[Tailor Hookup Rate Help]

Lower your drag and fight it with patience. Still hook it up but take your time with it.

I have lost a number of tailor from fighting it too quickly or bringing it in too quickly. 

They have a much softer mouth in comparison to kingies and bonito

[Jumping fish in the woronora system]

My backyard is the river, It is definitely mullet.

I thought it was whiting or something else but looking closer it is mullet. 
 

Never tried targetting them but there are  30-40cm in there.

[Blood Worms - Sydney]

I know you can't buy them because of White Spot Disease. 

Just wondering if you can still find places to pump them or if it is banned to pump them etc

[Blood Worms - Sydney]

Interesting, 

I've tried tubes, i didn't find them as good as bloodworms from memory. 

[Blood Worms - Sydney]

Hey guys,

A while back, maybe 6 years ago we use to be able to buy blood worms.

Recently, in the last year or two. I found it hard to find bloodworms are stores. They all tell me that they haven't stocked them in years.

Something about white spot disease.

If that is the case, are still allowed to pump them? My mate use to pump them years back.

If so, is there any recommendations to find them?

Cheers

 

[Jervis Bay Kayak Fishing Advice]

I was just seeing if any follow up or recently any reports on bonnies and kings in Jervis Bay

[Is this the correct weed for blackfish?]

I chase drummer a lot, usually i try Prawns with bread as burley.

If the pickers start coming, i change to weed (find weed that is on your platform or around you)

Blackies are less picky, they generally eat all types of weed as long as it is in the right area and time.

If it is harbour blackies, i think you look for river weed.

 

[Prawning - Beginner Advice]

Entrance has prawns.

Not a whole heap but they are there. Generally flooded with people though because of the proximity from Sydney

Green Hornet helped me out at the basin,  they are there but not in huge numbers and the prawns are bigger in the basin though.

[Using NON-Australian standard ticked life jackets???]

On 12/21/2018 at 3:23 PM, zmk1962 said:

@Kevwing please read @savit's detailed response above. He provided a couple of links. One of those clearly states that you need to have an AS approved jacket or and International Standard equivalent.... excerpt below.

Or are you saying your Japanese jacket does not specify any ISO standard... just a Japanese standard. If so, maybe you can write to the manufacturer and seek their written response as to what is the equivalent international standard... $320 does not sound like a trivial jacket.

Cheers Zoran

 

 

At this stage, i don't think it does. ( could be wrong however)
There is a large community of us who use these life jackets. We pay over $200 for them. Some even up to $550
Our fishing store manager has been trying to push these jackets for a year now but they won't accept it. Turns out they don't meet international standards
They want the big companies to do the testing which will cost hundreds of thousands. Unfortunately, there is no way they will do them because they don't sell these jackets in Australia. Mostly because, i don't think the market is the same here. All the Shimano and Daiwa Jackets sold here are under $200 and do the trick. However, the ones we buy have heaps of pockets, holders, straps for the waist and thighs, accessories and additional safety gear. Like whistles and flashers on our jacket.  Some with even neck buoyancy too. 

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/southern-courier/rock-fishers-call-for-a-change-to-nsw-laws-forcing-them-to-wear-a-life-jacket/news-story/260c4b93789e9494383b18f2d7980c5b
http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/rock-fishers-warned-on-non-compliant-iso-fishing-jackets

 

Edit:  "leisure life jackets/ Floating vests" just don't qualify and there isn't a market for someone to do the testing for it.

[Is the www killing it for "oldies"?]

I think the WWW is very limited in information to be quite honest.

The problem with fishing and targetting is that every location is always different. 

The most the WWW can do is help identify techniques, teach bare bones basics and keep up to date with the trends.

As long as someone has the basics of targeting one type of fish, the rest will be up to them to see the habits of the fish in those areas.

Hence, nothing beats someone actually showing you how to target a fish in a specific areas because that knowledge is only passed down from locals. 

I mean a good example is, using weed to catch bream. We know it is all possible

BUT I have never ever ever ever had luck catching bream on weed in Sydney

However, going up the coast. I have caught bream on weed on multiple occasions. 

Same goes with tides, some spots lower tide works better for different fish. 

 

[Using NON-Australian standard ticked life jackets???]

Honestly, its kinda unfair
I bought a $320 life jacket earlier in the year and it won't be compliant just because it doesn't meet Australian Standard but it meets Japanese standards.

I understand the importance of Australian standards but if a well known brand meets Standards in a country like Japan which also has high standards, i don't see why they can't transfer it.

[How are the Jervis bay kings?]

Il be down there this weekend chasing kings.

I will see if i can drop an update.
 

[Prawning - How to process/handling after catching]

Ah..! Thanks

I didn't know they go bad so quickly.
 

Is there any way to keep them longer? or would that be only freezing?

Cheers

[Dangerous casting practice]

This is why i hate fishing in busy areas.

I hate shoulder to shoulder because people are so careless when they cast.

90% of the time i always look behind me before i cast but its just so uncomfortable when it is busy.

Majority of those busy spots have a huge amount of inconsiderate people and think they are so clever.

I'm quite the vengeance sort of person but  in this scenario its easier to just let it go. You can't teach those people a lesson.. They are the type that think only think of themselves. 

If it was me, i'd make his fishing experience the worst. So he spends more time untangling and re-rigging.

I was in Avoca one day(there was stacks  of people shoulder to shoulder next to each other) and this guy took out 4 rods spaces 4-5 metres apart using float rigs. Trying to mark his territory and being snarky to people about "stealing his fish"

I was spinning and decided to spin in between the widely spaced rods.
This guy got mad and was acting like it was his territory and his spot.
He gave me a death stare and said you better not tangle lines or im going to cut yours. 
P.S I have no issues casting in between people i was just floating around the ledges to see if i could tempt anything

So me being the person i am was like.

Alright you wanna be a wise crack, i purposely threw my lure and pulled his float into the bommies. Shook my line and went around his. Untangled my lure and walked away. 

Few minutes later i see him getting mad that he lost his rig. 

Sometimes you need to bring karma to them.

 

[Fishing reels from Chinese websites]

I do keep my eye out on reels all the time.

If you tell me what one you are looking for i can help you find a good deal 

What size, quality budget etc..

Normally, i stick to shimano for the smaller sized reels. 1000-4000

If i want bigger ones, i gear towards Daiwa a bit more however no prejudice if a good deal is a good deal.

Also, i tend to stick towards the medium-high quality reels. 

Unless its a reel i don't mind thrashing on the beach

truth is a higher quality reel is only for better handling and comfort.

I tend to avoid second hand reels because its not a huge different in price for second hand reels. Unless you want an older generation reel which is usually discounted by 30-40 %

In terms of tackle, i try avoid buying cheap stuff.

I've come across some pretty shocking stuff and i spent money on better quality tackle.

I'd rather a sharper quality hook than a hook is cheap and snaps.
Same goes with line, i try stick to the better stuff so it casts better and more sensitivity.

 

[Prawning - How to process/handling after catching]

Hi guys

Just following up on my prawning down in Jervis Bay/St George's Basin with the help of Fishraider GreenHornet's  advise. Thanks again!

It was extremely windy which made is quite a nuisance. Couldn't see the prawns easily and a heap of them were hanging at the bottom
However, managed to bag about 2-3kg all up over 2 nights. 

Anyways, the first night the prawns started turning a bit black like when prawns start going old .

My missus mixed this with the new bag the second night.

By the third night most of the prawns were black.

I managed to cook half of them yesterday and the prawns were pretty good. Sweet and tender. Just enough elasticity and rigidity for a perfect bite

However, today i cooked the other half. The prawns were quite sweet but closer to mushier

I will note, i did put them in the fridge the night i caught them but they still turned black.

My guess is some of them were rotting from the first night and infecting the other prawns?

Could someone give a bit of advice on this as i will be going back down again and thinking i might be handling the prawns incorrectly?

Cheers

[Humane ways to dispatch fish]

3 hours ago, PaddyT said:

Ahh no- i reckon tailor taste like c!@# no matter how ive tried to cook it!

Yeh, its understandable.

Usually if i catch tailor, i bleed an snap the neck immediately. 

Make sure to let it bleed out.

Now tailor have a metallic taste to it. There a few things that help remove that taste but its hard to say whether it will remove it all.

Some people try lemon after bbq, or soy sauce.
Even smoking with lemon may be an option.

But who knows, maybe your taste buds are extra sensitive to metallic flavours (like rare meat)

[Humane ways to dispatch fish]

22 hours ago, PaddyT said:

Oh yeah mullet- fresh off the beach (a pro netter showed me this and its damn good), fillet or "split" and butterfly- equal parts brown sugar and salt rubbed over scaled fish and cook on open fire on a stick or in one of those fish griller things

Oh mate, you should try tailor with cumin and salt with the same method. Damn tasty.

Sometimes people don't like the skin though it can taste a bit metallic.



 

[Humane ways to dispatch fish]

37 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

Totally agree but unfortunately we are spoilt for options here whether better or not is debatable.

Even a lot of what we call 'bait' fish like slimies, mullet, pilchards (or anything in the herring family) etc are all well sort after in other countries.

This summer my mission going to try as many bycatch or 'trash' species I can in various was, smoked, ceviche, crumbed & fried, sashimi.

I have been told trevally makes excellent sashimi but I have always just throw them back because I guess its has been passed down to me that they are just a non eating fish.

 

Probably only 1 fish I will give a miss, never heard a good thing about the old Sargent Baker although it could be just about the bones more than anything?

Mate, Trevally is amazing eating.

I myself was like that. My mates kept telling me that trevally is excellent eating.

I found out the reason it didn't taste good was quite simple. I didn't kill them fast enough and bleed them well.

If you don't bleed or kill properly, The toxins/blood give this really strong fishy taste.

Sashimi Trevally is quite good, unfortunately because i had so many bad experiences with trevally's fishy taste due to poor preparation it gives me a bit of trauma when eating it.

However, Trevally is crazy good for crumbing and deepfrying. Trevally is a very firm fish and excellent for deep frying.. As long as you eat it after frying, it will be moist and top notch. Don't over cook or leave it out for too long as it will get dry over time.

Trevally can also be smoked but i have yet to try.

 

[Humane ways to dispatch fish]

12 hours ago, Fab1 said:

I'd like to see a taste test done where one fish is killed one way and another the other way of the same species.I bet not many people would taste the difference.But in reality you have a 50/50 chance of picking the ike-jimne method i guess and believing that tastes better just because you picked it.

  My brother in-law is a better fisherman than me and ike-jimne his flathead etc and to me they taste the same as mine that i put to sleep in icy water then fillet and cook.

Maybe i have shit taste buds don't know. 

Depends mostly on the fish,  a lot of old timer  fisherman passed down just icing without iki or bleeding to the younger people and only recently people have picked up proper dispatching.  The most common and table eating fish are actually the fish that require the least amount of dispatching. Most notably flathead, snapper, bream and whiting. 

Sometimes you hear the term trash fish. That is far from the truth, 95% of fish species taste alright if prepared and cooked properly.

I mean bonito, trevally, Australian Salmon all very palatable fish. Unfortunately, a lot of people consider them trash fish because they are not dispatched properly. All those fish have to be bled and killed immediately. Then cooked or eaten a specific way. 

[WORMING FIRST ATTEMPT- FAIL]

1 hour ago, Keve707 said:

So try catch a stingray fellas????

Hahaha, nah no need

Just need  some stinky fish, longer its out the stinkier it is.

If you are lucky some fish stores may have some old fish they don't want.
If you have balls, go into some fish bin at the fillet stations.

Maybe if you swing by a fish market, look for the nastiest looking fish that is very cheap. (probably offloading because it is so old) Oily fish, strong odours are the way to go.

If you do want a stingray/ shark, Manly has some great rock hopping spots for that.. haha

[Prawning - South Coast]

8 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

I'm pretty sure Lake Wollumboola at Culburra is still closed and will be for quite some time unless we get a hell of a lot of rain. The prawns were hit really hard in there last summer and won't recover until the lake opens again. Naturally a light wind is best but its protected when the Nor' East winds blow as long as you stay reasonably close to the shoreline. 

St Georges Basin offers decent prawning at times as well and there's miles of good flats to try.

 

Thanks GreenHornet

Oh that rings a bell, I remember reading some guys illegally hauled 100's of kg of prawns. literally a few weeks before i went prawning.
May have to think of plan B or cancel altogether the wind is about 15-20 knots NE now.. =/

But we may seem how that turns out.

I've never been to the Basin before. 

 

[Humane ways to dispatch fish]

15 hours ago, Oz98 said:

Thank you very much Kev glad to see the same methods suggested by yourself. 

I get extremely frustrated when I see people catch fish then chuck it on the bottom of the boat and let it suffocate. 

This one time I saw this snapper and it's body was bent sideways from spazzing out.

anway thank you very much everyone I really appreciate the advice, and most importantly I hope fellow raiders know how to or will continue to dispatch humanely. 

 

 

All good,

In regards to the bend fish, that is due to rigimortis.

That is another thing that happens to fish. Don't be too concerned about that, humans react the same way.
When the fish die, some chemical process occurs in the muscle and become stiff.

For now, i wouldn't be concerned but there is some correlated between that and dispatching fish for eating. Japanese have done a whole heap of research on it if you are interested but, we don't exactly prepare extremely fresh sashimi.

[WORMING FIRST ATTEMPT- FAIL]

I found that in Sydney, you need way stinkier bait.

I use to do that up in Coffs with a bag of pillies but in Sydney it just isn't enough because a lot of areas are wormed out. A pilly stink bag just isn't enough to bring out a heap and see where they are. Per a square Metre the amount of worms is less in Sydney and you need to cover more ground.

Some of the best things to use is like Jewfish skin or old fish carcass, I even braved the smell and dug out of the fish bins.. You really need something that has a good stink.

My mate use to use jewfish skin and left overs, let it simmer for a bit in the sun. Then he would take a piece of the belly as his teaser as it usually a bit rubbery and doesn't break up.

I know the old timers find a stingray or some other large fish leave it in the sand for a week and the worms go NUTS when it hits the water.

[Humane ways to dispatch fish]

I can with experience and research say Ikijime and throat cutting is the best way to humanely dispatch fish and guarantee eating quality.

Back when i first started fishing, i would bonk it once or twice. but i don't suggest this as it can be hit and miss sometimes as the fish tastes horrible)

I have also broken the neck  and cut the throat only which also yields decent eating quality.

But by far, Ikijime is my go to method. 

The best way i think of it is, imagine yourself as a fish. Would you rather slitting your throat and breaking your neck or swiftly go brain dead.

The reason why ikijime and throat cutting is also very good for eating quality is quite simple.

Like humans, fish's heart  pumps a lot of blood when it is under pressure, stress  etc and over use of muscle has acids in it

Fish blood similairly has enzymes in it which deteriorates the muscle over time.  You may of heard the term, burnt/burn tuna - Tuna run so hard that they burn out their muscle and the quality of the tuna vary significantly if they fight it for too long

So taking that into account my goal is to remove all movement as much as possible and i found Ikijime works best.

Bonking/ throat cutting still makes the fish flap around a bit.

Whereas if you ikijime properly, the fish jerks quickly and then it hardly flaps around after that.

Tie it in with throat cutting and you have yourself some top notch eating fish.

Notable fish you should dispatch properly and humanely are all pelagic, game fish and trevally

 

On a side note, there are even some fish that i gut immediately if i am on the rocks. Just because, sometimes i catch a first on the first 10 minutes and then when i leave a few hours later, the guts smell extra nasty.