Berleyguts

Well, some lucky people, Jeff, seem to have inside knowledge of when these species are about to arrive on the scene and can place themselves in the right place at the right time to snare the bigger specimens, don’t they? 🤪😂

Great stuff, Ron. I’m surprised you didn’t use an ANSA C&R mat, though. 😉 How would it work on deeper bodied fish, like snapper?

The strict bag limits now being imposed may save them. We need to see the baseline data though.

I don’t think I have ever missed a gaff shot. 🤪

I haven’t seen signs of it. The ramp photos are courtesy of my local tackle store. I am not leaving home other than for essential reasons, such as this morning’s “hunting and gathering” session, where I captured a species that has long been on my bucket list (see my post in The Bar) 😂 and a lightning fast trip to Bunnings this afternoon to get some wintergrass killer and lawn grub killer, as I noticed both impacting on my new lawn.

No. Now I can be “going” HERE! 😂

Lure I guess. A big silver teaser with green trim, fully sanitised upon entry to the area. Then a small amount of scent was added in the form of full cream milk (also hard to find at times), a small amount of liquorice and some Metamucil. These last two items I will now be able to consume in accordance with my healthy eating/weight loss program, having found my bucket list species. 😂In reality, though, I guess this was by catch as I fully wasn’t expecting to come across it on this latest hunting and gathering expedition. 🤔

I went on a hunting and gathering mission in Port Stephens this morning. I had heard the odd report of this species about but I have not seen one for a long, long time. The story has always been the same - “You should have been here yesterday, mate!”. 😞 Finally, however, I had some success! I manoeuvred my way cautiously into the area, not wanting to draw attention to anyone else that was around. I had the area to myself! 😎 I approached from behind and managed to snare him with a short battle and minimal resistance. Woohoo! I took only what I needed. I am so pleased with my capture! Details below: Location: not far from the Car Park, Port Stephens. 😉 Method: sight casting Species (scientific name): toiletpaperus almostgoneus

Port Stephens Council has officially closed all public boat ramps in Port Stephens LGA. These photos taken at Little Beach boat ramp today. Please stay home people. Stay safe. Stay well. The Port Stephens area has a high population of elderly, high risk people. There are now 30 confirmed COVID19 cases (as at 8:30pm 31 March) in the area. 9 in my postcode 2315 (Shoal Bay, Nelson Bay, Fingal Bay, Corlette), 7 in 2316 and 4 in 2317. Please be sensible.

No. Haven’t seen it gazettes yet but it’s on various FB pages from a number of MPs, I thought I saw a post from the police (still looking for it) and it was just announced live by Chris Reason on Channel 7 news.

Re your question. I always use stabiliser. Every time I fill up. Apart from that, as it has now been confirmed by various members of parliament in NSW and the police, fishing is now considered “passive exercise” and is allowed, as long as all other restrictions, e.g. social distancing (1.5m apart and 4 sq m per person), gatherings of 2 or less only, and no unnecessary travel. IMO, that means you should only be able to fish in your immediate local area only (yes, I know that’s easy for me to say, considering where I live!). Having said that, I am very considerate of Marine Rescue’s request for us to not go boating, in case we need assistance and put their volunteers at risk. If I get through the looong list of things to do that my wife has left me, I may pop the few hundred metres down the road and have a flick off the beach. I might even get the fly rod out - the way I throw that fly line around, people will need to keep at least 10 metres from me! Forget 1-5m! 😂 I might take my new kayak for a short paddle (haven’t tried it yet). Failing that, I’ll probably clean the inside of the boat, perhaps polish the outside, flush the outboard and run it for a while, maybe paint the Minn Kota where the paint has worn off, tie some rigs, repair some rods I’ve put aside for later. Things like that. Stay well everyone.

I use a clear juice bottle with a diagonal cross cut in the side, then push those flaps in. This side then becomes the top. A snapper sinker to weigh it down a bit, maybe tie it off on a beach rod holder, add a little bit of white bread and that’s about it Ron’s @campr Kelly rig is worth a go, too.

Cracker fish! Well done!

I’ve been salary sacrificing super for a very long time. 😉 It goes up and down and recovered somewhat yesterday. I have a moderately conservative strategy after being stung during the GFC by AMP. I was looking forward to an early self-funded retirement. I’ll just have to put it off for a while. Should be OK, thanks. Gotta keep smiling!

Yes, Neil, and I’m lucky I still have a job! Not so lucky I have lost $80k off my super so far though! Looks like retirement will have to be deferred and I’ll have to ride it out! I reckon we’ll be in total lockdown by Monday...

Yeah, I’m a bit dirty about that! It’s supposedly about keeping visitors out and from people coming into close contact at the ramp and cleaning tables etc. So? Allow ramp access to local residents only and close off all cleaning tables. Which is riskier? A few hours fishing solo at sea to gather some fresh fish to feed the family, or running the gauntlet daily at the supermarkets and co-op? I might have to make some calls and get a temporary berth down at my local marina! Lake Macquarie Council hasn’t deemed it necessary to close ramps but Port Stephens Council has? I’m sure local fishos will remember this, Mayor Ryan Palmer, when the postponed council elections come around in September 2021.

If you troll around Lion Island at about 5.5 - 6 knots, keeping about 50 metres out, you should pick up some bonito. I like the Rapala XRap Magnum 15 in ghost white but the old red head and Xmas tree lures work too. I used to always pick them up out the front of the island, just watch the waves. Basically, when you see the bait on your sounder, count to 10 and expect a hookup. 😉 Trolling from Barrenjoey headland down to Whale Beach or Avoca always got me a few, too. 😉 Good luck. There used to be a very good article on this type of sportfishing in the forums somewhere. I can’t remember who wrote it but it helped me greatly.

Biggest ‘hoo I’ve seen was estimated over 85lb on 20lb line off Narooma in the early ‘90s. I traced it and before we could get the gaff in, it dived under the boat and the wire trace snapped on the keel. 🤬 I felt so sorry for the angler!

Yes, from memory, that emperor tasted alright. I think I’ve told the story of the fin in SWA before. I rowed the punt there from Dolans Bay, working with the tide and I’d anchored up to have some lunch and clean a few fish. A shadow came past at speed as o was cleaning a bream over the side and scared the bejeeseus out of me. When I realised what it was, I threw it pillies and yakkas to keep it around. I kept getting showered with water as it broke the surface. I only had a 4kg threadline outfit and I was trying to work out a strategy for what I’d do if I hooked up. I tied a milk bottle (can’t remember why I had one!) off on the anchor rope and was prepared to cut the rope and get towed around Port Hacking! 😂

I caught a spangled emperor in Port Hacking near the Ballast Heap once. Same season (early 90s) I spotted a yellowfin tuna (estimated 40lb +) in South West Arm. I basically hand fed it pillies and yakkas from my 10ft punt but it wouldn’t take a bait with a hook in it.

All well deserved indeed! Congratulations one and all!

Thanks Jeff. Yeah, I thought I swung wide enough as I usually try really hard to avoid driving over my drift but when I looked back on my track on Navionics (which I probably wasn’t watching close enough), I was all over the place! I noticed my drift was a bit weird, too and changed a few times.

Great report! Bad luck about the big girl. ☹️ I decided Environets were too small. I have a large knot less net that is still fish friendly and really doesn’t take up too much room in the boat.

Well, I reckon Scratchie would have heard me several times! I didn’t hear him! 😂

Good on ya Jeff! It was nice to bump elbows at the ramp (no handshakes). You had a much better day than me! I had a day full of tangles, which really slowed me down re-rigging all the time. 🤬 Firstly, a couple of slimies made a mess of my bait jigs. Then, secondly, what looked like a moray eel absolutely destroyed my paternoster. Then, thirdly, I got a knot in the braid on my plastics outfit, so had to strip line off and re-tie the leader. So, I didn’t get in as many casts with the plastics as I’d have liked. 😞 I found a lot of bait early and it looked promising when I saw reds to an estimated 40cm swimming amongst the bait underneath my boat. I only got a couple of hits on the plastic, got a plate sized snapper on bait (perfect size for a whole crispy skinned snapper recipe I want to try), and three nice flathead 40-45cm, which my son will devour. I had two bridled live slimies bitten off behind the head. Talking to you back at the ramp, @Scratchie, you said snapper’ll do that, so maybe it was reds. The same thing happened two weeks ago and I thought it was a shark but, thinking back on it, I did see a large pinkish shape that might have been a big red (I ruled it out at the time as it was on the surface). Successful or otherwise, it was still great to be out on the water on a beautiful day. I didn’t think about the current health crisis once but I did enjoy my brief period of self isolation. 😎 I hope to do it again soon. Looks like you and I get the same second Friday off, so see you out there, Jeff! 😉