[Tough Trip But A Few Nice Fish]

SOME GREAT PICS THERE MATE.... SOME NICE FISH LANDED TOO. CONGRATS WELL DONE

[My First Mako Shark]

THE NEXT DAY THEY ARE FANTASTIC AFTER BEING FROZEN OVERNIGHT AND THEN THAWED OUT.I HAVE HAD THEM BOTH WAYS AND THEY TASTE A LITTLE TINNY FRESH BUT AFTER A NIGHT IN THE FREEZER THEY ARE ONE OF THE MOST TASTY AND JUICY FISH YOU CAN EAT.THEY MAKE YOU EARN THE PLEASURE THOUGH THATS FOR SURE.THE POWER OF THE RUNS IS AWSOME AND YOU CAN ALMOST HEAR THE REEL SCREAMING FOR MERCY.CHEERS AND TIGHT LINES SMOOTHAZ(TIM)--------<*((><

thanks for the tip re freezing and thawing. Just one last question... do they freeze up ok for later on say 2 months down the track for a feed... or are they best eaten straight away

[My First Mako Shark]

IT ALL STARTED ON A SATURDAY MORNING(19/4/08) AT AROUND 6AM WHEN I BOARDED A CHARTER BOAT IN VIC AND HEADED OUT FOR A DAY ON THE BIG STUFF WITH A FEW GUYS I HAD RECENTLY MET.OUT ABOUT 15KLMS INTO BASS STRAIGHT OFF BARWON HEADS(SURFY TOWN) AND STARTED UP THE BERLEY TRAIL INSTANTLY.NO ACTION WAS SEEN FOR AN HOUR OR SO AND THEN A DARK BLUE SHADOW WAS SEEN SLIGHTLY OFF THE REAR OF THE BOAT SHINING LIKE AN EVIL BLUE DIAMOND.IT WAS A MAKO AND HE WAS LESS THAN IMPRESSED WITH THE GULLS ON TOP OF THE WATER AND AN ALBATROS NEARLY BECAME A SNACK.I PUT IN A WHOLE SQUID BAIT OF AROUND 30CM ON A PENN MARINER 15KG WITH 15KG LINE,A WIRE TRACE OF ROUGHLY 150KG AND A PENN INTERNATIONAL 30 I THINK AS IT WAS FAIRLY USED AND SCRATCHED UP FROM ALL THE PREVIOUS BATTLES I GUESS.SO THE SQUID MADE ITS WAY DOWN THE TRAIL OF FISH GUTS AND BITS FROM THE BUCKET WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE SHARK HIT LIKE A ROCKET RUNNING OUT OVER 120MTRS OF LINE IN A SINGLE SPRINT.THE SOUND OF THE REEL SCREAMING AND KNOWING THIS WAS SOMETHING BIGGER THAN NORMAL FOR ME WAS A WELCOME SOUND AND SIGHT.THE SHARK TOOK LINE AND THEN I WOULD TAKE IT BACK AND EVENTUALLY HE HAD 3 GOOD RUNS AND 45 MINS LATER AFTER 2 MASSIVE 2MTR PLUS LEAPS FROM THE WATER HE WAS UP NEXT TO US AND IN THE BOAT.IT WAS MY FIRST SHARK AND MADE ME LEARN THE HARD WAY THAT THESE CREATURES ARE HARDCORE AND AN AWSOME SIGHT IN THE WATER.ALL UP HE WEIGHED 52.15KG AND WENT AROUND 6FT LONG.ALL I COULD THINK WAS HOW GOOD IT FEELS TO FIGHT ONE OF THESE BAD BOYS AND HOW GOOD HE WAS GOING TO TASTE.WHEN I RETURNED HOME I HAD OVER 40KGS OF FILLETS AND SLABS WHICH I GAVE HALF OF TO A LOCAL HALF WAY HOUSE AS THE KIDS THAT LIVED THERE HAD NEVER TASTED MAKO BEFORE.MY KIDS WERE STOKED WITH THE PICS OF THE SHARK AND I WAS AS WELL.THE MRS ASKED ME WHY IT IS THAT THE ONLY TIME I SMILE IS IN FISHING PHOTOS.........FUNNY THAT!CHEERS GUYS AND THANKS FOR LISTENING,SMOOTHAZ.

***GREAT CATCH THERE MATE WELL DONE.... IVE HEARD AN OLD WIVES TAIL THAT WITH MAKOS ITS BEST TO FREEZE THE FILLETS SO IT LESSENS THE IODINE/AMMONIA TASTE??? EITHER WAY IVE HEARD THERE GOOD EATING....ARE THEY GOOD TUCKER.. IVE PLAYED AND LOST A MAKO OFF BOTANY HEADS..

[Flatty Off Maroubra]

CAUGHT THIS LIZARD OFF MAROUBRA BEACH IN ABOUT 30 METRES ON CHICKEN BREAST..

LOST HEAPS OF SINKERS DUE TO THE JACKETS.. BUT MANAGED A FEED. IT FOUGHT HARD.

DINNER SATURDAY NIGHT

[Habour Is Tailorrific...]

Hi Raiders,

been hitting the water a fair bit recently (time off work) mainly checking out new spots and gaining 'time on water'. Hit a wharf pre-dawn today eastside of the harbour bridge (is that narrowed down enough? It was not CG or Balmoral or the Spit bridge platform!) to get some yakkas (a new livebait wharf for me) to hit a rockbased spot that can be good to livebait off (that's relatively safe in these southerlies!). Whilst at the wharf, I had my live bait rod already rigged up from a previous session so decided to throw a yakka out whilst trying to catch his mates. I had never even baitfished off this wharf before so my hopes were not high.

There's no sweeter sound than the drag of the biggest reel you own zinging unmistakably. I was actually too stunned to react for a second then picked up the rod and pulled in a solid tailor. The biggest tailor I've caught in the harbour for over 5 years, possibly my biggest ever in the harbour. They used to be more prolific but their numbers and size seemed to have dwindled over the last 10 years. Have other guys found this?

Debated for a moment whether to throw out my only other yakka or save it for the other spot but decided to use it. Threw it out (lightly weighted on the bottom) and went back to trying to catch more bait when the drag sings again. Couldn't believe it! I could guess it was a bigger fish just from the intensity of the zing and when I picked up the rod it felt like a heavier fish. I half thought - 'could it be my first real jew?' (as I do whenever I hook any solid fish bottombashing - it's like a reflex thought I get!) After a few nightime aerials thrown in, my PB harbour tailor was landed. Went 53cm.

They definitely don't fight as hard as a salmon of the same size but the taste of their fresh fillets makes up for this!

Never caught tailor on live yakkas before. Felt like I was on a roll so tossed out a old piece of squid that got nailed by the classic pre-dawn 30cm bream. He went back in. Couldn't get anymore yakkas so quit, but more than satisfied.

Decided to bypass the intended spot and had a look at a couple of other harbour wharf spots instead - guys also had had similar luck with solid tailor in their buckets.

Could solid tailor be back on in the harbour? (accessible to us landbased folk anyway!)

COUPLA NICE GREENBACKS THERE MATE WELL DONE. THEY ARE SUPERLATIVE SMOKED TOO BY THE WAY!!!

[Turtle Off Maroubra]

A few years back, late 80's I think, bottom fishing off Palm island (Nth of Townsville) a damn turtle took my bait. Can't remember what lb line I was fishing but this bugger could not be stopped. The first thought was a shark, as a hammerhead of huge proportions had just surfaced beside the boat. It was solid and just kept going, not at any great speed, that was why I thought shark. About 50 or so metres from the boat it surfaced and then I discovered the unwanted catch. The line was cut and who knows if the poor bugger survived with that length of mono trailing from his mouth. Around the Island we saw on several occasions, hunters standing at the front of a dinghy with a rifle chasing these reptiles. Not really traditional hunting but apparently legal then, as was undersized fish and female crabs.

Is that still the case? Legal I mean, for indiginous Australians.

Cheers

yes mate legal for indigenous aussies.

[Turtle Off Maroubra]

Hi drummo,

Mate a few months back i almost ran over one in my tinnie.

He stuck his head up at the last minute and i swerved around him.

I couldnt believe it as he was up near Bantry Bay in Middle Harbour.

I have seen penguins, eagles, sharks and even a whale basking in the shallows at the entrance to MH.

The turtle really surprised me.

We are very lucky in OZ.

Mike

Mate they are pretty heavy critters too.... weighed a tonne when I picked him up.

About a month ago I hooked a large seal on an unweighted yakka. mate that was something different.. i managed to get him to the service and the hooks pulled but he must have been sore around the mouth . tight lines

[Turtle Off Maroubra]

As a teenager fishing in a small tinnie with a couple of mates in Cowan Creek one night, it was pitch black no moon, a turtle surfaced a metre or two away and exhaled loudly we all nearly jumped out of the boat it scared us so much. I later found out they were common there at that time (35 yrs ago).

mate ive heard of big jewies doing that too... in cowan.. they call them croakers

Cut into strips like beef then stirfried in olive oil with some garlic and chillie - yummy.

Texture similar to tender beef fillet, taste similar to chicken but own flavour.

Readily available here at the local market. Also in PNG.

The shell is then used for jewellery - earings and bangles.

Sorry guys, but here it is subsistence farming for survival. Unaided divers go to great depths with no weapons but bare hands. Turn the turtle upside down to bring to the surface. Mostly the smaller specimens are taken for consumption to leave the larger ones to breed. They also consume the eggs - normal practice is to take half and leave half to hatch.

Wild pigs, cows, crocodiles, sea urchins, dolphins, flying foxes, bandicoots and bush wallabies are also regularly hunted and consumed. Guns are banned here so traditional methods of capture are adopted.

I have eaten all of the above except dolphin. The meat looks black and not palatable to me.

Enjoy your dinner!

[Turtle Off Maroubra]

I have seen them pop up in Brisbane Water near the Rip Bridge while fishing there. My wife used to fish/knock around in a tinnie in Brisbane Waters 25 years ago, she indicated they were quite common then.

I now try and keep a better lookout when at speed so I dont run one over. Would hate to hurt one.

Steve

Steve, mate brisbane water 25 years ago was a fishermans paradise. I still remember 32 years ago, as a kid, heading up to a place called wondabyne, fishing off the ballast and cleaning up on flathead, mud crabs, bream too. we used to head down to the bridge at woy woy and clean up on jackets, bream and occies.

I recently did an overnight trip there and caught the biggest bream i have ever seen.. and heaps of soapies off the shore. probably is still good there.

not much of a day today. might go for a walk down to maroubra///

all the best mate

andy

We saw one out at Port Stephens during the interclub, he was floating around on the surface but as soon as we came near to it, he took off at speed and dived very quick. Makes me think if this one let you pick it up easy it may have had some problem with it. As for me i would have actually rung Taronga Zoo and given it to them.

I never thought of that... next time i might buzz em.

[Turtle Off Maroubra]

So what did you do with it?

MATE I PUT IT BACK INTO THE WATER AND FELT SORRY FOR IT... IT WAS STRANGELY SWIMMING AGAINST A STRONG CURRENT... IT WAS TRYING TO HEAD NORTH. I TRIED TO FEED IT FOR SOME STRENGTH BUT CUTTING SOME SQUID UP BUT HE WASNT INTERESTED AT ALL. WEIGHED A TONNE

How did you cook it and what did it taste like?

NAH MATE.... I LET HIM GO TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY. IVE HEARD THEY CAN BE COOKED.. BUT I HAVE TROUBLE DE SKINNING THOSE WRETCHED LEATHERJACKETS LET ALONE HAVING A GO AT A CRITTER LIKE HIM..... HAVENT BEEN OUT IN A WHILE HEARD THE JACKETS ARE THICKER THAN EVER

The ocean sure is full of wonderful things . Looks like he has some marks on the bottom of his shell. Could they be toothmarks from a shark? Maybe that's why he was doing it tough.

Must have been a great experience .

Howard

MATE HE WAS BUGGERED.. I DIDNT KNOW WE GOT TURTLES DOWN HERE..

Dosen't everything taste like chicken

I HAD DODGY BUTTER CHICKEN A WEEK AGO......FROM THAT INDIAN BLOKE DOWN AT MAROUBRA......I DONT WANT ANY CHICKEN FOR A WHILE

[Turtle Off Maroubra]

WE FOUND THIS TURTLE DRIFTING OFF MAROUBRA IN ABOUT 45 METRES. HE LOOKED LIKE HE WAS DOING IT TOUGH.

[Port Stephens Dollies]

Yes they are a colourful fish and a great sporting fish on light gear.

I have fish for them many time at the fad of b\b and love it when you see there electric coulours

flashing beneath the boat. And i must admit they are even better on the dinner plate

Is this your first dollie.

cheers

bob

GDDAY BOB..THATS MY BOOFHEAD BRO IN THE SNAP... WE TARGET THEM MOST YEARS.. BUT THIS YEAR WE WERE PARTICULARLY LUCKY RE NUMBERS...... I WOULD LOVE TO HOOK ONTO A BULL.. WE ARE HEADED OUT TO THE B/B FAD TOMORROW TO TRY AND GET A FEW MORE AND DO SOME FLATTY FISHING OFF MAROUBRA..... MIGHT DROP A YAKKA DOWN ON THE OVERHEAD TARGET A BULL..

CHEERS

[Port Stephens Dollies]

this one from port stephens looks really colourful

[Port Stephens Dollies]

Kill fest, nice.

WE BAGGED OUT ONLY ONCE THOUGH..... 10 PER PERSON... GOT THEM AROUND THE FAD.... AND WHEN OUT PAST THE SHELF LOCATED A PIECE OF PLYWOOD THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY INFESTED WITH THOUSANDS OF THEM... MATE IT WAS A SPIN....

AND 1 DAY BEFORE THE TRAILER COMPETITION THE FAD GOT COLLECTED BY A TRAWLER AND WENT AWOL..... PRETTY LUCK... HEAPS OF BLOKES IN THE COMP WOULD HAVE BEEN SPEWING....

MAKES FOR ALL THE TIMES WEVE GONE UP THEM AND COME BACK WITH NOTHING....

TIGHT LINES

[83cm Flatty]

NICE LIZARD MATE

[Port Stephens Dollies]

APOLOGIES FOR THE LAST POST AS IM COMPUTER ILLITERATE...( NO PHOTOS )

WE HEADED UP TO PORT STEPHENS ON THE 7/3/2008 TO THE 14TH.... STAYED AT FINGAL BAY AND GOT AMONGST THESE ONES.... GAVE HEAPS AWAY.....

HOOKED INTO MY FIRST MARLIN 1 KM NORTH EAST OF THE CAR PARK.... MY 50 LB LINE SNAPPED IN THE FIGHT AND I LOST MY NEW JB 12" EVIL LURE..... NOT HAPPY.. THOUGH IT WAS A BLAST TO ACTUALLY SEE THE MARLIN AT THE BACK OF THE BOAT.... ( ILL KNOW BETTER NEXT TIME CHECK MY LINES LOL )

GREAT BREAK UP THERE AND THE DOLLIES WERE FUN ON LIGHT GEAR.

[Port Stephens Dollies]

GREAT TRIP GOT THESE ONES.. LOST A MARLIN THOUGH

[Jewfish Session Wed Night]

hi guys,

well after being landlocked with my 3 little boys for a week while was up coast i was really looking foreward to getting some time on the water..

the weather and conditions were looking real good so when got back wed lunchtime it didnt take long to have boat all geared up...

well to tell the truth it was all ready waiting .....

got boat launched at bayview and was a few trailers there(no surprise)and headed to first spot for livies at palmy wharf.. did a drift or 2 casting for squid then that dreaded noise we hate when turning key .................

motor not starting. ..... spewin as guy just put hotter plugs and synched carbies just before xmass... i think it was flooding on idle so dropped anchor and spent way too long to get 1 squid and a tank full of yakkas... after about 1.5 hrs of trying a couple times moter kicked over im off... quick check at mackeral beach area for no squid and a few bigger yakkas and im set for the night......

its was now dark and it was gonna be hard to find new g spot in hawks passed on to me by a fellow raider..

big mate,(ill let you announce yourself if you want) well i got there just on top of tide which was not too bad and after a couple of passes checking structure etc (no moon so too hard to see mark pointers) i deploy ancors x 2 and position myself to get a good spread into deep and shallower fishy water... after talking to mr x yesterday i was just off the mark but thats ok..... got a live yakka out,salted slimey fillet,twin hook rig with nice big squid strip on each hook and a butterflied yakka out.... the squid was first to get bites by big pickers and deployed more offerings hoping for hookup... had a few more bites and livey did have a couple panic attacks but no takers...... that was till about 2hrs after top of tide when water was starting to really flow strong then my butterflied yakka screame off for about 10 sec.... waiting..waiting... after about 10 min or so nothing so pulled in to see that side flap with no hook missing damn cheeky bugger.. oh well thats fishing... stayed till the current started to really race then moved back into pitty for rest,food and to redo rod setups for kingy hunt first light and hopefully find some of them ever elusive squid.... well i got one more squid which meant only 2 for downrigger but had plenty of yakkas,millions everywhere atm....

tried local headland for about 2 hrs and a couple other boats not getting much either (1 huge cuttle and couple taylor an breambos) was alittle bumpy out there and not much sounding but had one thief steal a squid without me knowing .. pulled the pin around 8.30 just as th fish were starting to sound due to high aproching i think... oil alarm starting an i didnt have backup oil an i was a little worse for wear due to bumpy conditions an being tired..... checked oil level..all ok so went back to bayview met noel who was heading out so gave him a tank full of livies,very happy chappy.... hope you did ok mate.....

there was one boat fishing flint/steel wide and about 6 boats by the look of the lights at juno(glad i changed my plans there) was any raiders there an any fish????...

anyway bit of a long report for zip but sometimes its good to hear these as well i think...

ps: when at servo fuelling up a guy was trying to get frozen squid and no where had any in area,maybe even pros are doing it tough......

IM SO DISSAPOINTED PROS ARE DOING IT TOUGH.............. SERIOUSLY!

[Northern Beaches Jew Session Sat Night]

hi guys,

i decided late last night to have a jew session off one of my local beaches last night..headed up to palmy wharf to get livey's and as my luck would have it was very quiet... managed to score a squid pretty quickly but that was it so decided to get some yakkas also... took about half hour till the yakkas showed then got 4..in between i lost 2 other squid,one while lifting out .... was nearing 11pm so decided it was gonna have to be enough and hit the very fishy looking gutter and hole..... threw out the squid first as he didnt like sharing with the yakkas .. before i could get other rod sorted the drag starts singing.... oh yeh i think......

get to rod and by now drag hasnt really taken off much by then so my excitement was waning... wait for another little run and lift rod and sink hook in..... after a short pull in(no real fight on 20lb mono) i land a shovelnose around 3ft long. my only squid what a waste.. put a live yakka out next and as im about to put 2nd rod out the drag goes again,painstakingly slow once again.... i throw out 2nd rod then go over an pull in a ray abit bigger than dinner plate,bugger not looking like its gonna be a 2hr session if this keeps going...

by 12.30am im down to a butterflied frozen yakka and cuttle that were backup baits..pull the pin at 1am and total for the night was 3 small rays and 3 shovelnoses.. one which i recon was same one but not sure..

was a real nice night anyway and was good to hit the sand for a change as i mostly boat fish these days...

i may try again tonight...

if anyone wants to tag along let me know....

cheers...steve....

GDDAY STEVE DRUMMO HERE. MATE I COME FROM MAROUBRA WAY AND JUST HAD 2 DAYS UP YOUR WAY. I SURF ALOT AND THAT AVALON BEACH LOOKS LIKE A GREAT SPOT WITH BIG DEEP GUTTERS. BIG SEAS AT THE MOMENT AS YOU KNOW. I CHASE JEW AROUND THE CONTAINER WHARFS AT PORT BOTANY. HAD MY FAIR SHARE OF PSEUDO JEW RUNS ( RAYS ETC ). KEEP GOING AT IT MATE YOULL GET THERE. ITS GREAT ON THE NORTHSIDE.... I LIKE THE LOOK OF NARRABEEN LAKES TOO. NEXT TIME IM HEADING UP THERE MATE ILL SEND YOU AN EMAIL. I MIGHT RETIRE UP THAT WAY ...... IM A BOATIE WITH MY BRO HEADED UP TO PORT STEPHENS ON THE 7/3/08 TO THE14/03/08 TRY AND GET MY FIRST BEAKIE.

[Heaps Of Green Eye Calamari @ Fishfinder]

Hey Guys,

A quick 'report' for a heads up, I dropped into Fishfinder Bait and Tackle on the way home from a fishless trip to SWR and was greeted to a nice surprise....

Tony has just received about 50kg of the best looking vaccuum packed Green eye calamari i have ever seen, sure beats the hell out of getting up at 4am to catch your own. So all of you Jewfish and Kingfish fans this is the real deal, the ONLY substitute to catching your own. Get into fishfinder and get yours now!

Anyway, after 5 days at South west Rocks myself and a few non raider mates returned with a grand total of one dolphinfish and one striped tuna, dissapointing to say the least...

Cheers lads..

Sam

I CONCUR WITH SAMMY WENT DOWN TO TONYS THIS MORNING AND CHECKED THEM OUT. THEY LOOK GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT.. IN FACT IM GOING TO MARINATE THEM IN HOY SIN AND THROW THEM ON THE BBQ.

JUST GOT BACK FROM FORESHORE ( FORESKIN DRIVE ) DOWN AT BOTANY..BROUGHT SOME NIPPERS AND WORMS AND FISHED NO LUCK. TRIED SOME SOFT PLASTICS AND SAME ZILCH. PROBABLY WRONG TIDE ( DEAD LOW)

DRUMMO

[Yarra Point At Yarra Bay]

WENT DOWN TO YARRA POINT JUST DOWN FROM THE THONG CLUB AFTER A SURF DOWN MAROUBRA. WATER IS GREEN. GOT A FEED TO TAKE HOME. SKINNED BLACKFISH ARE OK!

DRUMMO

[Pb Sydney King]

Gday all,

Fished the harbour on friday and picked up a PB kingy. I tryed all the usual spots around for not much at all until about the top of the tide when i picked up this fish. It was caught on 30lb braid on a large whole fresh squid downrigged. It put up a great fight towing me and my 13ft tinnie around for about 20 mins.

It weighed 16kg gutted and went 120cm from nose to tip of the tail.

A champion fish that one..... congrats..

[Hawkesbury Nye]

Went straight to my favourite spot for flathead head but there would be little of that as today was a day for catching a new species for me,JEWFISH.Not one,two,three but 4 and unfortunitally all around 40-42cm so they all went back.The spot was firing on all cylinders.Catching Bream,Snapper,Jewfish,Tailor and a late Flattie.We ran out of prawns and turned to the squid hooking up 5 Blue swimmeres on the rods but only landing 3.Did not move from the spot in 4 hours as the bites were constant.

Awsome day out and good to see the Hawkesbury on fire.

great news mate. I used to fish a spot regularly called wondabyne.. its up mullet creek way. I fished there when I was a kid over 30 years ago. Anyways, nostalga getting the better part of me, me and a mate went up that way a month ago.. did an overnighter there and I landed the biggest bream ive ever seen. no photo sorry. I scored heaps of school jew, one nice flathead and something that looked like a swordfish or shark type fish. Theres a pontoon there and we fished off that. Might be worth a look in a boat.. ive heard it is a good spot for jewies from sopme of the older locals there.

[Flatties And Snapper In A Metre Or So]

are those photos from a fish pond?

Mate I came across the photos I took over 10 years ago and scanned them onto the computer. Its a tributary riverlet that runs off the clyde river down south. A handful of locals including me know about it and we dont catch them.. we feed em for the kids to watch.... if you look closely youll see the bread in the water. Pristine and its a spot that is accessible by 4wd only.. then a fair walk for 30 mins....

[Feed Off Botany Bay Heads In 50 Metres]

Great stuff!!

Were they caught on the drift or at anchor?

DAN

Hi Dan, on the drift... and there was a good drift.. I used the gps and kept doing the same drift line about 3 times.