PJ Garn

Cheers for the heads up Daniel. I've been throwing pink tassies with no success also spinnerbaits and jensen insects. Might head out Monday... think I've got a couple of reds in the box!!!! PJ

Hi Raiders Just wondering if there have been any catches of trout since the latest let out of water from Warragamba? Ive been down the weir a couple of times with a week in between but haven't seen a fish!!! I did hear one report that some had been landed (Unconfirmed) but I won't believe it till I see it personally. Cheers PJ

Dan Being an addicted prawner I would advise that this isn't the time of year to go prawning!!! In saying that when I first started I prawned for 12 months straight thru the dead of winter and still go 1kg of prawns in a cold hard night!!! Rule of thumb is prawn any month with an 'R' in it's name... spring thru to autumn... as has been said before you are best to prawn on a run out tide on a new moon (no moon in the sky)!!! If you are like most people you can only prawn on the weekend (recovery time after being up all night is usually the whole next day) so don't worry about being exactly on the new moon... from experience the prawns can run well upto 9 day prior to and after the new moon. They are funny creatures and you can never guarantee what happened last month will happen this one... some of the best prawning sessions can be had when the wind is howling and it's p'ing down with rain. My suggestion to you is to get out, talk with others, watch what they do, copy what the good ones do and basically enjoy a night away from home. My first prawning session this year will be the weekend of 15/16th September... an 'R' in September. Saturday will be the best night I would say with 1.72 high to 0.19 low... high will hit the lakes at approx 10pm (don't go by the high at the ocean, add at least 2 hours to the tide chart times)which means you will prawn till approx 3.30 - 4.00am. PS. See you on a lake somewhere... we usually prawn The Entrance!!!! :thumbup: PJ

Hi Raiders To say I'm SORBLE would be an understatement!!! So I hear you ask what is SORBLE? SORBLE is how I feel after today’s and recent trips to the Nepean River following the recent floods. SORBLE is a result of all the attention given to our lovely little river by TV, print and online media. SORBLE is me feeling so P'off that I visited the Penrith City Council offices on the way home to complain about SORBLE. SORBLE is "SICK OF RUBBISH BEING LEFT EVERYWHERE"... I'm sick of it and I would imagine many of you would be too!!! Now as a dedicated responsible fisherperson I take it upon myself to leave any location I visit the same or maybe even somewhat better than when I arrived. But unfortunately our river is experiencing an onslaught by ignorant outsiders, fisher AH's and one timers who have been attracted to it's banks with the lure of catching a trout!!! When they leave they leave their indelible mark by the way of tackle wrappings, bottles, discarded line, etc, etc, etc. Today I saw two packages of kiddie rods carelessly discarded on the banks, left obviously by people who don't fish too often... did they have a fishing license??? I bet not!!! So I took myself off to the Council offices to complain. After the usual run around and the girl not sure if it was under their jurisdiction (rubbish in river is not but on the banks it is?) I was asked to put my complaint into writing to the GM of the council. Apparently another person had also complained this morning. I suggested that they need Rangers down there booking these ignorant people to discourage their SORBLE ways!!! Raiders, I ask that if you are of the same mind as myself about this issue you leave a post supporting my stand... get your mates to post... let's get this post to go viral. I'm quite prepared to take this to the media and wake up everyone about SORBLE. What I find amazing is that "Mother Nature" cleaned our river up only about a month ago and already it's back looking the same as it did before. We all need to do something to ensure places like this exist for us to visit and fish in the future. If we (Fishos) are not very careful the actions of those of us who create the SORBLE will spoil it for all of us (they already do) and places to fish will become off limits to all. We all need to do something... support the SORBLE cause now. :thumbup: More bloody SORBLE!!! Cheers PJ

Big Al Take a look at what I found yesterday in around 10 minutes... is your tassy amongest this lot???? I certainly have quite a comprehensive selection of lures in my kit now kindly donated by people like yourself. Cheers guys With regards to tassy rigging... throw the treble and wire combo supplied with the lure in the bin or cut the wire and keep the treble as replacements for other hardbody lures when needed. Then set up as pictured... use a single hook around a size 4 (I like red ones for some reason) the problem with the wire supplied is it doesn't allow for the lure to travel up the line when a fish is hooked... the extra weight of the lure can be used by the fish to throw the hooks... hope this helps!!! Cheers PJ

Seems like with Trout in the river Bass are a by catch at the moment... But bloody hell what a by catch!!! What a stunning specimen of a fish... Well done mate!!!!

Well we hit the river again this morning!!! Arrived around 8.30am and the car park was packed... lots of dad's and sons out for a fish on a lovely Easter Monday morning! (Some dad's and daughter too). Me and the you fella headed downstream of the weir and found a nice unobstructed bank to cast from... a good practise area for you know who. We gave it about and hour and a half with no result and then headed back upto the weir. I was flicking SP's around in the turbulence and hooked onto a small rainbow (probably under legal size) but I can now say my luck has turned and even though I failed to land the fish, I know there's always next time!!!

Mate it's pretty hard to find with the naked eye... head past the weir, turn left at the third She oak and pace out 150 steps and you should be right on it!!!

Don't worry about that I soon whacked on a tasy back to front and it didn't know if it was coming or going!!!! Either a Freudian slip or I believe he means Carp!!! Hi Mate Thanks for the pic... just to rub it in eh?!!! Just wondering did you hook up on the Dollies with the Tassy? Heading out tomorrow with my young fella for an early flick down the river... knowing how my luck is running at moment he will hook up and land a monster and he's only five... I'll keep you posted!!! Let me know when you're up for a run up the river... PJ

Well fellow raiders, I must say that the past few weeks have been enjoyable enough chasing elusive trout on the Nepean!!! Now, either I'm doing something wrong, I'm just a bad fisherman (not likely) or my luck is out...(the most plausible reason)but in the trout stakes(after about nine outtings with an investment of considerable time)I've hooked and landed a big fat zero, blank, BUGGER BLOODY ALL!!! The start to this didn't go well... my first outing (as the river started to receed after the recent letting out of Warragamba)was marred by me loosing my iPhone at the Weir. All I can put it down to was the bag I was using has several pockets on it and I believe I left one open and hey presto my phone was history. $900 later and I'm now the proud owner of a new iPhone 4S that stays securely zipped in my bag!!!! Oh and if anyone reading this found my phone I would still like it back... it's no good to you as I had the IMEI blocked by Vodafone. So I've hit the river numerous time since. I've hiked upto Glenbrook Creek and at least got a follow. Headed up the gorge with Searabbit only to help him lose one Rainbow and land a smaller model on hard bodies.(Rapal Style)Thursday last, I had a spare arvo so headed to the weir again. I was wading thigh deep in the downstream weir pool (outside of the exclusion zone) when a guy lobs next to me. Within about two throws he's on and lands a nice little rainbow of 30cm... my bloody trout me thinks!!! To top things off and add insult to injury when I inspect his weapon of choice (a small pink tassy) I discover he'd put it on back to front!!!! THEN and as I fished away he disappears behind the upturned roots of the fallen She Oaks that litter the banks only to be interviewed by Channel Ten NEWS!!!! (See here for his interview )I got chatting to this fellow and discover he was a visitor to our fair city of Penrith and this was his first trip to the Nepean... infact it was his first Trout ever!!! Good on ya Stacey!!! Now to today... Easter Saturday. When I arrived just on 7am, the car park was packed, I headed down to the weir which was invaded by fishos. They were bloody everywhere!!! I headed for my possy; thigh deep in the middle of the weir pool and proceeded to throw an arsnal of different lures from spinner baits to tassies to hard bodies and back again. Different colours, patterns, sizes... do you think I could evoke a take? So I set off for the far side of the river and explored some areas that haven't been quite accessible till now... still no luck!!! So I hear you ask... why the title "Nepean River Rewards" well along with giving myself some well earned R & R the past couple of weeks. The peace and quiet, being within one's own thoughts on the river bank with only the noise of the birds, raging water and the occasional train or plane to disturb is soothing to say the least... good for the soul. I've also not exactly come home empty handed!!! As a result of the huge influx of fishos on the river there is the spoils of their toils to be had!!! It's obviously some of these guys have dusted off the fishing gear and headed for the river... a little rusty maybe in the finese of casting and they're losing a swag load of gear in the process. To date I've given a new home about to ten lost treasures and donated only three... I've had to get wet to get them but then I reckon it's worth it... don't you? By my estimations I've found approximately $100 worth of lost tackle in a couple of weeks. It just goes to show it's not all about the fishing!!! :thumbup: Here are most of my rewards for the last couple of weeks!!!!

Slinky It is glamorous... and just for the record there is more money spent (in the world) in the pursuit of carp than any other fish!!! Thanks for your comments and just maybe we might see you on the river enjoying glamorous arvo chasing these underrated funsters!!! Ray R Flightless yes, beer drinking no... you've gotta keep your wits about you when chasing these beauties and any impairment makes the task at hand all the harder!!! Kiwi Waynie did grab a long neck on the way home though!!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Hi Raiders (After a long time absent) After entertaining visitors from the UK yesterday in our lovely Blue Mountains and attending a friends 40th birthday party till late last night... I awoke just five minutes prior to our agreed meet up time of 7.30am at Kiwi Waynies house!!! Not to be one to disappoint, I jumped on the mobile and told him to hit the river with young Jim and I'd join him sometime after eight o'clock!!! I arrived at our chosen spot to find it invaded by two other Carp hunters and after a quick chat learned that Kiwi and son were just a few hundred metres downstream. I joined them and set up on a small, fairly uncomfortable bank in full sun. With Jim appropriately sunblocked up, we fished a nice run of river and witnessed Carp and Eels meandering our swim. Half an our past and with Jim having landed a nice Bass on a bread baited hook our mates up-streamed yelled to let us know they were vacating OUR spot!!! We burlied our new spots and settled into the comforts of our new surroundings and were happy to enjoy the peace and quiet being broken by the sounds of the Formula One boats racing in the Regatta Centre lakes. The Kiwi and I both decided to toss a couple at the Bass which are now making their way up the Nepean for summer with no success but enjoyed the cools of the Nepean around our waists. It was then I decided to climb a "She Oak" that conveniently lies over the swim we were fishing and after some minutes I happily alert the Kiwi of several nice Carp now feeding on our free offerings!!! For the next hour and a bit we perched ourselves like a pair of frustrated Kookaburras on the horizontal limb of the tree; watching, waiting and wishingfor one of three nice fish to approach our corn baited hooks and give us the thrill we'd come for! On several occasions our baits were fondled, only to be rejected as they felt the slightest weight or sign of a foreign hook... gee it was an addictive learning lesson, as these three beauties glided in and out of our swim, feeding tentatively only to remain free and greedy as we watched on!!! Eventually as our session went into overtime and after an absence of some ten minutes or so, they came back for dessert!!! Meanwhile I'd re-rigged my rod now minus the small free running lead that had previously caused my prey to reject my offerings. As two fish swam into a heavily corn burlied patch beneath me, I readied and steadied myself on my perch and finally as I lifted the rod tip, I felt weight!!! The beauty beneath me sensed my number eight hit home and immediately rolled on his side to give me a glimpse of his bulk before he headed for a nearby weed bed. I gingerly made my way down from my vantage point keeping just enough weight on him to subdue him whilst not staining the 4lb line to excess. The rest is academic really... he went 6.02KG and the first fine fish of this season. Here's to many more to come!!! I truly hope I can do some more sight fishing for Carp this year... it's soooo much fun!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to my personal photographer Kiwi for these pics some of which were taken from our perch!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Well done mate!!! Kiwi Waynie wondered why we didn't see you up there... now we know why!!! Have you seen Waynies 1.84KG buck Rainbow from the weekend??? Cheers PJ Garn

Well done Waynie on your first YFT... I wanna be the next to catch one but the opportunity to get out chasing them has never come up!!! (So anyone with a spare spot pls PM me!!! LOL!) Thanks for the steaks they were delicious!!! Cheers again PJ Garn

Top write up Waynie!!! But you forgot to mention the two Yabbies that we had us for breakfast... had a great time with you and the wife and although the fishin' wasn't the best we've ever had, the experience (in my books) is what it's all about!!! Looking forward to next years appointment at Lyell and our next adventure. Cheers PJ Garn

Nice report Mike!!! I'd have shut up about the lost gear and scored a few new lures for the inconvenience and panic that have set in!!! Give that uncle of yours a slap for me and give him some netting lessons in between trips!!! Get the missus to run around the front lawn holding the end of the 80lb and see if he can catch her!!! Cheers PJ

Hi Pappy1 All's to say is I'm jealous!!! Crackin' Yakin' taken fish!!! Bet you could have water skied behind that beauty!!! Well done... PJ Garn

Hi Guys and Gals Been a while since my last post due to a lay off on the fishing front for a while but I got out on Anzac day with my good mate Kiwi Waynie to Lake Lyell... we left earlier than originally organised after a leave pass was issued ahead of time so we hit the road and lobbed at Lyell at around 1am. The weather was inclement... but light drizzle couldn't dampen our enthusiasm!!! We were eagerly rigging our rods for a night session of bait fishing when a huge moth attracted by my Primus lamp flew in for a look... "He'll do!!!" I said and promptly hooked him behind the head and cast him into the receding waters of Lyell. We then bedded down for the night(bedded not really the right choice of word), but manage to get a kip in the front bench seat of Waynie's Rodeo. With the windows wound down slightly to hear the impending rings from our bite alarms, Waynie was the first to fall off and proceeded to saw timber, eventually between chunks of Cadbury's I manage to get comfortable enough to apparently join the Kiwi in his timber mill!!!! A couple of times through the night beeps rang from our alarms and the Kiwi scrabbled from his vertical bed but alas not a decent run resulted and I fear that the wind had something to do with it!!!! We woke late (around 6.30am) with the sun already up and doing its thing behind the blanket of cloud that hugged the landscape, with light drizzle still falling we tended our rods (to my amazement my winged buddy was still alive doing his thing alongside my bubble float.. I can't believe he didn't get taken!!!). The Kiwi decided to fish on bait style but I decide a Tassy casually cast into the Cox's arm might bring more success. After a lure loss due to a tangle of my "Black Magic - Premier Supple" (it's a great bait fishing line but I don't recommend it for tossing lures) I switch to a Brown Trout patterned Tassy and within an hour I bank two beauties the first going 46cm and the second even better at 48cm!!! Meanwhile the jealous Kiwi fished on and managed a SMALL but nice model on Powerbait!!! 46cm Beauty!!! The Favoured Tassy The second even better!!! A happy Kiwi!!! With the day wearing on, Kiwi Waynie decided that a lovely breakfast of bacon and egg rolls loving prepared on his camping stove was required to fuel us for the day... and after this gourmets delight we met up with two other fishos who arrived to try out their new 8 foot tinny. Anyone for a Bacon & Egg Roll??? We set up our Yaks while our new associates Dave and Evan headed towards the main body of the dam... eventually we were off and with my rod tip happily bouncing to the dance of the Tassy Devil, I round a bend in the lake and witness our two new mates on the bank with a Blue Toyota Hilux in a rather nose down position!!! As I get nearer I see the problem and alight my craft to lend a hand. The story we were told is the bloke(driver) and (we think) his girlfriend had been 4WDing during the night and had managed to bog themselves in the silty mud left as a result of Lyell dropping... recent rain had made matters worse and the quagmire had held them captive since 3am (it was now about 9am)!!! Shortly afterwards Kiwi Waynie paddled up and lent a hand too. After much digging with the paddled from Dave and Evans boat, jumping on the tray back and bull bar eventually we got the beast freed!!! With hand shakes all round we waved the bloke off and bitched about the fact he didn't offer us a Bourbon and Coke each from his stash on the back seat!!! We all were amazed that other fishos trolling up and down all morning did nothing to offer this bloke a hand!!! ??? Back to our respective vessels we headed on trolling as we went... nothing!!! We trolled Farmers Creek... nothing... we tolled the main body.... nothing!!! So with arses' numbing we head for a nice beach to rest the rear and stretch the legs!!! Now I'm going to give all you aspiring Yakkers a quick lesson in the do's and don'ts of yakking. Lesson 1. Don't attempt to alight a yak with only the nose touching the beach or other landing spot!!! Yaks are very unstable vessels at the best of times but in this position you are likely to get very wet!!! Yes... I fall in!!! I'm soaked up to my chest... but even in this dampened state I'm determined to fish on. We baited up and within seconds I'm on!!! A small version takes my bait for a run... he is duly released with the hook left intact. (Gut hooked) Then just minutes later I have another run and my second from this location is taken, a better model of 33cm (just nice for the pan). Meanwhile, the Kiwi's day just gets worse... he had a nice run only to be snagged up on branches from submerged trees and ended breaking off, even though he attempted to land it by jumping in his yak and after several missed bites the same thing happened again... you could feel the heat from his frustrations and anger as I sat shivering on the bank!!! With the sun now trying to poke it's head through, we decided to head for home under troll. On the corner of the lake where it turns at Farmers Creek I encounter a snag and by the time I retrieve my lure and catch up to Waynie I'm just in time to see him in battle with a better fish!!! He lands his virginal yak trout on the troll... a nice Rainbow of about 40cm!!! A happier Kiwi!!! We arrive back at home base with the "landed and eskied" score standing at 3 - 2 to PJ Garn. Dave and Evan were preparing a fire to cook their evening dinner, I see the opportunity to dry out a bit and head off to acquire them some fire wood. They duly offer us a sausage each which I accept whilst the Kiwi disappeared... he'd only sneakily set up his rods for another bait session... it then that things went crazy for him. Bite after bite came which resulted in him landing another two nice fish the beast a beauty of 45cm (really deep bodied and well conditioned). Meanwhile, my Tassy throwing was attracting no success so with the score now standing at 4 - 3 Kiwi Waynie I take up the spot next to my mate and tossed my bait into the main river bed next to his. With the sun now sinking fast behind the hills and blue sky showing, a beep at my alarm calls me to attention... my line picks up off the water as my hooked prey (a 40cm male) heads for the opposite bank for refuge... the Kiwi at my side picked up my adjoining rod to get the line out of harms way and immediately after I net my prize, I net the small Rainbow on top of mine!!! After a quick release of the smaller fish I head for the ute and start the tedious task of packing up and take a couple of shots of the spoils of our days labour!!! Not a bad days work!!! Powerbait container for size reference!!! What a top day we had at Lyell. Final score 4 - 4 and both absolutely satisfied. We left on cloud nine and all there is to do now is spend Sunday tending our fires as we cold smoke our catches!!! ;) Cheers PJ Garn & Kiwi Waynie

Katsuo Let me start by saying NEVER be jealous of another catching bigger or more fish than you!!! Watch, listen and learn from them and soon you'll be doing the same!!! You've got the right idea fishing for Bonito on light gear... I had an experience of catching many Bonito on a charter on 15kg outfits... I must say it was the most boring fishing I've ever done!!! The fish give up after the first run and the type of gear used meant we just skull dragged the poor things to the boat!!! I am jealous of your Katsuo feed though!!! When we all coming over... your cooking by the sounds!!!! Cheers PJ Garn PS. Did your Katsuo Tataki look this good????

Robbo I think the effort you've put in at the weir this year you deserved that fish but.... at least you were there for the experience!!! Thanks for the pics, that's one BIG Bass mate... and just when we all thought the rains had ended the season!!! Catch you on the water!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Heh Waynie & Jimbo Well done on the maiden voyage!!! Sorry I was unable to join you but had made arrangements with Johnny V!!! Young Jims yak looks the goods... we'll be flat out keepin' up with him and out fishin' him by the sounds!!! The old Celtas are certainly a good Bass bringer!!! Can't wait for Robson to be old enough to get him out and fishin'!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Hi Raiders I've been a bit quiet on the fishing front the past couple of weeks and not much creative juices on the poetry front either but with our recent success at Windang still fresh in our minds and a New Moon in the sky, a return trip was a certainty. My mate John V and his son "Gungrel Mutts" arrived to pick me up just as the big storm hit on Friday evening... I frantically logged on to the Beaureau of Met website and saw that the storm cell had past Wollongong, so we hit the road for another nights prawning and fishing the lake!!! Armed with our new prawning outfits consisting of an esky, Suzuki car battery and innertube to keep all afloat we hit the water just gone 11pm. The new aerator pump I had purchased "shat" it's self within five minutes but the prawn were there!!! They proved hard to find at first, most were hanging on the bottom and were a challenge to catch but after about four hours of prawning fun, finally John V's prawn light took on water and our little bait collecting adventure was over!!! Fortunately we had about 100 good bait sized specimens to turn into better things!!! Back to the car and with the new 12 volt kettle purchased earlier that day we waited about half an hour for a luke warm coffee before we hit the water for an all night session!!! > When we first rigged and hit the water the tide was running out fast, our lines picked up weed and nothing was biting. Young "Gungrel" armed with his newly purchased rod and reel outfit was keenly fishing between John V and myself when I heard him say "Hey Dad this rods gonna break!!!", I nearly turned and said "Mate you'll never break that!!!" when I witnessed John V take the rod and "Bang" it snaps in half... he was only retrieving the line with a small amount of weed on it!!! That put a damper on the young blokes night and he failed to recover fully from the disappointment of breaking his first rod. With the temperature dropping, I returned to car to get the arms for my new jacket and took the opportunity to get a quick kip before the tide turned. Young "Gung" also took advantage and disappeared to the car for a sleep only to return just as the sun was coming up and all the fun had been had!!! I woken at about 3.30am from my comfortable sleep on my chair by female voice and laughing... a group of people taking a hire boat on the lake were congregated on the jetty!!! I looked at the water which was now slacking up and re-baited my line... just as I'd predicted the bites came thick and fast!!! I was the first to land a nice Bream of 28cm... for the next half an hour or so John V and I took turns to land alternate fish. He nailed a beauty of 40cm and things were starting to look real good... and then just as quickly as they'd come on... they were gone again. The tide started to run the other way and weed once again was all we were catching. We fished on though and about half way through the incoming John V hooks and lands a nice Flatty (our first from this spot) With renewed hope I suggested casually that we fish on to the next turn of tide and we both nail more Flatties (even a double hook up) to a total of five. Just before high John V hooks and lands a nice Sand Whiting but it proves to be the only one of the day!!! Somewhere amongst all this fun I get a bite and land my first Coke can!!! A Occy had mad his home in a pre-1976 can (it had fluid ounce markings on it, these cans were phased out by 1976!!) and had taken a liking to my nice fresh prawn bait... a first time for everything!!! Sorry no photo!!!! Then just as I'm preparing to fish the slack again, John V spits the dummy after a break off on a snag and starts to pack his gear up!!! Still perched at the end of the jetty I decide that unless I want to walk home I too better call it a day (or day/night) and we hit the road with our somewhat damaged gear (broken aerator pump, leaking prawn light and snapped rod) and head for home and the tackle shop. As predicted our friendly tackle provider was more than accommodating in replacing all our failed gear and enjoyed our yarns!!! Not a bad night spent again at Windang... we'll be back!!! The fruits of our labours!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Well done Roffo on a great session at lovely Lake Lyell!!! Well worth the $4.50 entry fee I expect!!! I love it when they jump and dance like that!!! Sounds like Lyell is fishing well at the moment... presently it's at 51% capacity according to Delta Electricity who use it to supply the power station in Lithgow!!! No pics of your catch??? I always throw the camera in the tackle bag mate just in case!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Thanks Tony The esky lid measures 425mm across, so I guess that makes that Whiting around about a 40cm model!!! Sorry I didn't measure it!!! With regard the KG, I assumed it was one as I thought they are the main species that are taken here on the East coast but may I stand to be corrected!!! On consultation with my books it is probably more likely a Sand Whiting??? I've not caught many Whiting they all look the same to me!!! Cheers PJ