eagle ray

I use an avet lx with 30lb braid on a 10-15 kg fibre glass rod cant think of the name that cost about 100 bux for down rigging and a old 6000 size penn reel with 30 lb braid on a similar rod for tossing out squid heads etc. glass rods take the constant abuse that kings dish out and don't cost a fortune to replace if you snap one.

halco 1.5 gram slices

top feed. I never catch anything around cockatoo island.

2 slow days in a row for me. Sunday got some squid and hammered my usual spot only to see that it was covered in bait and kings but they were not cooperating. Woke up this morning, did excactly the same thing. Water temp was up 2 degrees from yesterday and water was better colour. Even more bait balled up all over the place with heaps of arches every where but they didnt want live squid. Live and learn I guess. Fat kings are feasting on small stuff I guess, they will come back to the squid thats for certain.

Whale beach is great, just be carefull. I was fishing there last week on a flat day at low tide and there were still some waves which rolled up on to the rocks. Almost got washed in oneday when I was younger walking around the south side. Didn't get anything off the rocks but some guys nearby were hooking up the the odd something that mde them hoot. Didn't see anything landed but did see 1 guy wearing a life jacket which I will take next time I head north. Also caught whiting, bream and chopper tailor in the gutter at the south end last week. every cast got a bite on the beach. Dan

I have got to give that a try. ONly ever got 1 decent red on softies and that was in NZ years back. Congrats greg. Punching into a 15knot ne and staying dry in an open boat. Priceless. I run a 17ft cc and 15knot s/e just means wet wet wet and thump creak thump shake. Only gotta wait about 10 years till I can buy one. Dan

good stuff charlie I am out tomoz.

Good stuff guys Thought about it this morning but couldnt get my self excited. Tomorrow I thinks i will be out there.

what contender are you running and does it live up to its hype. Dan

Was that you sitting on the supermarket ? Good job mate, it was totally horrid out there.

Keep the jigs 1.8 size or so and fish the shallower water 2-4 meters off the many beaches in Pitty. Polaroids a must to spot the buggers. THey can be in very close around colour changes on the beaches aswell. Other than that anchor off the basin at night and bring them in with yackas. Also lookfor bait schools around the joey and use unwieghted jigs on dropper rigs on the bottom.

Speachless mate. Gonna give that a try very soon. Dan

What a catch mate, on a spin stick and a hard body makes it that much more special. Do you know the approx depth of water you were fishing.

No shortage of squid around. Some very small (3cm), i got my keeper today on an 8 inch squid. Small jigs with good boyancy work well for me, though you have to let them sink if the water is deep. I you can fish at night with lights, you are off to a good start. Throwing a yaka out live under a balloon will also bring them round at night. I see most of my squid before I catch them. DAn

Good luck if you can get them to bite. I once saw some one having good success with ganghooks with no bait (jagging them) remeber that that is nicht verboten.

Marlin -- Yes you are right I eat my hat. Netic -- If I go to port with the bomb down I run over my cable and have done it before and it cost me alot of money.

Thanks for the link. I added a nice well written comment. Lets see if the moderators agree The Lane Cove river is one of my favourite fishing spots, I am lucky enough to be able to fish from a boat. The idea of banning people from fishing is .......

Hooked up with bass_beginer for a session this morning. Upon leaving the mooring we came upon some birds working. A few casts with nothing it was straight to squiding. We had missed the high tide and I knew that the pressure would be on to find a squid. Went straight out to old faithful. The wind was making it hard to fish and visability in the water wasn't good so we went and tried a few more spots. A few hours later and the tide was well on the way down and we were still squidless. The westerly had dropped off so we went back over our tracks to give it a few more casts b4 being forced to go to plasticks. 1st cast at old faithful and I was on and the first squid in the boat. bassbeginner was showing us up with his fancy Japanese jigging techniques bringing in 3 more while I concentrated on the lift and drop. There was no shortage of squid as we were sight casting to them but they went off the bite and nothing would tempt them to come back on. With 4 squid we went to the king spot and deployed the downrigger. The massive bait schools that we passed over at the spot had vanished. We trolled and trolled and trolled and just like with the squid I was getting abit worried when all of a suddent the ratchhet on the AVET was screaming and bassbeg was into a nice king that came on board and tried to destroy the inside of the boat. Definately legal but very skinny he had been hooked before with some heavy leader attached to a broken swivel hanging out of his mouth (and a stainless steel gamefishing hook in his gut on cleaning). The second squid was deployed and the waiting game began. A few laps of the circuit later we were having a chat when I commented that there was a fish rising fast on the depth sounder. With all our eyes glued to the screen we didn't see the strike but we certainly heard it. The rod was bending the ratchet screaming however this fish was only a little fellow with a big heart and we sent himback to mum. The 3rd and biggest squid went down nex and we had high hopes for a big fish. Unfortunately the cops decided to come and ruin the day. We doing our thing in some very tight country with the wind blowing and tide running. I turned behind me to check the rod tip when I saw the flashing lights 15 meters off the stern. My boat only turns in 1 direction when I deploy the downrigger so I have "restricted maneuverability" although I did not have the appropriate display I yelled loudly at the cops not to approach as I was under restricted manouverbility. The blond chick cop brandishnig a boat hook like a war club either didn't hear or didn't care. WHen it came clear that the cops didn't want to adhere to the rule of the sea we made a quick scramble to clear rods from rod holders etc and prepare to be boarded. At that moment a king struck, we didn't attempt to strike at the fish and it won its freedom. I commented to the coppas something along the lines of I have to get the "bomb up" which got the skipper of the cops worked up. I said nothing more and wound up the rigger. I think that they were expecting me to wind up a stick of dynamite. They gave me a good going over checking every thing out and calling me out for not having a mirror or something to gain a vessels attention and, no whistle or air horn on board and no rope attached to my bucket. I identified myself as master of the vessel and gave my name, address and telephone number. They didn't breath test me or check the fishing credentials of b.b. Before I even had a chance to ask them a question or 2 the skipper of the cops announced we were about to have a collission with some of the heavy structure in the areaa, released our boat and went off to bother someone else and raise some more revenue for this impoversihed state. We only just missed. After a few minutes of cooling my temper we went to try our last squid which was no longer than your little finger. It didn't happen (was approaching bottom of the tide no run no fun) so we called it a day and went home. All in all was a nice day on the harbour and was absolutly stunning when the wind changed directions. This is when we could see the squid. BB got a nice king for dinner and no tackle or boat issues were had. I have no problems with cops checking me out. I am legit however the situation they put us and my boat in direct danger through a collsion with a stationry object not to mention the possibility of fouling the downrigger bomb. For those who dont know the definition of "restricted maneuverability" is as folows Boats with restricted maneuverability, whether due to fishing, draft, length, towing, or other causes, have the right of way over vessels not so restricted. BB has the fish, dont know if a photo was taken at his place. This one didn't want to be handeled. Dan Went out again his morning. saw the squidking out there and had a chat. He had some nice squid already. I managed 2 king candy's and 1 big squid. Got to the spot and while there was still no that much bait i only had to wait 30 seconds for the first hook up. A feisty rat came in and was released. I put the second squid down and waited maybee 5 minutes before the 2nd rat came in just as grumpy as its sibling. I hadn;t caought a keeper yet and I am having bbq on friday so the pressure was on. Thankfully luck was on my side. I put my big squid out and started the troll. 5 minutes later my rod started screaming and screaming and screaming. After a good fight a nice and solid kingy just under 80 cm and very heavy came in and for once behaved once onboard. Was bled and iced and I called it aday. Mission accomplished. Unfortunatley have a 1 month gig starting tommorrow and will only be fishing weekends if at all. ARGHHHHHH

And wouldn't you beleive it. The fish were busting up 200 meters from the mooring and I have a flat bat. Arghhhhhh.

Mobiles dead. pm me. Hope to leave the wharf by 3.15 and be back right on dark. 10 minutes drive from the CBD 1st in best dressed. Dan

" Mate unfortunately some people lash out when you suggest for them to clean up after themselves, so rather than a confrontation many people will steer clear and not say anything." I used to say stuff to wharf fisho's about their fish and cleaning up etc. My pet hate is the fishos that leave hooks and bait around. I have had to remove hooks from my dogs mouth before because some dickhead left pilly with hooks in it on the wharf. I remember the last time I comented on a pinky the size of a mobile phone coming in. Caught on a tiny hook the poor thing was gut hooked. I told the fisherman and his extended family who were fishing that it was an undersize fish. He looked at me like I was crazy, he then asked me how big it must be. I said a shed load bigger. The guy said no worries but I need my hook and proceeded to cut the baby snapper in half with a pair of scissors to remove the hook. I called him a fxxixng this and an older gentelman he was fishing with told me to **** off or he would do the same to my dog. Reported to fisheries and police but of course nothing happened. Took down the number plates. In my younger days i would have popped every tire in the car park to make sure they never came back, thankfully I am a bit more mature now and realise that 2 wrongs dont make a right.

Nice tailor mate, a good feed smoked.

I once had my boat almost sink on the mooring. The self drainer was blocked and was letting in small amounts of water. I guess it was a slow fishing period and the boat wasn't getting used much. I received a call from a BSO from the MSB saying the boat is on its way down and I should get on the rig pronto and see I could fix her. The floor of the boat was under 2 inches of water, but the crazy thing was green weed had grown over the whole floor of the boat. I dont fish for blackies but I filled a black recycling tub with it and left it near a prominent black fishing spot. It has always made me think if I filled a baby pool with salt water and left it in the sun could I farm my own weed?

I was staying at my friends place in the Coromandel across the ditch. I picked up this huge , serrated bony spike that was in the trophy room and enquired what it was as my friend was a pro fisherman. He replied that it was a barb from a 200kg stingray which did the Steve Irwin on him and pumped him through the guts. He only just lived. He said it was the most painfull thing that has happened to him including being crushed by a cow, testicular cancer and the bends.

That will go good in the vege patch this year.