Spanker

Haha what wonderful photos and a ripper report, love your work! Spanker

Hahahaha Credit where its due, credit where its due Reality is I recommend to ALL my fishing buddies to join fishraider specifically because everyone makes an effort here to share the love, no dickheads allowed. Love it! Spanker

Wot do you mean have no jobs and spend all day dreaming of and catching big kings? What fantasy is this and how do I participate? Cephalapod - that was you? Mate we were in awe, made it look soooo easy! You guys should film some footage or something.

Hi Fishraiders, A mate and I, very much ametuers, have been on a year long quest to get into the mighty kingfish. We have been out 3 times in his tinnie on the harbour with no success. YESTERDAY I BROKE MY CHERRY!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes it was everything I hoped and more, great 3 minute fight to land a 60cm model, very happy to send him back to fight another day. Caught on live yakka in 8m of water neat watsons bay - stoked! However we saw another boat absolutely kill it. They were throwing in freshly caught squid heads dipped in squid ink. They were right next to a channel marker in about 15m. They had the rod loaded with 60lb braid and were arm wresting in king after king - amazing! They had a full esky with 70's, 80's and 90's. Numerous boats had more or less stopped fishing, just watching these guys muscle up massive kings or lose the batlte with a spetacular snap. Dont know who they were but they gave us plenty of tips and even threw us one to eat, champions! Now all I want is another one! Long live the king(s)! Spanker

Welcome to the site BlueEye. Yep I pick up plenty of tips off FR, great community. The much maligned but reliable tailor are a wonderful fish, I am sure many of us cut our teeth on them as youngsters and first got the fishing bug from their feisty fighting. Kingy eh? Jealous, yet to get one myself, being land based and a bit of an amateur I disapeair these days Spanker

Hahahahaha Nice work, I think we've all been there, trying to manually extract some critter that appeared in the water. Years ago I was done in hill country in Golbourn, riding around on 4 wheelers chasing goats with a shotty (dont ask) and we came down to a nice stream in a gully. There was a school of decent size fish swimming around about 10 feet out, water looked about 6 foot deep with the fish maybe 1 foot down. Soooooooooooo out came the shotgun and the hills reverberated with boom after boom. Fountains of water erupted, we heard goats bleating and fleeing up the hillside, empty cartridges piled up and the air was swilled with blue smoke and bluer language............do you think we hit a single damn fish? $%#@ refraction Spanker

Alright finished for week up in Port Macquarie. Tried two different poppers and a sugerpen lure (prawn looking thing. I fished lake Cathie opening and lake Hope flats. Tally as follows; - one crappy tailor - a trebble in the index finger + 3 hours at the Dr's to get it cut out Sigh........ I am going to give them ONE LAST try hehe Spanker

Jealous jealous jealous I am sooooooooooooooooo sceptical of the whole popper thing. I have 2 now and have flagged sand flats, rivers and esturies for 1 crappy tailor. Never felt like I was going to catch anything lol ! I am going to give them ONE last try then gonski BTW bought one of them sugarpenn lures...........no luck so far. Spanker

Thanks guys both very helpful replies. Having worked one for several hours now to no effect, I was almost ready to give up. Will try again up at Port Mac next week. Spanker

Great report mate. Often just being i amoungst it all is all its takes to put a smile on your dial. Spanker

Hello all, I keep hearing stories about braining whiting and flathead on poppers, not only from the entreuprenarial tackle storeman but from other fishoes. I flogged some rivers and estueries from a $15 model to know result. Any advice on popper models, retrieves and territory? I guess I would like to target whiting and flatties. I am headin up to Port Macquarie in 2 weeks and want to give them on more shot. Thanks Spanker

Well done mate. Can you offer two tips please. 1) Who do you catch garfish? Can they be caught anywhere? 2) How do you prepare and cook the blighters? Thanks Spanker

Haha well done mate. No harm done is the missus seeing the virtues of spending endless nights, mornigns and $$$ on fishing. Taste good? Spanker

Great report, thanks for sharing. Often what happens to fish after all of the reported 'bust offs'. You reckon they just carry on in general and it doesn't bother them? I have heard a few people catch skinny fish with hooks retarding the mouth / throat, but not many. Spanker

Hey that's a good idea. I found even jsut stirring up the sand on the bottom would attract the fish at times but I'll give that a go. Yep that was my ugly mug. When I went out into the middle I saw the most unbelievable school of blackfish, easy 50+ fish went past me in a thick and continuous river with a lot of thumpers in it. The large whiting and bream are sparodic, dont know how you would lure them out from the schools of small fish

hahahahahaha that's fantastic! I read a book about fishmen in Cuba who use giant truck tire inner tubes, with netting across the top to sit in and all sorts of gear strapped on. Would love to see you being dragged by a big ray haha! Spanker

Hi all, A mate lives near the lagoon (I live in sunny Eastwood) and swims up near the bridge where ther caravan park is (not the Pittwater Rd bridge). I went with him a few weeks ago and was astounded to see that the broad 1 - 2 foot deep sandy lagoog drops of into this enormous hole around there. I walked around the shallows and couldn't belive the number of whiting and small fish everywhere. Clever me, I got the snorkelling gear out and paddled across the flats. There are gazillions of small to medium whiting, small bream, biddies, leather jackets, blakfish and mullet everywhere, what a healthy system. Here's the good part - I snorkelled over to the hole and found alladin's cave. At the drop of to the hole (size of olympic pool) were even more fish, and BIGGER fish. A saw; Keeper bream to 35ish cm, although they were the minority in schools of small bream Schools of blakfish, including one 50+, a bleedin river of the buggers, with many thumpers. Numerous flathead lurking around, mostly underzie with a couple 50cm+ Some thumping whiting lurking in the deep. Anyway it was fascinating watching people throw out baits and seeing the fish attack the bait. I plan to head down there with a mate and some SP's and poppers and watch the action underwater. Cheers Spanker

What a brilliant report and photos, thanks for sharing with us. Nothing tops get amongst our bush, waterways and connecting with our unique wildlife. I wonder how a decent sized bull grey kangeroo would go on 8lb? I reckon some white bread and a quick strike through the upper lip would do the trick. Would need a long handled gaff / donker. Spanker

Excellent reporot, thanks for taking the time to give us a good read. Spanker

Was fishing off north beach @ Port Macquarie aout this tme last year. Had a pillie out on 15lb gear, on my 'bit-of-everthing' rod and reel. Quiet, had checked the drag the last few casts and then got hit by a freight train. 5 seconds of zzzzzzzzzzzzzz with the rod trying to escape my hands and then ping...... Having hooked small jews etc around there, this was like a freaking elephant, would have been a small shark, big ray or.......some bruising jew..sigh yes in some ways it certainly is the ones that get away that keep you hungry - I'll be up there in 4 weeks with 30lb gear and a nice snug drag setting and very very sharp knife. Spanker

Beaut pictures Stu, looks like a memorable day, makes you realise that doesn't need to be sunny and 30 degrees to make the most of things Spanker

Mate there is only one thing better than being out there fishing, and that's being out there with family soaking it up together, well done mate. Some interesting things in Narra lake, over the years I have seen and heard of some interesting captures. Spanker

Hmmm I am going to hit the rocks off north head tomorrow morning on a north-easterly facing ledge. As the wind is meant to be from west to south west, I am hoping for some cover. Will be throwing garfish pieces and pillies out for tailor or Salmon on the surface and some unweighted prawns into the wash for bream, wish me luck! Spanker

Hahahahahahahahahha Well done sir! You should see the carp in the Lane Cover River off the weir. Some of those beast would be 10kg+ Spanker

Good paste mate, I love it when it all comes together. I often fool around with retrievel speeds and techniques when I know the fish are there but only following, quite fun to try and find the right formula for the day. What were you doing that was getting them to strike instead of just follow? I was castign into a big school of slimies about a month ago, used every lure I had with no strickes. Eventually I let the lure pause and sink half way in, the cheeky buggers would then stricke when I start winding again. Spanker