XD351

Thanks Mike ! I remember years ago we used to drift the edge of the channel near sow and pigs in Sydney harbour, the north head sewer outlet was still going and the water full of sewage . We caught lots of big flathead pretty much every weekend then they moved to the deep water outfall and the sewer disappeared taking with it the baitfish that ate it and the flathead that ate this bait . I have long held the opinion that fish are in an area for one or a combination of three reasons : 1 they are seeking cover from predators 2 they are there because of a food source 3 they are breeding The first two are the most important because a fish that is expending more energy than it consumes is slowly starving to death and a fish that has to leave its safety zone to feed will get eaten sooner or later . The breeding is something that consumes them once a year and any urges for self preservation vanish - survival of the species - nothing else matters!

Might be the first caught on a trolled fly 🤣🤣🤣 the rod doesn’t matter - it is just part of the delivery system , the fly is what catches the fish. congrats on the flattie ! Hopefully the first of many more and bigger flathead ! Have you tried the flats at Rodd point or Rose bay yet ? Don’t forget Narrabeen lagoon as well.

G’day Raiders , By now you might have worked out that i like catching Flathead - bait or lures I don’t care and I particularly like the Hawkesbury system because it is a big system and within an hour from home where i can be looking at nothing more than water and trees- we are so lucky to have something like this on our doorstep ! Recently i have been trying a few theories to find flathead based on an area where i always seem to catch them - location zero on the first map , these theories differ from the traditional way of finding flathead - ie find a sand or mud bank that is covered at high tide and uncovered at low tide then fish the drains on the last of the run out or drift the edge of the channel . The need to work on these theories was established because spot zero produces flathead fairly reliably in the summer time and once i drift away from this area the catch rate drops to zero or the flathead are replaced by flounder . Looking at the first map and the fish icon you will notice a depression running parallel with the sore but it is only a few metres deeper than the surrounding area , so why do the flathead congregate there ? The answer came by surprise one day not long after the last floods , i arrived there on the last of the run in and set up but nothing was caught until the tide turned and started to run out and then this strange rubbish line appeared right where i was fishing and did so for the next few trips . I still didn’t cordon on to what was really happening at the time but by chance a few weeks later i was watching a show on fly fishing and host was explaining something called river craft and how he uses that to identify areas where trout will lie and watch for food , yep sure you have the classic pressure point in front of a boulder ( same as a bridge pylon )and the eddy behind but he explained about the spot where the current is forced to change direction at a sharp turn and the dead spot on the outside of the bend where the water smashes into the shore on the down current side of the bend . Trout lay there waiting for food to drop out of the current where it meets this dead spot and this was what was happening at spot zero but on a much bigger scale and this is why the trash line forms there . The green circle is where i got my PB flattie a few years back and you will notice it is where two channels converge and where the current starts to push up unto the reef at flint and steel - i think there may be an underwater dead spot right on the bottom there as it also produces flathead fairly regularly . I have tried this fish the trash line theory over the last few years and it seems to work , there is another trash eddy that forms in the mouth of cowan and this is my backup spot that i fish on the way back to the ramp . Arrows show what i believe to be happening with the current and anything coming out of patonga creek gets dragged straight to point zero - maybe that is why Hawkesbury prawns work so well here ? So on the picture below spots,2&3 are where i have been working of late and again the arrows show current flow as it is forced to the outside of the bend it flows over a mud bank and into the holes , and you don’t drift along the shore so much but more like along and slowly in towards the bay there - flatties are sitting right in the hole as do the mulloway that were there last time. spot 6 has produced consecutive 60cm + fish in the exact same spot , i think theynare sitting there in a dead spot caused by the mud bank and they seem to be in 4-5m of water . The rest of the spots ( 1,4,5,7&8) are areas i want to try these theories out in the future and they are spots where I believe the current is either converging or being forced to change direction sharply The last photo is just more spots to try this theory and i am keen on the ones in moony moony - that place just screams big flathead at me ! I have caught flathead at the three spots around Dangar before but they were sporadic and i think this dead water theory might help to change that . So after all that madness what do you raiders think ? Any constructive thoughts and comments ? Have you fished any of these spots and done alright or not ? And no calling the loony bin on me ! If the guys in white coats turn in the middle of the night up with a straight jacket i will know it was you that called them 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪🤪🤪

I hate haircuts- I do my own with clippers and if I’m feeling extra special I mow what’s left with a pit bull shaver , the part I hate is looking at myself in the mirror for 15min 🤣🤣🤣 Hair grows back but ugly NEVER leaves 🤣🤣🤣 Nice redfin ! Never knew they were in manly dam ! They should clean that joint out , put some snags in and turn it into a fishing haven - full of bass .

1-North side of milson island- in far enough to get out of the main current , 2-The mouth of porto bay , 3- east side of danger - in far enough to get out of the main current 4- between little wobby and Juno - just inside the marker poles 5- little patonga beach - just in far enough to get out of the current . you don’t want your traps in the main current and don’t go away from them as they won’t be there when you return - share farmers are bad there .

Kingfish off the beach - no , off the rocks - yes ,i sent you a pm with a name and link for both kingfish boat charter and a beach / rock charter . You can get away with a 9’6” rod - should be ok for flicking lures and fishing the shore gutters with bait . Sydney beaches are not very big beaches compared to what is up the coast and the fishing can be tough but if the guide for beach fishing I sent you can’t get you a fish or two then nobody can. If you go on his charter he supplies everything you need . With charters you need to book in advance so you should be doing that now .

You would think that some genius industrial chemist would design a two stroke oil with a built in fuel stabiliser.

I reckon it is all a con job , I have had fuel sit in a tank for over a year and it still worked fine , todays fuel is far longer lasting than what we had in the 70s and I think some two stroke oils have built in stabilisers and anti settle out stabilisers. I remember when I was working at a mower shop we would always get customers come in around this time of year with a mower that wouldn’t start , a quick whiff of the fuel tank usually put us on to the main problem - stale fuel and the customer ended up paying a service fee for us to drain the tank and carby then put fresh fuel in it - we did go over the mower looking for any other problems but 99% of the time it was stale fuel causing the problem.

When it gets really hot I pour water on the hat and I have occasionally had to dunk the shirt in the river and wear it wet. I have a mate who bought a fishing hat from one of the big stores that had a mesh top and was supposed to keep your head cool but the sun burnt the skin off the top of his cranium- never understood that train of thought from the manufacturer. I usually use cheap long sleeve work shirts and hats I get from a safety shop - usually around $30 a shirt and $12 a hat. The black shirt is a fishraider shirt , I did try to show the logo but wrestling with a fish ,a pfd and trying to sort out the camera it got covered over - oh well maybe next photo will be better 🤣🤣 P.S maybe putting the main logo on both front and back ofthe shirts might be something to look at .

G’day Raiders, I lobbed up to the Hawkesbury for a flathead session, I ended up fishing between the rai bridge and bar point using half pillie and Hawkesbury prawns for bait and lobbed a few lures around while drifting . can’t say it was my most successful day but I got a few , dropped a few and still had a good time out there . Water temps are up to mid 17 deg and I had a high tide around 9.30 am , the wind was forecast to me 10-15kph around midday but this didn’t happen - by midday I was starting to cook and was begging for a breeze ! It ended up a near mirror image of my last trip there - 1 decent fish at milson island , a long quiet spell and a few fish in the last 2 hrs of the run out tide . The lures just wouldn’t produce this time - why I don’t know .

If this is where I think it is I have also thought of going in there but not sure if bait gathering is legal in there - I know that fishing is banned there . It does look good on google maps and street view though !

Ok some of the stuff I found about this weed and possibly a way to grow it at home. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Ulva+intestinalis.&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-au&client=safari https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/md-2019-03-algae-turf-scrubbers-the-complete-guide-to-part-1?brs-source=mdredir (There are three parts to this guide ) Also a video : Well that was one rabbit hole leading to about a hundred more and oddly enough the name of the weed was right under my/our nose. According to the all the videos I watched about the turf scrubber you only need water from where the weed grows naturally as it has the algae in it . I was thinking of trying it in a pcb etching bath like this-

Awesome ! Thanks Burger! I think I had a look on YouTube a while back but didn’t find anything useful , I will also have a scrounge around on FB and see what I can find .

I recently saw a similar thing on FB , that is where I got the idea of freshwater weed. I did consider trying to grow the saltwater variety but it seemed like a hassle and I never really worked out what the stuff eats .

From what I have seen it is pretty quiet, a few flatties and bream , the odd small snapper .

This might help you with your early morning sessions Mike! Four married guys went fishing. After an hour or so, the following conversation took place: First guy: "You have no idea what I had to do to be able to come out fishing this weekend. I had to promise my wife I will paint every room in the house next weekend." Second guy: "That's nothing! I had to promise my wife I'd build her a new deck for the pool." Third guy: "Man, you both have it easy! I had to promise my wife that I'll remodel the kitchen for her." They continued to fish, until they realized the fourth guy had not said a word. So they asked him. "You haven't said anything about what you had to do to be able to come fishing this weekend. What's the deal?" Fourth guy: "I just set my alarm for 5:30 am. When it went off, I shut off the clock, gave the wife a nudge and said, "Fishing, or Sex," and she said, “Don’t forget the bait”!

I spent most of Saturday driving around looking for weed - from most of the canals in the parra river down into botany ending up at ramsgate and what little I saw was either dying or dead . Only one spot had a tiny amount of possibly useful weed and I may have been able to harvest a lump about the size of a cricket ball if I wanted to spend half an hour picking it out of the mud . I might have been better off going the ocean rocks route. I went for a run down to sow and pigs in the harbour a couple of weeks back and even the weed on the wharves and marker buoys down there was dead . Might have to try and get some freshwater stuff and grow my own . Makes me wonder what the luderick are eating if the weed is dead - maybe that is why they change over to eating worms and the like ? When I was a kid I could go to the bay next to putney boat ramp and get a bucket full in two minutes - now it is clean sand . Even up at wharf rd, the bay next to it used to have acres of weed and we used to watch the eels slithering around feeding in it- now it is all mud . Not sure if it is the tighter pollution laws or the rivercat that caused this .

My brother bought a boat , I got the motor running but it never saw water - it became a shrine to beer and we worshiped there every Saturday until he finally got sick of mowing around it and sold it .

Only the thermostat had to be replaced - the rest was done at the last service at my request. Considering it was only the second service it has ever had I thought a bit of tlc was fair considering it’s loyal service .

I have heard of a few being caught in the holes to the east of the bridge, never tried up there myself but have caught them up the parra river. Your biggest problem might be bull sharks eating your live bait.

I fear that the problem may be worse than it looks- the mould or mildew may be present in the ply under the carpet . If the stuff frank recommends doesn’t work then I would try a 50:1 mix of water and bleach - if you want I can test it on some offcuts of marine carpet for you - if you are worried about it bleaching the colour.

My yammie is still going strong after 20yrs and only cost me water pump, plugs, thermostat and the rubber boot on the cut out switch.

That explains why expert rock fishos like Alex Bellissimo wear the Hobie vest .

Hardest lesson i ever learned with Luderick was at swansea- i lobbed up with my trusty parra river weed and couldn’t get a down - i gave up and was walking back to my car and must have looked pretty dejected as this old bloke who was cleaning up out there came over and said don’t feel down , it is not you it is your weed and told me where to get the stuff that works there and i went and got some . Next day i got a few fish on the weed he put me onto - been lucky in my life to have this happen a few times and i will never forget the day i was standing waist deep in freezing water in Narrabeen lagoon when this old guy set up next to me and literally unloaded a life time of luderick fishing experience on to me - i always endeavour to do the same for any young fisho -regardless of what type of fishing they are doing because i will never forget those that helped me .

If you want better floats - pm me - the ones you buy in any big store are crap .