Ron Howes

Had an early start with fishing buddy Poohbear first call was Chiswick where we landed four blackfish and dropping one trying to net him. At 9.30 am the fish had gone of bite as tide had been running out for 3 hours and water level was dropping. Shifted over to the Gladesville side of river, however, for the next 2 hours the tide was ripping and resulted in no bites as they would have needed pushbikes to catch bait.. Tide movement was 1.4m down to 0.2 m, not like last week of 0.8 m down to 0.5m. Berleyed heavily on last of run out and started getting a few fish, ended up with 3 and dropped 2. Still a most enjoyable session.

The greenweed is in the Lake going towards Rhodes near Powells Creek. I park in car park in Bicentennial Park at Victoria Ave and walk along path running parallel to Powells Creek going towards Rhodes till I come to the Lagoon in Mangroves which is chokers with greenweed.

On Sunday fellow fish raider Poohbear and I had an early session chasing the blackfish on the Parramatta River. A rich berley got them biting early on last of run out and for 4 hours on the run in. Greenweed was sourced from Bicentenary Park Homebush. Most of the fish were in the range of 30cm to 40 cm and a few small chats that were released immediately. Float selection played an important part of catching these fish as they bit very timidly cropping bait at bottom of hook without taking hook. Many a down without a strike. Howsy

Ryder This Harbour spot is certainly firing with quality fish around the 40 cm mark. Last Sunday we caught most of the bigger fish on cabbage at ferry wharf and on Thursday I fished there on my own from 10.00 am till 2.00 pm and caught all my fish on sheet cabbage and they would not touch the weed. Biggest was 42 cm. I read your Wednesday report about not using berley and found it was not a wise choice as I only had 4 bites for 4 fish in 4 hrs, however, the NE wind was very strong from 11.00 am onward and this may have contributed to the poor result. Howsy

Top result for your first trip to Tabbigai. Did you strike any of the big square mouth ocean blackfish? Did Royce make you hike in on old track behind refinery? How did your Mrs take being woken up at 3.30 am for you to go fishing, this pisses mine off big time. The harbour fired this morning with some quality fish just around corner from where you have been fishing lately. I started at a more leisurely time of 7.30 am and fished till 11.30 am, part of the run up and 2 hours of the run out. I also left them biting, only problem I had was keeping a bait on. I think the colouring of the water with the rain has helped , probably pushed them out of the upper reaches. Howsy.

Patients is something black fishermen develop over the years. Yesterday this spot fired early on run up. One of my fishing buddies caught one about 34 cm that a big jewfish must have savaged on way in as it was missing scales and had its tooth marks and blood over its body. I dropped a big fish also there. I have been letting them take the float down and waiting a while till they swallow it. Yesterday I was going to fish the run out after 5.00pm after my buddies left, however, they took all the bait and I was left with a half a bucket of berley that I placed in close where you caught fish last Saturday. I was thinking of you and your after 5.00 pm sessions as this hole was primed for your arrival. Howsy

Top report and I am glad you are sharing your experience with us all. I know you are enjoying your stay down under experiencing our variety of fish and locations. You truly are a fishing fanatic. Howsy.

What sort of rig were you using, did you put the yakkas out on a bobby cork? Sending them out on balloons has been popular down there.<br />Bass Point with its sealed roads and parking is a dream to fish now. I can remember 40 years ago when to access it<br />we had to open a metal wire covered cattle gate and drive through a private property over dirt road to get there.<br />There was no shade and on a hot day fishing for blackfish we would nearly cook.<br />Near entrance gate there was a tap supplied by a galvanised surface ran water pipe, you would turn tap on and<br />steaming hot boiling water would run out for 5 minutes till it cooled down.<br />The Shellharbour Pub was our first call on way home and that first schooner was like nectar from the gods.<br />This was well before the breathalyser.<br />Howsy

Friday Morning snuck down to a little spot on Parramatta River to try my luck on the blackfish for a 3 hour session. Had some beautiful Botany stringy weed and a good bucket of berley all prepared. The tide was just about an hour on the rise when I got there. Berleyed heavily till fish started to bite, the bites were on extended intervals, however I landed four blackfish and dropped two trying to lift them out of the water as my extension landing net was not long enough. I also caught a bream on weed. I have also attached a photo of a fish caught on Friday week on a black fishing session I had in lower harbour by a fishing buddy Jonno that I helped net for him. All the talk is 48 cm blackfish at Tuross, this is a 49 cm fish caught in the lower harbour.It was a horse) I have caught similar fish, long and thin at Bass Point but this fish was fat and I guess would have nearly weighed twice the weight of the fish I caught there. Too bad he is not a fishraider as it would be close to our current record. Howsy.

Top report and great fishing, the morning tide at low was 0.5 m (plenty of water)might be the reason the fish were there in numbers. I expected it to fire in the afternoon on the 3.30 pm high, how did you go on the afternoon run out tide?. That weed that Ryder supplied was top class, you certainly latched onto the right mentor. Howsy.

Top effort in that heat, dehydration is the biggest cause of strokes in over fortyish. I have been taking frozen bottle water and cans of drink to share around. Where are you sourcing your weed, on coastal rocks or the lagoon. The sun is killing my current source from Botany Bay and I will be lucky to get a handful of baits if this heat persists. However the weed I did get was some of the best weed I have used. Fish are not as prolific in upper Parramatta river as they were last week, we fished hard for half a dozen today. I dropped at least four and so did my fishing buddies. Howsy.

Top report Gianni, what bait were you using weed or cabbage, ? Were you still catching them an hour after the top when the 1.9m tide started to motor.? I noted today you would have had 2 hours of the run up till high tide, is this when most of your fish were caught.? Also what depth were you fishing.? and was the burley effective on the run out with movement of water or was it taking the fish away from where you were fishing.? Sometimes in these circumstances it pays to stop burleying. Days like you have had today excite most darkie anglers, savour the day as tomorrow you can fish the same spot at the same tide and they will be gone. Howsy

Gianne that is a stud blackfish, quite an exceptional catch and the harbour produces these some times. The adrenalin rush, when you get one like this on a light line is what most blackfishermen are after. It will take you years to better that beast. The best thing is to enjoy the fight and not skull it in till you have taken the fight out of him. I was silly enough to fish in that howling wind today at Chiswick (1.00 pm to 5.00 pm) with fellow fishraider Poohbear, landing a couple around the 32 cm. This is the first time I have nearly been blown off the stone wall by wind gusts at the ferry wharf. Howsy.

Royce, What side of Tabbigai did you fish, was it on the right of oil waste pipeline where the iron steps down to the mid-section ledge were once there, before being removed to discourage fishermen fishing this spot. This is where you can make your way down to water level. Years ago my brothers and I used to fish this every chance weather would permit. Walking around front of headland is pretty safe , however fishing Shaky the rock ledge and the horse shoe gutter is where most fishermen come to grief. Over from the horse shoe to the right is a small gutter that we used to call the Blue hole that we fished on an afternoon tide and the fish would only come in when gutter was in the shadows. The horseshoe and the blue hole is an ideal spot to use small bobby corks. Note:- My brother who has fished this spot a hundred times was picked up by a rouge wave well back from the horseshoe gutter and smashed into the cliff face rocks and broke his leg below knee and it swept him into gutter. He was lucky to get out as he was able to crawl up barnacle encrusted rocks in horse shoe gutter and was lifted out on a stretcher by police rescue unit. Lucky he was fishing with my brother and my brother in-law as they were able to assist and contact rescue crews. This spot requires life vests and should not be fished alone. Howsy

Arrived at Chiswick Wharf around 9.00 am an hour off high tide. First throw out I get a down and thought it was ferry wash dragging me under. Retrieved and found I was baited. The fish were on as I started landing fish without even burleying. After 3 hrs I had 7 in keeper and had dropped 4 where I could not lift them out of the kelp. These were big fish that would not come off the bottom and charged into kelp beds determined to escape. I had family plans for the afternoon and packed up at 12.00 pm with fish still biting. I was using some beautiful Botany weed collected from the upper parts of creeks running into the bay. One of my New Zealand friends asked me for a feed of blackfish so I bled and cleaned a couple to take home and the big females were full of yellow roe. I now feel guilty in not releasing these fish. Howsy

I think you are too early as I have prawned Revesby Beach at Cattleduffers Park on Georges River with a drag net from late November through to March with plenty of success. I have tried earlier in season like yourself and found the prawns are usually too small to stay in net. Late December when moon rises around 9.30 -9.45 pm on a hot night with run out tide has been my most successful time. Howsy

Nice effort in utilising time slots to do a bit of local fishing. These blackfish bite like no tomorrows some days, then on other days they just crop the bait, frustrating hey. This heightens the challenge. I sometimes shorten the trace or put on a lighter trace or put a tiny split shot 100mm from hook , decrease the size of bait, change my depth, and as a last resort put on a smaller hook . I am willing to do anything to outsmart these fish. Especially when you hook into a fish they are usually a good size fish in the Harbour.. Also, now is the time to blood those kittens on blackfish fillets. Howsy.

Top effort with quality fish, last week this spot fired in the morning on the run out with the small run (0.4m to 0.7m fall) in the tides mostly caught on local weed. I have seen plenty of good blackfish caught here around the 40cm and bigger mark. Good luck in fishing for your next outing. Howsy

Bruce, Glad to see you have not lost your mojo, blackfish have been pushed out of upper reaches of Georges by the big fresh, I believe that Como, Caravan Head Oatley Point and North in Georges are the areas that the fish have moved too. Last Friday I was over at Illawong at noon and a chap was fishing the weed beds just up from ferry wharf with two good size fish for the river in his Keeper Net. I also checked out Lambeth Park at Picnic Point and the water was yellow and none of the locals were fishing for blackfish there till fresh clears up. The botany weed is now plentiful in soccer field creak. They have been catching blackfish at wharf to right of Captain Cook bridge on morning tides this last week and I caught some on Thursday on the Southern side on an afternoon session fishing run out when predominantly it is a run in spot. Howsy

Early start to get 3 hours of the run up South of Harbour, Fishing was frantic as berley had attracted schools of big harbour blackfish. Tried fishing with a 2kg 3 foot trace which was a no-no trying to lift these monsters without a decent extension landing net and on my own (generated plenty of adrenalin). Lost more than I put in the keeper (with line snapping at knot of hook, expensive as hooks are $20 for fifty) or fish too big for this size nylon line, just could not hold them. I was using a new bamboo float that I made recently which worked exceptionally, First three bites, 3 fish. I ended up with 6 keepers in net, although I lost 4 out of keeper net when ferry wash pushed keeper up onto oysters on pillon and half hitch untied. A good lesson of not having too long a rope on keeper net. Some of these fish were well over 40 cm. All fish released at end of session. Hope to have another session tomorrow morning with a fellow fish raider. PS good Botany weed is now becoming available. Also there was a young chap fishing the wharf with white bread near me and he landed 3 x 34 cm bream and a blackfish at 33 cm. Howsy

Nice effort in the rain if you ventured out at daybreak and top of tide, I also was stupid enough to do the same on South side of Harbour and dropped two before 9.00 am( so much for blackfish biting on top of tide and just after daybreak), then I started to land a couple on run out and around the bottom of the tide. Around mid-day it started to fine up and bites started to come as fish moved in and out. The berley did not seem to hold them as bites were not consistent. I packed up at 12.30 soaked through and through, however, I believe I would have caught more if I stayed for the run up tide as I was committed elsewhere after an irate phone call from Mrs Howsy. Howsy

Awesome catch, Excellent eating this size, last time I've seen this many caught was when fishing with Gymea Tradies on a charter boat, in deep water just of Coledale. These fish must be one of the best looking fish in the sea. I also noted, at this time of the year there were hundreds of big squid in shallow waters around Port Kembla and the entrance to Lake Illawarra. Probably why the snapper are in close and around now. Howsy

Luderick fisherman, Thanks for sharing the design of your floats with me, as Poohbear said I was impressed. An excellent result with the blackfish you can certainly sniffed them out. Trying different spots with some local knowledge that suit certain tides and wind conditions certainly payed dividends. I left an hour after you and was going to fish Lambeth Park on the run out, however the wind got up and I decided to give it a miss.

Bruce, Enjoy the sunshine, and the wonderful fishing locations. We have been having a lean time with the blackfish since these horrible westerlies and southerlies have been blowing. The Georges River is a clear as a bell and the fish are scarce. I tried down at Como today at your favourite spot with four fish lucky to be legal. The river needs some heavy rain to colour and flush the breeders from the upper reaches. Howsy

I was tempted to fish Chiswick wharf myself today as the spot is well protected from south west wind. I perservered yesterday there, but my experience was the opposite to yours. First down was a 44cm fish that was caught in kelp. I was fishing the wall to the left of the ferry wharf and had to walk around to the ferry wharf and pull the fish out of the kelp. A chap on the wharf raced around and got my landing net while it seemed an eternity that I was holding this monster. We landed fish only to see that the hook was holding just inside eye socket and when strain on line stopped hook fell out. Fished all afternoon with that freezing cold westerly on my aching neck, and had two more downs , baited but no hook ups. Poohbear came down and hour later than me and landed a 40cm then a 46cm fish with a long time between drinks. The fish here are travellers and all the berley in the world does not seem to hold them there. I had a bucket of chopped up weed to a bucket of sand in berley. The greenweed I was using was probably the best I've ever used. Howsy.