Jo5hC

Unlucky on the lost fish, but at least you know for sure that your lure shape works!

Yea it was guaranteed that at almost any time there was someone fishing the breakwall. Wanted to fish the rocks as well but the swell made it too risky.

Hey guys, It has come to my attention that the fish in the second last photo is not a Wirrah cod and in fact a juvenile Black Rockcod (thankyou to @Blackfish for the ID). Due to it being a protected species, I just wanted to clarify that this one was safely released. -Josh

Following up from my post about my Port Macquarie trip, this is a report of how it went. Day 1: First day arrived at the NRMA park in the mid afternoon but didn't get to wet a line until later in the afternoon. Fishing off the breakwall and first time with a new setup, Oceans Legacy Dreamcast 882L and Daiwa 23 TD Sol HD 4000D-CXH. Trying for a jewie but the current was very strong and even with a 3/8 oz jighead wasn't able to keep it near the bottom. About 10 minutes in hooked onto a decent fish which ended up being a legal tailor but unfortunately spat the hooks when I had it on the rocks and fell down a crack back into the water. Luckily there were more around as was able to pick another one up almost instantly and took it back for a feed, going 37cm. After that fish the bite suddenly turned off and being so close to the breakwall decided to come back later in the night, which unfortunately did not amount to anything. Day 2: Had a quick flick in the morning but no joy so decided to head to a local tackle store to get some bait. While we were there, also decided to get an interesting looking weed fly that I hadn't seen anywhere else, but one of my mates had success with it for luderick in the past, so decided to try it out. The breakwall was littered with luderick fisherman and every few minutes I would see luderick being pulled up all around. All this time also seeing schools of massive sea mullet swimming past regularly. Still trying for a jewie unsuccessfully due to the current and decided to move to the town wharf to try my luck there. A ton of action on the surface action but really small so no hookups. My dad managed one 27cm bream on prawns which we had for dinner along with the tailor from day 1. Day 3: Fishing the breakwall again, and saw the strangest thing - a school of sweep chasing and busting up on what seemed to be tiny baitfish, just like kings would do to other baitfish but on a much smaller scale, but also made it impossible to fish baits as the sweep would demolish them instantly. Went to try some spots around Settlement Point and other jetties around the area, but only dropping an undersized flatty. Came back to the breakwall later in the evening and into the night to hopefully get past the pickers. Managed two undersized bream and then a surprise 48cm flatty which we kept, drifting pilchard cubes in the wash. Got dusted a few times and managed to pull up two firsts for me, being what I think are Wirrah Cod and Eastern Kelpfish. After meeting some other people going for jewies as well, waited for the slack tide and moved to the mouth of the breakwall, where there was a lot more wash. The current was less of a problem, and almost instantly one of the people I was fishing with hooked onto a steam train that dusted him in 30s. Having adrenalin and hopes high, a few casts later with a soft plastic into the wash, I was hooked up. Rod tip was thumping and fish which gave me hope of a jewie, and was pulling out line pretty fast. Whatever it was headed for the rocks hoping to dust me, but after hopping over boulders with the light of my head torch, managed to get a bit more control over the fight. The mystery creature had surfaced and alas, I spotted the roll of a wing and as it came closer my hopes of a jewie were dashed as the creature turned out to be a stingray of sorts, probably an eagle ray. Had heard of quite a few of them caught on bait, but none on lures, especially not a 4.2 inch soft plastic. It took one more run close to the rocks and cutting my braid, marking the end of my night session as I had to pack to leave the next day. Day 4: No fishing got done until our pitstop at Karuah, where I got the opportunity to flick a line around the bridge, which saw many missed bites and no hookups. Overall, it was still a fun trip and still being able to get on some fish on both bait and lures, and while not getting a jewie was disappointing, it was my first time properly targeting them and with lures as well, and especially knowing how rare jewies can be, I couldn't really be too surprised. If anything, I am now more determined than ever to get one. -Josh

Thanks for the help guys, will put a report to let you guys know how I go

Hey guys, heading up to port Macquarie later this week, just wanted a general idea of what fish are biting at the moment if any raiders are around that area. I will probably try the break wall for a jewie or something, but are there any other land based spots worth a go? Much appreciated.

Had relatives coming over for easter so we decided to go to Davistown for a fish with them. Goal was to tick off the holy trinity of estuary species (flathead, bream, whiting) to cook up on the spot for my relatives. Arrived at 1 and the conditions were perfect, glass out and quite warm. Fishing was pretty quiet for the first 1 1/2 hrs only picking up an undersize flatty on a BaitJunkie grub. Fish started coming in when the tide changed. Fishing the drop off and as soon as I looked away, the reel in the rodholder started screaming. had good weight and did a couple solid runs. Brought in a fat 29cm bream on prawns. The bites came in thick and bait was getting smashed every cast. Decided to flick the lure out again and immediately hooked up to a decent fish, didn't fight too hard but felt heavy and in came a 43cm flatty. 2 down, one to go. I had seen a ton of whiting and caught a just undersize one beforehand, so hopes were high. Had a decent fish spit the hooks and then afterwards hooked onto a whiting that was just legal at around 28cm. Wouldn't usually keep one this size but just to give my relatives a taste of some fresh fish it came for the cookup. While filleting the whiting, my rod in the rod holder buckled over and I sprinted over to pick it up. Had solid runs and saw a bream shaped body coming in on the flats but then saw a tinge of pink and blue spots. A good snapper from the land especially for where we were fishing at 26cm, sent back to get big enough to eat. After that had one really big fish which spat the hooks right at my feet. I could see the bait in its mouth but it must've been a dark coloured fish as I couldn't see exactly what it was. Also caught another 20+cm snapper afterwards. After the sun set, had to go home and left the fish still biting. Pretty happy with the day especially being the first time out since the summer holidays due to schoolwork.

I found the mud quite problematic when at bobbin head as well. Interestingly some parts were almost impossible to walk out whereas if I walked like 50m down the track and walked out it was much easier.

Nah I wasn’t but I’ll definitely try that next time, as well as the blades. Are the blades worked by hopping it or doing a lift and drop like vibes?

Hey guys, recently had an unsuccessful trip to bobbin head where I explored the flats behind the marina for the first time. There were definitely fish there, as I could see many bream, garfish, herring, mullet, and even a few good sized whiting cruising around me; maybe attracted from the mud that I was stirring up? I was chucking around an 80mm slippery dog for whiting but over the two hours I was there I only got followed by some strangely aggressive mullet. I suspect my leader could’ve been too heavy as I was running 10lb from my previous sessions, but I have hooked up on whiting and even bream before on 10lb so I was not sure. Also saw a ton of what I think were nipper holes, and I didn’t see any signs so I assume I can pump nippers there? If anyone has fished the same area any tips would be appreciated. Last thing is that I accessed the flats from the visitor area which is only open from 10am to 4pm, but are there any other ways to access those flats or is it only available during the times from the visitor centre being open?

Day 1: Starting the new year with a road trip to Gold Coast, staying there for a week with the family. We had a quick break at Nambucca heads, and I couldn't resist having a quick flick. Saw a pufferfish and quite possibly the biggest trumpetfish ever, but no fish caught. We stayed the night at a motor inn in Grafton as a pit stop, tried to fish the river but the bank was pretty much inaccessible due to reeds. Day 2/3: Wasn't able to get any fishing in on day 2, and due to the crazy amount of rain that the Gold Coast had, pretty much everywhere was chocolate coloured, but was able to plan a session for the morning of day 3 with dad. Hit up a local tackle shop that somehow opened at 4:30am and they suggested that we get beach worms and pilchards. Hit up the beach on the inside of the seaway hoping that the water would be a little bit clearer, but it was still very brown. Chucked out the beach worm on a long shank hook and pretty much instantly hooked up on a small whiting. The whiting were there in large numbers, and I was able to pretty much get a fish a cast, all of them being quite small however. Had a look at the seaway but it was too windy and also low tide. Tied on a 3 inch Holt Prawn and had a couple casts on the beach with no luck, so went back to bait. My dad had a go and somehow second cast hooked onto a monster that was just running fast for a straight 30 seconds and then snapping him off. No headshakes or anything apparently so we've got no idea. Also found a barely alive bream that was washed up with a bite taken out of it. After that we headed home. Day 4: Today we decided to head up to the northern part of gold coast and tried to fish some creek entrances and flats. the flats were still brown but they still had fish on them. Caught undersize bream and whiting on the flats and then decided to switch up to topwater but couldn't entice a hit unfortunately went back to the seaway and was happy to see that clearer water was finally pushing back in to the system. Looked for any signs of pelagics around but only saw schools of mullet and nothing else so went back to the hotel. Day 5: Last day before making the road trip back to Sydney and we heard that the water was clearer down south so drove down to the Tallebudgera system and the water looked much better. The sand banks were chock full of nipper holes, and tons of tiny whiting that you could see. Unfortunately did not bring a pump, so settled for flicking a plastic around. I had quite a few hits, but not sure whether my lack of skill in setting hooks, or whether the fish were just nipping at the end of my plastic but wasn't able to connect with any of the bites. Day 6/7: We stayed next to the Macleay river in Kempsey, so I decided to give it a go for my first bass. Wasn't expecting too much as I went down but saw some fish jumping and other surface activity so tied on a slippery dog for a quick session. I was completely caught off guard when I had an aggressive explosion on the lure, but somehow the fish didn't connect. No more hits after that, but decided to go the next morning before we checked out. When fishing there, I ended up seeing some bream and garfish following my topwater, even though I didn't expect them to be so far up river. I had another hit which also missed, which got me wondering whether it was just a bream or a bass/EP. I was just reeling my slippery dog in when I had a something small hit it right at my feet, and of course this one somehow got hooked, and I guess I finally caught my first bass, albeit not much bigger than the lure itself... It could've also been an EP but it was hooked pretty good so I wanted to get it back in the water as soon as possible. Planned to meet up with a mate staying at Port Macquarie after on the way down to Sydney. The session there didn't amount to much, saw some donkey bream and blackfish, as well as some whiting, but were all really skittish. My mate did catch a legal flatty on plastics though. Saw someone filleting what would've been a 1m plus jewie which was cool to see. I definitely enjoyed this trip to the Gold Coast, even if the weather made the fishing difficult. Seems to be rainy back in Sydney as well, but hopefully can still get some good fishing done.

Evening session from 2 days ago at Bradley’s head with the fam. Due to new years event prep, had to hike in. It was pretty quiet in the beginning, catching a probably just undersize bream and probably a PB black rabbitfish, which after the info I got last time was promptly removed from the hook with pliers. After that, I saw small schools of whitebait around. With all the bait around it seemed like something was about to happen. Right on queue, I saw a ton of small bust ups near the shore. Casting at it with a bait junkie minnow and burning it back resulted in an instant hookup, and I brought up a small tailor. Seagulls had also seen the action and were starting to come in. There must’ve been hundreds of tailor busting up on the whitebait and they moved them further down shore before bringing them up right in front of the rock jetty/platform. It made for some good fun for my siblings as I just casted out and let them hook on. The bust ups lasted for around 30mins and we caught about 11 fish and dropped a few more, all small tailor around 20cm. I was still fishing plastics and felt a subtle bite and set the hook. Whatever it was took a screaming first run but then stopped fighting as much. As I was bringing it in I saw a distinct shape and managed to get my first Trev on soft plastics! Measured 32cm so came home for a feed. A couple of casts later felt another hit and set into it and this one didn’t feel that big at first, so I thought it was another small tailor but then it woke up and went on a couple good runs. I thought maybe flatty, but in came a decent whiting, and a first on soft plastics as well. It was 34cm and also came home for a feed. I was surprised how much fight whiting put up for their size! I was already pretty happy with the session and it was getting dark so decided to head home.

This was from a couple days ago but due to Christmas and other stuff only posting this report now. My family headed out to Pelican Foreshore for a fish with a mate and his family for a pretty chill session. The fishing was pretty quiet until the tide change where were able to get 3 legal tarwhine and a leatherjacket. After that we went down to the small beach area and I caught a small flounder and sergeant baker. My mate also hooked a small tarwhine and then hooked an octopus that was trying to eat his fish! Then the bite kinda shut down again and we decided to try for squid off the rock points with no success. Did see a leatherjacket literally right in front of us which I tried for 5 minutes trying to catch it then by some miracle it just swam right up to us and I just scooped it up in the net. While we were packing up, I just had a line out and I looked up and saw something get smashed on the surface. It was only one bust up but seemed quite big, so hoping it was a kingfish I quickly set up my stickbait rod and was casting for around 20 minutes but apart from that first bust up there was no more surface action so just packed up and went home. At least was able to get a feed with the tarwhine and leatherjacket. No pictures sorry.

Headed out on Sunday and the goal was to try and get some topwater whiting on the flats ideally and also hitting some of the jetties as heard of some recent reports of salmon from a mate. Started off at the beach next to the boat shed but the tide was too low and the wind and waves proved to make it almost impossible to fish there. We did see some flathead lies and many nipper holes as we were walking on the flats so maybe a good spot for kayak fishing when the tide is high. Went to Booker Bay wharf to try soak some baits but was plagued by small bream so moved on after 45 minutes to another jetty near Pretty Beach. Rigged on some squid heads from my previous trip on a circle hook and was getting tons of bites but the only hook up was a medium size tarwhine. Final spot was the flats on Hardys bay and it looked very promising, I could see mullet, bream and whiting on the flats. Casted out an 80mm slippery dog and was getting followed by whiting immediately but they seemed very hesitant to strike the lure. I had many more casts, even putting on some scent resulting in only 2 missed hits. By then the tide had gotten pretty high and the fish seemed to move off or stop being interested. Kind of a bummer session but at least the whiting seemed to be happy to play, so if anyone has tips to coax them that little bit more to commit to the lure, that would be appreciated.

Thanks guys for the ID and now I’m very happy I didn’t get spiked!

With exams and school camps over, I was finally able to get out for a session on Sunday morning, and headed out with my dad to Manly. Recently, I’ve been trying to increase my squid fishing prowess, as squid is one of the best baits and also they taste great. I hadn’t really had a dedicated squidding session before, so r he plan for me was to exclusively fish for squid for at least the first part of the morning. Started at forty baskets beach at around 6:15. Google maps and previous sessions here had identified this as a prime squidding spot. Clear water, kelp beds, and when I looked in the water, plenty of baitfish. As I was tying on my squid jig, I could already see small squid swimming around the baths. After a couple of casts, I felt a weight and that distinct pulsating on the end of the rod and brought in my first squid. A couple of casts later I hooked onto another one. This one was even smaller so I decided to send it back. There also seemed to be schools of fish that looked to be a cross between trevally and Yakkas as well as some weird spiky fish with spots. I’ve got no idea what they are so if anyone has any id on them it would be appreciated. A lot of the squid seemed to be very small, perfect live bait size, which was what I decided to do with the next squid. I had also caught a cuttlefish and partly because it looked too cute to kill and also cause I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it I decided to let it go. I ended up catching one more small one which I gave to my dad to live bait, before moving to the rocks further down the beach. I managed to pick up one more small squid before going back to the jetty at the beach. it was pretty quiet for a couple of hours after that and also my leader had a tiny fray just below the fg which decided to give way when working the squid jig so no more squidding for me. While I was retying my knot, my dad hooked onto a good fish, so I left my knot to grab the net and netted my dads Pb flatty at 54cm on a tiny hook with a piece of chicken. I also saw a ton of leather jacket around the baths and I hadn’t had leatherjacket in a while so I dropped down a peeled prawn and got up 2 leatherjacket which made for a decent feed with the flatty and squid. After that nothing much else happened and we headed home. I’m pretty happy with this session overall except for losing my squid jig, plenty more reports to come through the summer. spiky unknown fish (above)

Hi all, went down to Batemans Bay for a couple of days. Day 1: arrived in the late afternoon, so was able to get out for a fish on the breakwall. No fish for the evening unfortunately, but there seemed to be a lot of jellyfish around. Day 2: went out in the morning, and walked around the point next to the oyster shed. Managed a small flathead and bream, and also saw a ton of small stingrays cruising about. After that went out to the wharves. The current was really strong, but managed to pull an undersize trevally. Later in the day, went back to the pontoon, and tried dropping my cranka crab next to the pylons. While I was doing so, the biggest octopus I had ever seen came up on the pontoon wall, chasing some of the crabs that were hiding there. I got one take on the crab but unfortunately missed it. No other fish for the day. Day 3: Wanted to try fishing the rocks, so in the morning went out to the Broulee Head rock ledge. Started casting out a stickbait for about 10 minutes, could not get any takers, then switched to bait. Managed to get a just undersized trevally. We were plagued by small reef fish and whatnot. Did catch some yakkas which we live baited for no success, as well as a pike/snook (still can't tell the difference) which we used for cutbait. Saw a single dolphin swimming across the beach which was quite cool. Also spotted a pretty big bright blue fish swimming out from the rocks under our feet, which I presume was a blue groper. Day 4: Got to try some fresh oysters at the oyster shed and also had a quick flick around there, resulted in no fish unfortunately. Got to fish again when we pit-stopped on the way back at Kiama. Tried dropping the cranka crab around the harbour. I was just about to take the crab out of the water when a wrasse grabbed it and dashed strait into the kelp. I really thought that was $25 down the drain, but after keeping slack line for a couple of minutes, It eventually swam out and I was able to pull it up. Also saw some huge stingrays about. Overall, the fishing wasn't the best, but It was still pretty fun, and the scenery of the south coast definitely made up for it.

Never heard of that before! Might have to try it out myself

Thanks for the help guys.

Hey guys, I'm heading off to Batemans bay for a few days soon, never been there so don't know what to expect fishing wise. Will probably be land based mostly if not all of the time there. I have looked into it a little bit and will probably try the breakwall and some of the wharves. Any tips to fish the area an/or good spots available would be greatly appreciated.

Great feed of flatties there! Unlucky with the pelican though.

Hi all, my dad and I went out with a mate and his dad yesterday morning to lake mac. We had a boat hire from 8:30 to 12:30, and the conditions looked good. I've pretty much always fished land based, and my other experiences on boats have been in pretty bad conditions, but I was still hopeful that today would turn out good. Got to the boat hire at 8:15 for a briefing and was on the water by 8:30. We had done some prior research and decided to go to the artificial reef balls first up. No sounder on the boat or gps so don't exactly know where we stopped but according to google maps we were pretty close to the reef. My mate and I started out with soft plastics going for snapper. I still had my small bream grub on as I didn't feel like retying at the moment, but as @AlbertW has shown, the snapper still seem to like it. Second cast on the drop I hooked on to what seemed like to be a good fish and my reel started going. Brought up my first legal snapper ever, at around 32cm. Mate then caught a small flatty and his dad a tailor in the mid 30s. After about 15-20 minutes since the first snapper, my mates reel starts screaming and I see his rod bent over. We were both using light setups, but he was using a large jerkshad. After a small tussle, a larger snapper comes into the net, probably going mid-high 30s. As I was flicking my grub back to the surface, I felt something grab it but not get hooked straight away, so I set, and immediately my reel started screaming, and I see a torpedo of a fish fly out the water. My rod immediately doubles over as the fish dove down. The ensuing fight felt like a lifetime, but probably was only 5 minutes plus. Still the longest fight I've had. Every time I felt like I was gaining some line, it immediately took all the line back. There were a couple of these cycles before I even saw my fish. I only had a 2-4kg rod, and it was bending over so much I thought it was about to break. Eventually we see it and it's a really fat salmon. My mate nets it for me and once it was in the boat, the net just snaps off the handle (albeit it was a cheap telescopic net). We also had pilchards out as bait, and ended up getting 3 good tailor, high 30s-low40s. The bite slowed down a little bit, and we wanted to try next to Pulbah island. Even after switching to a heavier jighead, I wasn't able to get the plastics down to the bottom, so resorted to dropping pilchards on a paternoster rig. Managed to get hit by many undersize snapper on every drop, but no bigger ones. Eventually went back to the reef but a bit further north. No more snapper caught but we did get one flounder. My mates dad also hooked onto the biggest octopus I've ever seen, and it got off at the surface. We had to go back in by then, but in total we had 2 snapper, 3 tailor, one salmon, and one flounder. Probably one of the best fishing outings I've had so far.

Great first on fly! Was this at the Clifton gardens jetty?

Winter has been pretty tough, for me land based at least, so not many sessions to write about. Headed out to North harbour with my dad this morning, arrived at around 8am. It was a pretty dreary morning with a slight drizzle at times. Fished the rocks next to the sailing club with plastics and baits. Lost one plastic to a snag, but first cast after re-rigging hooked onto an alright flatty around 40cm. Bait was getting bites, but couldn't convert to a hookup. After a while with no bites, moved to Forty Baskets beach. Fished off the jetty and tried for some squid as well with no luck. Finally hooked onto something on the plastic that put up a bit of a fight, really had me hoping it was a bream or trevally. Turned out to be quite a big pike, probably my PB as I don't catch too many of them. As we weren't keeping anything, gave it to the guy next to us for bait. Packed up and left at 10:30. All in all not the most interesting session, but at least got some action. Can't wait for summer to be here.

Seems like photo was bugged for me at least, so here it is