seacow

Fished on Saturday and Sunday on the Nelson Bay breakwall. I have two tips for you. 1. constant berley is a must. The old timers are there with 3-4 (25litre) buckets of burley and throwing out a handful everytime that they would throw out. 2. Fish the spot half way along the breakwall. We were fishing 25 metres away from these guys and they got 6-7 fish to everyone one that we got. Now I'm not a master in terms of blackfishing by any means but I think that using bigger floats is the way to go. Interesting to see that on Saturday the only fish I caught (causing I wasn't fishing the spot) were two sawtail surgeon fish. A first for me so while the fishing was slow I was pretty damn excited. No size but hey something new and boy don't they go hard. Anyway the tally for the weekend was 5 for the other half (I was very proud) 4 to me so she got her fix and I got a cold that left me low for all this week. Another interesting point is that the Shoal Bay wharf is closed and boarded up. Disappointing because the spot looked very fishy and cause it was only a walk from the appartments we were staying in. That's the lazy fisherman in me talking.

I got the 39 cm fish on the Satursday. Dad the mongrel had to out do me on the Sunday with the 41cm fish. Amazing to see how fat they are this year too. Must be plenty of food in the river. Off to Shoal Bay this weekend. Trying to teach the other half about the dark arts. Might try that breakwall in Nelson Bay.

The further that you want the lure down in the water column the more lead you use. When trolling metals I like to have at least a 2.5-3 metre leader to a swivel then an easy rig lead. I tend to find that varying the outboard speed brings the lure up and down the water column and entices more fish. I also get alot of fish (primarily tailor) when I put the engine in neutral and let the lure drop followed by gunning it. I guess it would be the lazy way similar to imparting some action on the lure by moving the rod.

What was his sage advice? An old dog can always learn new tricks. That's assuming that he has already learned them all.

Wouldn't be much of a nice tasting party. Apparently these squid are filled with amonia which is lighter than water. It helps to keep them bouyant.

The old man bit the bullet and made his way down to some of the drains at Homebush not far from where he works. He got some but he said it was pretty ordinary and on the stinky side. Should have taken the weed from Terrigal when I was up there last week. Very light green and stringy but better than nothing. Either that or just used the cabbage and fished in the harbour. When there is no weed in the rivers, I 've fished for blackfish using squirt worms. Problem is that everything eats squirt worms.

After watching one poor boat getting accosted by NSW Maritime for a considerable period of time, we thought it wise that we move on quickly before we received the same activity. Don't know for sure they threw the book at him so to speak. On a couple of previous occasions we have simply been asked to move back a little. But then again this was from the wharf boat not NSW Maritime. Shame too cause it was a fish a throw out. Nothing against NSW Maritime they have the rules to follow. I must admit we were one of about 9-10 boats all fishing within the 100 metre exclusion zone. All decided that it was time to exit stage right!

I know that this is a rather touchy subject but would you mind telling me where you managed to get your green weed? All the normal places I get it from have been quite barren of late. Very little at Kurnell and there was none in Kelso Park last time I looked.

We got a bag of trevally off the oil wharf before NSW Maritime were of the opinion that we were a little too close to the 100 metre exclusion zone from the wharf itself. Decided quickly that the $500 fine was not worth it for trevally just over legal size (if they were kingfish it might have been another story.) After moving wider even though we burlied hard we got donuts. Even the tried and tested sp flatty spots were quiet.

Cause a native catfish is infinitely better than a carp.

Submit it for catch of the month. It would sure get my vote. Catching fish smaller than the lure takes great skill.

We threw just about everything at them from 7-11am on Saturday morning for only 4 hook ups and 2 bonito. Not a hit on the metals no matter how small (1.5 inches long) to how big (15gram raiders). The two bonnies took small clear soft plastic stick baits on a really jerky retrieve after letting them sink. Was thinking that whole whitebait without any weight to them might do the trick. However hard to get a cast to the feeding schools before they are put down by the boat noise. Still can't believe that boats travel straight over the top of the school and wonder why they put them down. Maybe fishing edicate needs to be subject to get your boat licence?

What about the good old skirt steak cut into very thin strips marinated overnight in oyster sauce and parmesen cheese? On the hook it looks like a very tasty worm. If you don't catch anything, you can then take it home and make a stir fry!

Got hold of one on a soft plastic in the Hacking just a few weeks back. Damn turtle took my last Killer Tomato 80mm fish. Felt pretty terrible afterwards.

Ah.... Touche.

Egg beater reels for learning blackfish anglers hide a multitude of sins.

$10 bait trap. $2 loaf of bread. 1 bucket to keep the poddy mullet in once you have them Fill the bait trap with bread and leave it 2/3 submerged in the lake. I like the car park shore on the Wakehurst parkway then fishing towards the caravan park further down the road. After getting some poddy mullet riging up a with a small running bean sinker to a swivel and 40cm of trace line to a long shanked hook. Walking out into the water as far as my stubby legs will take me, throwing out and a very, very slow retrieve. I also like to fan out my casts to get as much coverage of the lake bottom as possible. I also like to pin the poddies just before the the top fin as the occasional tailor will scoff them down too. Other than that hang on.

My mate and I we in the little tinnie not far from you guys when you pulled that big flathead in. Very jealous.... All we could manage were ones to about 45cms. Lost quuite a good one at the boat which I assume would have been 50+cms.

I must admit I am one of those left wing pinko's but the submission made a lot of sense. Saves in costs but it definitely reduces the services provided by Fisheries. Why doesn't Government consider this to be of importance? Where do I sign?

I think those wide gaped hooks do a good job in hooking fish in the side of the mouth. Also gives a good presentation of the prawn.

My understanding is that whilst you are correct in acknowledging they are a noxious species (class 3 under the Fisheries Management Act 1994 NSW), in NSW and ACT it is up to the angler's discretion on whether they choose to kill or return a carp/redfin to the water. From memory the line from Fisheries is that anglers should - not must. Big definition in law terms really (Class 1 & 2). What is illegal is the translocation of carp to another river or waterway. Different in Victoria where anglers must kill and dispose of carp. For my 10c - I am with luderick angler.

Two legal bream atleast 25 years back up at Woy Woy. 1. Caught on a red snake 2. Caught on a Lolly Pobble Bliss Bomb (candied corn) Clearly both of them had a sweet tooth.

That was kind of the crab. He marinated himself!

It might also have to do with the adopted plan for the areas around Muddy Creek. Looks like there will be an increased level of development through that area - the Fisho's club being ear marked for a large increase in size and potentially revenues with the Marina idea. Here is the link. http://www.lpma.nsw.gov.au/about_us/publications/exhibition_and_information/plans_of_management/muddy_creek_plan_of_management_approved