ginko

Last night at north narra, right up next to the lake entrance, I landed no fish (a lone crab doesn't count). Big and small hooks, a lot of burley were no effect, even with a range of baits: fresh squid, mullet, yakka fillet, chicken, the crab, and then some pillies donated by a more fortunate fisho who had finished up for the night (thanks!). I arrived about 8:50 and just after hightide, and left just before midnight. Maybe I should've tried poppers!

I picked up a sambo from v close to the boat ramp at Akuna bay. (72 cm and a great fighter). The fish's colour was fairly greenish like the pic above, and not the normal salmon silver. There was a huge nasty gash across its back, probably from a boat's prop. Needless to say, it went back in. Since then, when I get there before dawn, I've seen quite a few sambos swimming around under the lights at the boat ramp.

I had a lightly weighted nipper on the hook at the time. The numbfish was jagged in the wing,and I got the rig back by just yanking it suddenly and fortunately the hook pulled out. The numbfish went straight to the sand under my tinnie and wiggled itself into the sand - it was completely invisible there, even from straight above in about a meter of water. It would be v easy to stand on one. Pity the dog!

Raiders, I hit the water early today, and started fishing for whiting at the edge of the sand flats on a rising tide. About three casts in, my line comes slowly tight and from the looks of it, I think I've caught a white plastic bag. But as I reel it in to the boat, the "bag" gives a bit of a kick. Not a fight really, but a pretty lame little kick, and definitely not from a plastic bag. As I get it closer, I can see the fish is flat, but not a flounder nor any ordinary stingray. Here's the result: a numbfish! This is actually the second I've caught in the system, the first was also near a sand flat. This one was after a nipper, and it had hooked itself in the wing. Thankfully, I managed to unhook it without incident. I've read of a fisho getting a nasty shock when he boated one of these, so I left mine in the water. I'm not sure if this one was pregnant, its belly looks pretty rounded. I was surprised to pick up two legal whiting today, and judging by the huge number of jellyfish clogging the surface in cowan creek - summer must be on its way.

I headed out early today, and hit a favourite point up the system from cottage point, where I've picked up some solid tailor on livies previously. Got there with no livies today, as there were none at the regular livie spot. After a bit of burley, the sounder was showing a fair bit of fish activity, but none were hitting the old pillies. On a whim I sent down my yakka rig with bits of pillie on the hooks. Sure enough, up come a few normal sized yakkas, and then this Super Yakka! 38cm! I remembered that some raiders had claimed they are great eating, so I'll find out tonight. The yakkas all disappeared at the high tide mark. No other signs of fish at all apart from spotting a flathead take-off when I drifted over a very shallow sand-flat at high tide. The water is extremely clear.

I hit Turrimetta beach before dawn (tide rising to full while I was there), but it was too clogged up with kelp to catch anything or to feel anything biting. There was no kelp at all up on the beach, but plenty in the wash. Perhaps the longer/more open beaches will fish better? There didn't seem to be any gutter at all, and the waves were breaking right up to the shore, and the cold called for two hats today

You can hire boats on the pittwater side of palm beach, just north of the ferry that goes to the basin and mackeral beach, and also further up - go to the north side of the golf course, there's a cafe and a boat hire place there. Don't count on these places having any bait though, I've found the freezer empty or with very old bait only. For livies, pill boxes is the go, but I don't think the rental places let you go out there, as the 6Hp motors would get you into trouble if the weather comes up or if there is a swell. They want you to stay south of mackeral beach. Try instead the north-west shore of careel bay - much less productive though.

It's great to hear of someone else leaving the best rod out while getting the boat organised before heading back to shore. More time fishing, less time at the boat ramp.

Ahhh! I had been looking forward to a good pre-work friday session off the beach (got a nice tailor last friday when I finally got the pillie out past some decent surf) - but damn! kids' event on at school this week. Before work! Why don't the teachers fish?

lighter... but more important, your mate was casting the bait right next to structure. I walk past a breakwall every morning, and on the rising tide, the biiig bream are right up at the wall. I mean eating oysters etc off the wall, so literally you'd want to cast on the wall itself to get their attention. If your bait is several feet from a fish, I'm not sure they're too aware/care it's even there.

Try bread under floats for mullet. I saw some guys there pulling them out one after another, perfect bait-sized. (south west side, in evening run out tide). They had about a meter of line under the float. I've tried for squid from shore under the bridge, but nothing yet. Maybe I need to try slack high tide for better results from shore, as the water near shore is shallow and too fast running at other times, and it is hard to cast behind the bridge pylons where the water might be flowing more slowly. Loads of baitfish also hiding under the marina wharf there most evenings (on the south-west side, on the southern side of the marina in the hole there), and down by sailing club at the south end of the beach on the south east side, at daybreak, rising tide. I even hooked (but didn't land) a flattie in the patch of water south of the marina on the south west side. A surprise for both of us.

!!! I think it was a cobia. See attached pic. The colours in the attached (from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f3/Cobia_at_New_England_Aquarium.jpg/180px-Cobia_at_New_England_Aquarium.jpg) are a really good match to the fish I saw, even with a black tail (although on mine the blackness extended more onto the body). Looking through the google image search, it seems there is a fair bit of variation on cobia's colouration as they mature. A quick search in fishraider has revealed a few catches in estuaries, lakes and even rivers, so they might be in Lavender Bay.

hmm, I think it wasn't a frigate makckeral - the shape was more close to a tailor - especially the tail. But the colour was different than tailors I've seen and caught - this was not the shiny green green of tailor, but more bluish green, and the back end of the fish was really black. (there was a clear line where the colour changed). I've been through my 420 page "Coastal Fishes of South Eastern Australia" and couldn't see any thing that matched the fish today.

While eating lunch, on a rising tide beside Lavender Bay, I saw a large fish, about ~60cm, green/bluish top, and very similar to a rat kingfish in size and shape. But the back 20% of the fish was jet-black, from about its anal fin backwards and including the tail. From what I could see, the bottom/front of the fish by its pectoral fins was the same green/bluish colour. It was zipping along, just like a kingie, hunting bait fish in shallow water, less than 2m deep. There were no others evident in the area. Sorry no pic - it only went by once. Any ideas?

I got busted off by something v big at the deep water at the sea-side of Jerusalem Bay - it was high tide, full moon, about 7am, water very clear and warm (24 degrees), and barometer was probably 1020. I was fishing about 2 meters off the deep bottom with good fresh squid on triple-ganged 3/0 hooks. At first I thought I'd snagged on something sticking up from the bottom because my line wouldn't budge, but then it started moving, then pulling, then took off for the horizon and pretty close to the surface. Reading the posts above, it seems I put the drag on too heavily too soon, and got busted off. But the thing was, throughout the fight the line was being pulled very very smoothly - when it first started moving I thought it was a ray, but the leader (20lb) had been neatly severed, about 10cm up from where the hooks were. The question is, was this a ray (smooth pulling) or a jew (right time, spot, and line breakage). Should I try the same spot next month?

Just walked past the very northern edge of Lavender Bay on the way to/from lunch - on a new moon's ebb tide (halfway out) and a big northerly blowing ahead of a looming southern change. On the way over to lunch, I counted 4 blackfish, 2 mullet, 4 garfish and loads of bream, all in the space of about 30meters of each other. On the way back, same count, and then was surprised by a pack of about 30 decent-sized kingies, coming in right up to the breakwall beside the main water taxi wharf - the water was easily less than a meter deep. They'd chased in some baitfish but lost them due the shallow water becoming filled with silt, but I could see the kingies clear as day. They circled around the wharves for about 5 mintues before heading back out to deeper water. Where was my rod!

Spotted this today on an auction website... classic! ____ One sunny afternoon I saw this boat sitting in a driveway not far from my castle. It looked sad and neglected, and without a motor I knew it was going nowhere fast. The old lady that I bought it off told me that the hull could take up to 60 horses and straight away I knew she was a liar. I could see that you would be lucky to fit one horse in it, maybe two Welsh mountain ponies at the most, but not 60 horses. I had no proof that the hull couldn't take 60 horses, so I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. I paid her good money for the boat and went via the local race track on the way home. I crashed through the rear gate with the boat in tow, and using a bag of molasses dipped carrots that I had prepared earlier, I attempted to lure 60 horses into the hull. One horse bit me and another kicked me so hard that I have a permanent good luck bruise on my right thigh. My fall to the ground scared the other horses, and I was trampled so badly that I ended up with my kidneys running away from the carnage. I brushed myself off and returned to my car, furious that I had been tricked. Later that night I returned to the old lady's house and cut down four of her 145 azaleas. I then crept inside her house and made her a cup of tea, putting the milk in after I poured the tea. Confident she would never lie again, I left her house, stomping on the head of her door snake on the way out. The boat sat in my driveway for nigh on half a decade before I decided to do something about it. I moved it into my backyard and it sat there for nearly two more weeks, before I moved it again back to the driveway. All the moving around meant that I had to replace the wheel bearings in the trailer. Not because they had worn out, but I couldn't stand looking like I was someone who had a boat which they never used. I moved the boat out onto the street and pretended to do some emergency wheel bearing replacements. All the passers by watched in awe as I managed to get my motorless boat back on the road again. And into my driveway. I looked around for an outboard to suit this beautiful boat but noticed that outboard motors were extremely expensive yet without good reason. An outboard motor is basically a lawnmower, spread over a larger area and with smaller blades and water cooling. I tried fitting my own lawnmower to the boat and despite the cheers and encouragement from those at the boat ramp, oars were the only thing that brought me back to shore. I kept searching for a suitable motor and eventually stumbled across the motor which is fitted to it. It was at an auction, sitting in a big crate when I walked past and stumbled across it. I thought, perfect, it looks big enough so I bought it. When I got the motor home I realised that I had bought an ex military outboard motor. Apparently the men, women and German shepherds in the military are so tough that they don't need electric start, oh no, even if the factory produced them with electric start, it wasn't for them. I mean who wants to be stuck in a river somewhere with 7.62mm rounds flying past while having the luxury of turning a key and motoring away! Obviously not the military. No way; these things are pull start. So with your shrapnel ridden good arm and your mine depleted missing arm, you have to pull start this thing with your ear. Fortunately the motors do start easily, despite pulling the cord is like trying to pull the wallet from an ice addict running away from you after your Christmas ATM withdrawal. These motors are also made to be put on and removed quickly, despite the fact that they weigh more than the Trike of Death with a full tank of fear. They also have what's known as a 'work prop', which as far as I can work out means that the boats with these motors are made for work, not play. I tried to take people water skiing, and despite getting off to a flying start the boat tops out at around 25 knots, leaving the water skiers to make small talk amongst themselves. Admittedly, 25 knots is less than what was in my fishing line after the first time that I used the boat. You will see from the pictures that the boat has no seats. When I bought the boat, it had back to back seats which I thought were completely useless. What point is there in having your friends look at the reverse of what you have already seen? I felt that the thing would be far better with something like a bathroom or kitchen instead. How wrong was I. I must have still been under the delusion that the hull could take 60 horses, so I had an architect draw me the plans for a blue and white ark with stables for 60 horses, a kitchen, bathroom and ex-military outboard motor. His plans were a disaster because they incorporated too much glass and all this energy saving crap that I didn't need. The military motor that is on it was never designed to be operated remotely, unlike most boats made after 1859. This motor was designed to always have someone at the business end for a real test of endurance. Firstly, you can't hear when people are telling you to 'look out', and they're telling you to look out because the bow is so high in the air that seeing anything in front while you're controlling the outboard is impossible. I thought of fitting a glass bottom just to see what's ahead, but decided that modifying the motor would be cheaper. The motor and the boat really are an odd couple: The motor was built in 1990 based on technology from 1950, while the boat was built in the 1970's based on what they thought we would be wanting in 1990s. Everything is so wrong. The upside is that if you remember to put the bungs in, the boat floats. The first time I took it out to try the new motor I noticed that the tide seemed to get higher and higher around the boat – and inside the hull. Fortunately, moving fast through the water has the effect of sucking the bilges dry so I kept motoring around for three days until I found the bungs, in the 'must not forget to put these in' section of my pocket. The boat isn't that slow. 25 knots on water is the equivalent of 128 km/h on land if you make a mistake during the conversion. It is fast enough to make it so hard for the developing barnacles to filter feed that they starve to death. The boat is so fast that that the friction between the water and the hull makes the ice in the esky melt. I had a mate try to catch fish using a lure behind the boat, but it was so fast that the lure jumped off his line and swam upstream to spawn. It is also extremely maneuverable, but not that you can control it. I tried lining it up with my trailer the other day, and no, unlike most people I actually back my trailer into the water – to the point that I need scuba gear to drive my car out. I spent about two tanks of fuel, or approximately 30 minutes, trying to get the boat onto the trailer. I couldn't blame the tides because it was in a swimming pool. I couldn't blame the wind, because I hadn't farted. It was just purely a possessed piece of equipment I was dealing with. When I went backwards, or as us mariners like to say 'astern', it didn't seem to matter which way the motor pointed, the boat just went in some other direction. At one point it levitated for an hour. I ended up getting so pissed off that I drove the boat out to the middle of the pool, swam to shore and let the elements and a tin of spaghetti put it on the trailer for me. I know that most of you would be now thinking, 'why is he selling such a good boat' or 'why am I reading this crap'. I understand your concerns. Let me put your minds at ease. I need a bigger boat. I need one that I can take my imaginary friends out on. I need a boat that I can sleep on without having my horseshoe branded legs hanging over the side for sardines to nibble on. I need a boat that will fit a horse, not just manure. The boat doesn't have navigation lights because the unpredictable steering would create such a dazzling light display that other mariners would think they were sailing towards the aurora borealis. It doesn't have a compass either, but at full speed the angle of the bow out of the water allows you to use the boat as a giant sextant, guaranteeing you end up where you hadn't planned on being. Without seats, there is room enough for plenty of life jackets. The life jackets can be used as seats, or you can eat them when you've been lost at sea in a small lake for over an hour. There is a windscreen which does nothing other than provide you with something sharp to hit your head on while trying to line the boat up with the winch on the trailer. Admittedly the boat would look crap without it, but honestly there is no benefit in having it. It has an anchor, but nothing to attach it to. Anyway, why would you need an anchor when you have a boat that you are so frightened of having to try to start again that you never stop. Although it isn't all that bad. I would compare this boat to bending over with a hangover. When I was young I was scared of water. Now I'm scared of boats. Boats to me are a bit like a broken arm: You always wanted the attention of having one, but once you have had one you wonder why you wanted one in the first place. I know they are fun, and can take your hook and sinker far further than you could cast them, but it's all the crap that goes along with boating that I can't stand. There is that whole boating thing that I still can't get used to. The fact that you have to wash your boat down every time you use it, and flush the engine with fresh water. Honestly, who would ever own a car if they had to take out all the seats and hose it down, before leaving it running in the driveway with a hose stuck up its exhaust for an hour? Boats are a joke. If you have one on a trailer, you have to fight with every person that's never put their car in reverse, let alone reversed a trailer. If you leave one in the water for more than a week, it grows enough seaweed and barnacles to keep a generation of Chinese alive for a century. I also hate how owning a boat suddenly sends your mind back 1000 years. You must talk in fathoms, knots, bearings and sing sea shanties. You have to get sunburned just to have a good day out, and if someone on the boat doesn't turn themselves inside out vomiting, then it just hasn't been a good day. There is also that mandatory requirement that everyone on the boat has to say 'now this is the life' at least once an hour, including the poor bastard that has just spewed up their undies. On the bright side... On the shady side, the boat floats. It is as agile as a drunken man negotiating the Swiss Alps in a shopping trolley. It has blue paint on the top surface, which means that when you are lost at sea, there is even less chance of being found. It has no electric start, so your limp-wristed mates are unlikely to want to borrow it. It has no seats, so there is more room for dancing. It isn't a bad boat, but I just don't like it. Further photos can be supplied on request, including photos of the boat.

I've also have had a few weeks of nothing of value at lower reaches of Pittwater. Just some "kelpfish" noted in my fish book as "small of size and poor of taste" - but this weekend I did pick up a few whiting on the sand flats around the corner from the basin, and also had a garfish bite and hold onto the bait until just out of grabbing distance. Using nippers as bait - and had no bites at all on anything else. The Whiting were only biting on rising tide, and shut down completely at high tide. Mostly undersized, but got 2 just on legal. The water was painfully cold first thing in the morning, but warmed up to 20+ degrees in the sun in the afternoon.

Nothing doing at flint and steel - I also had donut for two solid mornings' fishing recently, and no others were fishing onshore (they must have known better). I'd like to know what hoodlum's using for bait, because I had not a nibble on beach worms, pillies, bread nor SP's. There've been a few boats anchored about 50-100m off the point, but I've not seen anything come out of the water for them.

Good going to land some flatties from the cold water. I was at Flint and Steel for nothing today; not even flatties at my usual spot. Did land 4 blind sharks (one of them had cut off my line earlier in the day and came ashore on its second bite with the first hook & trace also in its mouth). They fight like a series of bad snags - just trying to hide in holes along the bottom and not much swimming or fun. Great little barks from them as they protested being ashore for a minute. But no other bites or even nibbles. I was the only one there all morning, apart from 4 boats catching nothing, so I guess that far down is shut down due to the cold water.