zephi

The rain does tend to push the squid away from the shores and shallows. Which is why they congregate in deeper waters. Squids are also harder to find when the water is murky. When fishing in unfamiliar territory I always will use livebait first. If it gets hit by a squid then start using squid jigs.

winter is when the squid are big and aggressive! You're just looking at the wrong spots at the wrong time. Oh they're sometimes deeper too

Really unexpected fish! congratulations on getting one... they seem so rare. I really want to catch a dory myself, hardly read any reports or see anyone catch them. Everyone keeps saying they're like one of the best eating fishes, yet they're hardly targeted. It might be time for me to head down there for a fish. The spot I always fish isn't producing much after all this rain and low temps.

2 main reasons.. First, there are times when garfish are being brought in one after the other and gets sorta boring fast. Lure is a challenge and it's a great accomplishment to catch one of them. Secondly, there are days when I want to catch them fast (to use the gars as bait), and re-baiting each hook takes up a lot of time.. probably 1/2 of the time fishing for garfish is re-baiting.

Not that it's gonna help much, but caught a few slimies (in low numbers though) in around Gymea Bay in Port Hacking. They're probably around Gunnamatta Bay baths down deep.

Seems to me like most of the methods to catch garfish actually involve using bait. Yeah Sabiki rig for sure works, although it doesn't work as great as it does on pillies...

I was wondering if anyone knows any methods to catch garfish on some sort of lure, anything from a store bought lure to a homemade lure. I'm very keen on catching them on lures because I've grown quite tired of getting them on bait alone (too easy at times). Also as most would know baiting up when the school of fish is on the bite is quite annoying and time consuming. There was a little fly-like lure which I made, which consisted of a small size 9-12 hook, attach a small bunch of cotton ball and snell that all together. The cotton is supposed to imitate bread pieces from the bread berley. I've hardly had any hits on it but when they do hit it results in no hook up because the gars would simply be nibbling at the fine hairs of the cotton then swim off... Another problem is, cotton being fine is really good, but it isn't white enough (white like bread). In fact cotton soaked in water becomes more grey and see-thru (very unlike bread). Can anyone think of an alternative to cotton balls (something soft fluffy and will remain pure white like "white bread" in water? I've caught trevally, tarwhine and bream on this lure. Had quite a few hits from garfish, blackfish and mullet but no hookup. Does anyone else know any other possible lures or a way to catch gars without bait? I've read on another Aussie website someone using attaching a thin piece of velcro (soft fluffy side) on to the end of your line. I haven't had a chance to test this out. I'd love to hear people's stories of weird and interesting ways to catch these little gars with such puny mouths.

Do flashy/reflective lures work better in the murky water to attract fish (ie metal lures) compared to clearer waters? Also shouldn't the murky water provide more cover for fish and therefore they should be more out and about looking for food?

lol well I haven't actually hooked up to anything on it yet.. except pulled in a squid which attacked it and i netted it up lol

Remember how my bro told you about those kingies the other time? Yeah circle hooks owned them big time lol... too bad w/e this fish was doesn't hit as hard as kings, which is why no hookup. I'm crossing out salmon and kingfish off the list of possible species.. Maybe a jew idk.. I've never felt one before. nah mate it's the area I fish at, it's quite shallow and they usually sink down when hooked in that particular way, then the crabs or squid come along and kill them. But yes bridle rig I've had mine out for the whole session and released it alive and well at the end after no hits. There are those days when I get lazy and don't bother with bridle rigging.

I've been nailing a lot of those squid in the hacking using live baits as teasers.. And this was definitely a fish and not a squid. Might need to try out some of those blackmagic kl hooks then.

Definitely not a big squid. I know the difference between squid and fish pulls. in the past I did that too but found the fish dying pretty quickly. Rigging like that I'd good under a float though. that was my old method for rigging livies and it worked great but prefer bridlerigging them as they sruvive for a lot longer. Anyway you still don't understand the situation. But maybe I shouldve just left it alone as it stripped line off my reel for like 30 secs? I was patient and waited but it just wouldn't swallow it... Just letting you know it was on mouthing my yakka for over a minute, I even left my rod on the ground watching it tap away and pull line out

Had a little issue with circle hooks today. Went down to the hacking and was fishing in chocolate water... But there was still some action but mostly deep down. Anyway, was using 5/0 and 6/0 circle hooks today with live yakkas... Hook it once thru the bottom near the anal fin. What would you all do in a situation where a fish is simply mouthing a bait but won't swallow it down, then goes for a really long run?? Tightening the drag, the fish spat out the yakka.. but funny thing was it came straight back and engulfed it again. Next I tried slow retrieve, and it spat it out yet again, but soon jumped back on to it... Next opened the bail arm to let it run and hope it would swallow it as there was no resistance... But it just kept running further out without stopping... so I tightened up and it spat it out yet again. Now the questions here is how would I even go about hooking this unknown fish... which is only playing with the bait using a circle hook? Everyone says don't strike, simply increase drag and lift... Well that didn't work at all... Any suggestions? I know that some fishes flesh,skin and sinews are much more tougher than other baitfishes and requires more pulling force to rip the hook out and set it in the fish's mouth. (Yakka's are tough little buggers). Now you're all wondering how I knew it was swallowing the whole yakka in it's mouth? Simply because I could feel the mouth and gill rakers scratching away at the fish. This fish didn't hit the yakka hard enough to hook up...

Stupid weather forecasts... What happened to all those weather warnings. I would have gone to fish this morning. Good to hear you got to spend a splendid day out on the water, and great catches. btw The water was disgusting at Gymea on Friday. So much grit in the water I had to clean my reels of all the grit after that session.

ohhh, I would love to get into some blackfishing in the Georges this winter. Nice to see there are nice sizes already at Lugarno

I would say the salmon are quite plentiful in the Hacking atm. Caught 2 in my last 2 sessions close to NW arm. Soon to be winter and more shuld be popping up

bought it today for $110, really cheap. I'm really happy with this purchase, looks sturdy and strong. Can't wait to test it out soon.

nice to hear tailor action starting so early. Btw can you tempt those fishes to take metal lures or any other sort of lures?

Went to a local tackle store and saw a silstar crystal blue power tip rod, 8' with 6-8kg line weight. The cost was originally $189 but they are discounting it by 40% which brings it down to $113. Is this deal worth it? For this who are wondering, I'm usin this rod landbased, baitfishing and spinning lures.

I'm really interested in getting a brag mat, but was wondering how much did it cost for someone to buy one of those 50 back then? Just wanna get a rough idea to work out how much it would cost us for the new mats (if they were to be produced).

really looking forward to seeing these aggro squids... Lately all I've been seeing is timid ones... and those killing the livies are plentiful but hard as hell to get!

it sure is... Fished the Georges throughout my childhood, but after coming to Port Hacking for the first time ever, I have not gone back to fish at the Georges... Port Hacking, even if the fish aren't biting one can just sit back and enjoy the scenery, Port Hacking with its pristine blue waters, and hardly any rubbish in the water. Then again, there's always something to target for in the Hacking.

Hey mate it was great fishing with you today. Good job on ur first king, orginally thought you had caught kings before haha. Anyway hope to see you there again soon, really enjoyed your company. We can probably organize another day out soon. Lol btw we ended with 30 gars. got another squid on that homemade jag thing lol, a bit smaller than the first. Just before we left had a really big one come but it was too timid and let go too quickly. Can't beleive how many squids we lost total today.

great job on landing the surgeon, must have put up a great fight for its size.

Those frigates are really picky aren't they.... Just looking at Gymea bay.. I've been targeting them for weeks and haven't had a proper hit... I've had many looks at my lures but no go... Even tried very small poddy mullet and no go... Frustrating.