Jiggy

I've had mixed success with them. A few rat kings, tons of sargent baker (I am the SB guru ) and a few nice flathead. More interestingly I've had some fairly major wipe outs. Some were kings but others I'm not sure; lots of headshakes then I get buried. The way I use them is how they show on the Shimano site; reel them up slowly then drop them back down. The biggest problem with them is leather jackets! If they are around I keep them in the tackle box and the last few months they are ALWAYS around . Cheers Jiggy

I've seen on a couple of NZ sites what they call cyclops heads for SP's. These are round leadheads with metal loops that you attach to an SP using a split ring and worm hook. The sizes are from 2 to 4 ounces which is roughly 50 to 100 grams. They reckon that that these are the go for deep water use. I'm going to source some and give them a try. Cheers Rob

I had my seafarer refurbished by Precision Marine at Bankstown a couple of years ago; I was quite happy with the results. They are on Cottam Ave. I don't have their number but give them a call and see what they can do. Cheers Rob

Quote: PS; I we don't have a longline fleet it is likey that there will be challenges to our 200m EEZ from foreign fishing interests. Yes, it's very much a case of use it or someone else will. Hopefully we'll see a resurgance in fin numbers as there seems to be with bluefin at the moment. If we could get both back in numbers off the east coast that would be just great. Cheers Jiggy

I think that it is great that you can get into fin out at Browns, but like others I recall the times when you could get them on the close inshore reefs. Back in the eighties I was a dedicated rock and river fisho but one day I went out with a mate offshore; first time ever out to sea. Got sick as a dog and landed a 48 pound fin trolling the 20 metre line on a minnow; back then it was a common thing. Only one I've ever caught, by the time I got into boats and offshore fishing they were gone. Why are they gone now? Overfishing if you ask me; I think that the commercial operaters have wiped out the inshore population along the NSW coast, if not the eastern seaboard. Could it be the water quality around Sydney? Sure can be a cause, but then you would think it a localised issue. No fin close in to Sydney but still on the inshore reefs further away like at the Banks etc As an example I used to fish down Merimbula alot back then and it was quite usual to see fin working slimey schools out in the bay. You could see them porpoising out of the water, sometimes for hours. They aren't there anymore as far as I know; if it was a localised water quality issue they would still be there. I also recall one game club, Canberra?, reporting that every fin they caught during one season either had longline hooks in them or damaged jaws from tearing off longlines. This was around 90/91. I'd love to see them back on the inshore reefs but I doubt it will happen. Tuna are worth far too much on a plate these days for any government to set catch limits that will restore the population back to anything like it was in the past. It's all a shame really. Cheers Jiggy

Hi Guys, Just reading on another site that there are BIG blue fin on at bermagui. Over the weekend some big fish were landed: 99.6 116.6 127.4 All I can say is WOW! Cheers Rob

I find it I use different baits based on where I am fishing. In rivers and lakes squirt worms, yabbies, fresh or live prawns, live shrimp and small crabs are gun baits. When your using most of these baits there is a very nice bycatch of whiting and blackfish too. Off the rocks, beaches, breakwalls and river mouths I prefer fish baits; fresh slimey or any of the tuna's are the way to go. Abalone guts off the rocks used to terrific too (but illegal now) and sandworms and pippies are also great baits especially off the beach. Again the upside of all these baits is the bycatch; jewies, whiting, flathead, drummer, snapper. Some of the other baits like chicken guts are attractive to bream but not much else. But as others have said they'll take anything when in the mood so it pays to experiment. Cheers Jiggy

Go for it and I wish you win - BUT this is all about Labour capturing the green preferences in most Sydney seats. As you mentioned all the parks are now in non Labour electorates and they are still in power. Want to stop/reverse no fishing zones in marine parks - Sydneysiders need to vote liberal next state election. Cheers Rob

I tried the lucanus jigs for the first time last week off Maroubra, only used them for about 10 minutes then the wind came up and the drift became too fast. Dropped a very big flathead near the boat and also pulled the hooks on something that was heavy and wanted to run. I followed the instructions to let the fish hook themselves, and the hooks are sharp as I found out, so not sure why I dropped them both. May need to work on that a bit more. Also got a few hits that I think were squid; a couple followed the jig upto the boat but wouldn't take it. So next trip it's them and nothing else to see what the results are. What was interesting was my SP's were being chewed to bits by leatherjackets but they left the lucanus jigs alone. Can't say why they did but I liked that. Cheers Jiggy

Done, voted no, but I have a feeling that it's not going to make a difference. The NPA has probably all ready stitched up the deal with the state governement for the creation of the marine park AND the exclusion zones. The state goverment will be gambling that come next election the votes that they lose won't go to the Libs but to the greens and other independants; green preferences may well see them retain government. This is what happened at the last lot of council elections; Labour got slammed but most of the votes they lost didn't go to the Libs. So the ongoing trainwreck that is the NSW government may continue past 2011. The implementation process will probably follow the process they have used in all the other marine parks; feedback from stakes holders and the affected communities ignored unless they support the proposition. That said by no means should we lay down and take it. Write to your local member, the premier, the primary industries and environment ministers. Write to the opposition and get their stand on marine parks and exclusion zones. Write to the shooting party members and get them on side. It would also help to get one of the major daily papers onside. Whatever we do it's important that we act and act together, something that we fisherman are too often failing to do. If at the end of the day the exclusion zones are implemented then it's time for different tactics. Losing a battles doesn't mean that you've lost the war. Cheers Jiggy

Yep burley is the go if you want to catch pigs. Bread works very well on drummer, take 5-6 loaves and soak them so that the bread will sink. Throw a handfull out every few minutes and any that are in the neighbourhood should start to turn up. As for spots most blackfish ledges will turn up drummer as drummer eat a lot of weed as well as other things. The best bait, for me, was abalone gut but that is now banned so use peeled praws, cunji or bread. Bread can be very good if you are also burlying with bread. Fish very light as you want your bait floating in the zone and not sitting on the bottom. Use the smallest sinker you can get away with; I've even used small bobby corks at times to float out baits. I've have found though that the 100% method of hooking pigs was to fish for blackfish on blackfish gear; I've hooked up to stacks during the years with that method, probably more than when I've specifically fished for them. Landing them though is another thing! Oh and as always play it safe; some of the best blackfish/drummer ledges are also the most dangerous. No fish swimming is worth your life. Cheers Jiggy

Hey Taps My boat is stored at Fairfield and I have had a bit of work done on it by Precision Marine at Bankstown; give them a call I'm pretty sure they can sort this for you. Oh and I get nothing for this, jsut a happy camper with their service. Cheers Jiggy

Hi Guys, I am thinking about changing boats to something that I can use both offshore and in impoundments/rivers etc. The main requirement is offshore work. I have had my eye on the Stinger 580 for a while as they look good for this type of compromise work: http://www.stingerboats.com.au/ These types of hulls seem popular in FNQ inside the reef but the seas conditions there are very different to what we get down here. The question I have is how does the longboat type hull handle the average sea conditions that we get off Sydney? Cheers Rob

A snapper on soft plastics - any size will do but anything over 80 cms would be great. King over 1 metre Jew more than 41 cm, my current PB I really suck at catching jewies. Cheers Jiggy

I have three that really stick in my mind but one was a lost fish. The first was an almost 5 pound bream I pulled out of Back Creek at SWR. It was too rough to go outside so I decided to target the big bream that were there, boy this one was real big! The second was the first trout I ever caught, a six pound brown at Jindabyne when I was about 14. Still my biggest trout to date by far. I caught him if front of the village after dark when I was up there for Xmas with the family. The third was a jewie I lost in BB a few years ago at Molyneux Point. Very first bait in the water that day, prawn on a 2/0, got taken 10 seconds after i cast out. I was fishing 4 pound mono, no trace. I spent almost 90 minutes on that fish as it spent most of it's time sitting under the boat. When it finally surfaced, we guessed it at around 20 kilos, it did a lap of the boat just out of gaff range, slowly shook it's head and the hook pulled out. Everyone in the boat spat the dummy but I was glad he got off, by then I didn't want to kill him. I thought he had fought tough and deserved to go back, so it was a good result all round by me. I've caught a lot of fish over the years but they are the ones I remember the most. Oh there is also the big great white that gave me the once over at Bellambi one year, but no way was I trying to catch him! Cheers Jiggy

Hi Ray, Depends on the how heavy you want to fish. If your planning on fishing 80 pound braid then the 850 or 950 would be the go; 50 pound and you could go for the 750. As Josh said you've got a fair number of options depending on what your budget is. Cheers Jiggy

Don't forget Penn Spinfisher SSM's. Tough as nails and a good drag system; not is the same league as a stella or saltiga but you get a lot of bang for under $200 bucks. Cheers Jiggy

That's huge! I fish metal jigs yo yo style over reefs and gravel beds and big cuttlefish are a regular bi catch, mind you not as big as that one but big enough. IMHO if you want to target them forget squid jigs, use 60-80 gram raiders and fish them slow down deep. If there's any around it won't take too long for one to jump on. Cheers Jiggy

It's an old wives tale; I always have banana's in my lunch box on my boat and always have a great time. Mind you I never seem to catch anything except for that one time I didn't take any with me. Funny that.

I totally agree with you, your spots and you choose who to share them with. Personlly I would never put on the net where a spot is; as Inhlanzi has experienced no one wins when that happens. Also as Roberta has said it's not just knowing the spots but how and when to fish them. I know a pretty good bream spot at Merimbula that hardly anyone fishes properly. One year down there I told someone where and when as the had been there a week without catching anything. Bumped into them a day later and got told off for lying to them, they had fished there all morning for nothing. They listened to the where but they paid no attention to the when, which I had told them! The when is: at night and no lights. rising tide Ultra fresh bait (slimey/yakka etc) light line no sinker burley (I use chicken pellets) Went there that night and caught a swag - including a four pounder - and busted off on a jew that ran around an anchor line. You just can't help some people. Keep up the good work! Cheers Jiggy

Now that is what you call one hell of a fishing trip and some really good advice on what to look for, congrats and well done. Personally I think that the far north coast of NSW is an fantastic snapper fishery, much better than the south coast. Roughly it's the area from South West Rocks through to Ballina/Brunswick Heads. I think what makes it so good is the failry limited sea access plus the river bars you have to cross. None of them are good and unless you have a fair bit of experience I suggest playing safe and booking a charter. Get a couple of mates and you'll probably find the cost of a charter less than the cost of fuel that you would use anyway. Plus the locals know their area, know where the fish are and generally will work hard to put you onto quality fish. And the quality is pretty damn good. Add to that the diversity of fish available to you plus the great beach and rock fishing available you pretty well have it all. Cheers Jiggy

Way back in the early eighties hairtail turned up in botany in pretty big numbers for a couple of years, then stopped. What was also very unusual was that it was a daylight bite, no need to sit in the dark freezing your cojones off. If you think Molyneux is crowded now it was worse back then but it didn't put them off, you could always get a few. Only time I ever caught them was there. Cheers Jiggy

It's an impressive ship that's for sure. But can you imagine how long your gaffs would need to be to land something off that? Also if you needed to back down on a fish how long would it take to go actually go backwards? Too long I reckon. Oh and forget taking it by yourself for a quick fish. Think I'll stick to my seafarer. Cheers Jiggy

They were not too bad. When I took it to them it was just after the New Year and some of their suppliers were still closed, so that slowed them down a bit. Shouldn't be a problem now though. Cheers Jiggy

I had some work done on my boat this year by a company called Precision Marine at Bankstown, work was top notch. Give them a call and they can help you out. Oh an I have no link to them apart from being a happy customer. Cheers Jiggy