suttonscurse

Thanks Guys I am seriously thinking about recommending my brother for an honorary fishraider award in selflessly establishing an artificial reef as a FAD in the Bay ( great suggestion Roberta ). I checked the rod holders and so long as the rods are set in place correctly , I can't get the buggers to pop open accidently so it is definitely operator error. Unfortunately we were moving between spots both times so I don't have the exact location of where they went over the side. Probably the best idea is from the guys at work who suggested that I should by pass the middle man (my brother) and just take all my rods and reels and throw them off the middle of Captain Cook Bridge . Their consensus is that it is like tearing off a sticking plaster - better one foul swoop than death by a thousand cuts. However being a true silly fisherman, I have given more of my money to the local tackle shop so I will be back out on the Bay over Easter. (I have also contacted border security and requested that they keep my brother south of the NSW/VIC border for quite a while). regards Bill.

Hi Guys. My brother who lives in Victoria came back up to Sydney for another days fishing in Botany Bay. We had gone out on Sunday 24th February and had a great day on the bream but my brother had put my favourite Rack raider rod / Shimano Symetre reel in a rod holder and forgot to lock it in and of course over the side it went(In the middle of the channel off Towra) never to be seen again- I did make a polite suggestion that he should go in after it but he declined my kind offer. Being a nice brother ( and since he bought up a carton of crownies and gave me a present of a new rod and reel - albiet a chain store model , but still a reasonable package) I took him back out on the Bay again on Sunday 16th March . Must admit it was a tough day with only 3 whiting and a couple of very small snapper caught ( and 2 bustoffs on large fish at the bottom of the tide) but again disater struck - He put the new rod into a rod holder - for some reason didn't lock it down again even after my detailed instructions and lo and behold over the side it went again in virtually the same spot : So the lessons are , 1)next time tie the fishing rod to my brother 2) don't bother fishing in the channel off Towra - the bottom is littered with my expensive gear and the fish are probably too busy laughing to be caught. 3) in the future double check that all gear is secure before moving the boat 4)ask the fishraider team for suggestions .. regards Bill

RTA accepts standard boat licence / registration payments If you are in the area the RTA registry at Blacktown also has a separate Maritime office contained within the same building . I normally pay mine across the net - just expect to wait weeks for the rego sticker to be sent out to you. regards Bill

Hi Robbee Good work on the fish ,especially the Kingy. We went out on Sunday morning at 5:30am and ended up with 19 bream to 38cm , one only flathead at 60 cm , some nice whiting (not to the same size as yours) and a very nice Blue swimmer crab which had attacked my live bait. Earlier on I had caught a 90 cm shovenose shark also on a live bait ( for 5 minutes I thought i had the biggest flathead ever - oh well!) . Sunday was a great day on the bay, althought we came in about lunchtime when a smalll storm passed over , but we had great fun with the Bream on 6lb line and light rods. Fresh bream on the BBQ tonight (perhaps with oregano and a dash of lemon with good quality olive oil) and a very nice entree of a crab ccktail ( a glass of nice chardy as well ?) regards Bill

Nice fish - might see you out there tomorrow. regards Bill

Hi Kilp I have a 90 HP E-tec which is on my 525 Stacer . On the 18th January it will be 3 years old and it has performed faultlessly. Like you I was a bit concerned about 3 years in between servicing (especially the gear box oil ) even though I greased up the steering and grease points every 6 months so I had a full service done after 2 years. I asked the dealership to give me back the old parts (including gearbox oil) and upon inspection of the plugs , impeller , oil etc I would have been quite ok to wait the 3 years for servicing. Of course this was on normal recreational usage so commonsense would need to apply. This is boat number 7 for me , I have used all the major brands over the years ( motor prior was a Honda 4 stroke which was also pretty good) and like Huey said all the majors make good equipment , and yes I would happily buy another E-tec as first preference. regards Bill

Congratulations on acheiving 5,000 members . I agree with Mrs swordfisherman on keeping the standards up on this site (I used to be part of another fishing site but the amount of infantile drivel on it quickly drove me away). Fishraider is great - Keep up the excellent work. regards Bill

Hi guys Took a couple of days break at The Entrance with the family and managed to sneak out for a fish around 6pm on Christmas Eve - Bottom of runout tide - Had a quick look at the end of the channel where it meets the ocean but there must have been at least 70 people lined up side by side all trying to fish the same small patch of fast water for whiting (they gave a pretty good imitation of a picket fence) but decided to seek a more peaceful area on the flats and dropoff at the bridge. Flicked a soft plastic around for about an hour without a nibble from the flathead until a bloke and his son who were catching a couple of whiting gave me their leftover worms when they called it a day. Then swapped a short shank hook and light ball sinker for the SP and managed to catch 4 nice whiting (all about 33cm) in about half an hour. Very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours . This post has been edited by Swordfisherman (Administrator) regards Bill

I will be up there over Christmas - Grilled whiting on the BBQ will make a nice change after making a pig of myself on Chrismas day . With the fish on in the channel I may leave the boat at home and do some healthy walking . I can remember back about 45 years ago staying at the northen side caravan park / camping area and catching heaps of big tasty whiting.

Good work Penguin - And your son looks pretty pleased with himself as well (my son is now 23 and is too busy at Uni , drinking my good scotch and chasing women to come out fishing). keep on enjoying the good times.

Sounds like a good days fishing , more so being with the family . Pleasing to see that the Bream are finally coming on - its been a long wait since last summmer. regards Bill

Boat name "Patronus" Botany Bay coast guard call sign "ENC638" Eagle November Charlie 638 Radio VHF - monitor channel 16 BOAT: Stacer 525 Bowrider (Black Hull, white deck) regards Bill

Congratulations That Bream was probably after the Jewies as a snack - What a whopper . Was the bream caught on squid as well ?

Good one Mitchel are you available to give fishing lessons ? regards Bill

Hi Handyman I also agree with the comments of Netic. Enjoy your fishing and also enjoy eating your catch. Welcome to the site regards Bill

Hi Guys Thanks for all the recipes and advice . Only been a member of Fishraider for a couple of weeks and have quickly come to realise what a great bunch of people are part of the group. Cheers Bill

Hi Robeebee Thanks for the clarification. These days I tend to rely on the Microsoft spell checker which makes for some interesting corrections - I have a Maltese mate whose surname is Portelli - Spellchecker always recommends that the word should be changed to Portaloo . I will let you guess what his nickname is these days. regards Bill

Thanks Pete. The recipe looks great. I was taught by the Greek Bloke next door (my usual fishing Partner and deckie) to tenderise ocky by basing on the rocks next to the boat ramp . (He has a lot of fun doing this) I must admit the big ocky was pretty tender by the time we cajoled (wrestled) it into the esky . regards Bill

Out on Botany Bay at 6am Sunday - Absolutely gorgeous morning . Headed up the the Oil refinery wharf and anchored up the prescribed 100 metre away ( The Police boat came around a couple of times and asked boats that were within 100 metres to move! ) Fished with peeled prawns and yabbies and to our surprise kept on getting baited without feeling any bites. Eventually ended up with 8 octopus (Note to myself, is the plural for octopus ; Octopuses or Octopusies?) ranging from a 20 cm model all the way up to something that looked like it had escaped from a Jules Verne movie - Caught it on a live bait mean't for a Kingie - lucky I had 15KG braid and 25KG leader on my TLD25 . It hung onto the bottom for quite a while for a very exciting tug of war ( also had a hell of a time persuading it to hop into my 100 litre esky , never will get used to a 80 centimetre cranky occy crawling up my leg :: whilst trying to unhook it) - thankfully Octopus don't adapt to climate change too well and the ice in the esky quickly euthanised the bugger . Apart from the octopus only caught a couple of small snapper. Still a great day on the water and tonight am having Grilled Octopus on the BBQ - probably with a nice lemon chili sauce - yum yum , accompanied by a couple of cold wines. Might try Port Hacking next weekend (Whiting on yet ?) as the Bay has been decidedly quiet, Regards Bill

nice fish - thanks for the update Bill

Nice Fish Good to see Flint & Steel producing again. Bill

Hi Jewgaffer Now you have stirred up some long lost memories . I can remember back about 50 years ago , buying some bait from the Tom Uglys bait shop ( the 1st one , there used to be 2 side by side) with my father and Grandpop, getting a rowing boat from the hire boat shed and catching leatherjackets between the 2 bridges using a line attached to a 26oz beer bottle ( my Grandpop was very generous with his empties - Must admit he had plenty of them) . The other thing I remember from that day is watching him hand roll cigarettes with his left hand whilst using his right hand to bait up his jewfish cord line with mullet gut. Ah! - much simplier days then Cheers Bill

Hi Jewgaffer I reckon that you have missed your calling in life . You should seek employment writing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the water desalination plant planned for Botany Bay . It might wake up some policitians before they cause even more problems to the bay cheers. Bill

Dear Santa All I want for Christmas is

Hi Mrwooley Saw the boats close to the beach along the Brighton foreshore on Sunday morning and thought that they were swimmiing at the beach - should have gone for a closer look . As a matter of interest what were you using for bait? - Congratulations on getting 15 keepers regards Bill