[Hawkesbury - lower mangrove area]

Hi Everyone. 
 

I’m going this weekend on the Hawkesbury around lower mangrove. I’ll be on a boat. I never fish that area before or even the river much. Any advice on what to target at the moment and more important what kind of bait are chased at this time of the year. Thanks a lot

 

david

[Returning the favour – the iconic Murray Cod]

Great report Derek, it’s nice to see such a camaraderie spirit! Very pleasant to read.

beautiful fish too!

[Whiting on surface lures in Botany Bay]

Did another try today which worked much better.

the main issue was the rod and the line. I changed for a 7’ rod with 4 lbs braid and everything worked better. Thanks for the help. 
 

[A learning day]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all well and I hope you're having a good time on the water

Last Friday, I spent an incredible day learning a lot from DerekD who's a member on this forum.

We went in different locations around the harbour.

It was very interesting to understand what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. He had had organise an amazing 12 hours of fishing where we went from flathead fishing to fresh water bass to kingfish and then back to the flathead. All that in one day.

He was kind enough to introduce me to some new lures and gears.

I managed to catch that day 2 flathead, a small kingfish and some snapper, all on lures. Unfortunately, I didn't really take any good pictures, I was quite focus on applying the new techniques.

More than the fish that I caught that day it's the knowledge and the informations that I gather that day that made it so great. I will need now to adapt theses to the area that I normally fish to make it a complete success.

Once again I thank DerekD for spending the day with me

Have a good one

David

 

[Whiting on surface lures in Botany Bay]

I red those + some vids but looks like my technique is not there yet. 
I will give another go on a less windy day 🤞

[Whiting on surface lures in Botany Bay]

Thanks a lot. 
i tried doll points and further this morning. No luck but the spot seems great!

thanks again 

[Whiting on surface lures in Botany Bay]

Hi Everyone 

i hope you are well, and all the best for 2021

any advice on where to start to target whitings on surface lures around Botany Bay? Thanks

 

 

[Recipe & method for cold smoked & aged fish]

Hi Guys,

 

I thought I would share the cold smoked recipe that I use most

This works very well with lots of different fish

I’ve used it with bonito, australian salmon, kingfish, mahi, marlin belly, farmed ocean trout or Spanish mackerel

It’s very easy but respect the timing

Make a brine made of

4l of water

500 ml in volume of brown sugar

500 ml in volume of salt

Mix everything with a hand blender 

add 2 cloves

Add your fish and keep it in the brine for 12 to 30 hours in a fridge depending on how thick and big the fish fillet are.

It’s important to make sure that your fillet are not stacked on top of each others

  After the brining process, rinse it in a large container with letting the tap running for 25 min

Put the fish skin side down on a rack and let it dry in a fridge for another 24h

Time to smoke!

Use a cold smoker, or any large box where you can bring some smoke

I use a turned off oven, with my fish, a large tray of ice and some pan with some wood chip that I change every 20-30 min.

For the wood chip, I use tassie oak, hickory, apple wood, cherry wood, or orange.

I smoked them for 2-4 hours

Then I wrap them with chux, or cheese clothes and let them aged in a fridge hanged for a few days and up to a few weeks. Depending on the fish.

Here’s some ideal aging time after the smoking

Bonito 2-3 days

Kingfish 4-5 days

Ocean trout 6 weeks

Marlin belly 4 weeks

Spanish mackerel 4 weeks

Australian salmon 1-2 weeks

It’s important that your fish doesn’t touch anything else in the fridge.

Play around and change the recipe but I hope you enjoy it

My favourite is the Spanish Mack and the marlin belly

 

 

 

[Bait seasonality]

Thanks a lot for the podcast and the book. I will get into it. 
 

much appreciated 

[Bait seasonality]

Thanks a lot! 
what you just explain about the flathead in the Hawkesbury is exactly what I try to do. 
As quite a beginner everything seems very foggy, and if everything you’re telling me makes lots of sense I’m struggling to be able to build the process myself for another species and/or place. 
i will keep on reading and I’m doing a log of all my fishing trips

 

thanks again for your time

 

 

[Bait seasonality]

Hi,

i hope you are all well

i see in a lot of video fisherman explaining that to choose your bait or lure you need to match what the fish that you’re targeting is hunting for, at that particular time of the year, in that particular area. That makes much sense but how do you know what’s in the water at that time? 
you try to catch some? 
 

thanks a lot

 

david

[Improving my fishing from the rocks/beach in the eastern suburbs]

Hi

I hope you are all well

I fish since I’m a young boy, but where I come from there was only a tiny river, very different from fishing here. When I arrive in Australia, 8 years ago, I fished here and there but not so much. May be once every two months.

I’m a very keen seafood chef (that’s what I do for a living), so I like to eat what I catch.

Anyway, since a year I’m much more into fishing, I fish every week. Land based from the rocks or sometimes from the beach. I live in Clovelly so I fish around there depending on the condition. I don’t really like the harbour as I really enjoy the « wild » feeling you get from fishing the ocean. 

I’m interested in improving my skills on catching fish with lures, plastics, metal. I catch some here and there but I can see I need to improve. I have watched lots of videos but there’s something missing.

I have a car so I can travel, I can only do Mondays or Tuesdays

As I said earlier I’m a professional head chef specialised in fine dining seafood so I would be happy to teach some cooking skills to the person who would help me with the fishing part.

 

Thanks a lot 

David

[Ikejime tool]

Thanks for your feedback!

[Ikejime tool]

Hi guys,

 

any of you use a specific ikejime tool that they are specially happy with? Any brand to recommend? Ideally something quite thin. Anyone is using a wire too here?

 

thanks

 

david

[Next Tuesday fishing eastern suburbs]

Hi!

 

i will more than likely go fishing next Tuesday afternoon till dark from the rocks. I’m based in Clovelly but I’m fine to travel a little
If you would like to join, let me know

 

David

[What’s written on the rod and what you can do]

Thanks a lot for the extra information. That helps big time. 

[What’s written on the rod and what you can do]

Hi everyone 

i hope I’m in the right section 

so I was wondering when you have a rod that says 5-7 kg line. Is that the strongest main line you can put on your reel, the strongest you can have as a leader or is it more related to the drag you can set to your reel. I have seen some very experienced fisherman with 20pounds line on 5-7kg rod. How do you know the limit of your rod. Thanks a lot. 
david