blackant

well said Grant

G'day Marty, mate i fish out of the exact same boat with 9.9hp outboard as well. I mainly fish Pittwater and have also been out into middle harbour a few times as well. I only go as far as Balmoral depending on swell , wind and day of week( i wouldn't bother going into the harbour on the weekend). So far i have caught 4 kingies this year, 2 each from Pittwater and Balmoral. As long as you keep your head you'll be fine. I've only had wash come over the side once due to a jetski coming to close but he left pretty quick when he ran into my line while trolling and got hooked on my lure, sucker. Enjoy your boat there's nothing better than an early morning fish away from the hassles of the world.

Well done trouble awesome report,good to see they're still around in numbers

Just about to head home so i'll swing by and take a couple of pics. will post tomorrow

G'day all, just read in the Manly Daily that after yesterdays downpour the council is going to open the lagoon today at 12 noon. Get in early for your fishing spot on the beach as i'm sure there will be quite a few people who have been waiting for the lagoon to open. Here's a few pics taken yesterday arvo, didn't turn out as well as i thought. Cheers Blackant

G'day all, just a quick report to let you know that there are still kingfish in Pittwater. Headed out from Bayview at 6am and for the next 3 hrs tried to catch squid. Eventually caught one at the Basin and slow trolled up to Scotland Isalnd. Got a hit in the moorings around Scotland Island and pulled in a 61cm Kingie. No pics as it too difficult to hold a camera and a squirmimg fish at the same time. Into the esky for dinner tonight. Cheers Blackant

Mate thats next on my hitlist hopefully won't be too far away.

Thanks guys for your replies. Bmr560 the wedding cakes are definitely the go. When there's plenty of baitfish around the kingies can't be to far away. A bit of burley will draw them in.

Bad luck on the Jewie front but you've got to be out there to catch them so keep trying, perisistence pays off. As far a nav lights concerned, i think if you are at anchor all you have to have on is your stern light. If you are moving all lights need to be on. I almost ran up the back of some guy on a moonless night near Elonar Bluffs who didn't have any lights on. To me your asking for trouble driveing around with no lights.

Where are the Kings? Pittwater Sat 3/12 Early start at Bayview saw me on the water at 5.15am and heading to my favourite squid spot where i picked up 2 squid in no time. With a gentle breeze from the west with the forecast saying it was going to get to 20 knots I decided to troll the eastern side first. Well as usual there was plenty of bait schools on the sounder and some arches but nothing wanted to eat my squid. By 8am the wind had picked up considerably and trolling had become a struggle. Headed up to Lovett Bay were there was a bit of shelter and continued trolling but again no takers. By 11am the breeze was blowing hard and keeping the tinny in a straight line was almost impossible. Decided to call it quits. Again a donut. Here they are Sydney Harbour Sun 4/12 Another early start this time form Roseville with my mate Lee in his boat saw on the water by 6am. Stopped at Balmoral on the way out were I caught a Large Calamari squid but that was about it. With a couple of squid left over form the day before we started our troll off Quarantine Point then out turning left up to Manly but no takers. We turned around and headed back in before heading to the eastern wedding cake marker. Anchoring up about 20m away we started our burley trail and in no time the area was infested with yakkas. We threw out our squid on floats waiting for some action. Ten minutes had past when bang the float goes down and the rod bents over. I grab the rod and proceed to bring in a rat king to 55cm. a quick pic and back into the water he goes. You beauty first of the day and 2nd for the year. Things went quite and with the westerly picking up we moved over to the other wedding cake to try our luck there. Again out goes the squid on a float and the burley trail is going. After about 15 minutes things are pretty quite with not even a yakka to be seen i decide to clean up my tackle box, bad decision. with my head buried in the tackle box out of the corner of my eye i see my rod bent. Dropping everything i grab my rod but it's stuck in the holder. After a bit of wrestling i got it out and strike but the hooks are spat and i missed him. And to rub salt into the wounds i wind in the float and who's trailing behind but 2 good size kings having a laugh at me. We stayed for a while longer but with no more takers we decide to move on. Heading back up to middle harbour we stopped off at Balmoral again to see if we can catch some squid. In 5 minutes our first squid is brought to the side of the boat and he's not happy. Ink is squirted everywhere(not on us thankfully) before he's coaxed into the boat and into the esky. Looking over the side at the ink move away i noticed something lurking in the shadows. It proceeds to circle the boat and then leaves. Due to the waves on the water i couldn't make out what is was. We throw the jigs out again and another squid is brought to the boat and again ink is everywhere. Right on cue the shadow reappears but this time i get a better look and its good size Kingfish. In a made rush to get some bait in the water, Lee throws a squid head over the side while i try and put a live one on. The Kingy comes up to have a look at the squid head but he's not interested and moves off. I eventually throw the squid on the float over the side and resume jigging. about 10 minutes have gone when bang the rod goes over but this time I'm ready. I grab the rod and strike and off he goes. I set the drag fairly tight as we were fishing in only 3m of water with a few rocks around but he still manages to take line off me. After a 10 minute fight i finally get along side the boat and into the net he goes. We measure him and he goes 65cm, my first legal Kingy you bloody beauty. A couple of pics and into the esky for dinner and he tasted superb. We caught another 3 squid and trolled from Seaforth Bluff to Pickering point for no takers before heading home.

Coach, i don't know if this is out of your way but there is a tackle shop at Narrabeen (Narrabeen Bait & Tackle)which sells fresh bait and it opens at 5am on weekends. If you're coming from Ryde head down the Wakehurst parkway and its on your left just after the first set of lights. If you see the Quix servo you've gone too far. Prices are pretty good as well as the guys who run it. Hope this helps.

Fri 26/11 Got a call last wednesday from a mate seeing if I was up for a fish on Friday night. Well i'm always up for a fish and even though the forecast wasn't that great we were keen to head out. Left the Spit around 7pm and as we passed Grotto point we noticed a flock of seagulls sitting on the water near the cardinal markers. We motored over to discover a massive school of Tailor feeding on a baitfish school. Metals were deployed and in the space of 30 minutes we had landed about 10 chopper Tailor and a couple of bigger ones. I also managed to hook a seagull who had flown into my line after a cast and i can tell you he wasn't happy. I reeled him in to about 10m from the boat when he did a jig and dance and managed to free himself and fly off . With the sun setting we did a drift around Forty Baskets for 2 throwback bream. With not much happening we moved to the Spit Bridge for the last of the runout tide. It was pretty quite theer as well. We did get a couple of hits and had a squid follow an sp but we couldn't get a jig out there quick enough to catch him. I aslo managed to lose a squid jig on the bridge railing, i think need to practise my casting a bit more. We wrapped up things around midnight and headed home. Sat 27/11 An early start saw Lee and myself on Pittwater at 6am and with no wind and only light cloud a cracker of a day was ahead or so i thought .We headed to secret squid spot 1 and first cast Lee brings our first squid on board. Things go quite so we head over secret spot 2 and in the space of 10 minutes 4 more squid are on board. Feeling optimistic that we had enough squid for the kingies we headed off to troll the area where i caught my first kingy last week. Well we trolled and trolled and trolled and even thought there were plenty of bait schools and arches on the sounder nothing was taking the baits or so we thought. We both pulled our lines in to find that the squids had been attacked with only part of the hood remaining, damm tailor. We put out another 2 squid but things turned nasty. The wind picked up and the rain came. We persisted for another 30 minutes until in got unberable and we decided to call it a day or morning. Off the water by 10am and headed home and wouldn't you know it, I get home and the sun comes out for the rest of the afternoon. Cheers Antony

In todays Daily Telegraph there is half a page on this buyout (pg13). It pretty much says that the only licences that will be bought back will be those commercial fishermen who fish offshore for deep sea fish. So pretty much the rec fisho gets screwed again as most of us only fish inshore and the esturies. There is also a comment from one of the writers about Ian Macdonald. Interesting reading.

G'day Raiders, just got back from a 6hr fishing session on Pittwater and i'm glad to report that even a amatuer like me can catch a kingfish. Headed out from Bayview at 6am and headed to Scotland Island armed with an array of Squid jigs. stopped up close to some of the private wharfs and proceeded to cast a pink/red 1.8gm jig around. In the space of 15mins i had caught 3 squid and dropped another 2. Trolled through the moorings off Clareville for no success then down to Careel Bay for again nothing. Headed over to Mackerell for a SP flick for again nothing. Stuffed around for a while thinking that these Pittwater kings fall into the same category as the Hairtail, elusive and myth. Wind started to pick up so I decided to head back. Trolled again through the Clareville moorings and just as i was ready to pack up noticed a bit of activity on the sounder, lots of baitfish and lots of arches. Trolled for another 50m out into the channel when zzzzzzzzzzzzz the reel goes off. After a short tussle a 50cm Kingy comes on board, my first kingy. )one quick photo from the phone and back into the water. Trolled another squid around, had a hit but failed to hook up. Feeling excited and relieved headed back home. For those who are still waiting to catch their first kingy, keep at it, it's taken me over a year to catch one but a bit of perservence and research i think i'm onto them. Now for my first legal. Cheers Antony

Early start on Saturday fishing Pittwater chasing Kings. Might be a bit rusty, haven't been out for a month. Saturday night Year 12 high school reunion in the rocks, catch up with some mates and have a few Sunday recover. good luck to everyone going for a fish. looks like a top weekend weather wise.