klainz

Got a daiwa exceler 1500 over christmas but today was the first session using. Hit some middle harbour flats for the low tide at 1900. Mutliple casts over the flats themselves using a tiny wriggler got some suitably tiny fish - 1x~15cm whiting; 3xsub 15cm flathead and a body hooked 10cm bream. Nothing to take home but great to have a bit of action on the new reel. It finally got low enough to get access to cast off over the drop-off and the first cast got whacked. Realised I still had on my 3lb fireline 4lb fluoro spool (instead of the spare 6lb spool) and downgraded my hopes to just being able to see what it was. Walked the fight back onto the flats holding the rod as high as possible to avoid the headshakes, and saw a nice fish on the end - hoping to see a bit of my plastic on it's lip implying a nice lip hook (thus increasing my chances of landing it) all I could see was that micro thin leader deep in its mouth. With nowhere to beach it - managed to grab it's bottom lip with my pliers. The plastic was hooked around it's gills. Damn lucky catch! A great little first fish for the exceler. Went 50cm.

Yes, off rocks along the Northern beaches. Apologies for not being more specific!

G'day raiders, went with a mate for a spin off the rocks for anything pelagic. Tossed 40g raiders around for no result then tried flickbaits. Noted what looked like a squid have a go on the retrieve. Losing the discipline, just could resist prospecting with a 3g y-z jig and from the first cast started pulling them in. It was almost a cast a squid. Just awesome fun. Ended up with 6. What they lack in fight they make up for in other ways. Better than taking home a couple of tailor or sambos, at any rate. Apologises for their ragged appearance, putting them in a rock pool (that was getting fresh wash from the surf) in full view of the sun was a error not to be repeated. Respect for my mate for staying disciplined - he kept on hurling into the distance despite all my hooting and hollering! A great feed and more jewie ammo!

G'day raiders, been chasing this fish completely unsuccessfully for 8yrs. Read countless articles and watched a fair few vids too. High tide at change of light before but not on the full moon; only fish the new moon; fish the run out in the eddies of a bridge pylon; after a storm, fish the division between the muddy and the salt, off a break wall even better; have your drag set to 1-3lb but no more and no less; don't expect bites right on high tide but in the first two hours after; change your fresh baits every 15mins(!) etc etc etc. on and on it has become like a schizoid voice in my head. Recently, conditions seemed worth having a pre-dawn go at them with that rare combo of having time off work too! Landbased; a 'known' spot but because of the track a little difficult to carry in a bucket of livies into (which I did); high tide at dawn; and had squid frozen in it's own ink immediately after capture but 2 weeks old. Threw out a wing on a 2 hook snelled rig, on my oldest, cheapest oufit - single ball bearing shimano with 30lb mono and a 9 ft $40 rod. Outfit would have been all up <$100.00. Only a few days prior I had been eyeing out certates and sols! Will never forget that screaming drag and the rod buckled over - soon into the fight with it's heavy weight but undeniable head shakes and runs knew it could only be one species (even though I had never caught one - you get pretty good at telling when you've got an eagle ray, shovel nose or PJ on the line). Went 83cm and 5 kg - apparently this is in the schoolie class. But almost a legit model. It had actually been the first time i had hit this spot. But had reconned it previously and marked it as a future endeavour. Does anyone have opinions regarding barometric conditions and these fish? Thank you to FR for allowing a place to blow your own trumpet but in a sort of anonymous way. Couldn't resist the brag after trying for so long!

Anyone got any info on fishing Audley Weir. Drove past it at dusk and looked a prime access spot but retaining a wilderness vibe. Saw a guy flicking something around on the downstream side.

G'day raiders, been reconning a number of landbased locations the last 6 months (targetting everything from kings, luderick, pigs and squid with bait and lure) from Bottle and Glass rocks all the way round to Kurnell. Had a couple of minor successes but the majority of the trips were fishless. Then a couple of days ago hit an area after a 30 min bushwalk in, that probably doesn't see alot of squid jigs and ended up having the most incredible squid session. Over the space of an hour including an unbelievable 5 casts for 5 conversions in a row the below haul was achieved. In hind site, probably should have thrown a few back. But a totally empty fridge/freezer and planned jewie sessions over the next few weeks convinced me otherwise. All were caught around 1800-1900 with a high tide at ~1800, with the same jig and casting to exactly the same 2x2m area of water. The biggest had a 35cm hood. And, not a wharf with lights or man-made structure insight. It's great to know there are still areas in Sydney that are worth 'exploring'. Just have to put in the time. Also, earlier in the day, predawn, had a hit a local wharf hoping for a jew, but instead this interesting bycatch took a whole small squid. Easily a pb for me. Went 42cm. Also, have an ethical question to ask - a couple years ago, livebaiting for kings off some central coast rocks, ended up gill hooking a rat king - would not have been 50cm. By the time it was hauled up, it was bleeding badly with no chance of survival. Clearly undersize but clearly going to die - it felt disrespectful to throw it back only to float belly up, bleeding slowly to death. It seemed more appropriate to 'respect' it's death and eat it. What do you guys do when this occurs?

Hi Raiders, caught this off the rocks the other day. Have caught heaps around dobroyd reef when going for livebait. I've never known it's name but always wondered. This one went 33cm. A PB for this species. Took it home and was pleasantly surprised by it's sweet meat basted in coconut milk. I think it's a sweep? Cheers. PS. I'm thinking coconut milk could possibly lift any fish flesh. Definitely will try it with a sambo.

G'day raiders, hit some new rocks south side of the bridge over the weekend focussed on catching a pig. Fished a rising tide, overcast conditions and a bit of swell around. Used cabbage, bread and peeled prawns for bait under a blackie float. I believe the photo below is a pig (be great to get confirmation!). Nudged 25cm and caught 3 others actually smaller. Bread and prawns worked. Even for little guys they fought hard! Can only imagine catching an 'average' fish. Also caught a few 'ribbish' reef species including a whopping PB rock cale on cabbage. Is it usual to get so many pigs this small? Do they school? If this is the pattern, is it better to move on or persist in the hope of catching a bigger one? The spot I hit is fairly easily accessed - is it possible to fish the bigger pigs out? Would it be worth persisting with this spot? Also, any particular hooks raiders use? (apologies for all the questions!). The taste buds will just have to hold out a bit longer before trying the ocean pork I've heard so much about.

G'day raiders, Headed out in a mate's boat on the weekend. We had a set plan - the same plan most boating raiders and non-raiders have engraved into their psyche - get live bait consisting of squid and yellowtail and then use these to produce great fighting, great looking and great eating kingfish. We were employing the poor man's downrigger - awaiting my mate to upgrade to a formal system. I had an ezy rig with a hookless 85g raider attached. Figure the metal could provide a bit of teaser bling for the yellowtail being dragged behind (I know guys who use this technique off the beach - use the raider with treble or single in situ as a sinker then when you want to check your bait, high speed retrieve the rig back in hoping to hook a tailor or salmon on the return - maximising time on water philosphy!) 7hours later (with a pre-dawn start) and the sun busting through the 30+protection we had managed a 30cm king outside the heads. Usually at this point we call it quits, head back in and use the bags of bait that just keep getting refrozen over and over again to try to salvage the session with something for the table - even a leatherjacket is success at this point. One of the bags of prawns we had I suspect was actually left over from a session in autumn! However, we resisted that 'admission of failure' option and stuck to the plan and finally, in calm water, mid tide, in the middle of the day and in casting distance of people's backyards the rod bucks in it's holder. For a moment I think the yakka is caught up but then the rod starts a thick oscillation which equals (usually) an okay fish. After a surprisingly tough fight, it only measured 67cm (a PB for me actually!) and 2kg. The absolute elation at finally landing a keeper king after hours and hours (and many other fishless sessions) of targetting them was just great! If it had been a metre I'm sure that fact would not have added to the awesome feeling of success from what seemed like guarenteed failure. Going over the same area, my mate had a massive hit but his 60lb leader was snapped off like it was 2lb.

Hi Raiders, it's been a while since I last posted. Sat out (or rather indoors) the winter - apart from a couple of absolutely freezing nights attempting the hairtail (see below) even when we thought we were appropriately attired! It was the only chrome seen for the whole winter. And despite the amount of effort put in, I wasn't bothered to post the result until now. Anyway, with the wamer conditions late last week, decided to try out a new rock spot I'd seen guys fish before but had never tried myself. It looked like a prime luderick spot amongst other species. Well, on route, I was able to resist the the temptation of buying a bag of servo prawns or pillies as back up (especially as I was prospecting a new spot) just in case my plans fell to pieces. I often actually carry alternate baits (even if primarily going for luderick). It was quite an effort to resist! My targets were luderick and whatever was going to take bread - (with a secret hope of landing my first pig!). With a falling tide and a less than 1m swell, I landed a PB luderick (39cm) and another on fresh cabbage as well as the trevor on bread. Also got 2 undersized trevs on bread and a large yellowtail. A nice little haul and I never casted more than 3 metres from the rocks! Wash fishing is a technique i had never really paid that much attention to but after trying and achieving modest success (my first haul for the table in months) I'm hooked. I can see how it can turn a dry metals/livies session off the rocks into something so much more. What added to the excitement was 'finding' a new spot. Now, back to my designs for hooking my first pig. . .

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!)

Hi Raiders, For some bizarre reason I attempted nightime luderick fishing at Watson's bay (anyone ever tried this?).I guess I was trying to think outside of the square? or maybe I was very bored! Anyway, no luck using cabbage so tried small bits of squid and pilchard to see what my tiny lumostick attached to my luderick float would look like with a hit. Sure enough caught a number of these little guys that gave solid downs but no fight. By the size of their eyes they seemed to be more like a minature version of a deep sea fish - like a nannygai or pearl perch! All were around 10-15cm mark and all went back. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks.

Hi Raiders, got 1.5 reports to post. First, hit my secret georges luderick spot again a few days ago and worked hard for a total of 4, one undersize. Fished the top of the tide and a couple of hours after with clear conditions, sunny skies and no wind. Does anyone have opinions of the best tides to fish for them? I guess it depends on the location. I think this spot fishes better on the low. Also, does anyone have techniques of keeping cabbage fresh and how long have they found it lasts for? I keep mine in a sealed bucket in the bottom of the fridge in seawater but no sand - I also got fresh cabbage on the day and this seemed to outfish the week old stuff even though it stilled seemed relatively fresh. Second session was with a mate on his boat. Hit middle harbour for a night/dawn session - hoping for a jew with expensive Hawksbury squid from the markets (not ideal but no choice, we also had market bought slimies, +green prawns) - right on high tide had one reasonably solid repeated nibble on a whole squid then slower head shakes but when I struck - the 40lb leader was bit through. Do jews have teeth sharp enough to do this (I've never caught a legal sized one) or was it more likely a shark or pike eel? Admittedly, i was probably undergunned with my leader. his dad got 3x 40cm bream on fresh green prawns before we moved on. We then hit a harbour reef - and I caught this beautifully coloured fish I've never seen before - it went about 40cm and fought harder than a similar sized trevally - but threw it back. Does anyone know what it is? Are they edible? We ended the session with a total of about 10 legal trevally (similar number of throwbacks), 1 legal snapper + the bream. Also, a highlight was seeing sub 50cm king follow up a hooked mini red which I then threw a slimy cube at on the surface and hooked up on ultralight gear - a top fight and release. Finally, any opinions on which market bought prawns make the best bait? PS - just re-read my report today - one of the bream was ~40cm a genuine lunker, the others were around 30cm. Apologies. Would hate to be known as an embelisher of the truth! Was posting around midnight last night - fatigue was a likely factor.

Hi Luderick59, I was usng mustad needle sneck hooks size 8. What hooks do other raiders use? Also, do you think it makes any difference using a green coloured hook? It could possibly be psychological! I've only been fishing for them for a couple of years (a friend's dad showed me the ropes) but these hooks seem to be strong enough usually. Maybe the bag I bought was a bad batch.

I joined the site last month and this is my first post. I've enjoyed reading all the reports and I've been hanging out for a session to post. I read Choad's posting about his friend Houston's first efforts at luderick. Very impressive. Successful conversion from just watching a pro. Makes me think it would be worth getting out on charters just to see how these guys fish - the learning curve would definitely be steep! Anyway, the report inspired me to get on and have my first official luderick session for the year today. It was bottom of the tide, middle of the day with the sun shining brightly and water clear. At a secret 'old school' rock wall spot on the Georges. I had managed to find some good weed (which I'm finding harder to find) and it gave me all the confidence I needed. It's been said a thousand times before but they are a great battler on light gear. A couple more were lost and a couple straightened my hooks. I'll definitely be back! Included in the catch was a bream on weed which is a first for me! Might have been because I was burleying with bread in the mix.