[Winter on the Harbour]

52 minutes ago, Pickles said:

HeyPuddlejumper, keep trying, Kingies are far less predictable in winter, but when you do “happen” across them, they are usually good ones.

I always burley for Kingies (all fishing really), many fisho’s dont, as it can (usually does), bring pickers around, but the smaller fish attract bigger fish including kings. Often under these conditions, they’ll come up in the burley trail and you’ll see the Kingies cruising around gulping little pieces of burley. That’s when I swap to a no 6 (NOT 6/0) Mustad demon circle hook and drop it unweigthed into the burley and let it drift back, but keep it where I can see and follow it and as soon as it disappears into a Kingies mouth and it is swimming away from the boat, I lift firmly (dont “Strike”, just lift firmly).

I have found this really successful, but also lose a lot as you can only fish 20 or max of 30lb line this Wayne the Kingies become very cautious.
The outfit I love for this is a light flick stick 4-8lb rod and a Shimano Curado DC HG with 30lb proline braid and 20lb Wilson fluro leader. This also accounts for lots of Trevally, salmon and bream (also “bite offs” by tailor).

Give it a go and let’s hear report with your feedback.

Cheers Pickles for the help, I've heard about this method before but never tried it before. I'll give it a go in the next few weeks and let you know how I go.

[Winter on the Harbour]

Hey everyone,

I've been struggling for motivation to get on the water lately because the fishing on the harbour has really slowed down for me. It'd be my dream to get that elusive winter kingie but It's been to no avail, I've heard they stay deeper but thats still not doing the trick for me, as well as the usual wrecks etc. Even getting bait has really slowed down like yakkas and squid that usually swarm in summer. It's as though as soon as June/July has come I've hit a brick wall (Not that i've ever been the gun fisho). Anyone got any ideas I fish mainly middle harbour. SOS 😂 

Cheers,

puddlejumper

[Patonga Creek Kayak 26/06/21]

Cheers for report. Having a puppy on a kayak all day doesn't sound sensational!😂

[👨‍🍳Whats your top 3-5 favourite eating fish + favourite fish meal]

Blue eye and trag were on my bucket list and this forum confirmed that

[👨‍🍳Whats your top 3-5 favourite eating fish + favourite fish meal]

Hey all,

With lockdown all boring us to the max just thought I'd start a bit of a topic for everyone.

Whats your top 3-5 favourite eating fish + favourite fish meal?

Mine would be:

=1. Flathead and john dory

2. Kingfish - sashimi, but cooked well its pretty good as well

3. Garfish - bbq'd with lemon + garlic

 - can't go past beer battered flattie, my all time no. 1.

[Fishing at Burning Palms]

Great info entertaining story

[Please be extra careful]

Well said👏

[Fishing Adventure]

haha nice story bonnies r crazy

[Port Hacking]

Well done👏  Love the lowkey sessions when you come back with a nice feed

Is that a goatfish?

[Couple of pb's]

Mate a bream over 40 is rare well done, when they get to that size they'll eat anything of any size don't worry. Nice session and good report mate some nice flatties as well.

[Port Hacking 18/07/21]

Pinkies in a nutshell for ya mate haha

[Sydney Harbour Offshore]

3 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

Welcome aboard Paddlejumper.

There is some good fishing to be had off Sydney. I have been fishing the reefs off Sydney for a very long time and like to think i get some consistency in my results.

With the type of depths your willing to go (2nm) you will notice some very clear and distinct features of the Sydney coastline.

South head to Coogee - Empty sandy bottom and very minimal reef opportunities, particularly in the depth range you've restricted yourself to.

North head to manly - lots of reef, mixed with sandy bottoms.

Manly to Long reef - lots of reef mixed with sandy bottoms.

When the flatties are on the chew - it is worth giving it a go around the sandy bottom infront of the lighthouse off Watsons Bay/Vaucluse - rosetta in the 30m to 50m line.

otherwise, bottom line advice from me, go north. explore the reefs between Manly and Long reef as in my experience, the north side of Sydney heads is significantly more productive than the south.

 

 

 

Thanks for ur help mate.

Due to how much fuel my runabout can hold I probably wouldn't go much further north than parallel to manly beach offshore, so I'll probs have a look at some sonar charts and try and find some reefy looking areas to give a go around the north head-manly area. I've had my eye on the whales/northerners area for a while now do you know much about it in terms of species etc?

Cheers

[Where are the squid?]

Middle harbour is full of squid as the others have been saying, its just a matter of technique and location - I don't find tide to be much of a factor but early morning/late arvo is preferable. There a two types of squid in middle harbour - Upstream of spit is mainly arrow squid and downstream is mainly calamari. Arrows travel in schools and are pretty unreliable so I usually don't bother, but to get them the best way is using a paternoster rig with two very small jigs and drift around the moorings of the bays. Calamari are found anywhere there is kelp/seaweed and jetties/structure, so my advice would be to look on satellite around the lower reaches of middle harbour for kelp beds and you should be in business. Use a smallish jig (quality of jig is usually pretty important as well - I prefer yamashita). In terms of technique with the jigs - Let it sink to the bottom and two sharp flicks (pause for a couple seconds after) and slow winding for a few seconds, repeat, for the retrieval.

[Sydney Harbour Offshore]

Thanks for welcome and help Bob and mrsswordfisherman I run on a 4.2 metery and tbh wouldn't be prepared to go further than 2nm from sydney heads, so 12 mile, peak etc are probs a bit far until I get an upgrade. Thanks for help and welcome again tho looks like a good community here on fishraider!

[Sydney Harbour Offshore]

Hey all,

New to fishraider but have been reading forums here for a while now...

For the next few winter months i'm keen to broaden my horizons from the harbour and try out some of the offshore spots within a few km's of the head's. I'm familiar with the likes of the colours, the gap, northerners, the artificial reef and a few wrecks from a couple close mates but wanted some input about the reliability of these spots + different species that can be caught and technique, as i'm pretty unfamiliar with them. I'm keen to hit up northerners for a day soonish with live + cut squid - looks pretty good.

Cheers, Puddlejumper