Mike Sydney

Here’s some video footage amd a news interview. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/10/23/record-alligator-gar-Lake-Sam-Rayburn-record/2421698094870/

I’ll add Ferry St Hunters Hill there too, one of those spots you can fish from the car.

How’s this! 238 pound Alligator Gar on 6lb line. There’s finesse fishing and then there’s this bloke haha https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02KWzixpiRakYUzrki6H1jBS1ftMtreMJVWYz6wNzwFENKx4uHb2famq1qttGA636ml&id=100005069791028

@Bennyg78 will probably need them come the grand final if Cleary’s form continues much longer !

@JustJames looks like you need to wait another six weeks or so for the collections to start up again Flare collection is no longer available at service centres or maritime sites. The mobile collection program will commence again in November 2023. from. -https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/waterways-safety-and-rules/lifejackets-and-safety-equipment/flare-disposal

Yes thanks campr, I thought the same thing as @DerekD had me using a spinner for bass at manly dam a few years back. This was found in saltwater today (the Cooks) - chasing EP perhaps which are currently hanging out at lots of the bridges here.

I’ve been playing the excellent, excellent hunting game “Call of the Wild: theHunter” for the last few months and this week it’s companion game The Angler released on Xbox Game Pass. My first fish! Caught on a bloodworm under a float - what a monster ! The game - naturally set in US - starts you out float fishing with worms on a size 10 hook and takes you through the basics of drag settings, line classes and depth below floats, before graduating to lures. Spinners, crankbaits, soft plastics, surface lures, a pretty good variety of fishing styles are catered for. Retrieves come in four flavours - constant, stop-and-go, twitching and jigging. Retrieve speeds can be changed easily enough and it’s entirely possible to retrieve as you would in real life - the subtleties of the control are there. It’s good fun, if you have Game Pass it’s free and worth a crack. Still definitely a game rather than a Sim, and no replacement for the real thing - but it is relaxing and the digital views are stunning. I’ve played a bunch of fishing games. Fishing planet, pro fishing simulator, bass master and this is easily the best of the fishing titles….still, all fishing games seem to have the same issues. For starters they’re almost exclusively targeting bass carp and muskies with little species variety, and further there’s little satisfaction in “finding fish” - with games too frequently relying on visual cues (splashing) to show where the fish are. Still, it’s fun. If you want a fishing game this is probably the one. Outside of pure fishing games sea of thieves, DayZ, far cry 5 also have some pretty good fishing activities within them. For those into hunting COTW: theHunter has really amazed me. I’ve spent a lot of time stalking deer, elk, beer, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, geese, foxes, coyotes - it’s a lot of fun tracking animals and taking the time for that perfect shot. if you’re hunting or fishing on Xbox send me a PM and we can team up!

Excellent thanks @Bennyg78 !

Pulled this out of a river when my lure snagged its line - anybody know what it is - and how to fish it…?

GO THE MIGHTY WARRIORS

@AlbertW lots of freshwater rivers closed until October season starts , but lakes are all good. Heres a recent report out of Auckland https://www.fishing.net.nz/fishing-reports/saltwater-fishing-reports/inner-hauraki-fishing-report-8-9-23/

They look alright , actually the lure looks really good TBH, if that’s a cheap knock off it sure looks the goods. The trebles look to be same size as the Suga which has got me many tiny whiting so I wouldn’t be worried about the size. With whiting it’s not like they nibble at a lure, typically they’re hitting a moving retrieve and so don’t really get a chance to eyeball it closely. I wouldn’t bother assist hooking unless the big trebles are catching on each other (which they do on a stock Sugapen). I know some folks swear by it but i wouldn’t just on treble size. The Daiwa slippery dog has rear assists out of the box. If you do want to add some to the Sugapen-alternative then atomic trick bitz are in all the big stores and fairly cheap ($7-$8).

Congrats @Kirelda ! Those hurricanes are great lures. Well done for breaking through in winter, it’s gonna be a good summer ahead of you if you’re catching on crankbaits in the cold 👏

@faker have a listen to this episode which covers finding fish in winter. https://doclures.com/winter-estuary-fishing-greg-vinall/ You’re right that warmth is important and this episode talks about heat a lot, specifically ambient heat from structure warming throughout the day. E.g. sand warming in the sun before tide cover still holds warmth and can locally increase water temperature enough to bring fish nearby. My regular spots - usually knee deep - are not producing in winter and so I’m fishing deeper near bridges and targeting other species (estuary perch , jewfish) with much better success from just changing locations. While I’ve had some big ‘resident’ bream in summer locations bites have been hard going, so try fishing deeper structure than normal, use slower retrieves and longer pauses.

@DerekD for the NZ equivalent of the “Bloke” parody, try this one:

The 12th Man. Im sure it was enormous here as every kid at school in NZ knew each album line-for-line. Even ‘the final dig’ years later was still utter gold.

I love me a mix tape so here’s some kiwi ones that jump to mind the swingers - counting the beat the dudes - bliss Chris Knox - not given lightly shihad - my minds sedate supergroove - can’t get enough Shihad were probably the top pub band for me growing up I must’ve seen them live twenty plus times, I think they lived/live in Byron for years

Great win to get top 4, with a solid run home - bye, 11th/12th/15th/16th/17th teams. Chance of catching the broncos for second?

Took a 3.75” StreakZ at high tide bottom of a bridge pylon. The tail isn’t well pictured but yellow fins and tail like a whiting. Maybe 45cm long. Was hanging around with a bunch of tailor stealing my lures meant for jewfish. Snook?

@Kirelda there’s lots of tailor about at the moment and they present the best opportunity for a first fish on lure right now. Bream are few and far between with the cold weather. I also tried taking up lures in the winter and it sucks. There’s a high likelihood the casts you’re doing now catch fish when the water warms up. If you’re interesting in trying night fishing, any bridge with lights in the water will have tailor begging for your topwater lure in the light pools or any fast retrieve. around botany, Tempe footbridge at Wolli creek isn’t too far and there’s been a ton of tailor there lately. Honestly don’t be despondent it’s night and day fishing lures winter v summer as the shallows empty out of a lot of the bream and flathead. Try deeper water, try near bridges and target tailor with fast retrieves. Bream at the moment are harder to find and I haven’t seen a flatty in a few weeks now.

Warriors v Eels, easy as you like 😁

My fishing buddy got dumped, has Centrelink issues and generally hates everything. It took him a while to warm up to fishing as a way of dealing with his issues and he still cracks it at snags tides dropped hooks donuts the wind the temperature his gear…but getting on a fish does brighten him up a ton. Good luck there @XD351

If they could just wait a few days first I’d be happy!

Some big games this weekend, I’m expecting the Warriors to give the Rabbitohs a right hiding this weekend. It’s been many years since we beat them (bunnies won 12 of last 13) but boy do they look shaky at the moment. Will be good for Warriors to get a big win at home too as Auckland’s seen a few losses this year. Games like this one are so critical for making the eight on such a crowded ladder.

@XD351 some of the comments on the petition are very entertaining! ”the whole coast should be a marine reserve”, “marauding rock fishers flagrantly devastating the ecology”…. Hard to pick a favourite but “Forces from the South are angling to concrete Pittwater, put up high rise and turn it into a concrete heaven in the eyes of developers, government sponsored corporate greed!” really says a lot! Notwithstanding my opposition to the topic it is good to see kids getting involved and trying to make change. I thought the young girl spoke very well. Ultimately though I think fishers care about the water and environment more than most of the “city greens” and it’s great to hear a sensible council - a far cry from the no-nuclear no-highway no-maccas green councils we have over in the inner west.