covanova

I was in the US for work not that long ago and couldn't get over the fact that rapalas which cost $15-$20 here cost $4 US! If you don't mind the wait, there's plenty of sites selling them mail order!

Funnily enough, I was at Clontarf for lunch yesterday and remarked to the girlfriend how many good looking fishing boats were moored there. Also noticed a very nice yellow two man kayak with electric motor too Only if I had known it was the fishraider mob! Incidentally I threw a few lures around the pool for no result. Gin clear water - but cold!

Could I ask where in the lake it was?

I saw it - amazing! Such great fishing - exciting stuff - including broken rods! Send me to Venezuela!

Old books I had talked about sea-run trout being caught at queenscliff lagoon. I would have thought it was too warm, but they thought the fish escaped from the dam after trying to get to the deepest part of the dam - the wall - which is also where the water comes out. It's a romantic notion, I know. It's nice to think about big brownies chowing down on baby carp...

Only if manly dam was full of trout.....It'd be nice to have it so close. I fished near the weir a fair bit and only caught sticks. The bottom must be pretty clean now that I've scraped it clean. Does anyone go out in a kayak or canoe? What fun that must be... They must be good sized fish if they're taking 6 inch lures!

I went to Wentworth Falls lake for a few casts on Sunday. Nice day, but no fish! It's a long drive from the northern beaches, so I think I'll wait till I can go with a bit more knowlege... I cast a rapala and a celta-style spinner all along the wall with no luck. Was it the wrong part of the lake? Too sunny? It's nice and accessible, with a nice picnic ground. Good day to spend the day though, so all is not lost.

I read once the area around fitzroy falls held fish....true? For something strange, the old periodicals that I used to get (you know the ones you get that add up to a whole set in a binder if you collected them all) talked about sea-run trout being caught at queenscliff lagoon. I would have thought it was too warm, but the hypothesis put forward was that they escaped from the dam after a short-lived stocking programme.

Anyone know the closest decent trout location to Sydney? There's been talk of Wentworth Falls, but is this any good? Are there better ones closer?

I was going through my lure collection last night looking to replace any rusty hooks and found a couple of old two piece jointed style lures. You don't hear people talking about them anymore...does anyone still use them? Have they gone out of fashion now that HBs tend to be smaller types and there's so many SPs that have a more lifelike action? I guess the fish aren't as fad conscious as we are, I remember them being quite popular for flatties when I was younger (and unable to afford them)... Any comments?

How do you normally go for EP's up past Roseville? Many there? I wouldn't have thought this is a good time of year for them - is it?

Up at lake macquarie my brother and I would often get amongst a school of squid and bring in 10 or so in our little 6ft yacht tender. Being young and immature, it would often turn into a water/ink pistol fight, with both of us using the bucket to "reload" the stuff stinks and they can be slippery little buggers!

I brought an esky back with fillets from that big boy and a couple of other small ones. The boat is small, but we had to cart it in and out of the water and up the bank. Where we were was only accessible by 4x4 and quite a bit upriver of any boatramp - and with the debris in the water, probably hard to get to anyway. Bloody good fun. My uncle is a bit of a barra pro, he's been there for 40 years - looking forward to using his tips on bass when summer comes...

I've had hairtail do that in Pittwater.

Just got back from a trip to Darwin. Spent most of my time seeing the sights, but one trip to the Adelaide River with my uncle's favourite spot yeilded this nice one. Measured up at 80cm and made the trip well worth it!

I'd put solid money on a long tom. We get heaps of them there. Moreso around the deeper waters though. Good work on the lures! We fish down near summerland point, and try as I might, I've never done any good. Too many weeds.

Given the tranquil and balmy (autumn???) conditions last night, fellow fishraider Covo and I went down to the spit bridge looking for a good catch. Several munched pilchards later, we realised that there was a school of yakkas and v. undersized tailor under the bridge (is that what the people that I always see from the top of the bridge are catching?). We put one or two of the yakkas under floats hoping for a taker...but no luck except for a very elegant decapitation (squid I'd say).... We got three quite nice squid that will end up as calamari....a tasty consolation prize!

Yes, it's a great way to prepare for work! It was a bit bumpy with the southerly swell by the end, and we took in a bit of water. Better off hanging around the Spit with such a small vessel.

Went this morning before work with fellow Fishraider Covo out off Little Manly our vessel: Water wasn't too bumpy, so we didn't take on too much water. Our trolled lures got one strike, which we lost, suspect it to be a good size tailor or salmon. After putting out live yakkas, we boated a reasonable tailor, but not long after, was hit by something big. Not a fast fish, but very strong, and capable of changing direction no matter where I was trying to lead it. For a good 30 minutes I was fighting this fish on quite thin line (why do they always take the rod with the lightes line?) and the fish doing circles around the boat at some depth, we finally saw colour. It dove again, and although not fast, it was quite strong. We were thinking Jewfish for sure.... We ended up bringing it in - you'd never believe it - a bloody bonito hooked in the guts! Here's a picture:

It's funny, we never used to get the larger bream. Now we're getting them often. I am certian that there's a balance shift in the lake. We're getting far fewer squid (only a handful in the last couple of years) when it wasn't uncommon to get a dozen while fishing for flatties with a jig sitting over the side. I reckon we'll start getting a lot more smaller flathead than we used to as fewer of them get netted. It's amazing how things change in such a dynamic system. And now the Jewfish are back, no doubt chasing the big mullet that the netters used to take in.

I've heard that up near fishing point or the drop-off at Swansea, just inside the lake. The afternoon to evening... it's a bit far for us at that late hour as we don't have lights.

Haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know!

In all of the information that I have on NSW, there's no limit, and that's why we kept it. If there is, please let me know, as there's heaps in the lake. I guess it also brings up the old chestnut of which actually does the most harm.... keeping Juveniles, or keeping mature, healthy strong breeding stock?

Thanks! Hopefully we'll be playing your mob next season!

A live herring I caught on the boat with a fly rod....