kosta_b

I found it a little 'stiff" compared to say the Berkely Vanish which had that more supple feel to it. Other than that I didnt mind it. The Ocea stuff Im asking about I can get from a mate really cheap as he works for a supplier, but I dont want to get it if people who have had experience with it tell me its no good. But if people say its OK, then I would buy a spool. I just dont want to end up buying it and it sits in my tackle bag taking up space for me to never use again. Appreciate the feedback so far guys.

Hi guy and gals, Has anyone ever used the Ocea Fluorocarbon leader? If so how did you find it compared to some of the other leaders. So far to date I have used Berkley Vanish and Black Magic. I was not all that fussed with the Black Magic brand and am looking to change it up and try something different. I dont want to go and buy it and then realise its crap which is why I would really appreciate the feedback from more experienced heads such as yourselves. (Im failry new to braid and fluorocarbon lines) I mainly fish in the estuarys, looking at around the 6lb to 16lb range. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers guys, appreciate the help. Will be moving around a bit and trying stuff on my own (trial and error), but just wanted a rough guide on where to try and start seeing we only have a couple hour window open to us and very rare opportunity I get to fish off the boat. Thanks again and Tight Lines to all dangling a line this weekend.

Hi Raiders, I have an opportunity to head out onto one of my friends boat this weekend for a quick morning session of fishing. Now I don't own a boat and usually fish botany bay landbased. I am not after anyones secret spot/spot x, just after some general guidance on where I should drop a line. I am very new to squid fishing and would not mind trying a few of my new jigs in a couple of spots either. (I have no idea if you can get squid during the day from a boat in the bay) My mate is not a fisho at all mainly uses the boat just taking the kids out for a ride etc.. (to me that seems crazy, how do you go on a boat and not want to wet a line? LOL). He is bringing his youngest tacker with him and I also want to get him using some soft plastics. Also taking some bait for your usual bread and butter species of Bream, Trevs, Flatties etc. So please impart your wisdom upon me.. I give you permission hahaha! I am all ears for rigs/tips/baits/spots etc.... I do thank you all in advance and hope some of you respond at least, more so I hope to contribute to a fishing report post this weekend with a couple of success stories!!

Hi guys. Thanks very much for the info. Also I did have a read of heaps of posts using the search function prior to my post and the advice varied massively as expected. I just wanted to know if I was on the right track with my particulr setup more so than anything, which by all accounts I am on the right track with room to experiment. Thanks again both of you for your replys. Much appreciated. P.s - will check out the youtube clip flickinlures.

Hello fellow raiders, I was hoping someone can offer me some of their advice when it comes to SP fishing. I have only just started getting into it and over the XMAS break investing some cash in buying myself a Shimano rod and reel, power pro braid and some flurocarbon leader. I do not own a boat so most of my flicking will be shore based. The part I am struggling with the most is what size jigheads to use, to allow me a long enough cast into some deeper water, but not to heavy that it will affect the action of the plastic. I bought a packet of size 6 and 9 Squidgy jigheads along with Squidgy Wriggler 100ml in bloodworm. Was looking at buying the Berkley Gulp in 3" minnow and/or jerk shad in nuclear chicken and pumpkinseed? Am i on the right track? Do I need to down or up the weight of my jighead? Is the minnow better than the jerkshad? to both have success? I understand everyone has their favourites and opinions will vary, not after anyones secret tips or locations or anythign like that, am just looking at getting started so any friendly advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance. KK

Hi fellow raiders. Was hoping someone could help me when it comes to surf beach fishing. I am only new to this form of fishing and have been out a few times at my local surf beach. Greenhills/Boat Harbour area. The first couple of times I went the seas were fairly calm and not a big break on the waves and found some pretty good success catching whiting and the odd Aussie Salmon. The last few time I have been the seas have been much bigger (rougher) and although have still caught some fish, I have found from the few visits I have tried the area fishes better when the sea is a little calmer. rather than just pop up and guess or hope for the best when the best conditions to fish the area are, I was wondering if some of the more experienced beach anglers could offer some advice on what kind of conditions I should be looking for before heading out. For example on shore winds vs off shore winds. Wind from the SE or NW, or should I be looking for a combinations of factors, do I take into account the moon phase or tide change? Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Regards KK

Hi fellow raiders, I am looking for a little advice please from the more knowledgable people on this wonderful forum. I am heading down to St Georges basin in early March and am planning to do a little fishing around Sussexx Inlet and in the basin itself. I have a couple of crab witches hats and was wondering if it is possible to get crabs in the basin and if witches hats are allowed to be used? Also I am failry new to smart phones only having just upgradedfrom my Nokia and was wondering if there are any good apps which are recommended to download. Only catch is its a work phone so I am not allowed to BUY apps but can get free apps. I want to download a good GPS app which would help me lock in on spots with a boat so I am all ears if you wish to share some of your wisdom. Thanking you in advance. KK

Top catch... i usually fish the shorelines of the bay as well but with varied success, I usually fish off the Kurnell side beach and Groynes.... that Whiting is beast well done. Where abouts were you fishing (if you dont mind sharing)...

Top catch.. shows you a little persistence will pay off....

many interesting methods and opinions and I am glad to say ive tried most if not all of them.... all have weilded success in one shape or form so in the end I will stick to what works best for me... and my mate can shut up.... if only he knew how to use a PC... ah well this will be printed out and put in his mailbox....

usually with slow drift he gets the baits down because he uses a big slab of bait or a whole pilchard which eventually sinks down to the bottom... if the current is running a little fast he does weight it down with a couple of split shots. Now I understand to fish as light as possible but this is the part we debate and he thinks the sinker I use it too big and I beg to differ... There has been times where I have drifted using a size 7,8 or even 9 ball sinker and still have come up trumps.... Is there a preference on size of sinker I should be using?? Im comfortable using a size 5,6 or 7 and have caught fish on all of them.

top catch and top report....

G'Day all fellow fishraiders. Would like to get everyone's opinion on having a good drifting rig setup. When I go out fishing with a mate of mine on his boat, we likes to drift for Flathead mainly, about 10 minutes into the drift (sometimes before the baits even go in the water) the same old argument (banter) seems to break out. You see I have a couple of rods which are setup with a running sinker down to a swivel, then a trace of around 45cm to the hook. I usually run a size 5 ball sinker and it bounces along the sand as we drift. My mate prefers to fish unweighted baits while drifting. Our success rates have been about equal but he is adamant that the sinker bouncing along the bottom can scare some fish off, where I argue the little puffs of sand made by the sinker as it slowly bounces off the bottom only brings in inquisitive fish towards your bait. So my argument is that fishing unweighted baits while drifting will not get you down deep enough, not to say Flathead wont rise to take a bait drifting in mid water but sometimes its like I am So I was curious as to what your opinions when it comes to using different methods or rigs..??? Is there a "best" setup we both should be switching to??? or are we both on the right or wrong track? Like I said neither of us have had any problems catching them so I have never had the need to really question (well not much anyway) either of our setups...But I would love to have some opinions to at least serve him a nice cup of STFU!

Thanks for the kind words Tony you certainly made me laugh...... and of course suggestion noted. I have done the recipe many times with fish I have filleted as well, but I believe the flavour of the fish is more intense when you cook a fish whole, definately fillets for the kids though. As for opening a restaurant, the time it takes to run one will only take time away from fishing....I couldnt do that to myself On the occasions I have filleted the fish, the frames and heads have gone into making a killer fish stock or reduced down with some crab shells/claws etc into one of the best tasting Bisques you will ever taste... Im always partial to a Laksa as well. And another suggestion if you have got a really strong blender at home you use for berley, throw the frames into it (cooked or raw does not matter) with some Tuna oil (or any other liquid, but important to add liquid or you will ruin your blender blades)a couple of cloves of garlic and some grated raw potato and bread... freeze the blended mixture and add to your burley pot next time you go out, the slick it creates on the surface and the raw potato, bread and really fine fish frames the blender has created, slowly sink to the bottom, makes a killer burley trail but sshhhh dont tell anyone my secret mix which has worked for me many times.

Thanks all. I am only learning to be more creative in the kitchen with fish as I do enjoy cooking, guests and the missus were very impressed and were harassing me about when the next trip is. I guess you cant get a better compliment than that.... Hopefully heres to more fishing adventures and more posts by me as I try to get out more.... wish I had a boat.... Landbased does restrict you somewhat in your catch...

This is only my 2nd ever fishing report post as I don't get out as much as I would like to. Last week I posted a topic for some help in fishing St Georges basin, and thanks to a couple of posters managed to get myself a few fish. Thanks mainly to cut_loose and catch'n'release who's info was very helpful to get me started in an unfamiliar area, and with the a newbie and his missus in tow I really wanted to come home with a few fish to cook up. So a big thanks to you fellas. After talking to some locals the day before we headed out, they all gave me the same message (that the fishing in the basin will be tough during the phase of the full moon), forever the optimist I persisted and we hired a boat from BOAB (highly recommended by the way), we headed off from Sanctuary point Boat Ramp at 6am and hit the first spot suggested by a couple of locals and the BOAB. Nothing on the sounder as we drifted in about 3.5m-4m deep water but we gave it about 45 minutes before deciding to move on to another spot. Everywhere we tried even observing where other boats were and following suit (while respecting their space of course), we came up with nothing but undersize whiting and snapper which of course all went back to grow bigger. And watching other boast move from spot to spot, you could tell the basin was not going to play nice today. I cruised around a while and I decided to pull up in some water that looked "fishy' but we were the only boat there so I was not that confident, but thought to myself "to give it a shot anyway" so I decided we drift in around 8 meters of water.. Finally success, we managed to boat a 41cm flatty so it goes into the ice slurry. 5 minutes later a 43cm speciman is landed. Another 5 minutes a 47cm is landed. As the boat continued to drift into shallower water the bite stopped. Thinking the fish are holding down deep I went back to the start of the drift and drifted over the 8 meter mark again. Success one again then the sees her rod buckle over and a thumper of a fat 36cms bream is landed, she did well and it gave her a great fight on her light gear. She usually hands the rod over to me because she doesnt want to "lose" the fish being new to fishing but I convinced her to be patient and play the fish and she was rewarded. Within seconds a smaller specimen coming in at 32cms is landed, quickly followed by 30cm Trev. All into the Ice Slurry. Another 3 Flathead we caught coming in at 33cm, 39, and 40cm which were let go to grow bigger as we had enough to feed the 4 of us. So from left to right are the fish we kept and what it looked like after I cooked them up (i do fancy myself in the kitchen ) Now they all have the fishing "bug" and I am already being harassed when our next trip out will be.

Good info there cut_loose, yeah I will hire a boat as I do have a boat license, so hopefully be able to get around the basin a little...appreciate it. Im off on Friday, so hopefully the weather is kind to me and I get some solid time fishing...

Hi Matt, Thanks for the info mate... Ill definately give it a shot... hopefully I will have some pics to post up next week!

Actually I should be more specific and state I will be mainly looking at St George basin as Ill be based at Sanctuary point..... but anywhere would be good

Your a gentleman and a scholar thanks mate much appreciated. Look forward to your help. Cheers.

Hello fellow fishos. I will be heading out to Jervis bay next weekend 30th April for a couple of days and would like to take the missus fishing. I don't have access to a boat but will look at hiring one. (any suggestions best place, I heard Sussex is the only place that has boat hire). I will be based at Sanctuary point and actually staying at a waterfront house with a private jetty. Being a keen fisho, no doubt I will be spending some time fishing off that jetty. Have never fished the St George Basin before, so I am looking for some tips/guidance about the area, best baits to use, if I do hire a boat, should I drift or anchor up and a few spots which might hold some fish, what type of species to expect to catch at this time of year etc. I am not looking for anyones secret location, just some help and guidance to get me started. We don't eat many fish so we may keep one for the table but mainly catch and release. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to PM me if you wish to instead. Thanks everyone... Hopefully I can come back in here and post up some picks.... I have been a long time reader but have not posted too many times and I would like to start contributing eventually

Cast some surface poppers in and around the snags.... You will get some Bass

Thank you all for your warm welcome.... looking forward to contributing wherever I can .....

Thanks Jewgaffer.... excited to start being a part of it and contributing wherever I can....