doug43

Yeah in sydney.

Hi All Woke up this morning with the intention of working from home for the day due the rain..... That was the plan anyway. What actually happened is I got out of bed and wandered out onto the balcony for a look at the harbour and what i saw was a whole lot of gulls working the water in an overly excited state . This was a good sign and upon closer inspection with the binocs was the sight of those fishy looking slashes that send the heart rate up a notch. Without wasting a second the decision was made....... Work could wait a few hours! 25mins later (having set a new record for the time it takes to get my boat from garage and and down to the ramp!) i'm in the boat and approaching the birds they hadn't moved far and within half an hour of first seeing them i'm dropping the first lure on their heads. The first retrieve brings back the plastic bitten in half and almost a with a bit of disappointment I realize they’re tailor and begin to tie on a metal lure (Disappointed because I’d been hearing reports of Kings in the area).The change of lure does the trick and moments later I have a nice sized tailor flapping in the tank. The casts that follow however begin to get a little more interesting and when I bring the next hooked fish to the boat the thing goes mental and for good reason too….. The tailor ends up being swallowed by a rampaging king who in turn busts me off and has me reaching for the larger plastics and a 20lb outfit. With nice looking stick bait tied onto a more realistic combo I casted right into the middle of the birds and ripped the lure back across the surface at a fair pace and sure enough there is an explosion of water behind the lure and the rod loads up nice and tight. After a typically brutal fight I have the fish in the boat. A nice 75 cm kingie! To cut this story short the next hour or so had me chasing these fish around wherever they popped up I had a ball doing it. Pleasingly all the fish were a good size too most over 70cms I’d never caught kings on the surface but I’d seen Al Mcglashans Kingfish in the harbour DVD and pretty much copied his methods with good result. I even hooked one on a metal lure using the 6lb outfit but only once after landing this fish they became lure shy and were only interested in the surface plastics. I got back home mid morning and even managed to get a little work done…… If only every work day started this well. It'll be Kingfish for the family this Fathers day. Doug. Ps. My Girlfriend rang to tell me she could see me fishing from the window of her office. How’s that for unfair.

Hey nathen, The water was about 13 degrees give or take. I'm not sure of the accuracy of my sounder but it is cold!

Hey All, Bolted a minn kota to the tinny during the week and today was the first day out with it. Started at 8 this morning for the high tide visiting all the usual spots but this time stalking in with the electric. First fish of the day fought spiritedly and ended up being a genuine elbow slapping whiting at 43cms it's the best i've ever pulled aboard. After a few quick pics i sent him swimming again and continued to work the same spot for two really decent runs that pulled the hooks both times! Don't you just hate this it's get the heart rate right up there and then out of nowhere all you have is slack line. Moved on to the next few spots and started to have really good success on the flatties and a few trevs. After a few hours on the water i realised i was pulling at least double the amount of fish from each of my usual spots in comparison to other times i'd fished them and all of this was no doubt a result of the new toy mounted on my bow. Can't wait to get back out there and try some of the other spots..... Don't know how i've done without it for soo long. Doug.

The fight was quite weak. No big runs but it didn't want to come to the surface and i had a 4' leader on so it took awhile. I was surprised to see the size of them. I reckon this cold water takes a bit of the fire out of them.

Great kings! Well done. The cold water definately takes the punch out of them doesn't it. Doug

Hey all, Went out for a session around the moorings this morning. Found a nice area out of the wind marked up some bait and found some nice trevs harrasing the schools. It's nice to get a few trevs when it's getting quiet out there and at a good size too. The largest measured 55cms. Doug.

Hey fellas Got the fish on plastics. on the rise from 4 to 3 mts and nowhere else which was interesting (don't let the photo on the beach fool you i was in the boat all day). I caught a load of squid as well squid hunter it's just one of them in the photo there were plenty of them over the weedy areas.

Lovely red. Well done

Great Fish, I wouldn't mind an annual trip in those waters.

Hi all, Fished the Bay on Saturday. Started on the top of the tide for a good run of trevs .As the tide started to move we shifted over to the beaches for a go at the flatties It was beautiful on the water an the fish were well and truely on. Pleasingly most of the fish were of a decent size we landed about a dozen in total including a couple of big girls that we put back in . We kept enough for a feed and released the rest. A nice day on the Bay.

Hey Raiders, Thought I'd post about a quick session i had on friday down the local wharf... Quick not due to the lack of fish but due to my favourite flick stick being snapped like a twig! Anyway after catching a couple of flatties i hooked a nice trev close to the structure of the wharf. i managed to steer the trev away from the wharf and subdue it to a point where i was about to lift it from the water. As it turned out three big kings decided they'd like it too. They came in behind it right at the wharf and had a go at swallowing him! The trev quite naturally bolted but took the top part of the rod into a crack between the boards of the wharf.... Of course the rod couldn't handle this and i was forced to say goodbye to one of my favourites. At least it happened memorably, seeing those Kings at such close quarters and from the shore was something else. Doug. Ps (I landed the trev and had a go hand lining for the kings with some larger flick baits for no go.) The trevally.

Hi Guys, Was just wondering if anyone has been on a good river or harbour charter in Darwin? I'm stopping there next month for a couple of days on the way to arnemland and i think it would be a real shame to not have a go in Darwin. Cheers. Doug.

hey Zerko, At times i could see the backing through the braid and i had to spend the whole time chasing him in the boat. If i hadn't been in a clear area and able to chase it around it would have done me on the first run! Doug.

Well done mate, I like hearing stories from a man with a plan. Congrats. Doug.

Hey josh, It's not an area that you would generaly fish for kings,it's about 5mtrs deep very little structure or drop offs but you know them they can show up anywhere at times. It was just under 80 cms. Doug

Top king fellas. The thing rubbing it's self on the hull amazes me. They really know how to fight dirty don't they.

Hit the water this afternoon with the intention of jigging up some flatties. I've been getting a few lately so i thought i'd sneak in a quick session after work. The action started quickly with a couple of these guys. The next fish was a didn't come so easily. After a subtle take of the lure i don't think it realised that it was hooked because it swam up to the boat, saw it and then was off like a rocket! I was using 6lb line so it was 40 minutes before i saw it again and with no net i was relying on a quick tail grap to get it in. Anyway long story short i landed it and i'm pretty stoked. Sadly no flathead but who cares with bycatch like this. Doug.

Well you had me glued to the screen with that report...Amazing! I suppose the fish is consolation enough to get the tackle back as well would be the stuff of fairytales. Excellent king.

Well done they're nice sized fish. I've noticed more tailor in the harbour also, hopefully it is a good sign for coming seasons.

It was on a 4 inch gulp bass minnow.Not exactly the usual lure for bream.

Hi All, I've just signed up to the forum i've been seeing some great reports here. I noticed a few reports of big Sydney bream showing up so i thought i'd post a picture of a beauty i caught recently while fishing the harbour.This one came as a pleasant surprise because i was actually jigging for flathead at the time. It was 44cm, nice and Fat and didin't move a muscle until i slipped him back into the water. I love it out there this time of the year. Doug. (Excuse the photos but i was the only one in the boat.)