Narabeen Lakes 10/02/06

[orangeguy]

Hi all raiders,

Been browsing this forum for a while and just signed up to post my first report. Still new to fishing and appreciate all the advice this forum brings.

Well, waded the sand flats at narra on friday from around 2pm till 9pm. Set my mullet trap in while I waded out. Got lots of nibbles but no hook ups until the fish became aggressive as light was fading. End result was 3 bream, a juvenile snapper and a tailor. All were caught in the last 2 hours.

I had a problem with my mullet trap which I hope someone can help me out with. Just a juice bottle with a hole cut out set with bread, but I didn't get any poddy mullet. Instead, what I got was 'poddy' whiting. In fact, trapped 40 odd of them in no time. Not sure what I'm doing wrong? Never knew whiting eats bread? (well, lots of things I don't know about fishing). I saw some other type of baitfish, not sure if they were poddy mullet. They were brown with a stripy pattern and had fat heads. They were circulating my trap but wouldn't go in it.

Will probably go for another session some time this week.

Cheers

[Sharky]

to the site mate

Those poddy mullet can be a pain in the arse but Ide go with what Stewy said change location.

You seem to be going well with the sps keep it up just remeber with bream a very boringly slow twitchy retrieve and when you feel a fish hit the sp lower your rod tip and let him eat it then strike. I love narrabeen

is the lake still open?

[neilm]

Orangeguy!

I've had all sorts of difficulty getting poddies in the past, but then I went down near the boatshed and got a stack of them in a trap similar to yours.

I think the other fish you're talking about could be toadfish - sort of beige with mottled brown on their backs, with an off white underside? Horrid little buggers. They were responsible for savaging my SPs last week in the lake.

Good Luck!

BTW, Sharky, the lake's closed again, but the fishing's still not bad since the little flush out that it had.

Cheers,

Neil

[orangeguy]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It must be those toadfish that keep biting the tails off my grubs?

Neil, may I ask which boatshed you are referring to?

Sharky, as Neil said, the lake is closed again. It seems like they didnt dig the opening big enough. Apparently no plans to re-open it anytime soon.

I also want to give hard body lures a go. Which places would you use them? On the flats? weed beds?

Cheers.

[bombora]

Hiya guys; one problem with hardbodies in the lake at the mo is you'll go nuts stripping weed from their trebles. The warm water promotes weed growth an certainly at the back of the lake right now there's heaps of it. That's one reason SPs are so handy there!! You'll still get a fouled hook _ unless you go full weedless rigging _ but not as often.

One tip: try to fish around the various fringing weedbeds, they are so much better than straight sand areas.

Also if you wanna really have fun on the shallow flats at the back of the lake try resin heads instead of lead heads; they are dynamite in a metre of water or so and generally outfish leadheads by far _ just need to find a place with the wind at your back for longer casts. cheers bombie

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

One of the tricks I have learnt from catching live poddies is , to try and find a spot where a small creek empties into the Lagoon.

Its also advisable to walk the area you intend to set your trap in , and take some bread with you ( I use Bread crumbs ) and after spreading a handfull on the Waters , see where and what is available .

And before setting the trap , microwave the Bread for I minute on High , It works wonders .

Mick

Edited February 12, 2006 by OWZAT

[slayer666]

to the site orangeguy hope you find this site useful as i had

Cheers Joe

[Davy]

I saw some other type of baitfish, not sure if they were poddy mullet. They were brown with a stripy pattern and had fat heads. They were circulating my trap but wouldn't go in it.

It may have been a little trumpeter aka 'grunter' i caught one last time (fishing for poddys, ha!) i was at the lakes, and it was making little grunting sounds when i was trying to get the hook out, hence the name.

Oh and with the poddy traps, the hole might be too big? i had that problem the first time, which is why i wasnt catching any. made another trap with a smaller hole and found the mullet sta in the botlle.

Edited February 12, 2006 by Davy

[neilm]

Neil, may I ask which boatshed you are referring to?

The boatshed is at the lake end of Narrabeen St. I've found early evening to be a winner (I usually get the livies the night before an early session the next day).

On the tails of yours SPs - it's either the toadies or perhaps tiny chopper tailor.

Cheers,

neil

[orangeguy]

Thanks for all the advice and warm welcome guys.

The boatshed is at the lake end of Narrabeen St.

Cheers Neil. I will give that spot a try next time.

Oh and with the poddy traps, the hole might be too big?

Not sure if the hole is too big. It's a rectangular hole 8cm by 4cm. Maybe I will try with a smaller one.

[Davy]

Not sure if the hole is too big. It's a rectangular hole 8cm by 4cm. Maybe I will try with a smaller one.

Thats roughly the same as mine, you'd probably just need to try another spot for it.

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

For best results with your Cordial Bottle , cut a square section cut out of it 12 cms long by about 4 cms wide.

Then , Cut a 1 cm long slit at 45 degrees in the corners , and fold the flaps down into the bottle also at no more than 45 degrees.

The section you cut out should be just slightly below the halfway mark on the bottle for best results , this makes them swim well up into the kneck.

Mick

[Davy]

For best results with your Cordial Bottle , cut a square section cut out of it 12 cms long by about 4 cms wide.

Then , Cut a 1 cm long slit at 45 degrees in the corners , and fold the flaps down into the bottle also at no more than 45 degrees.

Hey Mick,

i was wondering if 12x4cm was too big, because i was looking at the Mullet traps topic from ages ago, and that pic u posted looks much smaller than 12x4cm? If not, how many litres was the bottle?

Cheers

Davy.

Edited February 13, 2006 by Davy

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

Hey Davy , well spotted mate !.

The bottle posted in that pic is actually the 3 litre Bottle , and the cut on that one is 8x4 .

The larger 5 litre bottle and the one I use the Most , which some bugger has not returned , was 12X4 .

I just made a template for each bottle from plastic , and they work a treat .

In addition , Mullett hate anything sharp , so by pushing the Flaps inward at 45 degrees , they will avoid the edges , and continuously swim away from them .

I also find that larger Poddies will not hesitate to whip into the larger trap , but will often swim around the smaller one.

Mick

Edited February 13, 2006 by OWZAT