jamesds

I've had no problem with tackle loss when I have used a small long shank hook and a decent size of bait. (disclaimer: I'm not talking about BIG leatheries that you'll come across on a boat, more the 30-40cm ones you sometimes come across landbased, which can still be pretty darn annoying). Basically, make sure that the bait is the most prominent thing so use a decent-ish chunk for a small hook if you know what I mean. I've never used wire trace, even though I have some in tackle box. Somehow they always go for the bait and not the line / sinkers etc. Actually, another reason might be that I was running only a really, small sinker to the hook and light gear normally used for plastics. 6lb braid + 6lb mono tied with double-uni knot (no swivel).

YouTube is awesome. You gotta love it! Pelican Eats Pidgeon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO5ifLzLYiU&feature=fvst Not quite a dog, but not quite a fish either.

What an awesome view mate, quite inspiring! Me and my wife are moving house in a couple of weeks to a little place in Balmain East - I'll only be a 2 minute walk to a fishing spot, which is going to be awesome. I reckon I'll get out a lot more often. It's great being near the water

I'd love to see your rocket launcher - it must be ten times wider than the boat. No need for outriggers anymore.

The last few times I'd been hunting for bream in middle harbour there was this fan-bellied leather jacket that kept taking my bait but not getting hooked. The last time I went, I though right - I'm gonna get you out of the water so I can actually get some bream! So I switched to a small long-shank hook and a small piece of prawn and got him. Wasn't bad eating either! Although you'll need to make sure your fillet knife is sharp - their skin is really tough to get through, but the fish inside is nice. Watch out for the barb too. I just snipped it off with pliers before I left the spot. On some species of leatherjackets, there are small barbs near the tail too - not sure if they sting or not, so just be careful.

Hi All, Is there anyone out there that would like some company on their boat mid-week (Mon 27th - Fri 1st)? I will be free all week. Have my own gear, will share fuel costs / bait and will bring some tasty snacks I also have my general boat license, so can share driving if that's handy for anyone. Regarding fishing, I'm still fairly new to this and won't be a helpful source of local knowledge or anything, but I know my way around a boat. Would be great to get to know a local raider or two, and have the opportunity to get out on the water! Regards, James.

Wow, what an awesome trip! I am so jealous. I just hope my travels around the tropics next year will get me some fish like that. Great post!

Ha hah hahahaha! ROTFLMFAO.

Nice post mate, and great to read about a member helping out others on the water. Those Lowrance HDS sounders look awesome. I must have spent hours drooling over the Lowrance website. But I need to get my own boat before I get one of those

The NSW Fisheries booklet that you get free with your license contains a list of most of the species you're likely to catch along with pictures, and bag limits, legal sizes etc. I find it very handy. There's an online version here too (look at links for saltawater and freshwater species): http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/regulations

Thanks Slinky - just wasn't sure if it was a typo or deliberate, thanks for clearing that up

You're mixing units (10lb braid versus 15kg braid). 15kg is about 30lb, a massive step up from 10lb. Not having a go, just wanting clarification of what you meant

Ouch! Maybe you should keep that sounder attached to a boat where it's safe

Houseboating in the Hawkesbury is fun! On Friday morning we boarded the boat at Brooklyn and started on our journey to Warratah Bay. On our puny motor, that constituted about 3 hours of driving. We anchored in a bay on the way for lunch and had a quick fish. I caught a small whiting and let him go. We got to Waratah Bay about 2pm and after some trouble getting our anchor to hold bottom I started fishing. I had a light line out with a prawn, and at the same time started berleying for yakkas. In about 20 minutes I had three in the bucket. Lots of picker hits on the prawns. Lots of time spent re-baiting. I rigged up a yakka and sent him to the bottom for a jew - I was getting excited - I basically had all night - my first time fishing without a deadline After 5 hours and half a kilo of prawns and 2 dead yakkas later, nothing to show for it except undersize bream, snapper and tailor. I put the last yakka out and chillled out with the missus. I was up at the crack of dawn and ready for another slow-paced relaxing day, with a rod in one hand and a beer in the other The last yakka I put out the night before had been converted into ... an empty hook. Oh well. I took the dinghy out to the shallow end of the bay with a couple of rods: one rigged with 3" nuclear chicken minnow and the other with prawns (still had 1.5 kilos to get through!). I thought I'd try the flats for flatties (heh). Didn't see any about - no tell-tale signs either. I was looking for flattie 'imprints' in the sand at low tide that would give away their presence, but couldn't find any. I *did* see lots of string rays though. Made me think twice about walking in the shallows. It was then that the adrenaline kicked in! There were a couple of guys fishing from a tinnie, and one of them looked startled and shouted out that he just got busted off by a kingy - and about 30 seconds later a school of 70+cm kingies swims right under my dingy - there must have been about 20 of them. And not one of them took my bait... Didn't see them again after that... The rest of the trip was much the same regarding the fishing. Lots of hope and anticipation and promising sightings, good hits but no conversions. I managed 3 (just) legal bream, dozens of baby bream, snapper, small tailor, a big sting ray, and although I had yakkas pretty much on demand, none of those were converted. I almost felt sorry for the poor buggers! This wasn't primarily a fishing trip, but I was hoping for a bit more action. We had an awesome time all the same and am totally and utterly over the fact the I have to go to work tomorrow. I want to be back on the boat. I still have sea legs...

That one.

Regarding the water temp: even though the weather has been cooler over the last couple of weeks, the ocean being the giant heat sink that it is, takes a while longer to change in temp, and will lag behind the air temperature. I haven't checked but the ocean surface temp should still be in the low 20's and reasonably warm. It's possible that bad weather brings cooler water to the surface at any time though. Someone correct me if I'm wrong

Thanks for the correction. Although I always thought a physical throttle limiter must be installed if the boat was capable of more than 10HP.

Hi Sam0216, I'm more than likely stating the obvious, but for anything over 10HP you need a boat license. The company I hire from is excellent - the boats are fast, safe, and awesome but pricey. So it depends on your budget. There are a few places around the Hawkesbury that rent out tinnies, and there's a couple of cheaper places in Pittwater. You'll also find that hiring in the Hawkesbury and Pittwater is much cheaper than hiring in Sydney Harbour. Some of the companies don't allow hiring overnight either - this is usually for insurance reasons. And some do allow hiring overnight, but will have some rule saying that you must moor/land your boat by a certain time before dark. I'm spending Easter on a houseboat (with it's own tinnie too ) and I've never done a multi-day boat fishing trip before and I can't stop thinking about all the fishing! PM me for specifics James.

Looks like it's good value at $19.95 too - gonna see if any of the local tackle shops have it in stock tomorrow... and hopefully it covers the Hawkesbury too, as that's where I'm off to over easter

Heh, I'm very excited about the trip - I've never fished the Hawkesbury and looking at it on Google Earth, there's just so many nooks and crannies to explore. I think I'll take the boat to Waratah Bay on the first day. 24km on a 10HP houseboat should take about 4 hours or so probably, but there are lots of public moorings in that area and lots of little bays to fish. Already, I have all my gear packed and a shopping list to take to the tackle shop tomorrow! I'll be happy to land a few nice flatties and bream for the BBQ, but a king or a jew would be top notch

Thanks rooster, that's awesome. I'll post the pics when I get back

Hi all, My wife and I are going to be houseboating in the Hawkesbury River over Easter starting from Brooklyn Marina. I'll be taking my fishing tackle (goes without saying really!) and was wondering if anyone had any GPS coords of some fishing hotspots that they would be willing to share? I'll have no sounder on the boat, but I will have my iPhone so I'll have GPS. I must stay west of Juno Point, but pretty much anywhere else is fair game. Tight lines James.

Visited the in-laws in Tassie, just got back today. Had the opportunity to go for a fish in my uncle-in-law's tinnie off Bruny Island. We set up a drift in a light breeze, dropped our rigs off the side in about 6 meters of water and slowly drifted in the wind. We fished for about 90 minutes when the weather turned nasty and we had to head back in. We caught 30 legal flathead in 90-ish minutes (plus just as many throwbacks). Un-bloody-believable! What an awesome day on the water. There wasn't a single minute when one of us didn't have a fish on the line - we were in fits of hysterics the whole time - it was like a cosmic joke! My uncle said that the fishing was usually pretty good down there, but even that day took him by surprise. Awesome feast to be had by all - a truly memorable stint on the water Sorry - no pics. Literally forgot about my camera because of all the action. Must get myself a head mounted video camera or something!

No worries mate. It did get quite crowded but in 5 hours or so only got tangled 3 times, and that was when the tide started flowing out and the current picked up and everyones lines started drifting to the right. You can easily find your own space there if you don't mind not going right to the end of the wharf, so don't let the fact that there were 30 people there stop you from giving it a shot. Also you have Pier 3 next door and there was practically nobody there. Nice work on the reddies and yakkas.

Hey guys, I've posted my summary of this morning's action in the Fishing Reports section. Enjoy! James.