docfitz

Nice report - the creek looks like a relaxing place to fish - I have often driven past the sign for the River Retreat and wondered what it was like.. might take the kayak there one day

nice report and good fishing

Is that at Chinaman's beach or the one that goes to the Naval Base - my daugher and I sometimes fish at the northern end Chinamans (not too seriously)when we stay there. I have mostly caught small salmon and rays - nothing worth keeping - but it is a beautiful part of the world. I have seen whiting in the water down near the Naval Base - I think they know where the sanctuary zone starts.

great report and nice fish.

Great report - enjoyable read!!

Fished the lake yesterday (mostly near the channel) in a friends boat for a couple of hours for three tiny bream - didn't see anyone with any fish at the boat ramp either. The water was still cold and it was a bit weedy.

Visited mum and dad down the south coast for a few days in January to catch up and do a few jobs about the house. Dad’s nearing 80 but still loves to fish so with 12 year old daughter in tow we hired a tinny for a couple of hours at Tuross Lake. At the first spot I rigged my daughter’s line and then helped dad get his sorted. I started to rig mine but was having trouble with the line breaking – it was about 4 kilo braid that I had only used once before. We moved to a couple of spots but I was still stripping line and trying to rig up. A few moves later and we found a nice drift and managed a few throwback bream and flathead, encouraged when we saw another boat pull in a couple of nice flatties. I had resorted to using some mono wrapped around a coke bottle by then. Dad said he thought he had a caught a stick but up popped a rod complete with reel and line. We cleaned the slime off and reeled the line in to find a new looking sinker and hook - with time running out I proceed to fish with the newly acquired outfit. There was no fairy tale finish however and we ended up having some very nice hot chips for lunch at the boatshed. Back at home for the end of the holidays I slipped down to Woronora one morning and managed a couple of nice bream on some chicken breast. The smaller one was caught on the Tuross rod (not the rod in the photo) so it did come good in the end. The bream went OK on the BBQ too!!

I haven't done any good on the breakwall either. For such a big area it is hard to find good land based spots. I have caught drummer off the rocks at Lilli Pilli and south of Sunshine Bay. Try Rosedale for whiting and Broulee for Salmon.

The best I've seen, congrats

I can't go past fresh drummer on the BBQ either, mmm it's been a while..

Hi all, With a week off coming up I was hoping to combine a family picnic with a chance of a having a bit of a fish as well. Normally we kayak (it's a double) at Grays Point and Woronora with the main emphasis on excercise, usually on the weekend and I find the boat traffic makes it tough to drop a line. Sadly, I am yet to catch a fish from the kayak. I was thinking about Bonnievale as possible spot to combine fishing and family fun - I wanted to check if there are spots to launch a kayak from and have a picnic too before loading up the car and making the trek. Does anyone know if there is beach access near the camping grounds? or somewhere nearby. Any fishing tips gratefully accepted as well. Cheers GDF

I hope it works for you - it looks like it will be pretty heavy to lift out of the water though, Cheers GDF

squirt worms are good for (river) black fish at certain times during the year

You can also launch your kayak in the creek at Prince Edward Park if you are heading upstream - it's very nice once you get up past the houses but as Musty said, boat traffic can be an issue. Only had one serious go up there last year for no result (we brought a double Kayak primarily for excercise but I did manage to get rod holders included). When I get a chance I would like to try further downstream near Bonnet Bay soccer oval - on the flats on the other side of the channel.

Great fish there, nice spot and drummer are great to eat. well done

Dream backyard - fishing and room for a cricket pitch

Is there much room at Wally's Wharf? and can you fish off the rocks nearby? It's hard to fish landbased in the Hacking because there are not many spots and they get crowded out pretty easily. I am looking for an early morning fish on a weekday either this week or next and would like to try the Hacking - but want to have a fair chance at getting a spot - are Gymea baths OK? Cheers GDF

nice rweport and well done!! I drive past there on the way home from work most afternoons and often wonder if it's worth a throw - don't see too many fishing that spot

Top effort - I'd be over the moon with that lot - great to see the Hacking producing quality fish, Cheers GDF

There are plenty of poddies all through Woronora River - they seem to turn up at most places if you are berleying. I haven't tried to catch any there but am thinking am getting a few and trying for flatties. There are always plenty of big mullet jumping about too! I haven't had any success with soft plastics yet in the Wornora river - fished sp's at Prince Edward Park just after xmas for a couple of hours for no hits and took the kayak up river yesterday with no success (but it was mainly for excercise with the missus). Have caught some fish in the past at Prince Edward Park on bait - early morning is best but there are plenty of pickers as well. Cheers GDF

Hi all, visited the folks at Bateman’s Bay the weekend before last and planned to get in a couple of fishing sessions with dad while I was there (many thanks to fellow fishraiders for the advice on different spots to try). With Mrs GDF stuck at work and son getting a better offer it was left to myself and daughter (9) to fly the flag. We arrived late Friday afternoon and managed an hour or so on Corrigan’s Beach before dinner, me on soft plastics and dad on bait for no result but it was good to get a line in the water. The next morning we trundled down to Moruya to pump some nippers and try a few spots on the river. We pumped a few nippers as Miss 9 had a wallow in the shallows and had a ball picking up nippers. The old wharf had been fenced off for safety reasons and most of the other spots we looked at were a bit rocky for pop and grand daughter. After some hot chips for lunch we returned to the nipper spot as the tide was coming in over the sand flat. There were plenty of small whiting hammering our nippers and all fish landed were in great condition including a beautiful sand mullet by pop but sadly none were quite legal and all went back to fight another day. We returned again on Sunday for more of the same, we couldn’t crack it for a keeper although there were a few larger models cruising about the shallows, it probably would be a great spot when the tide got higher but it would be a long wade out by then and a boat would be handy. The water was clear and warm, the weather beautiful and there is something special about watching your father and his grand daughter fishing together, kinda makes up for the lack of fish!! Moruya River - yes my daughter is sitting down to fish - she isn't that short Cheers GDF

Hi Mate, Try the wharf in the town centre..its not a bad place to spend your evening with the family as well as you'll catch some decent bream or a flattie..i caught a 51cm flattie from that wharf on the christmas day..try and get there before 4-5pm as it gets bit crowded sometimes.. Else, you can hire a tinne and go around the bay area and Clyde river...caught a good 30.5cm bream under the bridge... Good luck and enjoy...! Thanks for the advice guys - we have heaps to go on an will report on our efforts when I get back. Will check info on the Marine Park as well. Hope to have a line in some time tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again GDF

Thanks for that, much appreciated - I know where it is and we will give that a try as well. Dad's looking forward to it. Cheers GDF

Thanks Joel, that's much appreciated and will give it a crack over the weekend, we are not far away at Sunshine Bay so that's very handy. Hope to be able to put in a report when I get back to work (after Australia Day). Cheers GDF

Hi all, found this site a few months ago and have really enjoyed the great reports, advice and so on. I haven’t been able to add much so far but we have recently purchased a kayak and I hope to put in a few reports of my own in the coming months, will mainly fish Woronora and Port Hacking once we get a bit more organised. I will be tripping down to Bateman’s Bay this Friday to visit the folks for a few days and would like to take dad for a land based fish with a decent chance of a return. I will also have my 9 year old daughter who is keen but “flighty” and is a worry on rocks and break walls so I would prefer to fish on sand or a riverbank if possible. We have previously fished Cullendulla Creek near where it meets the river with some success but not sure if dad is up for the walk in anymore as it’s a bit steep. Other than that we sometimes take a bit of a drive to Tuross. We have a few spots for nippers so that is the preferred bait to use and hope to get bream, flathead or whiting. If anyone has any ideas it would be very much appreciated. Cheers GDF