tide'n'knots

Hi nanook, a couple of half decent blackfish there too! well done mate!

you are the king guru!!!! your on fire. I had no idea there were that many large kings in b/bay. Obviously there is but only 1 person seems to know how to catch them!! Im glad the king social is not botany bay - the rest of us wouldnt stand a chance. I reckon you would have about 50 boats following you with binoculars!

not going anywhere over christmas - too much work on, but no doubt the hawkesbury will cop a flogging from me and hopefully a couple of harbour sessions. Pete.

they are called soapys because when they are small their flesh is vey soft and mushy and they are like eating a cake of soap! as they mature their flesh firms and they become nice eating. They start to become better eating at around 45 - 50 cm and by the time they get up to 65cm they are spot on! I have eaten them up to 25lb and every one was scrumptious. I dont know what you guys are doing as far as cookong them goes but if you roll them in flour, dip them in egg and crumb them, then fry them in olive oil you will never complain about them again I promise. As for the parasite in the flesh - It is a common occurence in jew, they get a worm in the flesh that is harmless and tasteless to humans once cooked, almost all jew have them- nothing to worry about!

what about the awesome puffer fish!

I caught a 25lb jew on 10lb line in may this year and the memory is still burned into my brain. It was bottom of the tide right on the turn, the boat was facing sideways because there was no current so i cast the line out toward the middle of the river and about 1min later I had a touch, similar to a good bream the rod slowly bent down and I lowered the tip to give it line then struck hard expecting a good bream, you can imagine my surprise when I hooked up! Because there was no current for the fish to run with, it didnt take any real long runs ( maybe 50 metres or so is all) but it did swim around the boat 4 times and turn the boat around in a circle twice. For a long time 15min or so it would take about 50metres then I would gain 50metres then it would take 20 and I would gain 20 and so on .It took about 1/2 hour to finally land it. By the time I landed it the tide was just starting to move in slowly. That fish was my pb and 3 days earlier at the same spot I caught a 22lb jew which at that stage was also my pb. the 22lb jew was caught on 15lb line and took a similar time to land but that one had the advantage of using the current as well. Pete.

hows it going neighbour! Mate I only ever use witches hats ( the net type with a round ring on the bottom) and I have caught both blue swimmers and muddies, I find they work quite well. The only drawback is that the muddies can tear the net a bit but they are fairly cheap to replace and you can usually do some running repairs with a bit of fishing line. Give us a bell and I will tell you some areas in the hawkesbury where i have caught them. Pete.

Matt the trouble with burley in the hawkesbury system, and I am assuming pittwater would be similar, is that the tide can fairly belt in and out at times and if burley is being used at these times it is basically a waste of time. 1 hour either side of the turn of the tide is about all the time you get, unless you are in some backwater somewhere where there is little current. Try drifting from the beginning of the rocks on the ocean side of patonga towards lion island aprox 50meters from the shore, this area normally produces good flathead, and tailor also at certain times. tight lines. Pete.

hi byron, Sorry to hear that you have had so much trouble here, I have fished here on lots of occassions and never had a problem with the anchor and I cant remember ever getting snagged on the bottom???? caught lots of good bream there though! perhaps I may be fishing the second pylon! oops! from memory I think there is a pylon almost on the shore and another slightly farther out, I imagine in close would be a nightmare. Pete.

perfect eating size mate - yum! Well done. Pete.

yeh mate my downrigger is homemade - a bomb with a clip attached tied to venetion blind cord on a short stocky rod and an old large reel to wind it up and down, so not super expensive but nether the less still would have to be replaced if I lost it. If it were a shop bought one, I would have had a heart attack from stress!! As it is the rod holder set up at the back of my boat has 6 rod holders and has to be all pulled apart and rebuilt - more of a pain in the butt than expensive. Roberta probably can remember the setup I have, it worked great, unfortunately it just wasnt designed to take that sort of pressure - boat pulling one way, and the downrigger pulling the other way. pete.

I dont catch the squid, I find the frozen stuff works just as well, although other people would disagree, the trick is to make sure the squid is white in colour not pink. The stuff I mainly use is in a blue box, LUNDS calafornia squid. IT can be bought at some supermarkets and most good bait shops, it is acually for human consumption so it is always in supreme condition and snow white. trust me if there are jew where you are fishing they will eat it just as readily as a fresh squid. Personally I would rather eat the fresh squid myself! As for spots to try, the rail bridge is worth a go for bream and the odd jew and flattie. Fish the first pylon out on the brooklyn side, you will see a cutting in the rock on the shore, cant miss it, like they made a mistake when they built the bridge, anchor in front of that and fish back toward the pylon with pillie pieces and yabbies if you can get them or prawn for good bream and flathead, a big bait such as a full squid or a big mullet or tailor fillet here will produce the odd decent jew also. A drift around dangar island shoals is also worth a go for flatties although they tend to be just keepers and not much else in the way of sizable fish, although if you have some yabbies or worms this area at times can produce very big whiting. Another good drift is straight out from Parsely bay in the middle of the river and drift toward the rail bridge. As for yellow tail the only good area I know of is west head and you cannot go there in a hire boat. good luck. Pete.

Hi raiders, fished brooklyn this morning, arrived and on the water about 20mins before daybreak, straight to my fav run out jew spot and caught the last hour or so for 2 jew 45cm and 50cm, then pumped yabbies for a whiting session later and made my way towards juno stayed about 1/2 hour and the wind picked up and became uncomfortable so I decided to pull the pin on juno and headed up into cowan for some shelter tried with soft plastics for a while for nought then headed up into one of the bays to try for whiting on the sand flats. managed 4 keepers and threw back heaps before the wind ruined everything by lunch time. The jew took squid and mackrel fillet. Another hour or so of the run out in the morning before the wind would have been nice but beggers cant be choosey I guess. A bad day fishin still beats a good at work. Had it not been for the wind I think I would have probably done better on the whiting too,oh well. On the way back I decide to troll a squid with the downrigger and the bomb caught a rock smashed the rod holder across the back of the boat and pulled the lot straight in the drink!!!! doh!! Luckily the fishing line snagged the downrigger and I managed to get it all back, but I still have to fix the rodholders before next trip!

who cares if you caught no fish, you got your life back - thats more important! sounds like that could have ended very badly, good to see your still here to tell the tale! Its times like that you realise how important it is to fish with someone else from the rocks, and something simple like an empty 2ltr drink bottle thrown into the water can help keep you afloat a lot longer while your mate gets help. just a tip - be careful mate no fish is worth your life! Pete.

Ive caught a yellowfin about 15lb admitedly on about 40lb mono and it went hard but came in fairly quick, Ive caught pigs and big silver drummer to 18lb off the rocks, and jew to 25lb, but for sheer power, kingies out pull anything I have encountered before.The first kingie I ever caught was undersize and blew me away with their pulling power, I couldnt believe how small it was when i landed it, and the bigger they get the harder they pull! the only other thing that came close was a 7lb trevally on 15lb mono from cathrine hill bay. If we are talking pound for pound - the humble blackfish or mullet is hard to beat on light line.Always good fun! Pete.

3 HOURS! at least you get value for money. I can remember spewing one saturday night when I took my other half for a night out at the movies, thinking we would be occupied and entertained for at least a couple of hours, decide to see phonebox( I think thats what it was called) any way it was over in just over 1 hour - good movie but had to pay the same price to see that as Australia (3hrs). somehow that just didnt sit right with me, I walked out feeling a bit ripped off!

Hi josh, squiding is something I have to learn to do, but I did manage a couple in the hawkesbury one day ( no idea what type) I sliced them into rings, dipped them in egg rolled them in breadcrumbs and fried them in very hot oil until they browned (not long) and they were simply sensational!!! yyyuuummm!

I bought a copy today Roberta- its a good read, very enjoyable, and awsome photo with the dolphins!

quick call the X FILES!!!! maybe he is the alien! I think he was certainly on another planet!

why doesnt someone just catch it on a line and remove it or relocate it - problem solved!

I would love to go! count me in. Pete.

was that the only real store or the onlt REEL store? HA HA

I will be buying it tomorrow roberta! cant wait to read it. congatulations. Peter.

One of things that I strongly beleive in is to think about the size of the bait before putting a hook in it and always try to use a hook as small as possible ( when using slabs or fillets of talilor or mullet etc) and match the line class to the hook. I find that by doing this your stike rate increases. However haveing said that, if you are fishing with say 30lb braid, near structure such as a bridge, you wouldnt drop down to a 1/0 hook because the amount of pressure put on a hook that size with line that strong will straighten ar snap the hook, but if you were fishing an area where there were open water and you wanted to use a small strip of mullet on a 1/0 hook I would only be using 12 - 15lb mono with a 25lb leader. anything less than a 25lb leader and you could be sorry as jew will break lighter leaders about 6 inches up from the hook. The reason I beleive in the smallest hook possible is that in a river or estuary a large hook will make the bait lay on the bottom and look unnatural, whereas with the smaller hook it wavers around a bit more and definately looks more tempting. All the fishing mags will tell you to pin the hook in a fillet about half way down , bring it out near the bottom and tie a half hitch around the top, this may work well from the beach or rocks where there is wave action but in my opinion if you want to catch jew in a river where there is only tidal flow - pin the hook once through the top with a hook just big enough for the hook to be exposed and I gaurantee your jewfish strike rate will go through the roof! Fishing this way can be frustrating as the small bream etc will pick at the fillet and it will need to be replaced from time to time but the results will make it worth it. Personally if I catch a yellow tail it goes on immedeately as a fillet. I find FRESH fillets like this with blood oozing from the fillet are gun bait and outfish live bait. As for using smaller lines 12- 15lb, some peaples eyes will light up when they read this and they will probably think bulls##t!!! I can assure you that I have caught several jew over 20lb this way infact the largest jew so far is 25lb on 10lb line. You have to remember that you are fishing open water with no structure so there is no need to go berzerk trying to stop the fish, infact, that is probably how most fish are lost - never panic! remember that there is aproximately 450 metres of line on your reel and most jew wont run that far, that quick - they arent marlin or tuna! If your reel is looking a bit low on line and the fish isnt showing any signs of stopping( particularly if its going with a strong current) put the rod into the rod holder, start the motor, lift the anchor and motor slowly toward the fish retrieving line as you go eventually the fish will tire and come to the boat and never rush it to the boat. I can assure you this works I have done this several times by myself and a good mate of mine caught 2 one night at brooklyn with his son 34lb and 26lb using this method several years ago. A good rule to remember is that the fish is NOT ready to gaff until it is laying belley up. Oh another thing, when the rod is sitting in the rod holder waiting for a bite, I leave the drag set at the tension you would fight the fish, most jew hook themselves this way but always set the hook when you taking it from the rod holder just in case as they have very hard mouths. I have also experienced jew timidly biting the bait as you have kingslayer, however , this only seems to happen in slack water, at other times when the water is flowing at a fair clip they tend to just smash and grab! These are some of my thoughts and techniques, hope they help. Pete.

I have seen huge fortesque in the hawkesbury around lower portland around the 20 -30cm mark!!!! At first I didnt know what they were until we caught some smaller ones in the prawn net and compared the looks. then the penny dropped! Lucky I decided not to touch it or it would have been a rude shock. Pete.