Mike Sydney

I’ve had trebles become doubles plenty. I still catch with doubles as I’m far too lazy to replace trebles. Figure that if folk often replace with singles I’m not really missing out on much!

I’m not sure but how many tickles until an octopus laughs? …. Ten tickles.

My experience as a night fisherman is the full moon sucks. Exciting high tides in the estuaries but rubbish fishing. Yes it’s an easy bogeyman to blame and I’ll still go anyway but I’ve had enough bad nights fishing on a full moon to believe the pattern. maybe tonight is different there’s a lunar eclipse at 7.03pm Sydney time edit: agree it’s still worth going out as you definitely catching nothing at home, and it’s always a pleasure being out under moonlight. Not much prettier than a full moon on the waters edge

Yes i suppose that’s the key takeaway - not to remove debris absentmindedly. These octopus moved on the lure so I knew something was afoot but if they’d been still they were the colour of your average bit of random debris. Brown and wet 😂

When they first came out they were mainly brown with a few bits of yellow. The blue rings were shown once I put them on the rocks. Has been a dangerous week actually - last weekend there was a fish floating around very close to my ledge at night just hanging around, like a flathead but with an eel tail. I tried to net it for a closer look and it was half in and fell out - just as well I realised later it was a cobbler…

Had a morning out at the cooks river mouth yesterday looking to catch a feed using the cranka crab at the cooks river mouth. Arrived an hour into the run out and went down onto the rocks below the airport tower wall. Beautiful weather and the water was very clear. Lots of bream around and I figured it was going to be a quick and easy catch. Tied on a cranka crab and started casting. Not much interest at first and was collecting a lot of leaf litter. I was told very early on to always check before I pulled off leaves and sticks from a lure, good thing too because my first critter caught was a nasty fellow: What do you know! My first blue ringed octopus. Thankfully it crawled off the hooks itself so I didn’t need to handle it. This was quickly followed by a second blue ring. Then a third, all three taking the crab in about a twenty minute span. I gave up after that and went home without a feed!

Well done @faker some nice catches there, you eating them ?

I’ll second the vote on the Berkley bender as a cheaper alternative to the OSP. Besides bream on surface, I’ve also had success with the 105 model catching surface flathead. Yet to land a really big one but have had four surface flathead on run out tides on the sand flats using the bender. They come in closer to $20, the 76mm ones around $16 bucks and the larger 105s $21. One of the big retailers - the orange one - had a promo a few weeks back offering two for the price of one and I stocked up. The 105mm model is still pretty light and can be cast on your bream gear, though I’ve been using a 12lb leader instead of my normal 6lb when casting it. Three bloops, pause, rinse and repeat.

Forgot about until yesterday actually! Then forgot again until you tagged me. Back in the game but some catching up to do!

@XD351 an interesting read from back in 2012. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1323879322-50687/link/97 The daily telegraph article talked about a couple of stabbings and someone getting clubbed with an iron bar. A small group ruining it for everyone basically. I’m surprised so many wharves are still open for fishing TBH, I fish almost only at night and Gladesville, Abbotsford are almost no go zones for the general public, overrun by absolute tools itching to fight. Last time I went to Gladesville a group of maybe a dozen had speakers, rubbish everywhere, smoking and were trying to pick up a couple of 12-13 year old girls who were walking past. As with most bans a “small group” ruins it for the rest of us - though there’s a helluva lot of these small groups around at night on the parra

I can understand this one to a degree, in that I’ve taken my kids swimming on the beach/ rock pools next to it which is well within casting distance and the one time I went there it was packed with kids on that stretch of beach. But then you can fish from any beach so maybe it was long term anti social behaviour that drove it and has reappeared of late. Mind you the three or four times I’ve gone to fish that park at night I’ve abandoned due to not being able to find a car park within miles so personally won’t miss it

That’s a stunning fish. What an absolute horse, and on surface as well - catch of a lifetime that, well done! On such light gear too. You’d have been delighted to have a mate work the net for you as I’m sure she would’ve tested your leader knot if you were lifting her up! Well done @FlicknFishWithAnthony that’s the stuff of dreams.

True that, his double was the icing on the cake after his World Cup run. - day two was a horror show though it felt like I was back in the 90s. Shows how far we’ve come in the past ten years that it’s a shock instead of the norm!

Something to take my mind off the NZ - Australia test cricket at least. What a hiding we’re copping. Fingers crossed the tail wags for a few hundred runs 😒

@DerekD another option for an Australian made hinged topwater is the Vex Deadn range, I’ve used the Deadn80 which is beautiful though only for tailor so far. There’s another manufacturer from Ontario as well Lunkerhunt which makes a lot of interesting lures including hinged surface lures which are now available in some local retailers. A lot cheaper than OSP. Interestingly the Lunkerhunt range includes a topwater spider which I suspect would be very popular with the fish here - on my “to buy” list for sure!

Some spectacular fish there well done James!

Was fantastic catching up with you again @Little_Flatty and folks this homemade thong popper he has - you have to see the action to believe it, it’s really superb and sits so well in the water. Really, really nice to watch. Was a beautiful spot too - the joy of fishing the creek by both moonlight and sunrise !

Wow mate this is just spectacular. stoked for you what a wonderful time that must’ve been

Found this today. Good for a chuckle . A competition to tell a funny story only via charades https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/s/vVnRSj96Wn

Outstanding! And here was me writing off the creek on such a low tide. Good effort Mike!

@DerekD good topic. I saw an interesting comparison video from salt strong that suggested a 3000 outcasts a 1000 by a couple yards. I know little about the physics of long casting but surely reducing friction is the ultimate goal? Without wanting to be too intrusive, you lubing up? I’d imagine a well lubricated, well spooled reel AND lubricated guides might add some extra distance. Still, getting an extra 10 meters is very significant on such light gear that I’d imagine rod length to be the bigger driver

@R E G I C Y C L E I look forward to each of your reports as just when I think you’ve taken photos of the most beautiful scenery in Australia you go and find somewhere even more gorgeous. Stunning photos yet again, and some excellent fish to boot

I had my first fish taken by a shark on the weekend just been, in the Cooks River outside the golf course. Pulled in just the head of an EP maybe 9pm

Cool video Derek! I suppose the question not covered is how much of a difference does extra wobble really make? Surely there’s a point where there’s too much action to entice a fish - or even to cause a missed strike as it’s harder to pin the current location? If you think about a loop knot for example @XD351 you mentioned 5cm - why stop there if a bigger loop gives more side to side - Why not a meter? 😉 @big Neil top down would be more interesting as this video really just shows they all produce vibration and similar enough actions side on. I generally agree more side to side movement is desirable on cranks - the ‘fear of missing out’ theory surely applies to lateral movements as well as pauses and speed - but to any significant degree? Thinking about whiting and a surface lure for example - whiting frequently miss my surface several times before a successful hit. I would theorise a smaller, tighter walk-the-dog would get more hookups than a wider one.

Wow what a great report and some stunning photos @linewetter. Really living the dream right there, even without the catch - the bream just a cherry on the cake. The nature in many ways is the best part of fishing I reckon and that’s a gorgeous location (wherever it is!). Shame about the lure. I’ve lost many to trees casting parallel to a bank and have lost new lures on the first cast as well. But don’t let that get you down - or else the shiny lures will gather dust after all! Better to have loved and lost than never to have cast at all…! I bet catching the bream helped with the uphill slog back too - might’ve been a few degrees steeper without a catch 😆