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I've read that these Pike are THE live bait for Jewies in some places. Not wure if it's this particular species or not.

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear the prawning has been good. I'll have to get up there soon. Reeltired

:1yikes: Nice Bream there!! I wonder if ganged hooks and whole fish bait are the go for big bream. The biggest bream I have ever seen was caught by a kid on a wharf using ganged hooks and a whole garfish about 30cm long. reeltired

well done. That squid must be a monster. Reeltired

It's hard to be objective but based on my experience: Never fished Georges so can't comment. Harbour always seems to produce, especially since the nets have been gone. This is opinion is obviously because it is closest to where I live and therefore the place I fish more often than anywhere else. Hate the Hawksbury apart from Cowan. It's seems to me that it has been loved to death. Nice place to "get away from it" though. Hacking is a great spot during the week. Weekends are usually spent dodging leisure craft. Reeltired

Shark Rock point, Cowan Point and the Entrance to Smiths Creek are supposed to be good for Jewies. Big drop offs close to shore. I've tried The entrance to smiths but have mainly caught those annoying monodactor (or whatever they are called) things (they look like they belong in a tropical fish tank). Did get a nice falthead there though. It's a rough bottom and gear losses can be high. Reeltired ps. There is a DVD around (I don't thik I'm supposed to mention any names)that is all about jewies which actually shows you some specific spots. I've already mentioned 2 of them.

Usually the drop-offs are best. Preferably in the end of bays such as Waratah, Jerusalem, little Jerusalem etc. Cowan is a large expanse of water and is deep. So just pulling up at a place that looks good can just produce either nothing or hoards of tiny red bream. However anchoring on the edge of a drop-off, casting some lines up onto the shallows and on or two out into the deeper water is productive in my experience and from what I've read. Moving along just off the drop-offs and casting SPs into the shallows is also good. If live baiting always have a small squid jig handy. There seem to be plenty of squid trying to do a lobotamy on any live bait (yellowtail etc). If your live baits are under a float, just lob the jig next to it evey now and then. Berley is pretty much a must if anchoring too. It brings the bait fish around which attract larger fish as well. Hope this helps. Let us know how you go. Cowan also can be great for "getting away from it all". Reeltired.

G'day I'm no expert but might be able to help a bit. What is your technique like? How do you "work" your soft plastics? I was beginning to think SPs were useless until in desperation I bought and watched a couple of DVDs on how to use them. Success was gradual rather than instant but it did come. Choice of jig heads can be important too. For example, too bigger weight and the SP will just plummet to the bottom and look lifelsess. Lighter weights are harder to cast but generally end up looking more natural. In short, get a DVD or 3 and study them. Experiment with diffent jig heads. Hope this helps. Sp fishing is addictive! Once success starts to come it can be very rewarding. Reeltired

:1yikes: :1yikes:

G'day again. Best if it can stay alive. I usually thread the hook lightly through one of the back leg sockets and out again a few millimetres away without causing too much damage but not so lightly that the bait flies off too easily when you cast. If you put the hook through the middle of the crab it will die quickly or maybe straight away. it seems to attract more interest if it is still crawling around. You might also want to check out the laws on collecting crabs in certain areas. Definitely illegal in Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. You might also be careful wher you store them overnight. As a teenager I stored them in my bedroom and one night they escaped. For weeks I was hearing creepy crawlies in the room and having nightmares about being eaten by swarms of crabs. Reeltired

here's my two bobs worth. In my experience the small live crabs beat everything else! Yabbies are always good but everything eats them so the chances of a decent Bream eating the one on your line ahead of all the pickers is often slim. Last time I went to Yamba a kid at the wharf had caught a garfish about a foot long. An old bloke appeared and advised him to "chuck it out whole with a bigger hook in it and you'll catch one of those big bream hanging around". The kid took his advise and within about a minute had a bream of at least a kilo on the end of his line. I grabbed my net to help him land it not realising that his mates had come running over and had trampled my 3 kilo high modulas spin rod to pieces! Hope you catch some of those thumpers. Reeltired

Hi Raiders Thought this info might help anybody heading to Jervis Bay. Went to Jb last week and came back this week. Didn't take the boat. It was a family holiday. Took minimal amount of gear to fish from the shore. Monday, felt pretty pleased with myself catching a nice flathead on a Squidgy wriggler. Saw a shark cruising around about 100 meteres out. Drove to the boat ramp to have a sticky beak and use my last worm bait. Suddenly didn't feel so pleased in comparison. There was a bloke with 20 to 30 flathead and some squid at the cleaning table (hope they wern't all his). :ranting2: Should've taken boat. There was also a boat with a catch of gemfish and hapuka (I think). Tried to console myself by thinking of how much fuel he would have used to get out that far. After a few minutes one of the local charter boats pulls up with a load of reef fish and small bonito. Caught some little rubbish fish on my last worm. Helped out a mum with her 2 kids. Gave them a float each so that they could catch one of the mullet that were hanging around but wouldn't bite their baits that were on the bottom. As I was driving off saw the kids (that I had helped) reeling in a fish. Overall, a nice break for the family. Saw whales, a shark, a seal and dolphins. Gotta go back ASAP with the boat. Reeltired ps. Didn't see any snapper at the boat ramp. I wonder why! Moon phase?

Great catch there! Gotta get more experience at fishing for Luderick. Caught a few last winter and really enjoyed it. Glad you gave the other guys some help. Too often blokes get all tight lipped and arrogant about sharing info. Did you eat them? I've found them great eating aslong as they are bled and eaten fresh. keep up the good work, fun or whatever it is. Reeltired

Amazing how accurate they are! I've seen them get somebody's face from several metres away. Previous post makes sense! i think they must be aiming for our eyes. Funny how it's usually an inocent by-stander who cops it not the person actually reeling it in. All part of the fun I suppose. reeltired

Sorry! i'm still a Kingy virgin. I think they smell me coming! I even went to Lord Howe Island once which is supposed to be like "kingie Heaven" but they weren't "on" that week. I'll be watching this post with interest though. Gootta catch me one. Great report! Good to see reports from thinking anglers. reeltired

Yep Minn Kotas definitely rule. I have 55lb one and it's brilliant!! I must admit when I bought it I was wondering if it was a bit of a gimmick but it's one of the most useful fishing tools available. Opens up a whole new area of possiblilities that aren't available when only using a petrol motor. Reeltired Should change my name to reel frustrated! When is this crappy weather going to nick off and give us some good fishing weather or at least some clean warm water to fish in?

Wow! You can't get any fresher than that! And whiting too! One of the sweetest eating fish around! Reeltired

Toads? shark? Leather Jackets? I often have squid do a labotomy on my live baits but not cut through 40lb leader. Interesting! I'll be staying tuned to see what other raiderfs have to say. Reeltired

Hey! Great mahi mahi! It's a pity they lose some of their colour in photos. They look totally different coming up to the boat. Not sure, but I think muttin birds and sheerwaters are the same thing. Apparently they fly here from Siberia! No wonder they are so hungry for our baits. Not sure if it's legal but I discovered a method of keeping them away. All you do is dangle a bait close to the boat, that is, within netting range. When one of them thinks they have found a bird lover and comes after the bait and close enough to net, you scoop it up. You then leave it in the net flapping around for all it's mates to see. They should keep at least 10 metres away or go and bother somebody else. If like me you take pity on the bird in the net you could always try giving it a pilchard as a reward but it will probably be too freaked out to eat. If you don't do this they will steal nearly every bait. Even if your bait has 500g of lead attached they can still catch it shooting down to the bottom. Good luck. Reeltired.

Good to see that the Parramatta River is fishing so well these days. I grew up not far from Kissing point and fished the area often during the 70s and 80s. I never ever saw or heard of a Jewfish being caught. Maybe it had something to do with the trawlers that went backwards and forwards ripping the guts out of the place night after night during summer. I live furhter up stream these days. I'll have to give my old spots a try soon. Thanks for the reports. Reeltired

My mouth is watering!! Soy and wasabi!! Gotta get me a bonito!! Reeltired.

Nice bonito ! Did you eat it? Some people only use them for bait but I reckon they taste pretty good. Although, it does help if they are very fresh, have been bled and are cooked a bit like a beef steak. That is, seared on the outside and pink in the middle. My family doesn't like them! Oh well, more for me!! I suspect they would be good done with a Japanese type recipe too. Reeltired.

Thanks for the report. It's good to hear a positive report from the hawksbury for once. hope you get a big jew next time. It seems like you deserve it. Reeltired

It can take a while to learn and have success. Hopefully these few tips will help shorten the learning process for you. I must admit I leant a few of these things the hard way. * The new moon is the "dark" or "no moon" period. However, I learnt pretty ealy on that, at The Entrance, it takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours for the tide to actually turn around and start flowing out. For example if high tide is said to be 9:00pm on your tide chart then it will actually be midnight by the time the water is running out to sea and you can start prawning. Your kids might be asleep by this time. * Articles I've read say that you can catch prawns starting from about 5-7 days after the full moon. This makes sense since during this time the moon doesn't even rise until about midnight anyway and there is about 3 hours of pitch black darkness with a runout tide. * Personally, my most succesful outings have been about 2 days before the new moon. That said it could be more child friendly to go about 6 to 8 days before when the high tide is about 5 or 6 in the afternoon (at Fort Denison) and well and truly running out by the time it's dark. If you wait until 2 or 3 days after the New Moon then the water won't be flowing out until well after midnight and the sun will be up before it is finished * I have also found that there are more prawns when there are less people. In January at somewhere like the Entrance there are usually so many people standing in the water with lights that it must seem like broad daylight to the prawns and I reckon they must stay in the sand and wait for a real "dark" night. * My best months have been February and March. It could just have been because there were less tourists and that the days were shorter and nights longer and therefore a bigger "window" of time to work with. * Having said all of this, i have still gone "prawning" in the best months, right tide and moon phase. in the middle of the week with no tourists and everything seeming to be perfect but nobody informed the prawns. Sometimes you get a handfull and other times you can't move quick enough to get every prawn that is spotted. Hope this helps. Hope you have fun. kids will often have a ball even on the "handful" nights. I have seen middle aged men go completely stupid, madly shouting and running around after a single prawn. It seems to have that effect on people. I'm just glad nobody called the Police or else they might have thought there was an escapee from the nearest looney bin. A word of warning!!! There are heaps of fortesques at the Entrance. It is often hard not to end up with one in the net. DO NOT TOUCH THEM AT ALL. EMPTY THEN OUT WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM. They are little docile looking spikey fish that can cause 8 hours of severe pain or worse! reeltired

Awesome storm photos! Worth the trip just for them I reckon! Maybe you could win something if you sent them to a TV station. Channel 10, I think it was, used to have a "weather pic of the week" prize. Although, at the moment they're probably showing Christmas decorations. reeltired