze. You can radio or phone the coast guard station there and ask conditions on the day, always worth a quick chat and costs nothing if there are concerning conditions. I always clock on and off with their mobile app rather than radio, it tracks you via gps also. I sail yachts out of Lake Macquarie and we need to be more careful with the extra draft, which is mainly an issue bridge side of the channel in the sandy bottom but also on the heads side. There are waves on the northern side usually with any swell, but on the south side next to the bar there is a coal seam (right between the channel markers..) which I have hit on a yacht before (2.1m draft, 1-2 hours after high tide). So now we stick closer to the waves a little (northern side) in a yacht, but not too close! For fishing boats it doesn’t matter so much. On the rare occasion we have had to go past the bar and bring yachts into Newcastle due to conditions, but this is usually in a very large swell or northerly direction swell and is more to do with yacht draft in the troughs. Yes I have also heard the life jacket rumour and always put one on, you can be seen via the coast guard tower. But to be fair and as you eluded to it’s a good idea anyway to have a jacket on in a smaller fishing boat when there is any seaway, very hard to swim in winter if you go overboard with all the warm gear on.

Headed out yesterday for a mid morning fish, gentleman's hours around juggling some other commitments. Such a cracker of a day, timed it well at the ramp with a few junk skis going in at thsi late hour but no delay for us and got offshore with no swell, some light chop and a light northerly blowing. The birds were flocking and chasing bait around the island first up but we couldn't get a hit trolling around divers and throwing blades so we anchored up on the sheltered side of moon and soon dragged in some Trevally, Wrasse, Red Rock Fish and a Port Jackson shark. The wind abated and we were pleasantly surprised, so took off out to sea a little to a couple of spots a fellow raider shared for flathead. Well the flathead were definitely there, however in the 20cm size they were lining up to get onto my paternoster rig. After the wind came back an hour or so later to to ~15knts, the sea anchor couldn't keep us slow enough, and a flathead spike to the finger (they hurt a lot for a small %%%%% hey?!) we decided it was time to head in. I think a few local raiders will be interested to see the new artificial reef went in while we were out there.. it's in the spot as per the website below. and currently has a large yellow buoy attached. This will be great for those of us with small boats to try some new structure! https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/resources/artificial-reef/newcastle-offshore-artificial-reef

Wow! That's a serious squid!! What's the standard approach and rig to use Rick? i.e. drifting or anchor, and paternoster squid rig or casting singles? I've thought about this setup..

No I didn't try that @Squ!rt but will give it a go at some stage, certainly always seems to be someone throwing some jigs there so must be something in it.. I've caught green eye squid at the bridge a few years back, when they're on they're on, but I haven't worked out the conditions it's very hit and miss. I see good reports of squid around moon island, but am yet to give it a serious go. Around April I was getting bag limit of the arrows at the drop over regularly, probably my favourite seafood!

Went out at Swansea Heads last Sunday for a quick couple of hours before sunset. Was about 2m of swell running and approaching sunset so I didn't stray too far in a small boat by myself. First stop was the dropover in the lake, threw out some squid jigs for a drift and worked a vibe, the only taker was an unfortunate squire who bit off more than he could chew. Then trolled two lines out of the heads, one surface skirt and one rapala style deep diver but no hits after half hour going over some bait balls on the sounder so went back to a bait ball I saw and threw some baits and metal jigs into it. I had a half dead yakka out, and patenoster rig and threw a soft plastic and metal jig but couldn't get anything out of the bait ball, although it looked promising on the sounder.. All in all a nice way to get out on the water for a few hours, an edible fish or two would have been nice though! Any tips on getting action from these bait balls?

Hi all Blackfish fishers! been 6 months since a post here but still relevant.. I'm considering getting a blackfish rod setup, does anyone use a baitrunner style reel rather than a centre pin and do they work as well? Shimano start in 4000 size, not sure if too big or if suitable but as I could also use it for other types of fishing it's appealing.. Cheers!

I've been looking into blackfish also as the winter months the usual suspects have become harder to get. I don't have any spots as yet however checkout this link on fish raider, loads of top information and maybe some members you can PM for a local tip or two

The wobbly rollers can come off if washers aren't used either side or is using a non-stainless split pin or too small split pin, center rollers I've worn through when using the wrong type (red for glass, blue for aluminium, black is usually too soft for a keel/skeg). Colours are right mostly, but sometimes online/exotic compounds don't follow these rules so best check with supplier! I've bought rollers from the local trailer shop, whitwrths and ebay depending on time and price requirements. You should be able to tell if it fell off or broke away from what's left (split pin and washers or not).

@RedSeaFisho, checkout this article, still relevant:http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/5371-Location-Guide-Lake-Macquarie-Part-1 A good place to get bait and have a chat about current local conditions is: https://www.tackleworld.com.au/store/fishermans-warehouse-tackle-world-marks-point/ My general advice is to try for arrow squid at drop over, green eyes at moon island, black fish in channel near breakwalls, flatties/bream/trevally are all around the channel at the moment. If you find a guaranteed snapper or jew fish spot let me know!

Glad you mentioned it I didn't know that! Could be a can of worms why and why not I guess.. Not sure I'd like to be with those large tuna alone, let alone sharks!

I went off the beach last weekend also, no luck in about half an hour with a pilchard on gangs, second rod with smaller piece of mullet on a 3 sized hook. I fished a hole where a rip was going out, the swell was too large elsewhere, top day for surfing in some sections but a bit rough for a fish where I was.

I'm not the OP but I find rolling in flour then cooking on a well oiled BBQ gives an amazing taste - my favourite seafood! ..or is it lobster, crab, prawns, oysters.. tough choice! 😁 They don't need long, once the rings stop shrinking they're done, maybe 30 secs a side depends on the bbq heat..

👍 agreed, looks like a top day spent outdoors

Nice bream and report, yes I reckon the eels can keep the hooks 😬

Great flattie, would have been fun on the hand line!

Thanks @Peter Nelson, that looks like a good start, here's the link for anyone interested: https://marinerescuelakemacquarie.com.au/images/public_docs/Fishing_Ground_Locations2.pdf @joshgraydon95 great will do mate 👍

Thanks guys, yes @Yowie Certainly plenty of yakkas off Swansea, you can see one in the bait tank photo above many 30cm plus, they looked a bit too big for close coastal fishing but I guess you never know. @GoingFishing will try some deeper water for the flatties parents we caught on Sunday. I heard 40m for Swansea a while back, but not tried as yet and not sure which direction for the known grounds. @Blackfish I thought those fish were trumpeter, but wasn’t 100% so appreciate your id. thanks @wcurrall i’ll checkout the fish id link that will be useful for sure!

Has been a while since the last report, and no record were broken for this trip but my mate and I fished some new spots and had a good day catching up on the water. Started off a bit later than usual, due to sick children up all night and giving the wife and kids a sleep in.. our sunrise session turned into almost mid day but was a top day and better than cleaning up after Chernobyl at home. Got to the ramp and the brilliant Sunday weather meant a small wait but the little 4.5m aluminium stacer is very easy to launch and with the old 2 stroke fired up first at home first we were off out the heads. It was still quite glassy and only 1.2m of swell. We trolled some lines out the channel hoping for a hit straight up but no such luck and settled into a drift over virgin territory which has some fish showing on the lowrance. Saw some larger bait balls with larger fish on the sounder but nothing hit as we trolled over it with a deep diver rapala, surface skirt and blade lure out. We also tried dropping baits and paternoster rigs into the activity we saw on the sounder but n luck using this method, much of our fish were found at anchor in around 15m off the rocks. Any tips for these situations mentioned would be appreciated so we can get a feed next time! The offshore game is new to us, the days plan was to find some decent eating fish, and whilst we only managed one legal squire at 30cm we caught plenty of fish and found some new species. We managed a single squire/snapper, many small non legal flatties, bonito, sargent baker, red striped fish (id please?), parrot style fish (id?), shark, yakkas (but no hits on the livies) , other small species on the bait rig (trumpeter by the looks). For anyone local to this region if you can send some tips on targeting decent eating fish around Swansea heads (within range of a 4.5m stacer with 50hp) that'd be appreciated, we seem to do much better in the lake as we have more experience with techniques and spots that work consistently.

She's got good taste! Yes.. also my feelings.. I guess we need to catch more which makes the decision easier Sounds like some great school holiday fun and no doubt great memories for you both.

Nice one, I had a smaller Salmon on the bbq whole the other day (~40cm) and loved it.. a little garlic and herb but nothing real much, no bone issues, I much prefer them to bream! But gotta love the fight the best!

First look at that photo the shovel nose looks as big as the human , decent fish non the less! Some people like to eat them, see the below FR discussion for tips..

Nice report and video, salmon are such awesome fun on light gear, keep em coming!

Nice report, not a bad day out, salmon are a bit of fun and I enjoy them especially bled and cooked same day.