XD351

Great idea ! I lost the handle on a new winch on its second trip and i now keep a spare in the back of my car . I don’t know if it fell off driving to park my car or some mongrel knocked it off and i also keep spare shackles for the trailer chain for this reason ! Fortunately for me i had a wheel brace that had the right size socket to fit the winch -bloody slow going but it got the boat on the trailer ! I still want to try a battery drill in low gear with a socket in the chuck to wind the winch over - lazy bugger i am !

If the reels were mine i would s end them to Shimano or a certified Shimano service agent -that way you will get genuine parts ( quality) and someone who knows what they are doing and what to look for . I have bought bearings off many ebay sellers for various things and it is a lottery as to what you will get but usually they are crap . I know one thing for sure I wouldn’t be a happy camper if i hooked a good Marlin , fought it for a couple of hours only to lose it because the reel that old mate up the road who also fixes mowers, only charged a box of grog and “promised me he knows what he is doing “ butchered something or used cheap junk parts causing it to lock up . Seriously - $50 labour a reel once a year isn’t that expensive when you look at what it cost you for everything else !

Yep she is a big girl ! Its a fantastic thing those fishos do ! Never seen one over 90 and a pb of 84 but I don’t usually target big flathead ( legal to 45 does me and fits on a plate better 🤤 ) but i do have an urge that is becoming more irresistible to go out and stalk the flats for one ! I was listening to a podcast today about how one group of people are trying to rebuild and re seed the oyster reefs that used to abound in the estuary systems in Nsw . This will give many benefits to the eco system and anglers in the future , a lot of fishos might be surprised at some of the things going on in the background - unfortunately many fishos don’t even know about them .

If you do a YouTube search for Fishing the Hawkesbury bruce schumacher you will find a series of videos - all be it old that show you some of the better spots in the system from spencer down stream. You can also download an app called navionics for your phone or ipad that will give you a marine chart showing depths and contours , this will allow you to check out any likely spots like deep holes , rock bars and areas that cause a disturbance in the flow of the river - it also give you tides and i think moorings as well . See below: this is a screen shot of the app i use - i have no ties to it i just think it is a useful app for fishing .

It wouldn’t surprise me if they did ! There is of course one way to find out - put a bait in there and see what eats it ! Pretty much all of the creeks that run into the Hawkesbury have carp in them and bass . Take a look at the Windsor bait and tackle YouTube channel , Aaron ( the host and owner of the now unfortunately closed tackle store ) has spent many years fishing all of these creeks for bass and carp .

The first numbers would indicate to me it is a 6 wrap blank , 110 inches long and the last two letters could be TH for threadline - can you show us a picture of the butt set up ? The T could also be to indicate the taper with the last unit being a 4 which could indicate the taper say from 1 to 4 or the rated line breaking strain in kg so 4kg .

You can’t fish inside homebush bay or any of the creeks that run into the river on the south side - this is a regulation implemented by the government. There is also ban on fishing anywhere inside the Olympic precinct that is a council regulation but as far as i know you can fish the southern shore from the mouth of homebush bay up stream . The mob that run that precinct even have a dedicated email address so people can dob in a fisho and they call the rangers to issue them with a fine . Easiest way is to give that whole section a miss and fish the northern shore . I have seen some YouTube videos where the security on cockatoo island has tried to move on someone fishing from a boat - stating it is government property but iirc it now comes under national parks so you can fish around it now . At least he didn’t fine you !

Rippa catch mate ! Hope you didn’t throw the squid heads away - fantastic jew bait !

Below is a screen shot of the depth contours inside broken bay and the white is set at 9 meters and the blue is shallower . If you look at the channel on the north side near middle head and on the side closest to the northern shore and follow it towards lion island you will see there is a shallower section jutting out and running to the south - this is where the gummies were sitting . Why ? I don’t know but Flounder are usually here as well . You are looking at around 2 meters depth change so not a lot but i think it is enough to create a funnel for the current to run into . Fish anywhere around that drop off and you are in with a chance of flathead and flounder but i never seem to do real well drifting up the guts of that channel - usually banjos and shovels etc in there . It can be hard fishing there during the week as the trawlers work this area pretty hard .

Nice catch! I caught a couple in Summer 2018/ 2019 in broken bay just inside lion island where I typically get a lot of flounder . I had never caught one before but had a ball fighting them ! I didn’t keep them as i already had enough flathead to keep me happy but if i get another one it will be coming home with me ! That was a bit of a strange day actually ! The flatties were really spread out and that is why i drifted out so far also the flounder were nowhere to be seen , on the way back to the ramp i decided to do a drift from flint and steel to juno and my first bait ( garfish fillet) was dropped just inside flint and steel and no sooner had it settled and BANG! Up came 84cm of flathead ! and as quickly as i could i sent her back down ! I went home with a big smile that day and a feed !

Nice fish ! It takes a while for the water in the lake to warm up - its a massive , deep lake with a small entrance .

Nice catch and great report ! I haven’t fished there for probably 30yrs ! I was hunting leather jacket back then , i know of a few fishos on YouTube who still fish there usually for trevalley and rat kings - a YouTube search will find their channels .

Congratulations young fella ! Thats a stonker ! I still remember my first big lizard ( not that big though !) like it was yesterday but that is now going on 40yrs ago !

A couple of lizards is better than nothing at all ! I just watched a video on YouTube by Windsor bait and tackle and he pulled a few bream out of the canal around iron cove yesterday and got busted off by a big bream so they are around . One thing he keeps mentioning is the schools of mullet and he follows them along fishing under them . If the canal drains right out at low tide fishing the last quarter of the run out where it drains into the bay would be a good technique for flathead and jewies - sooner or later anything swimming in that canal has to come out and the predators will be there waiting for them !

It looked like the commercial guys were doing it tough as well , never seen them work down into cowan . I did think about going up river but with the recent rain i thought i would get pestered by catfish . I spent a whole Sunday arvo researching the breeding cycle of yakkas , squid , garfish and flathead - while i believe water temps are what really triggers it the general consensus was November to march as the peak breeding time for these fish so its not far off ! For Bream i used to have a simple system M.A.M ( March . April. May ) as the main breeding run or when these fish start to school up to breed anyway . The last two hours of the small morning run out tides this weekend would be ideal to fish places like the icicles , bar point , neverfail etc for bream as they would be working their way back up river . The upper river has had two big flush outs this year and i’m extra keen to see how this effects the summer season for fish and prawns . Might be a bumper season for mulloway also ! Only time will tell !

Nice catch ! I could just about smell that leatherjacket frying in a pan with some butter 🤤 I have the same problem - a lot of travel to get to the rocks to get my bait then all the way back to go fishing the next day - unless i fish Narrabeen lagoon or pittwater which i can get my bait at low tide and fish the run up straight after . Have you tried keeping the cabbage wrapped up in paper in the bottom of the fridge ? I used to do this with weed and it was good for a few days in there ,i have done the same for live pipis and they clam up shut and go to sleep but come back to life when i put them in a bucket of sea water - this is only overnight though !

If you haven’t done any rock fishing before and cannot find someone who is experienced i would recommend you go with a guide like Alex bellissimo , might cost a few bucks but better than drowning ! You will also need a pfd along with a rod and reel- i’m not sure if alex supplies these but a phone call will sort that out . That way you will learn how to read the conditions ,learn when it is not safe to fish,find fish and what gear you really need before forking out your hard earned cash .

If you don’t want to eat the fish you catch ( or not a lot of them anyway ) the parramatta river has kilometres of walk/ cycle ways from parramatta down to meadowbank and there are all sorts of flats and snags to fish ( The guy on YouTube on the windsor bait and tackle channel is always pulling bream , flathead and jewies out of there ) also there is a sand flat at cabaritta point And around the putney boat ramp but i would be careful wading there in summer as the place is crawling with bull sharks , there are some options up behind the iron cove bridge also . Wading the flats at rose bay is another option along with the beach at balmoral , the creek upstream of roseville bridge had a good walking track and a few flats and snags to fish . Up behind halvorsens boat shed at bobbin head also has a track that follows the creek and it has some goos flats and drop offs . 2 hours drive from castle hill ( not in peak hour !) would put botany bay within range and there are acres of flats there - just watch out for the rays and numbfish - shoes are a must in any of the places i have mentioned . One thing i like to do is jump on google maps or even better goole earth and look for sand flats , then i get onto google street view and hunt down access points and parking . Don’t forget Narrabeen lake or the bays on the eastern side of pittwater either although finding free parking can be a challenge ! p.s you have some good bass fishing right on your doorstep - just follow the creek up from berowra to newline road . Ian.

Still had a good day out and got to play in my boat 😀😀😀

Fished the last of the run in and most of the run out this morning drifting over my usual haunts which start at broken bay ( north side between Patonga and lion island and end up at little wobby on the edge of the drop off . I also did a few drifts around juno , gunya and the mouth of Cowan, l fished half pilles , whitebait and prawns on a bottom rig ( running sinker rig with 1m of 10 lb fluorocarbon trace 1/0 longshank ) and another rod with a set of gangs out as a floater with a whole pillie. Only managed two flatties to 30cm , one reasonable flounder and a banjo ray . All of these were caught up to high tide in the broken bay possie mentioned above and then the joint shut down . The water is still a bit tea coloured and a bit murky but most of all it is cold - my sounder was showing 15.5 first up and the highest i found during the day was 16.6 . Sorry no photos as i knew i was releasing the fish once i saw it ( either undersized or not something i like to eat ) so they were released without removing them from the water . I spoke to a guy at the ramp and they were fishing flint and steel , they had trouble getting yakkas - he said there were plenty there ( under the pillboxes) but getting them to bite was another thing ! They had a bleak day also - well that’s what he told me and he didn’t clean any fish at the ramp ! The area might need to cook for a month or two until the water starts to warm up!

Thanks Scotty! I used to have an XD but only a six banger , i have been a Dick Johnson fan since i first watched motor racing and my favourite race car was his tru blu falcon XD .

Thanks Rebel and mrs swordfisherman! I know many think that living in western Sydney is a disadvantage but when i think of i have fishing options all around me ! Go west and hit the nepean for bass , north west and the upper Hawkesbury for bass , bream ,flatties and jew , south for the georges river , to the east is the parra river and the harbour . A bit further away to the south east is botany bay and to the north east the northern beaches and lower Hawkesbury . All within about an hours drive ! An hour and a half and I’m over the mountains fishing for trout and bass in lake lyall !

Nice fish ! where from ?

You could also try around the marina on the west side of the spit bridge .

G’day Fishraiders🎣 Ian here , New member from western Sydney and looking forward to participating on the forum . These days I predominantly fish off the beach and in the estuary - either in my boat or stalking the flats and mangroves using both bait and lures mainly for Flathead . Started out 40yrs ago as a jetty rat in Sydney harbour then spent a few years chasing Luderick in Narrabeen lagoon , from there i was either stalking trout in the rivers ( when they had water in them ) or yellow belly In the dams out around Lithgow ,Bathurst or Mudgee .Then i spent some time on bass in the dams in the hunter valley and when I wasn’t doing that i was out fishing for flathead between Port Stephens and Batemans bay .