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Gday All Happy Australia Day to everyone Left Brooklyn ramp at about 6:30 and went straight to west head. Talked to Big Banana there to find out the bait fish were not co-operating. Managed to score 1 yakka after a while, thats all I really wanted as it was going to be used to attract some squid hopefully. Tried the first squid spot for a good while to no avail, things were not looking good. The yakka was still kicking around so decided to troll it in one of the bays near Scotland Island. The sounder was dead, despite a good temp of 23 degrees. Went to east side of the island for another crack at squid. The old man was first to bring one aboard, a good size squid on a cheap 2.5 orange jig. From their I surprised myself and bought in another 3 squid, all good kingy sized, this time on size 2 orange yozuri. And now for the disappointing part, trolled a live squid around several spots and wrecks for absolutely nothing. The sounder showed a bit of bait in some spots, but no real predators were showing. I also kept an eye out for working schools of fish, but that didnt happen either. After a bit called it a day, cant complain to much because ive got a good feed of calamari coming up Cheers Shaun

Hitting Pittwater on Friday hopefully for a king or two Then maybe Berowra on Sunday for some bream. Depends how much is consumed saturday night Good Luck to everyone Cheers Shaun

Prawned a couple of times at the entrance for a good bag. Best time im pretty sure when their is no moon, ie a new moon. The entrance is a good spot near the ramp, and canton beach toukley also. Good Luck Cheers Shaun

Im after some ideas to put in a rodholder for my downrigger, therefore preferably an angled metal one. At the moment I have got a cheap plastic one (see pic) but im going to remove it, as it is useless for downrigging. So if anyone has any ideas, it would be muchly appreciated. Thanks Shaun

Gday everyone, After catching a feed the other day at Berowra, I decided to head to pittwater to attempt to catch my first king for the tinny using my new downrigger. Arrived at the ramp about 7am and headed straight to first squid spot, Scotland Island. Couldnt even tempt a strike, using new Yozuris with Egimax spray, so moved on to the next spot, a beach towards west head. Ended up catching one nice size squid and a real small tacker. My inexperienced deckies also lost 3 squid, which was a bummer. Also a surprise catch on a jig, a massive octopus. Headed to the first set of moorings, temp at about 22.7degrees, there was a bit of bait fish and fish arcs on the sounder, but couldnt get a strike. Went to next set of moorings, where the sounder was showing alot of activity, heaps of bait fish and fish arcs. Trolled for a good 1/2 hour for nothing. By now the deckies were getting very impatient, ready to leave to go home. Finally got a strike on the squid and brought in a rat just under legal. First for the boat so I was happy, one fishing goal crossed off for this summer. Put the smaller squid out, but the action seemed to die down. The rat must of scared all the other ones off. After another 5mins the boys were at us to go, so we called it a day. Not the most successful day out, but I had a good time. Beats working Cheers Shaun

The crabs are caught at low tide underneath rocks in the inter tidal zone. So just lifts up the rocks and quickly grab the crabs before they dart away

Hit Berowra again for another day, after yesterdays effort things were looking promising. Went and got crabs straight away, got a few including some big ones but not as many as I would of liked. First spot we tried was fairly quiet except for one legal bream, a welcome start to the day. Went to the spot from yesterday, were we knew the bream were, Calabash Bay. First cast my mate brings in his first legal, hopes were up. From their on we brought in another 4 legal bream, best 2 at 33cm. Many just under bream were caught and returned. We kept fishing till we used all the crabs up, nearly every cast their was a bite. The bigger bream caught were on the bigger crabs aswell. Tried flicking the same area with sp's but for no luck. Tried a few more banks in various areas for no results. Finally stopped at the moored boats near the ramp for one last legal bream on a soft plastic. Overall a great day out, best fishing at Berowra yet, so cant look forward to future exhibitions Cheers Shaun

Gday All Took the tinny out today for the first time in about a month, great to get out Put in at Berowra at low tide and immediately got some black crabs. Fished the moored boats first, me with sp's and mate with crabs. Right at the start I lost a big bream on a pumpkinseed grub due to a failed knot. Ive caught a few around 35cm and this one would of towed them backwards. I was not happy Proceeded to fish the large majority of boats for several throwbacks, 1 just legal and the dreaded chopper tailor. The wind picked up at the end and made it a pain. We then moved to a bank, for not much luck, only a tailor. Then moved to calabash where I caught a few more throwbacks and some tailor. I lost some allright legals on crabs on a jighead, just couldnt hook the bastards. After missing a good hit, I smashed the rod and broke it in half It wasnt the best day. We went back to the boats in the wind, but that was useless, and we were nearly going to call it a day when we decided to use the crabs up. Went back to calabash for one last hooray at high tide. My mate finally broke his clean sheet and boated a legal at 27cm. Finally From their on he got reefed up once by a 35cm+ fish and missed another 2 good hits. In between we got a few throwbacks aswell. We had came across a hot bite but unfortunately we burned through the crabs. We then flogged the area with sp's, but not even a touch. So overall, was good to get out, but we missed to many good fish. Going to try again tomorrow. If their is anyone out their that can help us with the best way to fish/rig these crabs, it would be appreciated And if you know of any other hot spots around Berowra Thanks Cheers Shaun

One of those Pittwater kings I think

Gday All With uni exams over, got out for a session with the boys in Middle Harbour. Never been their before on my boat, wasnt quite sure of the 'spots.' So we started off just before the spit bridge trying to jig some squid, no luck whatsoever. Probaly inexperience from the deckies and very deep water. Then tried trolling a minnow and a squid strip around the moorings, under the bridge and to the over side. No luck also. Finally anchored up in the moorings and threw a few servo prawns out, just so the boys could catch something. Long story short, I got about 15+ small pinkies, one mate got 2, and the other 2 got nothing. We were fishing the same bait, same rig, same line class, and they just couldnt convert. Very frustrating on their behalf, even if it was only a 15cm snapper. After the bait ran out, we went for a swim at clontarf beach, mucked around for a while. On the way back to the ramp, trolled a few lures around Bantry Bay for nothing also. So all up, not much caught at all, but a good day enjoyed by all. Only downside my new sounder wouldnt power up, second time ive gone to use it also. Their were a few boats around the spit fishing for kings by anchor and downrigging, but we did not see any strikes whatsoever. Anyway cheers Shaun

Davo, one time up Patonga creek fishing for flatties, we were bringing squid up every cast. We only had log shank hooks, no squid jigs, otherwise we would of smashed em. Havent fished the wharf, but I recon you would get some there

I squided some new spots in Pittwater last Friday for some success Wherever their are weed beds, have a few drifts. I find fishing closer to shore, jetties etc more successful, as it is normally shallower, and I can better control the squid jig, getting it just above the bottom. As for locations, all around Scotland Island, West Head, ocean side B'joey, Portugese beach, the basin... the spots are endless. As mentioned find a spot, have a few drifts and if you have no luck move on. But moving on can mean only 10m. Slow retrieves with lots of pauses, and soon as you feel pressure, keep it on and wind the bastard on. Good luck

Another good report On the sounder pic, the bumps on the bottom are kings? I fished Pittwater on Friday, and their was a distinct lack of bait. Did you come across much bait today? Cheers Shaun

That is a cracker of a job Well done, good first fish aswell

Gday All Finally got to take the boat out for a spin today, been to long since last outing. Launched at Bayview for the first time, great ramp by the way. Went straight to the island, and got a little squid, good start in my opinion. After a while with no more luck went to the first kingy spot, trolled their for a while, only for the squid to be eaten by tailor There were a few boils here and there, so we tried trolling a minnow to see if we could tempt a salmon, or anything. No such luck. Went back to the island, got another squid and headed to the next kingy spot. Nothing. No bait on screen, nothing. Saw a charter op and he didnt seem to be hooking anything either. As my mate was getting bit bored, decided to head to patonga see if we could get a flatty or two, normally doesnt let us down, but today it did. Couldnt lose a bait today Long ride for nothing Time was running out by then so I had one last troll at a kingy haunt, but only to be smashed by tailor again. All up was a good to get out, but pretty disappointing seeing we had live squid. The water was warm over 21 degrees, but the lack of bait appeared to be our downfall today. There is always next time ! Cheers Shaun

Finally getting out tomorrow to Pittwater Going to test out the new sounder and live bait tank. And fishing hawkesbury/pittwater tuesday, gotta love uni holidays

I fished with a few mates at Patonga, me on sp's he using live prawns and poddies. The sp's won that time However other times in exact spot shit old servo prawns have outfished sp's. Yes the same sp's by same user that outfished the livies

Same

Anywhere you can find kelp beds, have a few drifts jigging for squid. If you have no luck after 20mins or so move on to the next place. The west side of Scotland island has kelp beds, as do Portugese beach, the Basin and west head to name a few. Just get out their and explore, and im sure with enough persistance you will get a few

Ed was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really pissed. She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!" The next morning Ed got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough , there was a small box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought The box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. Funeral services for Ed have been scheduled for Friday

I recently purchased a Lowrance X125 Depth sounder from the states. I bought it through Ebay so that may be the way around the US retailer situation. Overall compared to one of the cheapest Aust. retailer I got it 10% cheaper from the states, (incl postage) If I had the time over again I prob would of bought it locally, but my price comparisons were done on a 2004 catalogue price, saving me 25%, thats why I sourced it overseas. Havent tested it out yet but I cant wait. Ive read up the manual on all the different settings/programs following advice from namesay and co, to get the sounder running at its best

Hey mottyman, My storage section was built behind the front seat, so the front section and floatation foam is still in tact. I didnt really want to remove any of the foam, as I figure it was put their for a reason Ive heard 1 cubic metre of foam can hold up to 1 tonne in the case of the boat sinking. Just some food for thought Anyway good luck mate Cheers Shaun

Hey mate, Ive got a 4.2m stacer seahorse. Once I got it, me and a mate modified it a bit (still a work in progress). We made a front casting deck with storage space, and a large anchor well. The back of the boat when completed will be another deck with fully plumbed live bait tank. Just need to get the tank made up and im set. Heres some photos for you!

Gday All Went on a charter today with Big Banana and another mate chasing kings in Pittwater. We kicked off at 5.30, bright and early, with no other boats on the water. Tried several spots for squid, but after a few hours we only managed 2. Went straight to a spot in Pittwater that has been firing apparently all week, and got a hookup withn 3-4mins. Boated the king, coming in at 7.3lb/73cm. Very nice fish, drives in the point live squid is the only bait for the kings. Next squid went in, and was smashed after 30seconds. My mate jumped on the reel but ended up losing it, prob due to a bit of in experience. We then mucked around the same area with live yakkas and freshish squid to no avail what so ever. The call was made to try and get some more squid. After prob a good hour, we managed another 4 squid and proceeded to go back to the kingy spot. However they didnt want to play, and after going to 4 very fishy spots, our luck and time was out. Not often you come back in with live squid, but it did, and shit happens Overall was a great day out, learnt so much from a very good charter operator. Will be definately targeting them in the tinny, cant wait to get out. If only we had a few more squid in the morning because we would of smashed them for sure, but thats fishig for ya. Anyway Cheers Shaun PS: Any details, just send a pm through and ill see what I can do

I fished their today around the 3 close islands. We got a few legal table fish, but didnt set the world on fire. My best advice would be to make the trip to broughton island, as Big Banana said, you can catch some great fish their, doing it alot easier then the 3 close islands or fingal.