jamesds

Cheers guys. Every day I learn a little more

Went to wet the line down at 40 baskets for an hour or so and then a bit further south on the rocks. Caught nothing, but there were quite a lot of dead leatherjackets about (a dozen or so), washed up. Is that some kind of natural phenomenon? If so what is it? Should we be concerned? I've not been fishing very long, so pardon my ignorance!

I was down at Thames Street Wharf yesterday from about 5pm to 8pm. I had 2 very strong hits (ganghooked pilchards) but no hookups. On both occasions all I had left was the pilchard heads. Pretty lucky fish if you ask me. It wasn't Jewfish-big - my amateur opinion is that it was a tailor, but it was exciting anyway!

I'm in (depending on chosen date). Don't have my own boat though.

Hi ~TaNgLeS~, That's awesome advice - seems so obvious with hindsight. I guess of there's only a small piece of bait it's harder to yank it off without getting hooked. I'll give that a go next time I'm out. Thanks! So far I've managed to unhook them all - but I think I've just been lucky. But I know what you mean about the tangling line. What a mess!! I would really appreciate that. Although with my limited experience I'm not sure what advice I can offer you!

9:30am started fishing from the rocks at manly cove about 300m south-east of the moorings ( 33°48'25.50"S, 151°16'26.19"E for you Google Earth lovers out there). Stayed for about 2 hours during which time we had lots of little nibbles but no hookups. I was using 10cm soft plastics which got absolutely shredded. There were lots of chunks taken out of them. They got lacerated. Obviously not by a fish with a mouth big enough to swallow the damn thing. So I tried some smaller S.P.s and not even a nibble. Weird. My mate had his bait taken (squid or prawns) but again, no hookups. So we moved around the headland to the rocks at ( 33°48'38.57"S, 151°16'28.95"E) and braved the wind. Tried a mixture of soft plastics and no hookups. At least I wasn't getting snagged (unlike my mate). I reckon the design of the SP & jig with the hook on top of the plastic helps a great deal here. I'd be a convert if I could catch something After a couple of hours there, we went back to our previous spot (gluttons for punishment?!) and still no luck. After that, my mate went home and I stayed for a while longer. Hey, even when there's no fish it's great being outdoors! We were berlying with bread and pre-made stuff from the bait shop from a berley bucket hanging in the water at all locations too. That attracted lots of tiny fish, not any big ones though... Disclaimer: I am a complete novice when it comes to fishing. I've been fishing every Saturday for the last couple of months and a few evenings at Thames Street Wharf, Balmain because it's good for a quick session. My catch so far: Lots of eels, a flathead just above legal and a few flathead below legal. Any kind fishermen out there care to offer me any advice? Is it all about location? Or do we just suck?!