King slayer

On Saturday night myself and The Calamari Kid caught and released 6 small jew into water around 24m deep, some had expanded air bladders. I saw Rex hunt once pop the bladder with a knife and send it back down, but this seems like it may cause problems for the fish. Does anybody know more about this or have seen evidence of survival rates with particular methods etc? I'd just like to know I'm releasing a fish o live, not die. Cheers, Dave

ahh yes, it was november last year since i got one, and so to get 7 between us was just awesome. Brett didn't mention it was our first try at that spot, so it'll get a royal flogging now! Also mate, my jewfish/hours fished ratio was just doubled! Dave

In my experience, the biggest, most plentiful and reliable squid come from kelp beds in 3-6m of water. dawn and dusk are always best, but not necessary, just very hard at night cause you don't know where to cast and how deep your jig is running. Summer/winter, no difference except I get bigger ones in winter, and more in the shallows (0.5m to 2m) in summer.

I've had my say. I suggested education and policing rather than outright blame and freedom stripping. Also we all need to help this and pull people up for this kind of behavior that will end up ruining it for all of us.

Ha! so it can be done! I had 4lb leader on last time I tried for jew with plastics and landed a nice flattie around 50cm or so, no trouble. My mate thought I was a little crazy, but there you go! Just have faith in your gear and set the drag right hey? Then all you have to worry about is the dreaded structure.... As Musty proves weekly though, less weight in the leader equals more fish in the boat. I read a story in a mag recently about a guy fighting a 30lb jew on 4lb for a few hours before being busted off at the boat. That would just kill me. Cheers, Dave

Anyone who wears sunnies and a hat inside and the way that guy does is just headed for trouble from the start! Funny video!

From what I hear the Tubes are always loaded with fisho's, especially as marlin season comes along. Sorry I have no more info for you, but I'm going there too in January, so please, let me know what you discover there! Cheers, Dave.

I have been reading a great book on fish behavior written by a marine biologist who is an avid fisherman. He notes that predatory fish often prefer the full moon for catching live prey since they can see them easier. He says this is the time to use live baits at night. In a dark moon phase, since the visibility is low, use large baits with scent, like oily fillets for example as they will be more likely hunting by scent. I take more notice of science than of opinion, so I love this little book. All I can say about night fishing from my own experience is that in shallow water on a full moon, the fish seem to disappear but take a tinnie out to some deeper water and you can get some action. I also think that since the tides are so fast around the moons, the feed time is shorter for most fish in current affected areas. I'm starting to realise more and more that fish have to live and feed most of the time, they just change their habits in different conditions. So the more you experiment and try to think like a fish, he more fish you should get. Having said that, I feel i have a lifetime of experimenting yet to do. Lucky I love it! Dave

geez you take some great pics Ray. takes us all right to the beach with you. nice salmon too. do you berley? Dave

Myself and Brett (aka The Calamari Kid) decided to try something new and on the advice of a mate we tried the Lane Cove with lures only. Target was Jew, but the main aim was to check out the area for the first time so as to prepare better for next visit. The morning was superb weather wise, as you would know if you looked out the window this morning. We launched at sunrise and started flicking blades and small plastics at some likely spots. The first hook up was Brett on a worm plastic after maybe three or four casts. A small, but legal flattie was netted and slipped into the box. Second hookup was not long after in a different spot a few meters down current from some structure. A larger flattie on a little stickbait and 4lb leader. This one was my fish and went into the box with his mate. By now it was just after 8am and we were feeling pretty good. so we headed up stream to look for more likely spots. Found a few goodies, but as time was short we only had a quick flick at each location, and apart from a few follows from something like tailor, no more fish were boated. No pics, but you all know what flatties look like! All up a stunning morning in good company and a top new spot to explore. Gotta love fishing! Cheers, Dave

Guys! so much negativity There are some really big squid around in winter. we find them easily most of the time in deep kelp beds around the main harbour. just a matter of the right presentation in the right spot. Dave

Over winter we've picked up a few good duskies in water 15 to 25m deep on squid baits aimed at jew in the harbour. As the water warms up though, i would suggest fishing the bays near sand flats with lures.

I was fishing that morning at Freshwater and saw the same pod of dolphinsc ruising at some serious speed! awsome stuff. My mate got one salmon and we saw birds feeding off the point, but not in close enough. Dave

Can anyone tell me about a good charter operator in Jervis bay? Please pm me so as not to break site rules. I am looking to go for big kings on the inshore reefs. Also looking for a rock fishing guide if anyone knows one. Thanks! Dave

I'm planning to do a few trips off the rocks for kings in a few spots I know they are lurking. I'm after a little advice from those who have some success in this type of fishing around Sydney and are kind enough to share a little . My gear is probably a tad on the light side but I'll wait till I can get a few monsters exited before i will upgrade that. Rod around 8-10kg, 12ft, 30lb braid and mono, 60lb to 80lb leaders (jinkai). I usually run a float with a stopper knot about 3m (leader material) to a swivel and small sinker and a shortish leader around 50cms. around a 5/0 hook below with either a live yakka or fresh squid (strip, head or whole). Method is normally cast so that the float sits near to the edge of some wash in deeper water, not too far out. Does this all seem right so far? or at least close enough? I was wondering also about how much success people have had using livies like Mado's and sweep, which are usually common off the platforms. I hear about pike, but I don't often come accross them. Also do you find time of day and tides have a big influence? I would assume more activity would be had at dawn and dusk, but for me the middle of the day has produced some nice bycatch and so far one king. As I said, any help will be very much appreciated, and all due credit given when I land one over 1m which is the current goal. Cheers guys. Dave

Hey Adam, If I could make it I woud have jumped all over that offer! please pm me if that offer is on the table again on a weekend in Tuna season! Good luck. Hope you all get on. Looks like a nice day. Dave

Geez you're putting us all to shame here Jewgal. Well done indeed. The word on Dioxine is that you shouldn't eat fish west of the bridge and limited numbers east, but I've also read about independent tests which show they're all relatively safe anyway. No one I know worries about fish from the main harbour. I'd love to know where you got those!? Dave

Nice day out mate. That's funny about the flattie! Not the smartest of creatures... I recently caught a little tailor like that. Lifted him right out of the water on to land before he dropped off the tail of my plastic!

The more I learn, the more I realise that you can always find fish if you know where to go and maybe just try some new things. For example, last night myself and Calamari Kid fished the ocean rocks for the tide turn. We didn't get a jew, but got nearly spooled by a big shark, dropped another good fish, got some good hits that didn't hook up, but that was the first try. I'll be doing that again. Plenty of action somewhere. That's my take on slow fishing anyhow. Doesn't always work out, but I figure I have a lot of learning to do too. Dave

Since getting into squid I have changed a few times and evolved my ideas a bit. I ended up with 10lb braid and 10lb fluro leader, medium action 2-4kg plastics rod with a shimano 2500. this works great for jigs up to 2.5g and in shallower water (1-2m) where a fissese action might be used more. Recently since working out that alot of the big thumper winter squid are deeper and like the big jigs just as much, if not more I've been using 20lb braid, 20lb fluro leader, 3-6kg medium action grahite rod and 3000 Diawa. Works an absolute treat for deeper water (2-5m) and bigger jigs from 2.0 to 3.5g. I'm sure the squid do not notice the line at all. my mates have been doing similar and doing really well.

Cool, be prepared for some mighty squid to come aboard! Have fun.

Decided to go for a quick late night tide change session last night with Brent, AKA Big B. Nabbed a few poddies at the ramp and headed straight for the spot with frozen squid caught from the harbour. About one hour after the turn of the high, a nice little jew of 68cms is netted. It had it's heart set on Brents squid strip and hit it 3-4 times before finding the hook, which it swallowed right down. Despite my strip only a few meters away and some nice live poddies, the only other capture was an eel! This is not the first time Brents rod is the lucky one on the boat. I can recall at least 4 other trips where without explanation and despite exactly matching rigs, baits and depth etc, brents rod gets the hits. I guess he has the MOJO!! It was quite cold so we headed back in about half hour after the jew. Good to see a jew from Middle harbour though, I wondered if 14.5 Degrees might put them off. Cheers, Dave.

Hey Ray, I've only used it a few times when one came up on a bottom bait, so we used it. The suckers on a fresh one are very sticky and hard, so I just run the knife along and remove them, cut off the leg high up and peel the rest of the skin off to leave a very seductive looking bait indeed. We've had a king take one once, but that was it. I bet if I gave it a good go they'd work quite well though. Never tried snapper, but I'd guess it'd be great, maybe with two hooks? I'd be interested to hear repots of shop bought occy as bait and it's effctiveness, since catching them is not really reliable. Good luck mate. Dave

I don't find any difference between the squids as baits, only that if you want whole baits the smaller ones are the go for jew and kings. This time of year that tends to be the arrows as the southerns are massive. for the same reason the southerns make the best head baits and big juicy strips. My mate recently put this question to a well known charter operator who advocates squid as the ONLY bait for kings and jew, and he said there was no difference as bait for him. Never tried earth worms in salt, but I believe one of the main attractions is the wriggle, which would be very short lived in salt I'd say. Interesting to find out how you go though! Dave

Squid are around all the kelp beds in he main harbour where the water is clearer. Most were in 4m plus deep. Dave