brendong

Nice work Stewy. Looks like some fat ep's there....that lava wriggler has been a favourite for some time now. Maybe the prawns are nuclear colour that far up the river...lol. Are they taking any surface lures?

Looks like fun. What will you do with the long tom? Full of bones aren't they? He would have been fun on light gear....

Lots of whiting around. Lake is open and looking very clean after the big tides we just had. Several sighting of a massive great white off green island and Bendalong, plus some hammer heads off the entrance to Conjola.

Must have been a mega tide? Not like its rained much lately.....

Ditto troutboys comments. Just came back from there today. The good thing with whiting no boat required just stalk the flats. Maybe check my post in the lure and fly section and also another one a few weeks back on the same topic. If you are coming back through Nowra, head into the tackle store and ask them about whiting on poppers they carry the ones troutboy is talking about. Happy for you to pm me about Conjola whiting on poppers....

Thanks boys got to love our Southern Eastuary Boney's on popper. You're all over it Blood Knot!

Happy New Year Raiders. Been having some fun on the surface with the whiting down south. Although this guy looks like a Brownting. He went 38cm and I was able to sight cast him while he had his nose down in the sand. Unfortunately I lost this popper last cast of 2013 (ye old dodgy leader knot). I wish you every fishing success in 2014!!!

I think I don't mind losing good lures to racks, rocks and snags when hooked up but if I loose one to a dodgy leader knot it really ticks me off. Just get lazy sometimes....

Sheshhh.....

Must say I'm feeling guilty about the strada virals that will be under Christmas tree this year for me. (The smaller one looks pretty cool I think). I can't find anything I have as much confidence as ye old faithful nw pencils....tried a few similar ones, jazz zappers, atomics etc and yep bought a strada version to give it a run anyway but perhaps it's my technique I just can't retrieve them as well. No point in chucking $20-40 lures deep into tiger country though, it's just gonna hurt - still I do it in the heat of battle. I think I recall slinky posting that if he ever bought a $50 Anthrax he'd be using 50lb leader to make sure it came back....hehehe.

On our last walk we both chucked 4lb/8lb combo's but I've seen Coyote chuck 2lb regularly too. I agree with bass boy accuracy of cast and getting the bite is crucial. When dam fishing ( and pinging spinners deep in the timber I think we used 8lb/12lb combos. Only ever use 2500's for bassing.

Great to see lots of Raiders making the most of summer. Tight lines and Merry Christmas to all and sundry. Safe travels too....

Not long now til the Chrissy Hols....I'll be heading to Conjola for Chrissy new year and Nambucca Heads for the last 2 weeks of Jan. Hope to whack some big lizards and lots of bream and whiting on popper....plus hopefully a bass session or 2 thrown in for good measure.... What at you up too?

Nice work mate....just remember to flush out with freshwater after every use. I didn't do that on my first Rule pump and it stopped working pretty quickly...

Man micro jigs are the rage.....like the look of those new micro jig rods too that have just hit the market...might have to invest....hadn't thought of using them for Jews, more snapper and kings etc....nice work on your first Jew!

Hard to complain with by catch like that!

Hmmm good info guys. Figured the abt guys would be all over them. Might wait a little bit longer but sounds like I need to invest at some stage in the future....

Yeah my entire popper technique sees my rod pointed at the fish, I use a down stroke popper technique for popping and walking the dog too. I also fish lefthand wind so I don't have to swap hands when casting - I changed over about 5 years ago. Also means I'm ready for the instant strike as soon your lure hits the water. Do you hold the line with your forefinger like you would if you were bait fishing and trying to detect the bite? I can see how that would sink the hooks in more often.

Wow great bass session Roberta! Got to lover the soft shells. I like the thought of holding the line tight on a popper, makes a huge amount of sense really, will give it a go. Do you do the for top water breaming too? How fat are those fish, genuine footballs. Funny when your fishing and you are in the zone and your mates are doing the same thing for doughnuts.

I read in a mag sometime back about the use of Hydrowave type units over in the US and that the Bass pro's are into them.....any idea if they work and or if they work on Aussie Bass or Bream etc. Also wondering if our bass and bream pro's are using them and have noticed catch rates improving? (For those wondering what a Hydrowave is....it's an eletrocnic device that's supposed to emmit sounds and vibrations of a bait fish feeding frenzy into the water I suspect - What will they think of next?) Still if they work, might ask Mrs Clause for one....I think I have one of everything else that a tackle shop sells anyway...

Thanks guys. Yep we kept an eye out for any sticks that were moving or sunning themselves. Fortunately none did, that we saw anyway.

Bridge or no bridge every time I drive over it the flats to the east look like they be receptive to a popper or two.

Nice breambo's....any fish on surface is awesome fun.

Coyote and I headed out early on Sunday morning in search of some Sydney sweetwater fishing up a remote arm in Southern Sydney. After convincing one of the wives to drop us off at 5.30 am and the other wife to pick us up at 1pm we figured we'd already had a win no matter how the day turned out. The place we fished doesn't allow any parking within cooee of the river hence drop off and pickup is essential. I tied on a tiemco softshell cicada and 3rd cast of the morning this hard fighting 35cm brute smashed it off the surface. (Coyote was dirty as he hadn't even tied his lure on yet and I had one in the net). Released to fight another day of course. Wow that was easy we thought. We both managed a couple of micro's on surface as we bush bashed and rock hopped our way up the river. It took a little while before another reasonable unit was netted again from an aggressive surface strike. Coyote played second fiddle for the early part of the morning but then returned serve with a 33 cm on a spinner bait as the sun began to hit the water and the shadows dissipated. Gave it a bit of a swim and off he went. Water clarity was quite good as you can see. Not long before the end of our session another deadly cast by Coyote on spinner bait deep into a snag and he pulled a 35cm unit which gave him curry and and tested him all the way back to the bank. Stumbled upon some fresh water yabbies too on the walk. Managed to get one in the net and grab a quick pic of him before releasing. He was an angry little bugger. In the end he got me 4 bass to 3 before we had to turn back and walk out which took about 1.5 hours. And greeting us at the pickup point was my missus with a smiling face and the air conditioning. All fish caught on 4lb braid/8lb leader. All released of course. I know why I only do these walks in summer, A) because surface fishing for bass is so much fun but because when flicking banks, big pools, runs and eddies you end up going for several swims to retrieve your misguided flicks that end up in a tree, on a log or in the reeds. But as they say if your not getting hung up your not getting in the zone. It's so true, every one of our fish came from a cracking cast and it was rare to entice a strike you flick was short of the mark or wayward. My legs are shredded from the bush bashing and going up and down a few stairs at work today felt like agony but I'd do it again in a heart beat just to see those surface strikes. Remote creeks and big adventures don't occur enough for me with a youngish family and busy work schedule. And as much as I love my boat, there is something special about nailing some Aussie natives up a remote creek that rarely gets fished. Yep I'm a bass addict, don't get to target them very often but love every minute of it when I'm able to find the time.

Memories of Greg Lee. I never actually met him but we did share the same birthday 29/11. Hope he managed to wet a line today somewhere in the ether....I learnt so much off him - Jews / bream and loved reading about his crazy OS charters.... Props to mr Lee...