Jethro

What can you say about this lake. It a great piece of water but I'll be buggered if we can catch bream on lures up there in winter....... We dropped the boat in at Nords Wharf and we were on the water at 6.30am. We were going to try a different plan of attack today and head down the southern end of the lake. First stop Mannering park and had a quick flick around some boats for no result, not even a touch. Next round to the inlet at Manno and found another boat there. We gave them there space and fished the concrete walls and after they left we fish the grills. Had a couple of half hearted knocks but still no result. (Saw the guys in the other boat land 2 reasonable fish ) We decided to head up to the drop over and try our luck there. Tried a couple of rock points on the way back and still ................. you guessed it not a fish to be seen. By this time it was about 2pm and we were starting to get frustrated. So it was time to stop for a bit of lunch. We set up a drift off the back of Pullbah and tried out the portable BBQ I bought at the fishing show.......... I tell you what.... Sasuages, fresh bread rolls and a couple of icy cold beers were great. A hot lunch with cold beers we felt like royalty. By far the high light of the day. After a great feed we thought we would have a last ditch effort on the southern side of Pullbah. I ened up landing one fish and it was a bloody Tarwhine. So after 8 hours not a single bream. The worse thing is we know there are good fish to be had up there but we can't find them. If anyone has some tips for Breaming the lake this time of year I am all ears..... Or better still if someone wants to come up and show us the ropes we are quite happy to supply lunch and a few refreshing ales I think we will avoid the lake until things start to warm up a bit.........

I have had an X125 for about 6 months now and have never heard a clicking noise from it. No idea what it could be but I know mine doesn't do it..

The weather is looking pretty average for the weekend. All going well I might get out for a flick on Saturday arvo. If this rain keeps up it might be an at home weekend. I have got a couple of rods that need building and a new sounder to be installed so it wont be a complete waste. Have a good one all

From what I understand saltwater and magnessium are not a good mix. I am led to believe that the newer Mag reels are treated with a special coating to make them and up in saltwater. I am sure Swoffa would have 1 (or 5 ) Mag reels in his collection. Maybe he could shed a bit more light on the subject

Hopefully will get to the show on Friday or Saturday. Sunday will be taken up with soccer and maybe a or 2

Bet your glad that bolt held on......... I am thinking about fishing the same rounds, not 100% on Forster at this stage. Will let you know

Remember they only needed to be 25cm to the "tip". I know if it was fork length my little one would have had to have gone back. I caught a Tarwhine up in Belmont Bay and if he was a couple on cm's bigger he would have come back to the weigh in with me It was good to meet you too Warwick and thanks again for sharing a few spots to try. We will have to have a couple of next time..... Hopefully we will do a bit better next year...... Are you going to fish any other events this year???

It was a very tough day for us but alot of the other boats managed to find fish. I think you are right, we have to think outside the square. We concerntrated our efforts on wharves, jetties and deep rocky shore lines. I have heard that some of the guys do alright up there on the deep weed beds. We tried a few of these and couldn't raise a knock. I am sure there are some big bream in the lake its just a matter of tracking them down...... At least we no where not to target

We headed off to the Lake Macquarie Pro Bream in the early hours of Saturday morning for a 6.30am start. We were not holding high hopes as I can count on both hands the amout of bream we have caught on lures up there. We headed out in the first session armed with a bit of local info courtesy of Lighweight (Warwick). Thanks mate. We pulled up at some likely looking jetties just around from the start point and after defrosting our fingers started casting. The lake was very clear and you could easily see the bottom in 3m of water, so 4lb leaders were teh order of the day. After about half an hour I landed a just legal bream of 26cm (330g). Things were looking up............ Well to cut a long story short that was the only legal bream we landed for the session. In the second session we decided to head south and try around Pullbah, Point Wolstencrofty (sp?) and even went for a look down Dora Creek for no result. With about 1hr to go and frustration setting in we set ourselves up off a deep rock shore and sat down and had a beer. We dropped our plastics over the side and just waited no retreive just drifted with the wind (trolling is allowed) and enjoyed a refreshing ale. In the end my deckie boated a small fish (330g) with about 15mins to go. We ended up missing the Sunday session due to some unexpected family commitments. We need to spend more time on the lake before next years comp...

Off to Lake Macquarie for the Pro Bream all day Saturday and half day Sunday then a mad dash back down the coast for and afternoon game Soccer. A win will see us up into 4th spot so I am looking forward to the run Have a good one all

That would be great. We have got a couple of spots we are going to try but none have been great producers. I will happlily share my linmited spots. I will send you a PM

Nah I didn't see it. It good to see the media giving our sport some coverage. Did they mention it was a catch and release comp?? Lightweight are you fishing the comp?? If you are make sure you came and say G'day. We will be in the purple Elegant, Its pretty hard to miss.

Looks like a real mongrel of a place you live in.......... Great photos. Next time anyone makes a kiwi joke all you have to do is show them one of those and that will shut them up

Out on the town in Newcastle Friday night for a bit of stress relief after a very average week. Saturday I am pretty sure I will be a bit fragile so a day on the longe might be in order. Sunday we will be hitting Lake Macquarie in search of bream. Hoping to find a few with the Pro Bream on next weekend. Monday might hit the Hawkesbury and try and nab a few bream out of the racks. Good luck to all the Radiers fishing the Manning ABT. Hope you get a few

Good on ya Evan I love watching the little buggers play when we are rock fishing. I remember one day there was a single penguin chasing half a dozen gars right at the base of the ledge we were fishing. Poor little bugger was not quixk enough to get them by himself. He chased them for a good 15mins

I have seen a few around the islands in Swansea Channel. Be careful as the ones I have seen only have 2 - 3cm of shell poking out of the sand

Thanks Mick. I will see what I can come with over the weekend

I will give it a go. I have always whinged about what is happen in our lake and never done anything about it. I will do an email and see what sort of response I get. Mick - Do you mind if I send him your photos??

I can't explain it....... But I have to agree with everything above. I think in this day and age we can easily loose sight of why we love it so much. I used to love fishing when I was a kid with a $2.50 handline. Now I have a boat, more rods and reels than you can poke a stick at, lures, the list goes on. Every now and again I enjoy heading down to the local creek with an old handline and a packet of prawns and get back to basics. For me it comes down to just getting away from the rat race. I am quite happy to sit in and soak a bait and have a few or go and chase bream or bass with lures. As long as I am on the water I am a happy little camper

Yeah thanks for that thought. I just got back from lunch and its an awesome day out there.................... ................ (cough cough)............... Now that you mention it I am feeling a bit off colour Better do some work......

I just read the top of the post....... "Where are these pro's rapeing".... I will have to pay more attention next time. It has got to be Tuggerah Lakes......... I grew up on the lake and I have lost count of how many times I have seen pro nets set in less than 6 inhes of water. They have a tendenancy to set the nets right along the edge of weed beds, which is like the nursery in the lake. Sure they will get a few good fish but the amount of small fish they catch is just ridicilous. And as Joe said what chance have they got with that many pelicans around. Its amazing there are still fish in the lake. It makes no sense that both Brisbane Waters and Lake Macquarie (both huge systems) are Rec only and they can haul the guts out of Tuggerah Lake which is a small shallow system that has to fight to stay open to the ocean. Anyway sorry for rattling on ............ My guess is still Long Jetty

With the look of the tall building in te first picture I would say The Entrance (somewhere). The second photo I would say Long Jetty...... Is that a pro net in the first photo??

No skill at all....... The skill is in knowing which mud bank (rock, beach, etc) to sit on when

Thats the quote I was looking for......

I took an 83cm fish home a couple of months ago and was very impressed with how it ate. All I have ever heard is how dry and tasteless it but it was great. I normally release all my larger flatties over 70cm or so. Just a personal choice. If someone wants to keep ANY fish and it is legal to do so none of us have the right to condemn them. If you are not happy with the laws do something about changing them rather than take it out on someone who has done nothing wrong (not aimed at anyone just a general comment )