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Sunday was THE DAY of the FULL MOON! I wonder if that was the reason that things were quiet. But... why then were the baitfish biting? Reeltired

Stuff the kingies! I'd be eating them myself. The kingies might get the head and guts but that's it. Seriously, good luck on the kingies. Reeltired

The spot may not be the problem. Beaches really are like a marine desert without some fundamental knowledge. Here is my two bobs worth. I might be preaching to the converted but since you say you are new, maybe not. 1. Learn to "Read" the beach. The fish are concentrated in certain areas such as deep holes and gutters and the sloping edges of sand banks. Try to get a good look at the beach from a head land to see where the best spots are. 2. Never wade in and cast for the horizon. The fish are often in close, feeding on morsels stirred up by the waves and surge close in. You can often spot fish like whiting cruising up and down just past where the shore break is. 3. Fish with the lightest line possible. I have never caught fish like bream, whiting or dart when using the classic aussie "tailor" beach fishing rod. It wasn't until I bought a snyder mag bream and a PC MT 4144 and used 4 or even 3kg line that I started catching these fish which I always assumed were "fished out". Hope this helps. Good fishing. Reeltired.

G'day Matt Great spot, Shoal Bay. Haven't been there for years but used to go a lot. First thing: Watch out for the marine Parks and make sure you don't fish in them. It could be a very expensive weekend otherwise. You can find out where they are on line. The fishing possiblities are endless but here are a few; depends whether or not you have a boat too. Squid and garfish in the weed beds at Shoal Bay itself. A good start would be the wharf there. Great beach fishing on the Ocean side. I used to stay at One Mile Beach shich is about a 10 minute drive south. Plenty of salmon, tailor, bream whiting and flathead. Oh, and Jewies, although I only ever got small ones. You just need to fish in or on the edge of the deep gutters. The rocks at Tomaree Head, the headland on the ocean side of shoal bay, are legendary. Unless you are young though, the walk over the hill and to the fishing ledges is tough. You can catch all sorts of game fish there although the water is a bit cold this time of year. Probably snapper and Salmon at the moment. Nelson Bay breakwall usually has something biting. Expect to lose gear though. It's tough, rock country. Could be a good idea to book a charter if you have the funds. Bye for now. Reeltired.

Hey Bream Agree 100% with you on the eating quality of blackfish. Reeltired.

Had the same problem with braid on an old baitrunner. Soon changed back to mono. Not sure what would happen with fused stuff like fireline. Maybe a good compromise would be a low stretch fine mono like platypus low stretch. It should fit about 300 metres of 4kg or over 200 of 6kg. Good luck. Nothing worse than having gear problems when the fish are on. Reeltired.

Boy!! Reading this is making me really hungry! I've cooked squid and ended up with rubber bands once too. After that I learnt that the trick, at least when frying, is: cook for ONE MINUTE!! You literally place each bit in the pan then by the time you finished arranging them, turn them over. By the time each piece is turned over, start taking the first pieces out. You then scoff them with a glass of chardonnay before anybody else knows they are ready!! Reeltired.

Re: catching gars. I'm no expert but I have caught some in the past. Everything including line, hooks and float as small and light as you have. Either a small quill float or small "bobby" float. No. 12 hook. Beak hooks seem to get more hookups but are harder to get out of the fishes mouth. Long shanks seem to be easier to use but I'm sure the fish shy away from them. Burley with bread crumbs or similar. Not crusts 'cause they float and will attract birds and send the gars down. Gars will be the furthest fish away in the trail. yakkas come really close but gars will be seen as an occasional swirl or splash or perhaps flash of silver 20 metres away. For some reason a tiny piece of prawn bait is better than the bread that you attract them with. In my experience anyway. Set the bait pretty close under the float, perhaps 10 to 30 cm at most. Have fun! They go mental when hooked and although they don't have much weight to them they blast around and jump a lot. Hope this helps. oh yeah! They are hard to keep alive. They tend to bolt about and bash their beaks into things and then get sick and turn belly up. Reeltired.

I remember hearing some Iraqi people saying on TV that they loved living Wagga because they could easily catch plenty of their "favourite fish to eat - CARP". The only one I ever caught went in the bin. I have it on good authority that they make great bait for salwater fish such as slimies and other baitfish. I'll have to try it! We recently bought a slow cooker. It might be OK in there. Surely not the fish from the upper parra river though! Re baby octupus comment. The same with squid. Think back 30 years when our Italian and Maltese friends caught it to eat. They would face a barage of laughs and comments like "you wogs would eat anything". Look at it now! it's a delicacy. One of my favourites, that's for sure. Those Wise Old Gentlemen knew better than us. Reeltired