doug43

Hey Mate.We weighed one of them and it went 5.2kgs. We caught ours on baits but i also caught a few on lures which were generally smaller fish. Some guys were fishing those rapids using flies and were catching a few of the better sized ones.

Hey Mate we were there at the same time i was about 5 mins down stream from Kasane and right on those rapids! what a special place to be catching great fish hey. The fish we caught were much the same size as yours but we were stoked to get them considering how hard the things are to hook.... i swear on some sessions it was worse than a 10 to 1 hook up rate on strikes. We loved our trip in Africa and your report sums up the place nicely.

Those rapids look very familiar. I just got back from the Chobe a couple of weeks ago we may have passed each other on the river! I Stayed on Impalila island were you in that area? Great report you took me right back there. here are some of the tigers we caught there... they are a really great fish aren't they.

Maybe they have gone off the weed!..... Caught this one yesterday near Birchgrove on a blade...Couldn't figure out the fight! Not a usual catch for me.

Fantastic Hodgey, What a great weekend to end the year on! Any more reports like this and they put up "Beware of crocodiles" signs down there. Cheers. Doug.

Boats looking good Josh, Lets hope we see some nice kingy reports. I was out this morning and lured a load of rats that were marking up nice and clear on the sounder... no bigger ones unfortunately.

Hi Jim, There were slimeys on the surface in between the heads yesterday. They were taking metal lures but were pretty big for baits about 300mm long.

Hey Hodgey, Anyone who catches the amount of nice flatties you get would be welcome in our company! That Lure is an imitation of the berkley hollowbelly. I can't remember the brand I bought them up at lake macquarie. They are a bit cheaper but are a little more rigid... they've accounted for some nice flathead however. Interestingly i was fishing over those snapper with 12lb leader and was only catching small models. After 1/2 an hour i changed to 6lb and hooked the pictured fish straight away. A few casts later with the 6lb i was dusted by another decent fish.

Hey Josh, Measured it on an 80cm sticker and he was about 150mm past the end of that. But as you can see in the photo he had lost a bit of condition. Thanks for the tips the other day they were much appreciated. Cheers. Doug.

Hi All, Thought i'd share some pictures from this mornings trip onto the Harbour with my Boss ( gotta love having a Boss who loves his fishing ). With all the Kingfish lurking around the harbour at the moment i thought it'd be worth a shot at them with some livies. With some advice from Raiders ( Thanks Josh88 The tips worked a treat ) We went to gather some early morning yakkas. The baits came in easily and as we were catching them we noticed some kings appearing under the yakkas from time to time waiting for an opportunity i spose. Seeing this we send out an unweighted yakka set on a light drag and continued to gather bait. 2 mins later and the bait is off and running. The boss sets the hooks and is into a nice fish. After a great fight we net a beauty and swing him on board. It's not until we turn him over we realise what a tough bugger he really is. Hanging out of his side is a broken off spear prong thats been there for so long it has barnicles growing off it! Incredible! That's a first for me and i kinda hope it's the last.... Tough fish. We couldn't find decent schools of fish offshore after this so no more kings were boated still a great morning on the Harbour. As a footnote i thought i'd add a picture of a nice snapper i caught just of Vaucluse last wed afternoon.Sounded up a nice school of fish and fished plastics through them. Most fish were small pinkies but in going to a lighter leader i managed to fool this nice one. This was the first legal snapper i've ever caught in the harbour and i was stoked. It was a real handfull on 6lb line as well. You have to love all this action that comes with summer. Cheers. Doug.

Great reports Hodgey Thanks for the tips and what a way to show the ropes to your nephew! Doug.

Thanks mate. I wish i was onto something with the jewie it certainly adds a whole new dimension to trolling for tailor! I'm feeling pretty privileged for it to have happened. Doug.

Hi all, Been quite busy of late with the lead up to Christmas and all but i'd put today aside for a day on the water to explore a little of the surface action i'd been seeing recently from the shore. Launched down in Iron cove.... Anyone know when the ramp down near Gladesville will be open again? Didn't travel far before we saw the birds doing their thing and we were straight over into them. Trolled down current in that strong westerly around the area the birds had been working and were into some nice choppers on the first run. landing the second fish we noticed some reasonable kings following the hooked fish to the boat and consecutive trolls were showing some pretty serious arches around the bait clouds on the sounder. About half an hour into the session and on the 5th or so troll my girl friend was holding a rod that hooks up solid and the spools starts whizzing...i'm thinking beauty we've tricked one of those Kings! After a good tussle and a fight not really like a king we were both amazed to see the first colour of silver with that unmistakable purple sheen....... Jew!!! I've only caught 3 jew in my life and my girlfriend comes out for a casual mid morning Sunday fish and lands a beautiful school jewie on a Killalure Flatzrat whilst trolling for tailor. Unbelievable! A few photos of a memorable fish later and we let it swim back to the depths. Stoked we carried on working the area this time with some plastics and crossed fingers in hope of another schoolie. i didn't take long before my girlfriend continued to show me up by landing one of those kings we had seen harrassing the tailor. This fish at 70cms didn't share the sentiments shown to the jew and came home for our dinner along with a couple of kept tailor and a nice flatty taken from the bottom in the same area we had a great feed and a very happy girlfriend. All this action happened in about a 2 hr period just before lunch on a Sunday in Sydney Harbour. To say i was pleased would be a gross understatement......... If only every days fishing was this easy!

Hey Josh, I've been harassing those harbour Salmon lately with some hits and a lot of misses! I've managed a few nice ones on lightly weighted Squidgy fish twitched as they fall through the water column but there are plenty of casts between hookups..... They are worth it once hooked aren't they, such great fighters! Doug.

Thanks for all the help guys, I think i'll go for a two cylinder to keep the weight down and i'll definately check out the insurance side of things. Thanks again for the comments. Doug.

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone knows about regulations relating to outboard motor hp ratings on small tinnies. I've got a 3.95 Quintrex Dart with a 15 hp and since fitting it out with ply platforms it is underpowered. I've tryed a mates 25 hp on the boat for a session and that was great but i'm thinking of putting a 30 hp yamaha 2 stroke on the boat... if only i had more space to store the boat i'd be upgrading the whole kit but i'm stuck with the Dart for now. Does anyone know if there are rules that relate to putting motors of this size onto tinnies of this size? Any help is appreciated. Doug.

Sounds like an action packed session. Would have been good fun.

Cracking king. Top reward for finding the right bait hey.

Hi All, Just finished the latest work project so as a reward the boss generously took me down to Narooma for a few days fishing with him and his mates. Reports of the fishing from down that way had been really good and the weather was shaping up nicely so hopes were high and this was one trip that didn't fail to deliver. We spent two days offshore at the Island and wider and every minute of it was full of fish the water temp was at 20 degrees there was bait everywhere and most importantly big predators on there tails. The island had a huge amount of kings from rats to 8kgs and including some unstopables on the shallower reefs that were much larger.There were also alot of bonnies in patches but the highlight was a beautiful day of weather on Thursday that had us heading out to the shelf in search of something larger. Conditions were fantastic and there was a lot of bird activity and a slight increase in water temp so we set a spread of lures while we began to cut up a tub full of cubes. It didn't take long till we saw some pretty serious surface action and then some good soundings under the boat so without wasting a second we pulled lines in and started cubing.It only took about 1/2 an hour before the first reel started to scream and i had the rod thrown at me ,loaded up tight and away i was putting as much pressure on as i could but man these things can go. We landed the first one and put more baits out for what was constant action at one stage a triple hook up on yellow fin. With enough in the boat but a sounder covered in fish we decided to have a jig and see if it wasn't just yellow fin the first jig was taken straight away and it turned out there was a huge amount of albacore underneath us as well. We had some fun on the albacore with jigs before deciding to leave the fish biting their heads off and heading back to the island for some afternoon kingfish fun. All in all one of the best fishing trips i've had and just as good were a couple of great barbies i had with mates back home with sushimi and fish steaks For all. steve and yellow fin me and some others

I agree mate the shrimp especially can get really bent up in the packet. I store all my gulps in the round gulp tub without too much spillage and it helps them keep their shape.

Cheers for that. It's good to know.

Hey guy's just a quick question on the topic. Has anyone had the same problem with diawa advantage 2500??? Thinking of getting one. Doug.

That's an Amazing fish fellas. She's seriously FAT! Just on the wrong day though hey. Well done

Lovely fish!

Thanks very much for all the tips, I'll be heeding your advice to see if i can limit these annoying wind knots! Cheers Doug.