[Want To Take The Misses Land Base Fishing But Where]

I think Clifton Gardens is a nice place for a family to go fishing.

Enjoy your fishing picnic and I wish you luck.

Andy

[Attendees List Back To The Bay Social 2010]

I'm coming with some friends of mine.

See you there.

Andy

[Blooded 2 X Blacky Virgins...woooooohooooooo]

Wow, unforgettable moment for the whole family. Well done.

Andy

[Any Good Spots For Squidin]

Hi Teddybear,

I think La Perouse is a good spot for squiding too. If you need someone to accompany you just email me and I'll show you.

Happy squiding,

Andy

[First Rod And Reel]

I was cleaning out the shed the other day and stumbled across a rod bag right at the back hidden behind all my other garbage i opened it up and to my surprise found my first rod my parents bought me for christmas when i was 5 yrs old it was a little 6'6 butterworth dont know where the reel went but it was a small jarvis walker and i remember i caught my first fish on it which was an undersize flathead

how many other raiders still have there first rod and reel????

Bustoff

Wow, you should keep and look after it for its sentimental value.

It is priceless.

Andy

[Fisherman Are Everywhere]

Go watch this on your computer - All Raiders will be familiar with the general idea - but will it catch on in Oz ?

Only in Iceland !

Hi Martin,

A really funny way to celebrate goal.

I think their job is fisherman and their hobby is football.

I am still waiting for a bit warmer day to fish.

Andy

[Thanks Andy]

What a bloody marvellous thing this site is - you come to Oz, you know bugger all about how to fish out here, you join Fishraiders and post an appeal for a bit of a steer to get that first drummer, then this top bloke Andy takes me to a cliff top near Coogee and Bingo, JOB DONE

Most of my fish go back but not when I've winched a near kilo beauty half way up a bloody mountain, and anyway don't those Pigs taste good ! Can't wait to try again for a real lump from some of the other spots you Raiders have kindly suggested.

So Thanks Andy - I owe you one

It was a pleasure Martin.

Next month I will take you to a spot where we can catch big trevally, bream and whiting using yabbie if you are interested.

See you,

Andy

[Unusual Catch]

I forgot to mention that while fishing with slam354 for blackfish on saturday I noticed what looked like a piece of plastic floating in the harbour. On closer inspection it turned out to be a $50 note. We managed to coax it a bit closer, and as a few of you know, I've got a really long one so was able to net it (what did you think I meant)to safe ground. Agreed to share our catch, thinking who'd be silly enough to lose $50 in the water. At least it will help pay for some costly meter parking. Then, remembering that I'd used the ATM earlier that morning to get $100 (2 $50s) out and bought $40 of petrol, I'd thought I'd better check my tracky pockets. Only had $10 left. This is when we found out who'd be silly enough etc. etc. Felt a bit funny and wanted to prove that I had indeed made the withdrawal so used my mobile and made slam listen to my last ATM transactions. Not quite the same feeling as not having FOUND $50 as not having LOST $50 but in the end it was still our catch of the day!

SORRY NO PICS BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE.

I think for this Unusual Catch you don't mind telling me the exact spot, LOL

[In Search Of That First Pig]

Drummer are next on my list in the 9 month fishin adventure that I'm enjoying out here. I mainly fish midweek and often on my own so I'm a bit nervous about trying some of the ocean rock marks around Sydney for them like South Head or Clovelly. Anyone fancy showing me the ropes or suggesting a couple of spots inside the Heads where I could try for my first Pig without getting washed in ?

Hi Martin,

I would love accompanying you fishing at the spot I used to catch blackfish and drummer but safe even from a huge wash.

As a retiree I can fish any day but normally I refer to seabreeze website to get the right date and time for fishing.

I live in Kingsford and the spot is just 10 minutes away from my place.

Regards,

Andy

[What Type Of Line For Rock/surf Fishing?]

Targeting: Not really any fish specifically, probably do spinning, using sinkers & pilchards, live bait...an all around general fishing.

Rod Strength: 5-10kg

Both: Mostly rock fishing, but might use it occasionally from the beach.

That is like what I have been doing and I use 15lb monofilament as main line and 12lb fluorocarbon leader for rock fishing.

For surf fishing I can use the same line or instead of monofilament I can use braid at the same strength.

I use 4000 type reel only as the bigger the reel will be the heavier

Andy

[1st Bream On A Plastic]

flattys have gone real quiet rayr, went out again thismorning and didnt get a touch.

No wonder, the baro has been so low currently. Maybe we need to wait until Friday to get the baro back to above average.

Andy

[First Blackie From The Cliff]

you mite want to try bear island at la parouse ive seen alot of people catching loads of blackies there and the odd gropers

I think it is too risky to fish blackfish at Bare Island, La Perouse as the big swell can come to wash you out to the ocean anytime.

Thanks anyway for your advice.

Andy

[First Blackie From The Cliff]

You can get good pigs from there in the cooler months. If you are going to fish for black fish you will need to get an Alvey or similar. Just winch them up. it will also help with the drift control of you float.

Thanks for your advice. I've got one Alvey reel model 600B, will it be enough to do the job from the high cliff?

Cheers,

Andy

[First Blackie From The Cliff]

I have been trying to catch blackfish using standard fishing technique for blackfish as described in the articles for months with no avail.

This morning my friends and I went to South Coogee fishing from the cliff.

It was cloudy and a bit shower, running in and barometer was rising from 1016 to 1020

Today I caught my first blackie 37cm using big float on white bread.

I used a whippy rod 12ft long, 4000 size reel, 12lb main line monofilament with 10lb 50cm fluorocarbon leader.

I thought either the rod or the line might get snapped as the blackie ran like a torpedo sinking to the bottom of the ocean at a 40meter deep cliff. But I managed to tire the fish as I did not lock the reel drag that what I learnt from this helpful website.

When I managed to pull the fish out of water, I got another problem winding the reel. I had to get my friend to pull the line while I wound the reel handle.

Another 20 minutes I caught the 36cm black trevally, but this one fought a bit lighter.

I’ll try to attach the picture.

Andy

[Cooking Tip]

I have just attended a BBQ cooking course at the Sydney Fish markets (birthday present from the wife & kids), and picked up a useful tip.

When cooking fish in aluminium foil on the BBQ (also apparently the foil should be shiny side up so the heat is not reflected), place a sheet of baking paper on top of the foil before adding the fish & wrapping it up. This stops the fish sticking to the foil and helps retain the juices.

Thought I'd share this with you all.

Cheers,

Instead of using baking paper you can use banana leaves, it will provide you a nice flavour.

Cheers,

Andy

[Botany Bay And Coogee 11-11-09]

What a nice day you got, thump up!!, but make me jealous.

[Little Head!]

Hi raiders,

went to the little head today. I checked wave height, wave period and wind.... it is a windy day but I wave was not high so, decided to go to the little head this monrning.

firstly, I were fishing with running rig to catch any fish on the bottom of reef.... had no luck at all! it was a bit lucky that I met a rocking fishing experts and he suggested me to do float fishing. actually I caught my first drummer last sunday by float fishing at Redhead. ok... I trusted him and changed my rig and casted about 10 metres. snap! I caught something! soon as landed, I found that I caught my second drummer! have not measured but I think it is about 32cm! I was wondering if there is any luck today more but, that's it... I caught a few little blue eye cod after but too small to bring it home!

next time, I will start with float fishing to see if there is my luck.

regards,

daehee

ps) does any one win this year Melbourne Cup? if you won, congratuation!

That was a nice catch. What bait did you use mate?

Cheers,

Andy

[Broken Guide]

hey ,

i've have cracked the ceramic guide inside the metal ring, can you replace this part only or do you have to change the whole guide?

One of my beach rods got the same problem and I did replace it using araldite to attach the ceramic to the metal ring, it was a few months ago and I have no problem with it now.

Hope it answers your question.

Andy

[Harbour Pier Fishing]

hay guys decided to not sit at home and let the weeknd pass without wetting a line so i decided to battle the conditions and go have a cast at my favourite peir started off picking my mate up and headed in about 430pm arived and decided to try for some squid ended up catching a few arrows perfect bait size.. with the low pressure system around i wasnt thinkn many jews would be roaming around so decided to cut a few up for bait and keep some for next session so few went into zip lock bags...

was slowing down on the squid so decided to start with some baits after about 930pm landed a few really small yakka's size of pilchards so out one goes for a livie, about 1030pm 12ft rod zzz stop zzzzzzz stop come on run!!! nothing, spewn missed it... wind it in having only 1'' of yakka left on was spewn so decided to put out a whole squid, half an hour later im on nothing heavy on the end ended up landing a 49cm tailor which i was happy to catch anything in the winds, my small bream rod went off as i was chating to my mate deciding if we should pack up and call it a night, with only 4lb line and 4mt of pier to try and land a fish i was thinkn im gona loose this fish ended up being a nice 33cm snapper which i thought was to small to take home so let him live another day first legal snapper this year even though i havnt really been targeting them. water temp was really low i think around 14.5 so im thinking next weeknd i might be heading to stockton beach for long weeknd to score some tailor whiting and salmon bream of the beach.

moral of the story u can still catch fish in such crapy conditions if u are a crazy fisho like me

No wonder your interest is fishing 24/7 :

[Not Many Blackies Around]

Hi all

I have been a bit quiet on the 'fishing reports ' over the last few weeks - I haven't had the yak out for a while & have been hitting the breakwall & wharves & jetties for some blackies with very limited success!

I enticed Chopper75 out on the odd occasion, trying to get him into some fish, but it was not to be!! We tried weed & cabbage & cabbage & weed .... to no avail! A few locals have caught a reasonable bag of fish now & then, but it has virtually taken all day to do it!

My snorkelling buddies tell me that there are stacks of big blackies hanging off the headlands, waiting to enter our system! Bummer!!!

You can see them, but they are not biting! Grrrrrr!

Ah well - that is why they call it fishing, not 'catching'!!

Cheerio

Roberta

If truth be told ...... I have been having a spring clean at home! YUCK!!! Soap & Water!!! Wash your mouth out!!!

Hi Roberta,

If the guru hasn't been catching any decent fish recently no wonder for the newbies like us.

Well it is only about the time sooner or later they will come.

At least you have got time to do cleaning at home.

Cheers,

Andy

[Toothy Critters 2]

I noticed how my original thread "Toothy Critters" (over a year old now) has had nearly 10,000 hits so I thought I'd revive it.

To start it off, here is an innocent looking little fish ...

However, check out his "chompers!

These Ocean Puffer Fish or Green Toads can bite through anything! They are easily as bad as leatherjackets. They can cut through 50lb braid like it was cotton!

Line snipping ... puffy faced ... toothy critter ... little buggers!!

Cheers

Peter

Add some more photos of any "Toothy Critters" you've caught.

Hi Peter,

Nice pictures, no wonder your first hobby is photography. Then fishing is your second?

Cheers,

Andy

[Blackfish]

Shame you didn't get any 'downs' Andy - don't forget to try different depths, in close & further out, as well as trying both cabbage & weed!

The closer in you are, normally, you need the float to be a bit 'higher'. The further out you go - you can go deeper! If your float lies on its side, you know you are on the bottom & need to adjust the float to be shallower!

They can be finicky critters!!

Don't give up on them tho - they are there!!!

Roberta

Thanks Roberta for your precious advices.

This morning I went to the same spot but it seemed the water was too clear as I could see the bottom and the swells were not big enough. I casted several time into the eddies but I got no response so I gave up.

As I checked the seabreeze website that the barometer/air pressure graphic was flat though high enough.

So many variable conditions that influence fishing. Perhaps this is the way how the nature keeps the fish from extinction.

Anyway I will never give up as this is the only activity I love.

Andy

[Drummer Oh Drummer]

Got to the same spot at 6.30 this morning but the sea was flat.

Anyway I couldn’t stand trying to beat the drummer with my heaviest gear I own and using better hooks.

This time I didn’t forget to bring my camera as suggested by Roberta.

But after about an hour not a single bite or even a nibble I got, so at 7.36am I packed up and headed home with NIL. No chance to revenge

[Drummer Oh Drummer]

well done for getting amongst them Andy...

my cuz used to spew when i mixed bread into the burly as when fishing light for blackies and the pigs turn up its usually a one way affair...

i usually have a pig stick for these situations with min 20lb - 30lb mono on alvey 650.. xx - xxx mustad hooks on an appropriate rod...

this is still not enough in some situations as they dart back into caves/kelp etc...

awesome fun but have to watch footing as my mate got dragged in as he was battling a big bruiser back in the early 90's..

its very addictive fishing for pigs..

cheers...steve....

Thanks for the comment.

Ya, it was pretty awesome fun and tomorrow morning I will try again to beat them.

Wish me luck.

Cheers,

Andy

[Drummer Oh Drummer]

Trying to catch blackfish at South Coogee using bread this morning ended up with getting busted off by 3 big drummers.

First one broke my hook.

Second one broke my leader.

Third one I might have torn the drummer’s lip as I locked up the reel drag

I could feel how tough these fish were as when they were pulling the line and bending my rod I was unable to wind my reel at all.

All has made my spouse excited and asking when we would come back with the heavier gear.

I said I will return!!!

Andy