The Rev

Thanks Duncan 👍

thanks Scratchie! Was great to come up to Port Stephens to learn some new spots and catch a few up there - but good to get back amongst the kings!

Yes - i felt like we got the trifecta!

Dear fellow Raiders, After a frustrating fishing trip on Friday 18 March where I was smoked four times in a row by big fish or sharks at Long Reef, I headed out again last Friday 25 March. After some initial troubles with the electric trim on the motor we finally managed to get on the water at 7:30 AM. Headed to the blue pools at Manly to catch some small yellowtail. We then headed out the heads up to DeeWhy to a reef that’s been productive. Minn Kota deployed, burley out and live bait down… bang! I’m on after 60seconds!!! After a good fight, up comes a small but decent Sampson fish which was dispatched and into the Esky. Five minutes later my mate calls out that he’s on. His rod buckled over with line peeling off with a good kingie hooked up. I watch the line and notice it’s going sideways and not straight down to the reef which was great and I think in the end of the day enabled him to catch the fish. After a long fight he got the fish to the boat and we had it in the net. As he takes the hook out I said to him “what pound breaking strain line are you using?” “30 pound “he replies. I could not believe he caught that fish in just 11m of water on that sized leader!!! We waited another 30 minutes but the bite had stopped so we headed up to long reef. We caught another four Kings up there - all undersized before a storm rolled in, so we headed back quick smart! Once we were inside North head we Down rigged some more small yellowtail and picked up the Amberjack at old man’s hat followed by another undersized king at the Centurion Wreck. With three decent fish in the esky we headed back in and out of the rain. Though the conditions were pretty average on the way back in, it was a great days fishing. 😀 Many thanks, the Rev

Thanks - I had thought that might be the case 😞

I agree- but it is even better bait so unfortunately for the fish it came home with me!

WOW! Thanks Mike - that is brown! I imagine that it will take a few weeks to clean up 😞 The Rev

Hi Raiders, Just wondering if as anyone had been out in Sydney Harbour or off Sydney’ Northern Beaches fishing and what the water was like? In particular Long Reef and the Wave Rider Buoy off Dee Why. I’m returning from holidays up the coast snd keen to know what conditions are like. Cheers The Rev

Quick report fellow Fishraiders, On my last fishing day up here at Hawkes Nest, I had hoped to get outside to target snapper on soft plastics. Unfortunately the wind and swell were up as we approached Tomaree headland as the sun started to rise. No problem- plan B was to try new spots inside with soft plastics. We ended up catching 6 Flathead and 1 Watsons leaping Bonito. All fish were legal sized, we kept 5 Flathead that were over 40cm for dinner. While the water was still dirty, it had improved somewhat from last week. cheers The Rev

Will do Scratchie - if the swell is to big and the wind is up we will stay inside and see what we can find 👍

I had a ball - though I can’t wait to get out in the boat tomorrow. My wife had given me the leave pass for the day as she is busy with an online study course! 😍

Thanks Fil 🙂

Thanks - with the weather improving it does feel like the fishing is improving!

Being on holidays - that will be tomorrow!

Thanks Yowie!

Thanks Isaac - was lots of fun!

Thanks Rebel - the wife took the photos!

Loved the story Scratchie and sorry to hear about the lost ones! I’m hoping to be out there tomorrow - will let you know how I go. Cheers, The Rev

Well done ❤️

Hi Raiders, After a number of enjoyable, but relatively lean trips onto Port Stephens out of the boat on the second log of my holidays, I decided to change things up for my next day of fishing here on Sunday (13th March) and try the beach. My passion for fishing first started when i was 10 years old when on a Saturday afternoon, my family went to Long Reef beach in Sydney, and I was allowed to take my fishing rod along. That day, the lagoon was overflowing and anchovies were flooding out and over a sand bank into the surf and i used some for bait. In two casts I hooked a 35-40cm bream that I lost at the very end and next cast a massive flathead about 60cm in length that I landed and took back up the beach to show my family and we ate that night for dinner! As I set out today, who would have thought that I would replicate that catch! So… After talking to some of the locals after church on Sunday morning, they all said to try the beach as most people were catching fish there after the rains, with the Myall and Karuah rivers in shut down mode. With a 6:40pm high tide, I pumped yabbies at a local sand flat on the low tide and then got my gear ready watching the Waratahs Super Rugby game. Thankfully they won 🙂 At 5pm I headed down ( 3 streets away) to Bennett’s beach and walked about 100M south from the surf club and setup my gear. First cast with a yabby and I got a bite but no hook up. On my fourth cast and bait, I had a nibble followed by a massive hit that took line. I’m on - such a good feeling. After a steady fight, I pulled up the beach a 37cm bream. Very happy with that - he looked fantastic and was put into the bucket to take home for a meal. Memories of my childhood on Long Reef beach came back - this one didn’t get away! Things then went quiet for a bit with occasional hits and lost baits, so I switched over to some fresh mullet that I bought from the Fish Co-op. While slowly winding in the bait on my second cast, I got a massive hit very close to the beach break and the rod loaded up again. After a tense fight trying to get the fish through the beach breakers, up came a very big flathead. As I was only running 15lb leader, I gently coaxed the fish with each wave further up the beach. As I got the fish just out of the wave zone it managed to break the line through its constant head shakes sawing the line in two. So with a sense of urgency I grabbed it’s tailed and yanked it up to safety! This fish looked big and when I measured it later, it went 60cm! I couldn’t believe it as it was like that day at Long Reef some 47 years ago, only both fish landed this time! After more casts, I also caught in the session a 26cm bream, and two tailor (25cm & 32cm) that were retuned to live another day. All in all a great 90 minute session.. The Rev

And here is the puffer fish after inflating itself and being released!

Hi Fellow Raiders, I went out yesterday (Friday), accompanied by @Scratchie for a gentleman’s hour flick of soft plastics hunting flathead. Sadly the water conditions in the main areas of Port Stephens had deteriorated even further since the previous fish as the heavy rain water continues to flow into the bay from the surrounding areas. All areas fished had very brown dirty water. Driving over to pick up Scratchie I had a quick flick in the Myall River as I was running early and had already picked up one small flathead (see photos below). As I arrived at Soldiers Point Boat ramp, we bumped into a fisherman coming in at 9:30am at Soldiers Point boat ramp with 3 nice snapper up to 60cm caught inside the bay on live baits so were feeling hopeful as we set out. At our first spot after a few casts I managed to hook a good fish and with the help of the net landed a 58cm dusky flathead, which I was very happy with. Dinner sorted for my wife who loves eating flatties! Sadly - after another 3 hours of new spots and hundreds of casts, the only other fish caught was a Grinner, caught by Scratchie! After dropping Scratchie off, I had another flick on the way home in the Myall river (I am staying in Hawkes Nest), and hooked what I thought was another good flathead - sadly when it came to the surface, it was the biggest puffer fish I have ever caught. Not the PB I was after today. My consolation from the day was that the previous day I had bumped into a professional angler as I took my wife for trip over to Nelson Bay for lunch. He was in a big boat with lots of sponsors stickers on it and was filming a fishing show that day with three anglers on board (Guesty if you know the show.) They (the three anglers), had fished for 10 hours flicking soft plastics for 0 fish!!! So that did make me feel better with the flathead I caught 😀 Both flathead were caught on a white 5” jerk shad. I am hoping to get out for one last trip at the beginning of next week and will report in if we catch anything. Cheers (and a big thanks to @Scratchie for coming on board and sharing local knowledge) The Rev IMG_0134.MOV