jewnut

very diplomatic words there Jewel as annoying as it is its not worth ending up in strife over. ive gone out to the valiant wreck off the hawkesbury a few times and either had the dive boat there or pull up while weve been fishing and spoilt everything although i believe the buoy there belongs to the dive operator. Having said that, if the cut my anchor rope then id be back with a longline of 10/0s

reds on plastics would be unreal!! ive only ever landed 1 legal red from flint and steel. a good red is on my list after i finally (maybe) get my jewie. Just curious loomy, what sort of boat do you guys fish out of?

now thats a feast fit for a king, well done what waterway do you fish on the mid north coast?

nice work there clutch, youd just about be front page news over here with those snapper, nothing to sneeze at

well said, an absolute tradgedy to lose your life whilst doing the best thing of all although i never fish the rocks myself i feel it should be mandatory to wear a lifejacket at all times off the stones, may well have saved their lives...

Fabulous job mate, love the chequerplate C/Cs are just the best fishing platform, cant wait to get one myself.

cheers John will look into it, thanx for that info and ill let you know what happens.

Hi raders, i need to service my boat and was wandering if anyone can recommend a good place who services Mercruiser sterndrives. The dealer i have used for the past couple of years has been good but too pricey I live in the Parramatta area and will be willing to travel a bit to get a good honest service, im not after a cheapie service but feel i get overcharged where i normally go. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

i cant seem to escape the little blokes at most spots in the Hawkesbury from Berowra Creek up to Juno. I have been getting them as bycatch targeting jewies on squid baits, 6/0s and 40lb mono trace. Ive encountered 3 hammerheads, about a dozen whalers plus the usual Port Jacksons and shovelnoses.

Awsome stuff South West Rocks ROCKS!! Ive been dreaming of going there since the first time i read about it years ago. Well done and top pics

I love your way of thinking Bluecod.

Sounds like a plan Eel, i share your pain, ive lost my share of big ones...my luck is truly rotten on the big guys, i lost a good fish only last week as i reported. I think i know who your talking about (the guys who caught those two big fish, is your mate Simon?

very similar to jjsydneys post you may wanna have a look there. For what its worth id go the Etec.

thanx eel, thats well within reach on the Hawkesbury...ill race you to it

just curious, anyone know the Aus record for Jew?

All the species youve mentioned are available from the whole strectch of beach, just look for the gutters. Ive only ever had two sessions on the jewies and struck out but i have seen three caught personally with the biggest about 25kg caught by a couple of Indian blokes fishing for tailor with ganged pillies!! Its one of the best beaches for big jewies and monster whiting. Live worms for the whiting and squid, or fresh fish fillets (tailor, salmon etc) for the jews. Theres no reasons why SPs wouldnt work. good luck

Now thats a first!!! Ive probably caught hundreds them over the years (along with eels and rays) on all sorts of baits but by far and away ive caught most on prawns while targeting bream around the bridges and upstream from there. Normally you'll know if theyre around quickly and once you catch one they just keep coming They fight like a wet sock, look like a turd with whiskers and pinch hard earned baits from the good species. But hey, if you really want em go for your life, good luck with your mission Now that i think about it ive only caught maybe three this year so it seems theyre not around in plague proportions at the moment ( i know, ive just cursed myself and will probably bag out on em next trip) P.S, while your at it you might just get lucky and score yourself some of the million and one eels in the river

glad to hear you got into a few, and yes i agree that the fisheries policing is a joke, surely they would be patroling the waterways alot more during summer checking catches but sadly not, i havent seen a fisheries boat on the Hawkesbury for months.

well done Brett, keep the reports coming mate Empire Bay is my favourite shore based spot of all. Have caught good whiting and bream and its a beautiful spot.

My boats not named but the previous owner made up a stroker name out of the rego and i hate it but dont have the balls to change it just in case...

First up i dont have a four or direct inject two stroke but have been in boats with both but in my opininion i would go DI 2stroke. As youve said, you have a heavy boat and the fours simply cant match the grunt of a two. I had the pleasure of riding in (and briefly driving) a brand new Seafarer 6.2 with a 200 Etec on its arse and this thing was an animal. Holeshot was brilliant and throttle response was that instant youd be overboard if you werent holding on. They are quiet (not quite as quiet as a four, the Suzis in particular are virtually silent) and are just as good on fuel economy plus you get the added bonus of the 3 year non servicing with the Etec. Having said that, Greg Joyes has ditched his Yammie HPDI and opted for twin 140 Suzukis on his new boat and he loves em so i guess its really personal preference. You will read good reviews on both engines and it will be confusing but an Etec would be my choice. Best of luck with whichever you choose, either option will be a big improvement

Gday Moonlite, nice fish there mate That 18kg job needs a Jenny Craig diet, thats one big mumma Did you spend your holidays on the Hawkesbury?

Thanx for the kind words fellas, like i said im never one to complain after a days fishing and just getting out and relaxing is truly a pleasure for me but that Jew has plagued me for so long its seriously disturbing but ive been so close and at it for so long theres no way im about to give up now. Trouble, nice to meet you too mate, that was my mates boat and his friend, had i been on my boat by myself as i often am i would have happily asked you guys to come out with me. You did the right thing coming back in which is so hard to do We were out last week in the same boat, launched at 6am, motor statred on the trailer fine, launched only to have it cut out as soon as i put it into gear...spent the next three hours trying to get her going then drained the battery and had to head home.

Hi fellow raiders, Fished my beloved Hawkesbury today with a couple of mates out in search of our long overdue Big Jewie. Just for the record, ive been chasing that elusive big one for seven years(no bull) and while ive caught heaps my biggest to date is 10kg. Now im not complaining but to not have cracked a big one (20kg+) in countless trips is heartbreaking and haunts me everyday...anyway we launched at Brooky at about 7am, recognised a members boat (Trouble) pulling his boat out as we launched and found out they had engine trouble (hopefully nothing major guys). Motored out to and decided to head downstream to my favourite spot and was thrilled to have the place to ourselves. Conditions were brilliant with overcast skies and just light drizzle, bait jumping around the place i was confident of a good day. Armed with fresh squid and prawns we deployed our baits. Sipping on our first coffee one of the bream rods goes off big time so i grabbed the rod, set the hook and passed it on to my mates friend whos a first time fisho and he proceeded to pull in a fat 36cm bream...great start I kept telling my mate that things looked great and were ideal for a jew. Over the next four hours they had a ball with constant bites on the prawns which ended up seeing 6 beautifully conditioned brem ranging from 26-36 cms and two flatties at 42 and 55cms on ice. While all the action was going on i sat and watched our 3 jewie rods, changing baits as they got picked to death by the little tackers. One finally managed to find the hooks and in came a 40cm baby jew (the river is full of them at the momoent which is great to see). Even though the boys were catching fish my mates friend was coping to well with the rain (we fish out of a centre console) and wanted to move under the bridge but being the kind bugger that i am i talked him into just ten more minutes as the tide was stil nearing the end of its run and i was still confident. Sure enough, after 5 hours without a solid bite the outside rod doubles over. I nearly ended up on my face as i hurdled the seat to get to the rod. I grabbed it out of the holder as wound as fast as i could as the fish was swimming towards the boat and my heart was shredded yet again as i lost all wight on the line. $&!#...*^$%...@&%$...*&^%...i was devistated. I wound in the line and saw my squid mashed up on the line The problem was the fish hit the bait and ran straight to the boat therefor not taking drag so the hooks didnt set. I was burning as it was definately a solid fish. We fished on for another half hour nothong and with us all well and truly wet we headed for the ramp, the boys content with their catch and me left cursing another missed opportunity. Ive now lost 8 big fish over the years and am truly convinced someone has a hoodoo on me... so if you know who it is please tell the to get rid of it, ive suffered long enough