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Cheers mate! Yeah. We will get a metrey soon! I am sure!

Ahhhh right. Yeah we were fishing pretty close to a couple of guys on jet skis. Good to hear they got a solid king. We would have liked to fish the 11am tide change but had to head back in to get to work. There have been reports of metreys out there so we will keep trying (yet to land one of this size on my boat). Long way on a jet ski!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Raiders, With some seriously good boating weather last week, I headed out with my youngest, @REELCRAZY and @Fishaholic last Friday for a quick morning session. Launched at 530am and by 645am had collected plenty of liveys around middle head, interestingly with the assistance of a squid light which allowed us to get a bite going before first light. We pointed the boat SE and headed to 12 mile (24 clicks offshore). Trip was uneventful but a little bumpier than I was hoping for due to a decent breeze. Got out to the reef and there were half a dozen or so boats drifting about. Initially we dropped jigs and Ev managed to boat a couple of rats on the Gomoku jig stick. I was jigging heavy and only had one hit and no hook up. Boats around us were generally jigging and it looked to be mostly rats coming aboard. A couple of charters also doing the laps. My boy also got a fat bonnie from midwater on a jig. When we needed a break from jigging we deployed livies and to our astonishment they were pretty much untouched or stolen without a decent hookup. It was also clear there were a few jackets about as we lost a little gear. Third plan was to put down a couple of big squid baits from a squid caught a few days prior. Turned out to be the difference. First bait got smashed with minutes, no hook up. 2nd and 3rd baits resulted in two nice fish 70 and 75cm fish and the fourth got smashed with no hook up. Unfortunately that was the squid gone........ Even so, we had a pretty happy boat and my boy got his first fish jigging. Headed back in around 1130 in total glamour conditions wishing we had time to drift for a few flatties. Passed a couple of families of whale on the way just to cap off the morning, Overall another excellent day on the water. Cheers D

Great work Bob.

Sounds like an Epic rat session! So much fun!

Hey Raiders, The long weekend provided some stunning fishing conditions and I was lucky enough to get out with my boys on one day and then my fisho mates the next. Sunday headed out in search of a mixed bag. Later start than usual to accommodate the kids but no problem getting a few livies and then got one cuttlefish (trying a new technique of slow trolling jigs for squid. Might have been a bit late in the morning for them but will persist as you can cover some ground. Headed out of Dover Heights onto the sand. Started in about 60m, then 50m and a few more spots. The going was VERY tough. We picked up half a dozen around 40cm but never found a honey pot comprising bigger models. Pretty disappointing. Heading back to the heads we decided to do a rando drop onto some gravel/reef. It was a good decision as we caught a bunch of hungry reef species in a hot 30 min session that was gold for the kids. Kept a mowie and one of the red spikey delicious fish! Conditions were UNBELIEVABLE and there were whales everywhere. Great day out. Monday, put on the serious hat launching at Roseville at 530 with @Fishaholic and @REELCRAZY. Livies were again hungry and we loaded up quickly. Heading straight out to 12 Mile in unbelievable conditions, pushing along at around 22 knots. Likely around 10 boats out there already and it was clear that there were fish about. Quite a few bent rods! Dropped a knife jig within two minutes of pulling up and immediately brought a 55 cm bonnie on board! Got to work jigging and within 30 minutes we had an 84cm kingie in the boat and thrown a couple of smaller models back. We had the livebait gear out also but interestingly the kingies were mainly hammering the jigs. The charters were also jigging and they were hooked up constantly for about 2-3 hours. Ended up catching around ten and losing a few at the rail, mainly due to insane tangles from kingies going bananas below the boat. Interestingly there was almost no current for the whole morning. Headed back at 1130am once the bite eased, very happy and VERY sore from jigging. Took home a fish each to feed the families. Happy days! Can't wait to get back out there! Cheers D

Looks like a lovely spot to wet a line!

Sounds epic - might PM you to get a reco on the guide.

Epic fish Bruce! Well done!.

Thanks Bob - yeah, we thought it was a worth a try as the Waverider has been good this year. Keen to get a few winter flatties soon!

Just a quick report from a session last Sunday, Headed out with @fish-aholic early doors. It was cold as the westerly was constant but not too bitter. Headed to the live bait grounds and met up with @REELCRAZY who was out with mates and also ran into a few other fisho friends. Plenty of banter and laughter whilst we filled up the bait tank. Whilst the water temperatures have dropped considerably, thought it was worth a look at the FADs before heading to Longie. Fished the waverider buoy for about 30 minutes. Nothing doing. Water temp was 19.8 C. Looks like the dollies etc have headed north or potentially much wider. Conditions were OK - not much swell but the wind was making it a little wet in the CC. Headed to longie and immediately saw a row of boats (including some of the youtube pros) catching rats. Deployed the minn kota and got involved. Plenty of bait on the sounder and a procession of small kings generally between 50-60cm. They were taking unweighted livies and butterflied yakkas. I am sure they would have been devouring squid strips but we didn't have any. Tried a couple more spots for the same result. Great fun on the lighter gear but didn't see or hook any bigger fish. Would be interested to know if others out there did? Headed back in post-lunch. It was one of those days that never really warmed up. Didn't take a layer off until back at Roseville. Ramp was empty. Happy days. Fun session as it had been a while since targeting kings (bad case of Dollie Fever this year). Awesome to be on the water with MD and also fishing side by side with Ev. Cheers D

Great stuff. I need to seriously improve my squidding in the harbour...................

Mate - you have been slaying it lately! Well done.

Great morning on Friday with @The Rev and @fish-aholic. On the water at 515am and straight to the livey grounds. Got a nice number without them jumping in the boat. Arrived at the FAD around 715 after a pretty easy trip. Decent swell but nothing to worry about. Westerly was blowing which made it chilly. Had the spot to ourselves for quite a while. Dragged lures, threw plastics, cast unweighted livies and some whole deadbaits. All techniques resulted in dollies (and one rat king). Ended up with a good feed for all of us. Came home in glamour conditions and were off the water by 1130. Perfect Friday! Cheers D

The halco laserpro 120 in pilchard was the gun lure. I have upgraded the hooks to bkk and just a single on the belly. The black magic mini skirt in burple also did well. Interestingly my fave white diver that generally catches everything didn't catch a fish. 🤷‍♂️

5m Aquamaster centre console. Goes well in most conditions though can be a little damp when the swell is at 45 degrees off the bow.....

Yeah - they were smashing our lures pretty regularly. Not always the case!

Mate - next trip, lock it in!

Gotta be happy with that! Two very delicious species!

Hey Raiders. Headed out midweek to fish for dollies. Spent way too long catching livies. Loads of boats and plenty of yakkas, but they were nibbling instead of biting.....got about 12 in over an hour......woeful. Jetted out to the Sydney FAD. Dropped in a nice triple lure spread about 1km away. Deadly white shallow diver, a black and purple skirt, and a big multi colorured diver. Hooked up about 200m from the structure....excellent. Fish went 65cm so we were PUMPED after catching so many micros this year. A few other boats about mainly chucking livies and what looked like half pillies in really close. Continued to troll and picked up fish after fish for about 2 hours. Kept 3 keepers to 70cm and threw back another 10 of mixed size. Never needed the livies! Awesome session with my best mate. Back on dry land at 1230 Cheers D

Gurnard are delicious.

How good is weekday winter fishing!!!!!!! Let me know when we are getting out there! 🙂

Pretty epic haul - need to get out to those FADs as they seem to produce more consistently at the moment. Long way in a CC if the weather picks up!

That too would be up there in the "worst nightmare" category!

Headed to Little Manly with MD last Sunday. Decided to use Little Manly which can be OK though at times a little busy (and few trailer parks). Have launched here plenty of times but avoid retrieving at low tide as it is basically soft sand and my tow wagon doesn't have the grunt to pull it all out. Thought was low tide launch should be fine. It wasn't. Boat came off fine but the trailer and the car were stuck in the soft sand....my worst nightmare....amateur hour at the ramp....... Had to take the trailer off and it took 4 of us to drag it up the beach. Then spent an hour and a half getting the car out. Got it out finally with the help of rocks, branches etc..... only one other group came to launch and they were super helpful and understanding. Not sure if they were Raiders but massive THANKS. With the tide still hours away from coming in we had to fishing. Changed plans to target bonnies and flatties. Trolled lures along south head with regular double hook ups and one triple. Plenty of dollies and big slimies. Good fun and lots of action. Once at Bondi we changed it up and headed out to target flatties. Took a few drifts to find the good ones but eventually did. Slightly deeper than usual. Also got a donkey carrot (gurnard) that was 51cm. Headed in after a bruising day but at least with a nice eski of table fish. Little Manly is now only a mid to high tide option until I can get a better badder tow wagon. Cheers D