zephi

sounds to me like a squid did the damage there.

Yes for sure mono leader and braid mainline go together. Fluorocarbon is like mono line, except that it absorbs all the lights (sunlight wavelengths) and doesn't reflect the sunlight, so it is basically invisible in the water. It is also abrasion resistant and doesn't coil up as much as mono. It is a lot more expensive than monofilament, and definitely outfishes mono. You will find that a lot more pickier fishes wont touch mono lines, but may have a go at the fluorocarbon.

slimeys are pretty difficult to get, they aren't always there and sometimes they are too small or too big for bait. Currently there are a lot of tiny slimies around. They are not as visible as yakkas, and I agree that yakkas are here all year round. Only way to know if slimies are there is to berley up. Talking about Rose Bay wharf and the Hacking.

I would recommend some mono backing, even if it's only about 10 metres, that's enough to stop the line slipping. Mono has a lot more friction so it holds better. I wind up enough mono to cover the interior of the spool. Most people would use the "uni to uni knot". Basically any knot which involves a lot of wraps around the main line should be good enough for braid. Your current rig setup is fine for braid use. I would recommend a longer leader though (I find that a leader of about 1m is best for me). Sometimes I go even longer and use an arm span length. (Both arms stretched out). Braid is very visible to the fish compared with mono, so I would not recommend you to use it as leader. Also mono gives it a lot more stretch which may be enough to stop hooks being pulled out (mostly is in the rod and drag settings, but still a little bit of mono stretch does add up). Hope that helps

Found my reel for just under $200... but looking for a rod to accompany it.

im suprised you dared to walked into that water... especially up to your shoulders. Just makes you wonder what you will step on next...

ah good to hear most people ditch the sinkers. The last times I used a cuttle, I threw it out weightless, without a float and it didn't even get any touches. Eventually they died and still nothing would touch them lol...

Hey everyone. I haven't seen much info about using live squid, I fish mostly landbased, but on rare occasions I fish off a boat. Lately I've been getting really into squidding, but haven't caught any for livebait yet. I have caught and used small cuttlefishes with no luck yet. Here's the question, what rigs do you use to rig up live squid for landbased? If I were to use a sinker, doesn't this allow the squid to easily camoflauge on the bottom? which leads to no takers. Using a float will prevent the squid from being able to camo in amongst the bottom. Allows for a bit of swimming action, but is restricted to a certain depth. Is this a good way to present it? Alternatively IF I just cast them out using no sinker/float, will this be a better option allowing it to swim anywhere? Cheers

great to see that weed works. I've got that exact same weed at a local spot, and yet to try it out. Will be testing to see how it works in the Hacking and at East Hills next week when the weather improves.

mate, those are some nice catches. So many perfect bait sizes there. You probably caught the whole family there lol. Rarely see that many caught around the Hacking.

Keeping gars alive is really difficult due to their length... so can't simply throw them in a bucket or live bait tank. A lot of them die fast after hookup anyway. Livebaiting them, they're much more hardier than live pillies, but yakkas stay alive the longest. I have to agree gars are an excellent live bait. Just experiment, some days one fishes over the other bait. With no sinker they will be swimming around the surface of the water and live a lot longer. They start to sink down deeper when they begin to tire. Works well landbased. I've had some positive experiences using gars. Dead and alive.

Congratulations on getting your first kingy! I totally understand how you're feeling now. I only landed my first one a few months back, and I was acting almost the same as you lol. Had to let everyone know, and wanted to show my parents. They always say stuff like... " You will never catch anything with that large bait (livebait)". Looking forward to seeing the picture, and hopefully some measurements as well.

nice weird catches there. The excitement and joys of fishing, you don't know what you will bring in next.

Here's a picture of a pilchard. It's dead (for probably 2 hours), but it's not frozen yet.

Yeah, but it's not worth targeting them so upstream during the warmer months. I've fished that area a few times, and it's not very productive landbased for other fishes. Next winter I'm definitely heading to Picnic Point/East Hills for blackfish. After I get some time I plan to head down to Port Hacking with this weed and some others I've picked up before and try them there. If they're not biting, I can at least target some other species. Whereas upper Georges, it's quite limited to a couple of species of fish. I hope to see more of your blackfish reports though, might change my mind lol. IF I had any problems I'll send you a PM.

it's okay to take, but you run the risk of food poisoning if you eat it, that's all really. yes bag limit is 50. (Food poisoning is really rare, and it's due to toxins it filters out). The Georges river is quite polluted, and since they are filter feeders, it's best to avoid collecting them after heavy rainfall. If you're afraid of food poisoning, just don't eat too many cockles at one time, allow several day gap before eating them again. Give your liver some time to detox the toxins (just a precaution in case they are present).

that's a really great photo! looks amazing Would have been quite frightening to be broken down while that stormed moved in.

Thanks a ton for the heads up Smitty. I've never targeted blackfish specifically so it's good to hear that weed will work from someone who has proven success with it. Nice to hear those fish were caught so close to where I live. When do the blackfish stop biting up at East Hills area? (what seasons). Thanks for the info

how lucky for your son to be able to miss school to go for a fish. really nice trevally there!

Well I did say it was from a stream.. it's like one of those man-made open drainage systems, just locate the source of any waterway and you should find some. Got this in the Menai area, I had to go walk in the bushes to get it.

I know I'm a bit late to go blackfishing, but just yesterday I came across a freshwater stream, water source is rainwater. It was overloaded with green filamentous weed... I just want to know whether this weed can be used to catch blackfish. I read that a lot of people pick up their weed from intertidal creeks, and other brackish waterways. But have not read much about freshwater weed.. It looks really similar to some of the saltwater weeds. I want to test it out but I won't get a chance to for another 2-3 weeks time. So for the time being, I hope someone can give me an answer based on the info given here.

are you sure they were eating the oysters? or just sucking things up on the surface of them? They are probably mullet. Triangle fish.. maybe butterbream? or maybe sweep

It's a fish lice (Cymothoa exigua), they are quite common and don't affect the fish's meat quality at all. It looks disgusting but can easily be removed. Usually see them attached to the fish's tongue.

I like to use the slim beauty knot, the tags on the knot do not catch on to the guides during casting. Albright is good for your 20lb main to 40lb leader. I never really liked using double uni knot for leaders, it's okay for attaching the backing though.

well maybe that will lower the number of water skiiers in the Georges... It's quite interesting to hear about these shark cases in Georges, how they manage to survive etc.