Spanker

haha great work Jason, I love the sneaky footy match on TV at 2.00am or early morning fish. Spanker

Hey great post Mako, thanks mate and well done. Spanker

Great stuff Trung, well done mate. Any comments on water depth and SP action? Spanker

Hi Autral, Nice work mate. Two questions for ya; 1. How do you catch the blighters (rig, bait etc) 2. How do you cook ém? Cheers Spanker

Hi Rick, So I guess u r saying a lot of the people who go for official records ahve something to prove or something. That makles sense. Got any old photos you can scan and share with us? 25 years ago I was friends with someone whose house was on Narrabeen lake. The backyards were all common to the lake for stretches, you could walk along them. Some of the older fences had wispyold cartlage attached to nails where people had nailed flathead heads many years ago, in a tranle. Some of the dimensions were mind boggling. Spanker

hey Monch, Maybe you and me should rope in a popper guru in the summer for a msterclass on popping! Ask one of the lads to take us out for the monring and then shout them a massive breakie at a cafe mid-morning to debrief. I'll get in touch in December, see if we can arrange something. Any guru poppers care to volunteer at this stage ? Spanker

Right, so Duskies get bigger then the other, oceanic species. Ray your reply raises another question. Why is it that official data on species will often comment on the size the the species, "flathead have very rarely been caught at sizes up to 12–15 kg and lengths up to 1.5 metres" but then the official records are often much smaller? Does that mean anglers are often catching record beating fish but not claiming it? It would be great to see a TV program run by an Angler who films the catches of pro's, so that we get some kind of idea of the volumes and size of the catches they bring in, particularly as pertains to species we target. For example, actually fiding out they are pulling out tonnes of jew or bream right near popular spot would be fascinating (horrifying). Spanker

Hi Ladies and Gents, While avoiding work and generally being a bum, surfing FR, it struck me, like a Tendulkar drive(b#$#@d is killing us) that pretty much all posts of big lizards come from rivers, lakes or inner harbours. You never hear about croc's coming from offshore, even when people talk about the Flattie grounds. Is this because they are a different species, pro's keep the size down in the ocean, predators keep the size down in the ocean or some other reason? Please continue to provide distraction from crunching numbers, many thanks Spanker

This topic has come back to life after 18 months and I am still none-the-wiser with poppers Yes I have thrown poppers around Narrabeen lagoon at length for a sqillion follows and no strikers. Think I need to get out one morning with someone who knows their business.............any volunteers? lol Spanker

Nice one mate. I know the feeling, it is like you have conceded round one and relish round two against the big unknown. I got done twice on live slimies up at North Haven last summer, coming back with bigger gear and a surer hand this summer Spanker

Hehe...you know that ohoto is not actually me and the missus, that photo is much more flattering

Yikes How do you kill the blighters once in the boat? Are they aggressive? Spanker ps i have a mortal terror of being sucked on and bitten by octopus, squid and cuttlefish pps no I am not kidding and yes I like handbags

Hi FishCQ, I am in Syndey and have had a couple of unsuccessful ventures down to Shellharbour recently. I am way overdue a decent fish, would be happy with a bag of tailor and salmon at the moment, so feel free to PM me if you make a plan for a Saturday. Preference is rock fish, love bream fishing, spinning or throwing our livies. I have a young family so generally need a weeks notice. Let me know if you cook something up, see if you can get some very specifice locations first. Cheers Spanker

Hehe I can't even remember where that came from. Rest assured, that ain't me and my missus!

Nice one Ray, looks stunning. Ahh I love flicking lures around territory like that, so refreshing for the soul and makes me very thirsty. Had a Snowy Mountains lager the other night, very nice. Spanker

Hehe. Some of the fish at the end were massive. I guess OH&S was not big back then. And the guy popping the sharks off - gosh, what real men they were in the goold 'ol days! I expected the Marborough Man to make a cameo at the end or to see John Wayne at the Captains Wheel.

If you haven't seen this before, is nuts BTW - my latest home brew is a cracker! Spanker

Hi Marc, Love your work! I have given poppers a go for the last 12 months with little success. I think I even have that same popper. I have only landed 2 or 3 fish from 10 sessions, with another 2 or 3 missed hits. I suspect either my gear is to heavy / primitive or my action sucks or both. Can you describe your action for me? Also looking for advice for leader for a 6lb bream / lure outfit? Cheers Spanker

Hi Fishraiders, Being a lazy soul I don't post much, however a holiday up to Hat Head last week has my blood boiling. The first and only previous time I have been to HH was about 12 years ago. I was single and so camping with a mate. We took the mandatory two eskies, one for beer and one for meat. We were enchanted to drive over the bridge over the Korogoro creek and see it teeming with schools of whiting and bream. We camped at the National Park camping site over at Hungry Head and fished Death Hole back at HH. Heaven! Returning last week with wife and two kids in tow, I battered their ears with promises of explosive sight fishing poppers and lures and a good feed of local fish. The place is as beautiful as ever Despite the howling wind most of the week I swiftly get into action and went scouting up the creek. I was disappointed not to see any fish in the first hour but dismayed not to even get one hit. Being a bit confused about my recollections of a thriving waterway and having just read in delight the week before the descriptions on local camping websites of the Korogoro being teeming with fish, I packed up the gear and simply walked up the creek to try and site a fish, a single fish. Nada, zilch, nothing, hens teeth, bugger all, fail, you lose. I was still not sure what was going on and grabbed an elderly couple walking along the river and asked how the fishing is at the moment. With practically tears in his eyes, the gentelmen said the place was netted about 6 months ago and 90% of resident fish were now gone, the place is a desert. I spluttered that I was sure there was a ban on netting in the creek so what were locals thinking? He shook his head and explained that scum come down from SWR or Crescent Head and illegally net the place at night time once a year. He said that everyone was pretty sure who it was but the authorities claimed they had no evidence and could do nothing. Local fisherman were shattered because the creek fishing has gone to zero. Local tourist businesses are shattered because the tourists feel like they have been lied to and disappointed and trade is diminishing. Folks I am not the fiery type but this makes my blood boil, that a few would selfishly and illegally cause so much harm the the environment, the locals and people in general who want to enjoy the area. To finish off, I did not do any more fishing in the creek. I did see a couplf of flathead caught and encouragingly someone said they had recently seen a small school of whiting in the creek, however populations building back up again are month away. Sounds like the nets can return at any time. What can we do? Spanker

Hey where is the picture of this croc? Love to see it Spanker

Great report and beaut photos pmak. Ah times with the boys outside, what could be better? Spanker

Hi Billy, Thanks for the report mate, I could feel your pain! Can you explain what the picture on the sounder means? I have no idea. Thanks Spanker

Haha that's brilliant!!!! YES - fisherman wins 1, Leathkackets nil !

Good report mate. I think the Kings' have their own sea-god who guides the fish on to the weaker combo hehe. Spanker

Anyone remember the first Fishraider ????????? at the Lane Cove River weir about 4 years ago? Was notable only for the enormous amounts of gear deployed and the amount of beer drunk (not to mention funny stuff being smoked) for the sum total of one baby eel hehe