mpreston55

Congratulations to the Administrators and the Web designers. Made a great site even better. Thanks to all involved. Howard

It's always great to get away with family and do a bit of fishing. The accommodation looks fine to me. What a great place to spend a few days doing what you enjoy with people you like. I'm sure you will repay your brother with some great flathead in God's country.

Great effort there Rickster. Just love fishing for blackies. Put up a better fight than most other species. Must have a go off the rocks as I have only ever fished for them in estuaries.

Love the look on the young blokes face . Looks like he is going to become a life long fisherman.

That's a great day out. Some very good looking fish in amongst that haul. Fish dinners coming up - for quite a while. Congratulations. Howard

Hi Korg, Did you catch the blackfish on bread? Must admit there is not much beats catching blackfish. I just love the anticipation while waiting for the float to go under and then timing the strike just right to hook one. They fight like mad and never give in until they are in the net - great stuff. They're not too bad on the plate either. Good luck for the rest of your stay. Howard

That is one great looking whiting Roberta . Congratulations on getting the trifecta - hope it's the start of a great 2010. Howard

Happy New Year Werris. Ramble on as much as you like after an excellent morning on the water. May be bread and butter fish but you certainly got a great feed from some of the best fish in the ocean. Hope your next trip is as much fun. All the best; Howard

Now that is a great way to end the old year and start a new one. Hope it continues for you throughout 2010. Howard

Good one Zac. That one certainly didn't get away even though it had plenty of chances. Howard

That's brilliant stuff Robeebee. Great fishing on such light gear - certainly a PB that will be hard to break. I'm sure that made your weekend for you. Keep up the catches & the reports. Howard

Hey Mako, that's one great day out. Great mixed bag/

Is it still worth collecting weed from Kelso??? Cheers, Chris... I went there early this week and got some. It was pretty soft. I dried it and rolled it in newspaper to store it in the fridge. Didn't get a chance to go out during the week. I looked at the weed this morning and it was even softer and starting to break up. It would be too hard to keep on even with a loop above the hook. Doesn't look like I'll be going tomorrow. Howard

Great catch brez. Lot of fun to catch and if you treat them carefully and prepare them properly they are not a bad feed. I'm heading to Bermagui tomorrow, for a week, so I hope there are some around down that far. Well done Howard

Gee you must be one keen fisherman. I took one look outside and shut the door. Sorting all of my gear out instead. Going to Bermagui next week and hoping for a break in the weather.

My brother-in-law has a property near Hervey Bay in Qld. He has a dam a bit bigger in size but not quite that deep. He stocked it with yellowbelly. We quite often catch them out of there. Good fun to catch on lures and fly. We decided to eat one that we caught and even though the water in the dam is pretty clear it still had a muddy taste to it. Good sport though. Howard

Thanks for the advice Rickster. I'll give that a try. Cabbage is reasonably common down here at the moment on ocean rocks. All the best - Howard

Hi Rickster Top effort and welcome to Fishraider. I have been looking for blackies in quite a few places down here in the Illawarra. Some days I find them and have quite a good session only to return to the same place a few days later and not even get a bite. Haven't tried them off the ocean rocks as yet except for the breakwall at entrance to Lake Illawarra where I caught a lot of undersize ones. But same old story went back there a week later for nothing. Finding weed is the main problem down here at the moment. The good old howling westerlies of the last couple of weeks destroyed most of the growth in the lake. All the best for future trips. Howard

G'day, Just to add to the replies that have already been given. I must admit I like using braid for blackfishing. A couple of points that you might like to consider though are these. * Braid has no stretch so make sure you use a good mono leader that has plenty of stretch. Pulled hooks are a bit of a problem when using braid unless you are very careful. Use just enough drag to keep the fish out of trouble areas. * Make sure you use a long light rod that has a fairly soft tip to help with playing the fish so that not too much pressure is placed on the hook in the fish's mouth. Blackfish are often hooked in the lip which is pretty soft and enables hooks to come out easily. * My father-in-law, who is a great blackfisherman, won't use this "new fangled stuff". Mono was good enough for him over many decades. He does however grease his line so that it floats and cuts out the belly caused by the line sinking. Just a few more things to think about. Good luck - give both a try and see what works for you. Howard

Hi Kiwineil, Yeah I had a bad couple of days up there but evidently at this time of year the fishing can either be really good or really bad. Lake Lyell is apparently the most consistent and I didn't get to fish it. You can us lures, bait and flies in Lyell. The top end of the dam is evidently the place to go at the moment. Take your fishing gear a couple of hours on the water could be very rewarding. Howard.

Wow great looking catch of blackies there Roberta. I'll bet your friend Michael is now converted for life. Keep up the great work both catching fish and introducing new fisherman to the dark art. Howard

Got to agree with you there Groper. Absolutely beautiful smoked. Howard

Hey Stinger, You must be doing something wrong if you don't like squid. Try boiling it in whole water with added herbs and garlic for about 3/4 hour. Drain and let cool then coat in breadcrumbs and fry very quickly. Better than any of the other fish in Penguin's catch. Give it a go and you won't use it for bait too often. Howard